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Hume trout fire up
  |  First Published: July 2005



Things are finally starting to fire up, with the Lake Hume trout finally out and about.

The fishing this time of the year changes completely around the Albury area with trout and crays pretty much the only things to target.

Over the past few weeks nearly every trip out to the weir has been successful with catches of trout between 500g and 1.6kg very common.

So far this season I have only been flatline trolling, with Tassie Devils and Cobras working best. Colour choice on the weir is very important because the trout have little choice but to feed on the prolific redfin so lures with colours that resemble reddies work best.

I’ve found silver Tassies with a little bit of red and black to be my favourites but whenever the going gets tough, it pays to have colours out there like pinks and purples. These colours often stir things up when the action slows down.

The areas that have fired early are around the weir wall and Bathanga bridge but last year anglers who fished around the Bowna Arm did quite well. Even though the water levels were low the trout numbers were pretty high.

Other techniques are worth a go as well. Deep-diving lures like Merlins, Vikings, Rapalas and the like all take there fair share as well but these are better during the middle of the day when the surface water warms up and pushes the trout deeper.

Downrigging is also another option, with the area around the weir wall the best place only because the water is much deeper and there are fewer snags. Anywhere else without a fish finder is crazy due to irregular depths and an enormous number of trees under water.

Brown trout are the most commonly caught with next to no rainbows coming out. Condition-wise, they are not far off the best around and are always fat and nearly chock-a- block full of baby reddies.

Anglers keen on targeting trout but without a boat can try a couple of places within 15 minutes of Albury’s CBD.

The area just up from Nariel Park has shallow, rocky runs perfect for trout.

Just a few kilometres upstream we have the water works and even though it copes a bit of a flogging, it still seams to produce the goods.

Lake Hume spillways is by far the best spot to target trout all year round, due to it having no closed season. I should remind all anglers that trout season on the streams has already closed and there are heavy penalties for anyone caught doing the wrong thing.

With present river levels down, the area below the spillway has been dominated by fly fishers who are cleaning up during the evenings on wet and dry flies. Spinning the pools has also been productive lately but fly is by far the flavour of the month.

COD SLOW

Murray cod around the border have almost dried up, it seems, because everywhere I’ve gone, including my most dependable spots, has let me down.

The only place I think would be productive is Lake Mulwala. With its shallow waters the fish would still have a spark in them due to the water temperature staying reasonably high. Unfortunately, these conditions will not last much longer.

Crayfishing is also excellent at the moment and all the reports I’ve heard have been great with plenty of table-sized crays being caught. If you enjoy eating cray but never get the chance to go when fishing is the main thing to do, all you need is a couple of pots and next time you take the boat out, drop them out while you go fishing.

By the time you have finished you should have a couple of crays for the table.

Chris Hodge with a quality brown trout caught trolling a Tassie Devil in Lake Hume. Redfin look-alikes work well here, mimicking the trout’s staple diet.

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