VIC
Tullaroop trout are on the chew BALLARAT
Shane Stevens
What a start to the trout season around the Ballarat and the Central Highlands! All our lakes and reservoirs are overflowing after excellent early spring
to the huge influx of water, in some areas of the lake the water has become very discoloured and in other areas unfishable, with mud leaching from out of the ground. I don’t think this will worry the fish though, it’s only us anglers that it will worry. I have been fishing different areas all over
Declan Downes decided to give Tullaroop Reservoir a go, and he wasn’t disappointed, landing this ripper brown trout on a Bent Minnow. Image courtesy of Declan Downes. rains. There is plenty of newly-flooded ground for the hungry trout to forage through, eating whatever aquatic and non-aquatic insects they can find. Tullaroop Reservoir has been the talk of the town for those anglers who love to chase trout. The reservoir is at its highest water levels for many years, and it’s anticipated to overflow. I myself have been fishing Tullaroop for approximately 35 years and cannot remember the reservoir reaching such levels. I have been fishing Tullaroop on average 2-3 times a week in the past few months, all landbased fly fishing and casting surface lures (Bent Minnows). I’m amazed that every day that I head up to the reservoir, the water levels continue to rise. The amount of food being flushed out of the ground is unbelievable – grubs, beetles, worms and more. It’s floating around everywhere, and I would suggest the trout are gorging themselves on these newly found food sources, as the old saying goes “Making hay while the sun shines” There has been a downside
OCTOBER 2022
colours, and it measured once again at 55cm. After a quick few photos, he was released also. The next week we went to fish the same area. The water was too discoloured for my liking, so we fished another area. The fishing wasn’t as good as the previous weeks, but we still managed to catch a couple of good trout around the 55cm mark. Declan Downes has been monitoring the fishing reports through social media platforms and decided to make the trip up to Tullaroop and give it a crack. He wasn’t disappointed, landing some magnificent brown and rainbow trout on Bent Minnow lures. Declan said he found some nice clean water, and the weather conditions were
A magnificently coloured brown trout caught from Tullaroop Reservoir by the author on a T26 Bent Minnow. “I definitely knew I had her hooked!” he said. “After a good tussle she was landed, and after a couple of quick photos she was released.” Steve Angee has been out on Wendouree casting Bents out of a drifting boat, with excellent results. Steve said
Peter Cole has been fly fishing the flooded margins of Moorabool Reservoir, catching some nice brown trout using a Shrek fly pattern. Image courtesy of Peter Cole.
Steve Angee was casting Bent Minnow surface lures on Wendouree for trout when this 42cm tank of a Redfin nailed his Bent. Image courtesy of Steve Angee. the reservoir searching for the clearer water, which I prefer to fish with excellent results. As mentioned, I have been fishing Tullaroop a lot recently with my on Maxi, fly fishing and casting lures. On our recent trips the fishing
Max Stevens with his new PB brown trout, measuring in at 60cm, from Tullaroop Reservoir. 94
has been excellent, with some magnificent brown trout between 55-60cm. We have been fishing the shallower areas, which are mainly on the western side of the reservoir. We generally leave home around about 8am and make the 40-minute drive up to Tullaroop. We then have a look at the wind direction before we choose a spot to fish. I have been looking for the clearer water to fish. One trip we fished in a bay where the very back end of the bay was a very muddy colour, and we started fishing where the clean water started. It wasn’t long before Maxi latched onto a feisty brown on a gold Bent Minnow, and I moved down the bay a bit further and started prospecting with a T26 Bent. It wasn’t long before I was into a ripper of a brown, measuring in at 55cm after a good tussle, and she was released. We continued to fish the clean water, and I landed a nice rainbow a bit over a kilo on a Hammill’s Killer fly pattern
and lost another one very quickly after. Soon after that, I nailed a ripping 60cm brown on a Bent Minnow again. The next week we went to fish the same bay, but was unable to due to the water clarity, which proved to be a bonus for us as we fished another bay. Maxi and I both started prospecting the slightly discoloured water with bents, when Maxi ripped into his new PB 60cm Brown on a Gold Bent, he handled this beast like an expert, we took some photos, and he was released on his way. We continued to fish the bay when my lure was hit by a fish without hooking up, and then a big 55cm brown nailed my Bent. After a couple of photos he was on his way. While fishing the same bay, my Bent was once again slammed by another brown trout. This one was beautifully marked and had bright golden
excellent: a bit of breeze and overcast skies. Perfect conditions in anyone’s book for trout fishing. “I had just stared prospecting an area and it was game on,” he said. “I can’t wait to get back up there.” I expect the excellent fishing in Tullaroop to continue, especially when the weather warms up a little and we get some insect activity, which will bring the trout into the shallows to feed on them. The only thing that could hamper this is if the reservoir becomes totally discoloured. Hopefully this won’t happen. Lake Wendouree has come out of its winter slumber, with some excellent catches of both brown and rainbow trout, along with redfin. Trev Holmes recently ripped into his new PB on Wendouree with the biggest rainbow trout that I have ever seen come out of there. It measured in at 65cm and weighed 7lb, 11oz. It was caught on a large hardbodied lure, 110mm to be precise. Trev said he’d had a couple of lookers at Bents when he decided to try something different. He tied on this big hardbody, cast it out near some weeds and started his retrieve. Trev said he had a couple of taps then this big ‘bow nailed it.
on one trip he went out the fish were everywhere. “I only landed four for the session, including a ripper brown trout weighing in at 5lb,” he said. “I also had plenty of lookers and grabs.” Steve said the weather was good, with wind and cloudy skies. On another trip, Steve and his son Nathan ventured out, and once again the weather conditions were good for fishing Wendouree. The trout were out and about, with Nathan landing a nice brown of around 2lb. Not to be outdone, Steve cast
his Bent Minnow around when it was slammed by a magnificent 42cm redfin, which gave Steve a run for his money. At Lake Wendouree the fishing will only get better as the weather warms up, like all other waters around Ballarat. The insect activity will increase, and we will see the start of the much-anticipated mayflies start to hatch. This is something that fly fishers from all over the district are looking forward to. Moorabool Reservoir, like all our fisheries, is full and overflowing. The fishing has been steady, with brown and rainbow trout being caught on flies, lures and bait. Angler numbers have been steady over the past few months, but this will increase once the mayfly start to hatch. Anglers will be making Moorabool very high on their priority list, given the excellent fishing during the mayfly hatches in autumn and spring last year, and the trophy brown trout the reservoir produced. Ballarat Fly fishers Club member has been fishing Moorabool around the flooded margins, landing some lovely-sized brown trout on a Shrek fly pattern. Hepburn Lagoon and Newlyn Reservoir are both overflowing currently. I’d suggest that the trout are mooching around in the shallows, feeding up while they can. I haven’t heard of many reports of fish being caught over the past month, but I’m sure those who are fishing these waters have been rewarded for their efforts.
Trev Holmes with his new PB rainbow trout for Lake Wendouree. It measured 65cm and weighed 7lb 11oz. Photo Courtesy Wayne Rigg
