The weather has warmed up, daylight savings has been introduced and more people are out trying their luck on the water.

The fishing has picked up in the Yarra Valley with both the rivers and lakes producing good catches of eel, carp, trout, redfin and yellowbelly.

David, a regular customer at Compleat Angler Ringwood, fished Lilydale Lake several times over the past month. He landed 8 carp to 4lb and 2 good-sized trout on his best outing.

Eric also phoned in with reports of 10 trout taken with the best a 2.5lb brown. All of Eric’s fish were taken on maggots and scrubworms.

One of the secrets to Lilydale Lake is to fish early morning or at dusk, using a thin trail of berley. For the spinning angler, a slow action jigging small lures will work best. Mudeyes and scrubworms are proven trout attractors for the bait angler.

If you’re targeting carp then sweet corn or bread dough are certainly worth trying. For an extra special dough try adding a quarter teaspoon of mustard powder to the plain flour. Or, for a sweeter mixture, add 3 drops of vanilla essence to the water before you mix it with the flour. Store the dough in an airtight container and place a small amount of the mixed dough onto a bait holder hook. It’s best to prepare the dough in small quantities and use within a day. If the bread dough is too confusing then try the pre-mix Stimulate berley.

Emerald Lake has consistently had good reports over the past 4 weeks of rainbow trout to 1lb taken. Doug was spinning and Cuatro was flicking flies. They managed to take 9 trout between them during a recent session. Again you need to be at the lake early in the morning or much later in the afternoon. Pink maggots and scrubworms are a consistent performer for the bait angler using a bait holder hook.

 The Upper Yarra, above Warburton, has started to fire for small trout. Most success is coming from spinning 4g Lofty Lures in yellow and green shades. For those anglers wanting to throw a fly around, try some small wet flies such as a Woolly Bugger, Muddler Minnow or Mrs Simpson in sizes 10 or 12.

The Yarra River, between Healesville and Warrandyte, is fishing well for several species including redfin and Macquarie perch. It’s closed season for the Maccas until 1 January so they’ve all been released.

The area around the bridge at Warrandyte or the end of Lower Homestead Road are easy accessible and on most occasions quite productive. Cast into small holes and let the bait drift with the current.

Try several times in a hole and if unsuccessful, move onto the next hole. The fish will generally bite on the first or second cast if they’re on the chew. Multiple casts made in the same zone seem to spook them a bit so sit tight and be patient. If you’re a stationary angler then try targeting eels, fishing at dusk using scrubworms.

Had some success? Then send the details to --e-mail address hidden-- For up to date fishing information on the Yarra Valley contact the boys at Compleat Angler in Ringwood on (03) 9870 7792 or better still, drop in at 92 Maroondah Hwy – we’re open 7 days a week with plenty of top quality fresh bait and a great selection of freshwater gear.