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Loddon the best bet
  |  First Published: February 2009



The weather again continues to be the biggest talking point in Central Victoria. The area has gone through one of the driest and hottest months on record. Hopefully some good rain will arrive shortly.

The dry, hot conditions have proved beneficial to the fishing for native species. Water clarity is very good in most locations. Water temperatures are also very high, which is helping to improve the activity of golden perch and Murray cod.

Lake Eppalock

The conditions in Lake Eppalock are currently very good. The lake’s water level has been consistently around 6% of capacity. With the stable water level, water clarity is very good.

The stable water levels have also allowed good weed beds to establish around the lake. With these two factors we have seen an improvement in the numbers of redfin in the lake. The lake’s redfin fishing is far from the glory days of the late 1990s, however it has improved to a point where reasonable numbers of redfin are again being caught in the lake.

Local Bendigo angler Brad Day recently fished the lake for a couple of hours and managed to land 30 redfin for the session. Brad’s best results were had by casting TN60 Jackalls. Other methods that have proved successful for the redfin have been casting soft plastics and trolling small hardbodied lures.

The fishing for golden perch has been consistent over recent weeks. The best results have been by bait fishing around the standing timber. Those anglers casting to the lay-me-down timber and weed beds with lipless crankbaits are also producing good results. The fishing should remain good in the short term, however if water levels start to drop then the productivity of the fishing will also decrease.

Campaspe River

The fishing in the Campaspe has been patchy. Phil Keetalaar has had several trips walking the banks of the Campaspe River for only average results. On the majority of trips Phil managed a couple of native fish, with every couple of trips also producing a few redfin.

The water clarity has been a little patchy depending on the amount of flow being let down the system. If you are lucky enough to get to the river when it first starts to rise, the results have been good.

I predict with the recent hot conditions we will see a gradual improvement in the numbers of golden perch and Murray cod being landed.

The water levels have been low at Elmore and results have been mixed. The majority of captures are of golden perch with only small numbers of redfin.

Cairn Curran

For the majority of anglers fishing in Cairn Curran the results have been poor. Redfin are making up the majority of captures, but they are mostly small.

The most productive method has been bait fishing, with worms the most productive bait. Unfortunately water levels are continually dropping and the lake is at only 3% of capacity. We can only hope that the hot weather will fire the redfin up shortly. I think the fishing will continue to be tough in Cairn Curran in the short term.

Loddon River

There have been some very good reports from anglers fishing the Loddon River lately. Water clarity remains very good and the rising water temperatures are helping to fire up the native fish.

Anglers walking the banks and fishing the shallower areas of the Loddon have had very good results. During daylight hours anglers casting spinnerbaits have been producing the best results.

For dedicated anglers, good results have also been had by anglers casting surface lures for Murray cod after dark, with fish of 65-70cm landed.

The fishing in the deep section in the Loddon River at Bridgewater has also improved in recent weeks. There have been good results for anglers fishing with either bait or lures.

Mark and Jason Andriske recently fished the Loddon River and had a great day, managing to land 14 native fish for the day. The majority were golden perch, plus a few good Murray cod. They caught all these fish by casting lures, mostly Jackall TN60s and Aragon lures. The most productive colour was spawn tiger.

Kelvin Miles and Ron Taig recently fished the Loddon River for half a day. The guys managed to land two golden perch while fishing with small yabbies.

Quality golden perch are being caught in the Loddon River.

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