The Paterson, Williams and Hunter rivers are really starting to fire as the days warm and the insect activity reaches a peak.

The best time to target these fish is in the couple of hours after sunup and before sunset, with a falling tide. Surface lures and small minnow-style lures in green, yellow and brown combinations, worked around the bases of willows and around the weed parallel to the bank, should have you hooking up to some of the 40cm bass that are around at this time of the year.

Smaller spinnerbaits, of around 1/4oz or 3/8 oz, and Beetle Spins of the same size are also very productive. The darker colours, like purple and black and green and black, are usually good choices for these bass.

Up at the Barrington Tops, the trout are showing up in numbers but are very small and as the season has only just opened, there is not to much to report as yet. The trout should have a better season this year as there has been some good snowmelt and some stocking activity as well.

In Lake St Clair the water is starting to warm and because the level is falling slowly, the weed beds aren’t getting much time to form. So the schools of bass and goldens will be moving around the perimeter of the lake.

When the fish are moving around like this, trolling can cover a lot of ground to locate an area that holds fish. Because the water is very clear, use bright lures to begin with in close and move out into deeper water and change to darker colours as the day progresses.

Around the banks, spinnerbaits and crankbaits are taking some really good fish but they are not in big numbers. In the middle of the day there have been some good schools of bass holding in around nine metres off some of the points in the Fallbrook Arm. They are best targeted with soft plastics with the Berkley 3” Bass Minnow and Sliders giving the best results.

Bait-fishing will also be good this month with worms and shrimp the better choices for catties. Some of the better spots are along the banks on the eastern shore.

At Lake Glenbawn there has been a lot of pressure on the fishery from some of the recent big competitions but it still continues to produce some excellent fish. Like other impoundments in the State the level is slowly falling, making it hard for good weed beds to form.

But where there is weed, bass are not too far away as there are good schools of smelt and plenty of feed for the bass and goldens around the weed.

Around some of the more heavily timbered sections in the lower section of the dam there are good numbers of silver perch, which can be caught on worms and the occasional soft plastic. Around the eastern foreshore the catfish are also taking worms, especially after dark.

Up towards the back of the dam, near the eight-knot sign, bass and goldens are being caught on the troll along the old river and also by fishing the banks with lures and bait.

The lures here need to run down around six metres with the darker colours the better option. Try Feralcatts, AC Invaders and Stuckeys. In this part of the dam you can also use cast spinnerbaits around the trees and let them sink. It is not uncommon to get a strike while they are falling. Good styles are around 1/2oz with willow blades.

Further down the dam, around Yellow Buoy Bay, good fish can be taken casting lures and spinnerbaits along the banks, especially late in the afternoon. If the fish are a bit slow, try slowly working soft plastics on 3/8oz jigs along the banks, pausing every couple of turns of the reel handle.

In the main basin there have been some schools of small bass holding in about 12 metres but they are very reluctant to bite. Sometimes a soft plastic will work, along with ice jigs.

Bait-fishing has been good this month and live yabbies dropped around the trees will produce some good hook-ups .

I would also like to wish Heather and Allan From the holiday village a happy retirement on the coast as they finished up at Glenbawn at the end of October. They will be missed very much and they have been a great help over the years, especially with their work on the Glenbawn trust helping me organise the ABT rounds there.