Hunting yellowbelly over freshly-flooded edges

SHEPPARTON

Nick Brown teamriverrats@hotmail.com

Carp, carp and more carp – they are everywhere in the Goulburn at the moment. The only positive about so many carp is that the cod’s food source is so easy to match at the moment.

Smaller swimbaits and wakebaits have been successful lately, with the cod busting up on these small carp schools that are running just under the surface. TN60 and TN70 Jackalls rigged with single hooks have also worked well. The key has been to start your retrieve as soon as the lure hits the water, and just lifting your rod tip a little more than usual to keep that lure closer to the top.

Bait fishing has been dominated by carp reports, especially for those anglers using worms, but this can still be a great time for those who just enjoy reeling in a fish.

It’s getting harder and harder to gather live baits such as yabbies and shrimp, so those chasing natives have used mainly cheese or chicken. Scrub worms have also been working well when the carp don’t eat them.

KIALLA LAKES

The lake is changing, with the water level rising higher than it’s been since the floods. This is pushing plenty of fish shallow. The freshly-flooded edges are full of bait, and the yellas and redfin are hunting the bait just around the drop-off. Matching the hatch is ideal, so smaller, thin-profiled hardbodies have worked well shallow.

Don’t be scared to cast tight to the bank. Some legal-sized yellowbelly are being caught on XR4s and Bent Minnows maybe a foot off the bank.

Bait fishing under the willows is still a great way to chase redfin, and the key is to either have an unweighted hook or even a float with plenty of worms on the hook. You might need to try both sides or out the front of the trees, with the fish sometimes holding in different areas of the trees.

BROKEN RIVER

At the time of writing this article, it’s all been about topwater action in the Broken, with a number of healthy legal fish reported. The new coloured Balista Hunchbacks have been the stand-out lure, with a slow retrieve or a ‘shake and pause’ next to big snags. Switch baiting after a strike with a spinnerbait has also been a great method if you have two rods, or if your fishing partner is using a different lure.

As the cooler weather sets in, the topwater bite will slow down, but it’s still a lure I would throw in low light periods, as well as spinnerbaits and small hardbodies.

Bait fishing with worms is seeing plenty of monster carp caught in the Broken, but if you’re looking to avoid catching them, stick to baits such as chicken, cheese and yabby tails.

It was a busy Easter period at Waranga Basin, with many anglers getting in early to beat the rush at the ramps. The positive thing about getting in early was that the bite has been great in the mornings.

Those fishing in the shallows with small swimbaits and topwater walk-the-dog type lures have been catching plenty of redfin. The reddies have been ambushing these lures in water as shallow as 1-3ft.

As the sun comes up, the fish tend to start pushing out a little deeper, so trolling TN60s or small divers in around 6-10ft would be the go.

Bait fishing off the bank has been productive for both carp and redfin, with night crawlers working well.