Things are finally starting to change around the border with spring’s influence firing up the fishing action.

Lake Hume is still producing plenty of nice brown trout on the troll but anglers who are bait fishing from the bank are also doing well.

In an unusual turn, there have been quite a few reports of decent yellowbelly being caught on bait around the Bethanga Bridge area. The first I heard was when one of the local DPI Fisheries officers pulled me over while I was targeting trout and informed me that he had just seen a 3.5kg yella caught on worms directly under the bridge on the NSW side.

With these early signs of the yellas coming out, it looks like it’s going to be a great year for them on bait and lures.

On my past four trips I have been pulled up by Fisheries Officers – a sign that the border’s waterways are being policed. So if you’re doing the wrong thing, there’s a good chance you will be caught.

Again, the most productive way to catch the trout has been good old Tassie Devils. Browns, greens, pinks or just about any colours have worked lately. I’ve caught them on pretty much every colour I have in my tackle box.

The lake redfin seem to be starting to move around a little more now, with people who take the time to use bait from the bank usually ending up with quite a few for the table.

The river below the lake has been hot and cold, with the success I’ve had relating to the river height. When it’s low it has been hard, although there have been some reports of trout being caught on fly around the Haywards Bridge area.

However, when they release water for downstream irrigation, the trout start to fire up. Casting Tassies and shallow-diving lures like Rapalas works well but using lead fish is a great way to hook a good trout.

The area around the weir wall fires up when the water rises because there are a lot of baby redfin sucked through the turbines and pushed out the other side stunned or dead. The trout gorge themselves on them, so mimicking these wounded reddies is a great way to catch them.

There are also reports of yellas being caught below the weir wall but so far they have been pretty slow. Over the next few months, things should take off as more fish move up to spawn.

The author with a nice Lake Hume redfin that took a Tassie Devil meant for a winter trout.