Blowering Dam has been a very popular spot over Summer with many families taking advantage of the cheaper fuel prices and the free-form camping that the lake has to offer to have an inexpensive ‘get away from it all’ holiday.

Dealing with the very warm weather and the non-stop boat activity was quite difficult at times but those who did where rewarded with some very good catches.

The main species being caught is the redfin but there have also been plenty of natives caught lately with plenty of golden perch up around 7kg caught so far this season and I have heard of quite a few Murray cod over 20kg caught and released.

The majority of the Murray cod have been caught by trollers at night.

Redfin seem to be in plague proportions and with water up around 30° it is not surprising. Anglers have been catching these tasty little fish all over the dam on bait and lures with quite a few around 2kg.

Anglers are doing well off points using small yabbies, maggots and worms but yabbies from 8cm to 10cm are my favourites; they keep the pesky little redfin from stealing your bait, a real problem at this time of year.

Casting small lures like Rooster Tails, Celtas, small soft plastics and small lipless crankbaits from the banks around points can also be productive.

If you’re having no luck off the points, I normally look for some sort of snag or tree and not just the big obvious clumps of snags that everyone notices.

I try to find a solitary tree, more often than not, as even a small spindly tree can hold 20 or more fish. It is also less likely that these less obvious snags have copped a hammering from other anglers.

Trolling with almost any small hardbodied lure should see you stumble across a patch of redfin and once you have located the school, position your boat within casting range and keep casting to them until they stop biting.

Best lures to troll while searching for redfin are those that run comfortably around 3m to 5m such as the locally-made Stuckeys, No 3 StumpJumpers, Double Downers, AC Slim Invaders, Viking lures and the good old lipless crankbaits.

Jigging is another popular way of targeting redfin and can be very rewarding when the right tree or patch of rocky bottom is located.

Best jigging lures include most Berkley Gulp plastics, lipless crankbaits, spoons, redfin jigs and ice jigs.

I am yet to see any jig land more fish more consistently than the ever-popular ice jig. These are the greatest jigs ever invented in my opinion and they have caught me thousands of redfin over the past few years alone. If your tackle box doesn’t already contain a heap then I strongly recommend adding at least one to your arsenal.

At this time of year most Blowering goldens are in fairly deep water, making them fairly difficult targets at times.

When there is a lot of boat activity to add to the stresses of high water temps and dropping levels, a lot of goldens seek cool, deep water that contains some structure.

Standing timber provides shade throughout the entire day and these tree-hugging fish can be targeted jigging with bait or lures.

Anglers using yabbies have been clued onto this phenomenon for years and are normally the only ones consistently catching goldens during the hottest months. But more people are discovering that these shade-hugging yellas will also hit a lure.

Slow rolling soft plastics up the sides of standing timber adjacent to a drop-off or in 5m to 15m of water will put you in with just as big a chance of a yella as the bait fishos.

There are all types of yabby-imitation plastics on the market and all. when rigged and used correctly, will catch fish. Minnow style plastics such as the Ecogear Grass Minnow are also deadly on shut-down golden perch and are my first choice when targeting them this way.

Slow-rolling spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits in the same areas is also worth a shot.

Trolling the banks early and late in the day with small to medium lures can also get you golden perch this month.

The Murrumbidgee River above Wagga Wagga has fished sensationally this season.

There has been a steady, decent flow in the river most of the season, keeping the natives happy and willing to hit most things cast in their direction.

The usual bardi grubs, shrimp, worms, yabbies and cheese have been working all season but it has been the sensational lure and fly fishing that has made this season so good.

Lure fishos have been catching natives on pretty much everything. Trollers, especially, have been catching them on everything from hardbodies and lipless crankbaits to spinnerbaits and chatterbaits.

Casting lures into snags has also been working really well with spinnerbaits and chatterbaits the pick but hardbodies and big plastics have been fish as well.