Well, with winter well and truly here there are only a few alpine region trout fishing waters to choose from.

Lakes above 800m are snowed under and all access roads are closed.

The rivers are also closed to trout fishing until September, and as all but one contains only trout they are effectively off limits until then.

Rocky Valley and Pretty Valley Lakes on the Bogong High Pains are inaccessible to trout fishing for the winter due to deep snowdrifts causing access roads to be closed. Who would want to go there anyway; the whole area is given over to skiing at Falls Creek Ski Resort and the entry fee is around $35.00 per vehicle per day!

Lake Guy is located just below the snow line at Bogong Village and has been fishing well in recent weeks, according to reports, with mostly brown trout being caught on lures, including Tassie Devils and Celtas in a variety of patterns.

Boat anglers usually do well this month slow trolling parallel to the eastern shoreline and towards the dam wall. The boat launching ramp is actually an old dirt road that is safe to use in winter.

The Ovens River around Bright and Porepunkah contains native fish so fishing is available throughout winter provided anglers target indigenous species only.

Any trout accidently caught must be released unharmed immediately upon capture.

Lake Catani at Mt Buffalo holds some good size trout and sits at around 600m above sea level so it is often surrounded by deep snow drifts in winter.

Because of very cold conditions very few, if any, anglers fish this water in winter, and who can blame them. Brrr!

However, results can be exciting when fishing from a canoe at this time of year.

The pondage at Mt Beauty is in great condition this month and fishing is excellent to good, according to reports, with mostly rainbow trout being caught on live bait such as earthworms and a variety of lures.

If you don’t have a small-unpowered boat (and most anglers who fish this water don’t), the best fishing in winter is along the northern shoreline where the water is deepest.

Flyfishing in a typical mountain stream towards the end of May, 2010.