The trend of above average rainfall has continued in the Bendigo region.

At this stage the amount of rainfall that we have received over the autumn months has been the best for a number of years. The ground is now saturated and we should start to see some significant run-off shortly if the good rainfall continues. At this stage the run-off has only been minimal so water clarity is still good in most locations so there are no excuses to not go out to catch a fish.

The fishing in Lake Eppalock continues to be very good. Redfin are the main species anglers are targeting. The secret of success for the redfin is as simple as hunting around until you find them. The redfin are often biting one day but off the bite the next.

If you do have a quieter day chasing the redfin don’t let it put you off. If you continue to go back to this location it is only a matter of time before you locate a good school of redfin.

Redfin have schooled up over the last month and have moved into deeper water. The majority of redfin are being caught in depths between 3-5m. Anglers are often trolling around with small hardbodied lures such as Codgers and Custom Crafted Hammerheads until a good school of redfin is located.

Anglers then will change tactics and will jig ice jigs or soft plastics in the area where the initial fish were caught trolling. Jigging Jackall Mask vibs have been productive with natural colours such as Tennessee Shad and Ghost Blue Gill being productive. Very good numbers of redfin can be caught this way.

My good mate Phil Keetalaar recently fished Lake Eppalock and had a good day landing over 60 redfin for the day.

Phil caught the majority of his redfin jigging brightly coloured ice jigs. Phil kept 30 redfin between 400-600g.

The water clarity remains good at this stage. The fishing has slowed in the shallower sections of the Campaspe River. The most productive areas have been the deepest sections along the Campaspe River. The fishing in the Elmore area has been slow with only the occasional golden perch being caught.

There has been small numbers of good redfin being caught in this area. The most productive methods have been casting lipless crankbaits and trolling small hardbodied lures. The fishing in the Campaspe at Rochester has been average. The numbers of golden perch being caught has been low but there has still been small numbers of Murray cod being caught.

There also has been small numbers of redfin being caught. Casting spinnerbaits late in the afternoon has been the most productive method for targeting the Murray cod.

Water clarity remains good at this location and water levels should start to rise shortly. There have been some good numbers of redfin caught at this destination lately. Anglers who have been fishing with bait have been doing well with gudgeon and small yabbies being the best option.

Mark and Jason Andriske have had a couple of good trips to Cairn Curran. The guys have caught their fish trolling brightly coloured lures. Good fish have been caught on a pink and yellow Australian Crafted lure. On their last outing the best results were trolling a black and chartreuse Custom Crafted Bass Hunter.

The numbers of golden perch being caught has been very low and will probably stay this way until spring. The numbers of trout being caught has also been low but if water levels start to rise we should see a few more trout being caught in the short term.

The water temperatures have dropped significantly in recent weeks. With this the productivity has also dropped off in the shallower sections of the Loddon River. Those anglers fishing the deepest sections of the river are producing the best results. At this stage the numbers of golden perch and Murray cod being caught has been very low.

There still are small numbers of quality fish being caught by those most experienced anglers who are prepared to put the hard work in.

Redfin are making up the majority of anglers’ catch rates at the Loddon River at the present time. The numbers of redfin being caught are low however the quality has been good with redfin up to 1kg being landed.

This silver perch was caught casting a Jackall lure. They are not commonly caught in the Bendigo region.