Shepparton

SHEPPARTON Nick Brown

teamriverrats@hotmail.com

It seems like déjà vu – another lockdown in regional Victoria. Luckily this time it was only a short one, and fingers crossed it’s the last one.

Those who had a waterway within 5km could still go fishing as part of daily exercise. Many people chose not to, but those who managed to get out before, after and during the lockdown period for a fish found the fishing very average. The cooler months are a struggle locally, and you have to work super hard for a bite, and that can turn off people from fishing both the Goulburn and Broken rivers.

Bait fishers are starting to notice their baits are being moved around by crayfish, so at least that’s a positive for the winter months, and that’s the opportunity to catch some crays. If you’re chasing a feed of crayfish, the main areas are downstream of Nagambie to about Toolamba. These areas have always produced goods amounts of crayfish.

There are some deep bends in the heart of Shepparton, and if you’re looking for a quick, easy spot to cray you may stumble onto a patch of keepers, but there are plenty of smaller ones closer to town.

Make sure you’re up to date with all the rules and regulations with the cray fishing season now here.

KIALLA LAKES

Fishing Kialla Lakes in winter can be very frustrating for those chasing yellowbelly; the fish just seem to fully shut down in the cooler months. There will be the odd redfin caught on lures but it’s mostly only reports of carp on the edges using bait.

If you want to chase a redfin or yellowbelly, I would be fishing very slow and with a lot of vibration or flash. TN60 Jackalls or a Bassman TW or Compact spinnerbait would be my choice, and I would be fishing the sand bars or rocky banks when the sun has tried to bake them all day. Hopefully, you’ll find a little pocket of warmer water.

SHEPPARTON LAKE

There have still been some good trout getting caught in Lake Victoria, with a few up around 40-50cm being caught while casting small hardbodies and small soft plastics. Little Rapala minnows and similar have been accounting for a bigger class of fish, while soft plastics are good for getting numbers. First light and last light into the evening are the best times to get onto a few trout.

Redfin are being caught while fishing soft plastics along the top of the weed and up to 30cm below. Small soft plastics like the 2.5” Bait Junkie minnows are a good lures to try if you’re looking for a few redfin. If the fishing is slow, try dressing up your plastic by rigging it on an underspin jighead or by attaching a beetle spin to the front of your jighead. This really gets the redfin going.

Josh from the Native Project fished Lake Victoria recently and caught some nice trout on soft plastics, including a solid rainbow he caught on a Strike Tiger soft plastic.

WARANGA BASIN

Waranga Basin is fishing OK with some alright numbers of redfin getting caught. Most are on the smaller side but there are some bigger models amongst them. There are still some more great reports flowing through of big trout getting caught at the basin while fishing for redfin and casting small trout minnows. With the cold days we’ve been having, it isn’t unheard of to have a trout come along and hit a trolled lure like a size 3 StumpJumper or 50mm RMG Poltergeist in the 3m diver. Casting small minnow lures from the bank like a Balista Trance or Bullet lure isn’t a bad way to try and target the trout that we’ve seen getting caught at Waranga.

LOCAL CHANNELS

For those fishing their local channels, there are plenty of carp around to keep the kids busy. Soaking worms or a bit of corn fished with a light sinker is a great way of getting onto a few carp out of the local channels.

There are still some yellowbelly to be caught around the bridges and drop bars in most channels from Rushworth to Murchison. Plastics rigged with a beetle spin, along with other reaction baits like small spinnerbaits, are a good way of finding a few fish. Small hardbodies and square bill crankbaits are also great lures to work in the channels because they dive fairly shallow but have a great action.

From page 96 is normal for this time of the year – especially given how inclement the weather can be around Ballarat. Sometimes only the hardiest of anglers will head out fishing, but rewards are there for those who hit the water. Trevor Holmes, the old master who is well recognised in the fishing circles, now a resident of area, took one of his old fishing mates Paul ‘Fossil’ Walker out on Wendouree recently. The boys drifted around the weed beds casting surface lures. They had a couple of lookers at the lures, and then a ripper brown of 57cm decided to eat Fossil’s lure. After a bit of to and fro the brown was landed, and a couple of quick pics he was off on his way. Old Fossil was one very happy man.

Wendouree will reward those anglers who are prepared to put in the yards over the next few months, and bright coloured flies or lures are my suggestions.

Newlyn Reservoir is another one of our magnificent fisheries that is currently producing the goods. The fish have smelt on the menu like other waters around the district at the moment. Tom Jarman, one of the country’s best fly fishers, has been catching some very nice-sized brown trout, fly fishing for these smelt feeders. Tom said it’s a matter of being there when they are on the job, putting your flies in front of the feeding fish. Getting them to eat it isn’t always easy, so perseverance is the key. The weather can play a big part in whether the fish are smashing through the smelt or not. Generally the overcast days are the best, but I have been out on bright blue sky days and the fish have been chasing the smelt everywhere.

Newlyn should fish well in the coming months. As mentioned, over the past few months the water level has been a lot higher than normal, which has created more fishable water which is generally covered in weed. Fly fishers and anglers casting lures should catch the majority of fish, but if you sit a mudeye under a float it could get eaten as well.

Hepburn Lagoon, a short distance away from Newlyn, has seen plenty of trout, both rainbows and browns feeding on smelt. Hepburn is a lot harder to fish at the moment, as the weed is a bit problem. You really have to find those clear pockets of water and wait for the fish to go charging through the schools of smelt. Be prepared to walk the shorelines in search of these feeding fish. Rod Allen, an expat Victorian, was down in the area for a few days recently and decided to fish Hepburn, which produced the goods for Rod. He landed a ripper of a brown trout on a Black Zonker fly pattern. Hepburn can be a challenge to fish, but the rewards are there for the guys who are prepared to put in the time and effort.

Bostock Reservoir, a quick 20-minute drive from Ballarat, has been producing some lovely rainbow trout on lures. A lot of anglers who chase trout overlook Bostock; they instead prefer to head to Moorabool Reservoir, only a short drive away. Bostock is annually stocked by Fisheries with brown and rainbow trout and is well worth a look as Paul Kwiecinski can attest. On a recent trip to Bostock, Paul was casting Daiwa Double Clutch lures around the deeper areas along the pines located on the southwestern

Paul Kwiecinski caught this horse of a rainbow trout casting a Daiwa Double Clutch lure at

Bostock reservoir. Image courtesy of Paul Kwiecinski. shoreline when his lure got absolutely smashed by a beast of a rainbow trout that pulled the scales down to 3kg. Paul wasn’t finished there, going on to land a smaller model of 3lb. Bostock is definitely worth putting on your radar for a trip, as I believe it is a very underfished fishery.

Moorabool Reservoir has been producing the goods consistently throughout the year, and it’s continuing to fish well. The water level has slowly started to rise which has given us more fishable water over the exposed weed beds. The trout are feeding on smelt as well, in the shallows and out in the deeper water. It’s a matter of finding a fish within casting range, whether you fly fish or cast lures.

Geoff Cramer and I recently headed out for a fish at Moorabool casting lures. We found a couple of fish working in a particular area, feeding in close at times and then out too far. It was just a matter of persisting, casting our lures around where the fish were feeding. Geoff was lucky enough to nail a ripper rainbow of a 2kg on a Bent Minnow type lure. The rainbow certainly had some tow, stripping lots of line off the reel a number of times before being landed. A couple of happy snaps and off she went on her way.

I have spoken to a number of bait fishers who have reported catching some lovely rainbows varying in size from 1-2kg on PowerBait fished on the bottom with a running sinker rig. They say that patience is the key.