Now that the excitement of the trout opening has almost finished most trout anglers have regained their normal heartbeats. So, how did they fare in the Ballarat region?

A lot of anglers thought the drought and low water levels were going to make the trout opening tough and would force fishers to travel extensively. However some local Angling Clubs have reported quite good results with some quality specimens taken by a variety of methods. The weather was particularly good over the weekend with plenty of cloud cover and light breezes to ripple the water and disguise anglers’ presence.

The Ballarat Anglers’ Club found fish at several locations and some good-sized trout were recorded. Brian Rivett fished Lake Purrumbete in the Western District to boat a 2.3kg brown trout that scored him first place for the weekend. Damian Keirl also scored with a 1.9kg brown trout taken at Newlyn Reservoir. Both fish were taken on mudeye suspended under a bubble float. Other members recorded fish from Talbot and Tullaroop reservoirs. Most fish were taken on mudeye but a couple were caught on scrubworm so it pays to have a variety of baits at this time of the year.

Many members of the Ballarat Fly Fishers Club travelled to Lake Purrumbete where some were successful. Anglers casting from both the shore and boats were rewarded for their efforts although many of the fish were small. Rodney Eeles boated a 600g brown on fly. Very few fish were sighted breaking the surface. Some desperate members resorted to redfin fishing and were more successful with most taking bags of ten fish per outing on Baltic Bobbers. Most of the fish were between 200-300g. The redfin were in 40-60ft of water and were only caught before 8am and after 5pm.

A nice 5lb brown trout was taken by Clive Bustard on mudeye about 6ft down and fished back into the weed beds. Other fish taken on bait included a couple of 2lb and 3lb salmon taken by Geoff Cramer in 70ft of water. Lots of small salmon were caught and released. The salmon were only 25cm and were probably from the recent stocking. Trollers using down riggers with Tassie Devils landed several trout and salmon from 2 to 5lb.

Other Ballarat Fly Fishers Club members journeyed to Lake Hamilton and Konongwootong Reservoir with mixed success. Vern Barby reports that several fish were caught and released but they were also a bit on the small side. All were taken on a variety of flies with the stand out being the Woolly Bugger. The best fish from this area was a 4lb rainbow trout.

As the weather warms up in the coming weeks lake margins will produce good insect life such as caddis, dun, mayfly and midge hatches which will hopefully fire up the local scene. If you have a couple of fishless outings don’t be tempted to put the rods away. Remember the best anglers are the ones that observe, persevere and put in the hours into their chosen sport.