The Victorian trout season is open again, which is great news for keen anglers. Mother Nature has really turned it on this year with the rivers running cold and clear – perfect for all kinds of fishing. Early crowds are back at the local bridges, lined with enthusiastic anglers fishing the untouched waterways.

As always the Pondage is fishing well with several reports of some monsters this month. Lures and flies have really dropped off while bait has started picking up again. With the river up to 3000 megalitres and a constant flow of water coming through the Spillway there seems to be moving water in all bays. This is great for the baitfishers who use berley. Although the best bait has been gents and Berkley PowerBait, locals still favour various homemade dough concoctions.

Water levels are low and it’s about time those spring rains kicked in like they did last year. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and stay positive.

By all reports the lake has been quiet, but as I have mention in previous reports, there are still lots of small trout willing to take lures. When my son Mitchel and I go into the Delatite Arm to track down some early season yellowbelly, casting lipless crankbaits over spinnerbaits seems to attract the attention of passing trout. Although the trout are interested in spinnerbaits they seem to stop shy of actually hitting them. To avoid this problem, use a Jackall Mask in red and white; trout love it and hopefully the natives will follow suit.

Recent reports from the Delatite end of the lake tell of bags of redfin to 1kg taken on scrubworms. It’s still a game of tree hopping until you find a school, but with the warmer weather on the cards, conditions will improve for those chasing a feed of reddies.

Due to the rise in water levels (from 500 megalitres to 3000 megalitres) reports have been a bit scarce from the Goulburn but Paul Pozzobon landed a decent sized fish at Cathkin below the bridge on a Copper Wobbler. Paul came up with our first report from the rivers and mentioned one large fish that I’m sure he will be going back for. I think this is definitely going to be a topsy-turvy season.

These two rivers are the same quality as the Goulburn and they have both seen their fair share of action. With the Acheron growing in popularity, the Rubicon seems to be a little quieter, which is probably not a bad thing as most of us know the poor Ruby gets flogged over the season.

Craig Brown fished the Acheron, and after casting a few lures with no success, he decided to drift a scrubworm. The alteration was a continuous hit. Craig ended up with five trout to 600g and one redfin all caught on drifted scrubbies.

Another great report, this time from the Rubicon came from Christian Kuegler. Christian walked a well-known stretch of the Ruby casting green Celtas and CD-7 Rapala lures. He managed to land eight trout to 700g, all good-sized.

When Chris Macay, Mitchel and I walked another stretch of the Ruby we sighted at least 20 trout to 1kg. Some of these fish were feeding underneath the surface as they swayed left to right picking off food. Others were feeding off the top in consistent fashion. My four-year-old son is just starting to cast lure so I spent the whole time with him. He had four nice sized trout follow his small Celta but no luck with a strike. Chris had a few close runs himself but no luck either. The conditions out there have been perfect, the visibility is close to 100% and levels are low. I honestly think dry flyfishing these small rivers will be sooner rather than later.

There have also been reports of snakes on the Goulburn, so don’t let yourself believe that they’re not out yet. Snakes never bothered me until last season when I had a close call with a huge tiger snake. If you walk along the rivers and are unfortunate enough to have a run-in with a snake, it’s a long walk back to the car. Anglers should carry bandages – you just never know.

A small thanks goes out to any Totally Trout Fishing Centre customers that may be reading. Heidi and I have sold our shop in Alexandra to another local couple, Ken and Vicky. We wish them well with the future. This will give us a much-needed break and time to fish as a family. We are not leaving the area and these reports will still be coming in. There will however be a new web address in the next issue for all of your reports.