Last chance to fish for wild trout

BATLOW

Wayne Dubois waynedubois@westnet.com.au

The 12th of June spells the end to the 2022/2023 trout season, and you’d be silly not to get amongst them before the choice is taken away from you. The trout fishing in all the creeks and rivers in the greater Batlow area has been nothing short of spectacular all season long, with insane numbers of fish present and all of these fish anglers have also been getting amongst plenty of fish as well. drag myself away from the creeks and rivers, and have hardly fished a lake recently. However, this will all change once the season closes as I will be happily hitting the massive redfin schools that Blowering Dam is famous for.

Up and across stream spinning has accounted for plenty of fish this season, with flashy spinners like Bling Spins, Rooster Tails, Celtas and Sebile tail spinners working best when the river first drops. Once the water clears and the fish feel a bit of angling pressure, it is best to go to more natural lure selections like soft plastics and small hardbodies like the Rapala F3, CD3, CD5 and F5s, Sso Minos or IMA Sukaris.

The redfin fishing at Blowering has been great for the last few months, with plague proportions of small to medium sized fish being caught all over the dam. However, this month will see a transition from large numbers of small fish in shallow water, to large numbers of big fish in deep water.

This is a great time of the year to target redfin – not just because the large fish are more prevalent, but also because of the trout season closure, when your options for good numbers of fish are limited. Add to this the fact that redfin are the only freshwater fish I eat, and you can see why I opt for redfin jigging to get my fishing fix in winter.

Winter is big redfin time, and there’s no better lure for the deep holding pre-spawn schools than the ever-reliable ice jig.

have been in great nick.

The majority of the trout in the Tumut River have averaged just over a pound this season, which is close to twice the size of the average fish over the last couple of years. Some of these fish could easily be mistaken for lake fish, they are so thick, fat and healthy. Catching these big healthy trout in the fast water that the Tumut River is famous for is about as challenging as it gets, particularly on light line.

As usual, most anglers have caught their fish indicator nymphing this season, with the exception being at sunset, when educated anglers been getting amongst the risers with small dries. 30-90 fish sessions have been the norm whilst fly fishing in the low flows this season, but bait and lure

Bait anglers have been getting amongst their fair share of trout also. Wood grubs and bardi grubs have been the pick of the baits, but I expect there will be plenty of trout caught on PowerBait over the last couple of weeks of the season.

The trout fishing has been so good I have struggled to

Vertical jigging is the best way to catch insane numbers of fish. Schools do not move around much at this time of the year, and once a school is located it’s not uncommon to sit in one spot and catch close to 100 fish. Some sessions you may catch even more.

I generally continue to exploit a school that I’ve found until the bites drop right off, then I go and find a fresh school and continue the fun all over again. Jigging with bait such as small yabbies, prawns or worms will account for plenty of fish. However, the time it takes to rebait and drop back down can decrease your catch rate compared to

Most people now know that big Murray cod seem to pop up on the end of people’s lines much more often at this time of the year. As a result, more and more people are braving the cold in hope of a trophy fish. Fishing for big Murray cod at this time of the year can be very slow and challenging, but those anglers who put the hard yards in will be the ones rewarded.

Big Murray cod will be at the top of many anglers’ lists this winter. Make sure you look after them prior to release to ensure they are still healthy and survive the stress of being caught.

someone using the right lure. There are a number of lures that work well when fished vertically, including blades, soft plastics, lipless crankbaits (rattling, silent and rubber models), tail spinners, spoons, Sebile Vibratos and ice jigs. All of these lures will catch fish when used correctly, but the ice jigs are my first choice when vertically jigging for redfin. There is no need for any fancy retrieves with these lures, simply drop them all the way to the bottom, take up the slack line and start jigging. The most important thing to remember is to stay in contact with your lure on the drop, as more than 90% of the hits will come whilst the lure is dropping back to the bottom after a lift.

If you feel a little tap as the lure is sinking, strike like there is no tomorrow, as redfin are notorious for spitting lures very quickly. Staying in contact with your lure and striking hard will ensure you fill your keeper bag this winter.

Long trolling runs after dark seem to account for most of the bigger fish, but each year more and more big cod are getting caught by knowledgeable fishos casting with big lures. Although braving the freezing nights is the best way of targeting the big cod, it is possible to hook a few of the smaller ones during the day.

Occasionally the big models also let their guard down during daylight hours at this time of year, but it generally only happens on really overcast days. All in all, things are shaping up for a great winter of fishing in the greater Batlow area, so rug up and go get amongst them.

ALBURY/WODONGA

Connor

Heir

Coming into June is always an exciting time for Murray cod anglers. While the fishing is generally slow and the days and nights are cold, the effort you put in is well worth the potential results.

This season so far has been a bit up and down. We’ve had times where all the local rivers have been ideal to fish, and also times where the flow and clarity hasn’t been the best. Still, conditions have been better than last season, so things are shaping up for a good winter for fishing the rivers – in particular for those very special Murray cod.

A very healthy river fish caught on a recent float.

In winter in our part of the world, the metabolism of native fish slows right down. I think it’s very important to slow your fishing down too.

BJ and Tim Jones a beautifully marked trout.

‘cod’ anglers now understand why trout anglers get addicted. Great fishing in even greater locations – it doesn’t get much better than that.

While Murray cod are an aggressive fish much of the time, and will smack your lure on the first few casts of a good log or other structure, they can also be stubborn – and unless you present your lure to them in a way they will comfortably eat it, they may not even bother to come out for a sniff. You will have to make accurate casts and really pick snags apart to really get the lures on the nose of these fish, and hopefully elicit a strike. I tend to spend twice as long fishing a likely-looking