With the onset of very cold weather the spiny cray anglers have been having a wonderful time. Excellent catches of Murray crays have been reported from all areas in and around Echuca.

Most anglers have not had any trouble catching their bag limit in an afternoon’s fishing. The reports also suggest that average size is up.

A usual, there seem to be a lot of large females about, thick with eggs, which is a good sign for the future health of stocks. For those new to fishing for freshwater spiny crayfish, you must not take any berried (eggs under the tail) crays.

The water levels around Echuca are very low at the moment and continue to fall slowly. The water is very clear though and conditions are still good for cod fishing. Trolling deep diving lures is the most popular approach.

The most productive area for trolling is around the Torrumbarry Headwork’s. This boat ramp, unlike many closer to Echuca, still provides easy launching for 2WD and 4WD vehicles.

The lures worth a try in this area include size 1. StumpJumpers in colours 2 and 23, and 125mm Tiegars in colours 5 and 7.

Redfin have been caught in the Campaspe River, upstream of Echuca. This river is also very low and clear. The fish have been taken mainly on silver bladed spinners and single tail soft plastics. Red has been the best of the colours.

Anglers should concentrate their casting around the snags where there is a deeper bend or drop-off. A morning spent walking and casting along the Campaspe River usually produces three or four quality fish up to 1kg.

Some of the larger irrigation channels to the west of Echuca have also seen some nice redfin caught. The best tactic has been to fish worms in the deeper pools and around the channel stops. Some fish have also fallen to small trout style lures.

Early in June, I fished the Neimer River around the Moulimein Road Bridge. Over two days we caught 11 cod, including four 50cm+ specimens. The best baits were bardi grubs and yabbies, fished in the faster water.

This area provides some excellent fishing and is an area that I’ll be fishing as soon as the water return to summer levels.

For more information call in and talk to Garry at Gone Fishin’ 190 Annesley Street Echuca, or call (03) 5482 4291.