According to the weather bureau this winter has been drier and warmer then the average. Well that maybe the case for some of Victoria but it is definitely not the case in the western district.

Our rainfall is higher then it has been for the last couple of years and reports of some brass monkeys looking for blowtorches should give you some idea about how cold it has been.

What this means is local rivers have had some good flows and more importantly we are getting plenty of sub-soil moisture which with good spring rains, means more run off. With the above scenario we get higher lake levels. Already Purrumbete has risen a few inches.

The lakes, Purrumbete and Bullen Merri are both receiving fish releases, which will continue over the next few months. Bullen Merri is quiet, but Purrumbete is on the improve. Mudeyes either fished under a float or trolled behind an attractor have been proving very successful for browns ranging from 700gm up to 2.9kg. Those trolling pink Lofties have also been catching a similar run of fish. If you are keen on the reddies in the lake, ice jigs used in conjunction with your sounder will give some good results.

I usually pump the local rivers up at this time of the year to correspond with the annual trout opening and this year is no different. It doesn’t seem long ago we were catching some nice river fish on flies, but the opening of the season is a different kettle of fish.

Baits are all the go, with the rivers very high in spring giving opportunities to find trout in flooded backwaters. This is a chance to catch some nice fish with the humble earthworm. The Gellibrand River is great for this kind of fishing. The smaller streams in the area, Carlisle River, Lardners Creek, Chappel Creek, West Barwon River and others all hold good numbers of trout, and a well placed bunch of worms can mean some very fat trout in the next couple of months.

Wurdi Buloc is receiving big flows of water, which should bring the fish along the freshly covered ground and West Barwon is also on the rise. Both these waters hold good numbers of browns and rainbows, with the fish in the West Barwon always keen to take a lure, especially along the wall.

Springtime in the west is looking promising and now with the new ring road around Geelong the trip up this way is quicker then ever.