The big news for this month is that the salmonid (trout) season opens at midnight on 2 September. So for many, it’s time to dust off those fishing rods and head out on opening weekend.

As a rule, the rivers are usually a little dirty on opening weekend due to winter rains and in these circumstances, most anglers prefer baitfishing because it is most productive. A juicy bunch of worms or maggots is all that’s required to get the job done. If last season is anything to go by then we’re set to have a great season ahead.

For those anglers who pursue river blackfish, be aware that, from the 1 September until 31 December, there is a closed season in waters south of the Great Dividing Range.

There isn’t much in the way of surface activity at this time of year for the flyfisher. Your best bet would be a wet fly such as the trusty black Woolly Bugger on a size 10 or 12 hook. Remember to allow your fly to sink down to where the fish are feeding. Try varying your retrieve rate every so often too. Sometimes, fish may pass up your offering if it goes by them too slowly, so speeding up your retrieve or imparting an erratic action can turn the lookers into takers!

There have been some great catches of rainbow trout coming out of Rowville Lakes in the past month. It hasn’t been hard to bag out quickly if you can get the fish to your area with a berley mixture of breadcrumbs and corn. The most productive bait by far has been PowerBait in the rainbow colour, although corn, worms and maggots have also been pulling a few fish. If you don’t get any bites within 15 minutes then move on to the next spot because the fish tend to congregate in schools. Once you get one you’ll usually get more.

Lilydale Lake has been a little quiet on the trout fishing side of things, although there are always carp, roach and eels to be caught there.

Bruce Smith reports that there has been some good native fish captures out of the Yarra River, despite the cold weather. One angler fished mid-week and caught and released three Macquarie perch between 300g and 1kg and one Murray cod of 4kg. All these fish were taken on scrubworms.

Email your fishing reports from the Yarra Valley to me at --e-mail address hidden-- I’m keen to hear all about your success during the opening weekend.

The Yarra supports a large population of small browns like this one, which fell to small wet fly last season.