The weather has been hot and so has the fishing in February. Local anglers have enjoyed a very good cod season to date.

The best thing is that all areas around Shepparton are fishing so well, I can’t single out one area that has been the best.

The Goulburn River has fished well at Moira Park, Arcadia, Rafterys Road and the Broken River junction for both bait and lures.

Many reports of success on both cod and golden perch have come from anglers flicking spinnerbaits around large structure. I have been focusing on using either the big double Colorado bladed Codman spinner bait or a single Colorado in 1/2oz. I prefer to use red or green skirts on my lures.

With the Broken River drying up as every day goes by, a lot of anglers seem to be avoiding the river. More fool them because the narrow muddy river has been fishing really well, with some short sessions producing four or five oversize golden perch. Trust me though, they are only good for a photo and not for the table. I made the mistake taking a nice-sized golden for a feed and it was the muddiest fish I have ever eaten.

With the river on Struggle Street it’s a good thing to get the fish right back into the water so that when it finally fills back up the fish are healthy and there for the future.

It’s pretty easy fishing in the Broken as all the deep holes are exposed, so it’s just a matter of walking the banks and fishing with either live shrimp or a spinnerbait.

I will also let you in on one of my secrets: take a few photos of your favourite spots while the rivers are down so that when the water rises you will know where all the deep holes are, and where the large unmovable structure is.

March should hopefully follow previous months and fish really well; fingers crossed it is even better.

I think if you can put some hours in on the water or off the bank you should have some good results. Remember to keep fishing around snaggy areas as that’s where the fish will be.

Young Kialla lakes resident Nathan Gibson gave me a hot tip that a red or a red/black spinnerbait will produce monster golden perch in the Kialla Lakes in March.

So get out and sample all the fishing around Shepparton: the Goulburn and Broken rivers, Kialla Lakes and the irrigation channels are all fishing well and are right at our doorstep.