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Redfin Bonanza around Bendigo
  |  First Published: March 2010



The fishing around the Bendigo area has remained good. The highlight has been the improvement in the redfin fishing in Lake Eppalock.

The redfin fishing is currently the best it has been for a number of years.

LAKE EPPALOCK

The fishing in the lake has been very good lately. We should have another month or two of good fishing before water temperatures drop. If you are planning a trip to this destination then do so shortly while the fishing is at its current peak.

Water clarity is currently good at Lake Eppalock. Water levels remain steady and the lake is at 7% capacity. There have been some excellent captures of redfin over the last month. Some anglers are managing to land some great numbers of redfin. Catch rates of 2-300 redfin for the day are common. The redfin are moving around the lake a lot at the moment. The secret is to hunt around the lake until a good concentration of fish is located then fish the area heavily.

A wide range of techniques are proving to be successful on the redfin. For those anglers fishing with bait, small yabbies and gudgeon have been the best options. Most styles of lures are producing results on the redfin. For those anglers trolling for the redfin the shallower water has been most productive.

Trolling small hardbodied lures such as Jackall Squirrel and Chubby have been good options. Casting soft plastics, bladed lures and lipless crankbaits have been productive. Also jigging ice jigs, soft plastics and bladed lures have been good options. At this stage the fishing for the golden perch has been slow with the majority of anglers concentrating on the redfin instead.

CAMPASPE RIVER

The fishing in the Campaspe River has been good over the last month. The majority of captures are consisting of golden perch and redfin with the occasional Murray cod still being caught.

At this stage the productivity has been similar in both the deep and shallow sections of the river. Water temperatures will start to drop shortly and the productivity will decrease in the shallower sections of the river. If you plan to fish the shallow sections of the Campaspe River then do it in the next couple of months before the water gets too cold.

The most productive lures for the golden perch have been spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits. The most productive lures for the redfin have been lipless crankbaits soft plastics and small hardbodied lures.

CAIRN CURRAN

The fishing in Cairn Curran has improved over the last month. Unfortunately at this stage the majority of captures are consisting of small redfin. The larger redfin have been few and far between with only the occasional large redfin being caught. Hopefully we might see an increase in the average size redfin being caught shortly.

Cairn Curran is a destination that often produces some large redfin over the winter months. If water levels don’t drop too low then we might see a few of these big redfin turn up this winter. The fishing for the golden perch has been slow.

Only small numbers of these have been caught with the majority being caught by anglers trolling hardbodied lures in depths around 4-5m of water.

LODDON RIVER

The fishing in the Loddon River has been average in the last month. The most productive times continue to be early in the morning or late in the afternoon. On the majority of days the fishing has been tough during the middle of the day. Anglers walking the banks and fishing the shallower sections of river are still producing the best results.

The productivity is definitely higher in these areas as they receive a reduced amount of fishing pressure. In the shallower sections of the Loddon there has been a good mixture of both Murray cod and golden perch being caught.

The most productive lures in these areas have been spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits. There have also been some good captures of Murray cod on surface lures. In the deeper pooled water at Bridgewater catch rates have been lower.

There have been a couple of larger Murray cod over 90cm in length caught in this area. Unfortunately the anglers chose to take these fish home. I encourage all anglers if you are lucky enough to catch a large Murray cod take a photo and give another angler the chance to catch that fish another day.

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