VIC
Tough going on the Murray ROBINVALE
Rod Mackenzie codmac@bigpond.net.au
With the Murray River back inside its banks and the weirs put back in, most sections of river are returning to normal levels and flows. The pool water has slowed, and anglers
are once again allowed to launch a boat and have a fish. The yabbies are running in many areas, especially downstream of Mildura where it’s not hard to procure a fresh feed of these tasty crustaceans. Back upstream to the Murray at Swan Hill, a few small cod have been caught
on bait and the odd golden perch amongst a sea of carp. Bait seems to be the best way to catch a native fish, but there are a billion hungry carp between each prized catch. Some yabbies are running in the Murray at Swan Hill. There are enough yabbies to get a feed but they’re not as big
There are some good-sized perch in both Lake Kangaroo and Charm, mixed amongst the redfin.
or as plentiful as further downstream. In the local lakes, redfin continue to bite on both bait and lures, and there are a few good-sized perch amongst the catch in both Charm and Kangaroo. Small hardbodies like the Bassman Tubby or soft plastics on light jigheads have been working well on both the morning and evening bite. The redfin are mostly pan-sized through to a few larger fish up to 45cm. It’s a similar story with the goldens; the larger of these have been pushing out past the 50cm bracket. Lake Merran near Kerang has good numbers of larger redfin on both bait and lures some of these fish up to 46cm. Blades, small spinnerbaits and bait have all been working well at this location. The Murray River at Robinvale has a few perch on bait, once again amongst a sea of carp. A regular with the floods, the catfish seemed to have appeared again, with several good specimens caught on baits of worms around the willow trees. There have been no cod to speak of yet, but we will see how that goes as we approach the autumn break. The Murrumbidgee at Maude has been a bit
A decent bycatch while chasing cod along the Murray River downstream of Swan Hill on a 100mm Tubby.
Great angling opportunities in Bendigo region BENDIGO
Roger Miles codhuntertours@bigpond.com
Anglers wanting to catch a fish in the Bendigo region are currently being spoilt, with many good options available. It is up to personal preference as to what species you would like to target, and at what location. With the conditions being favourable at most locations, it is just a matter of getting out on the water and doing some bait fishing, or presenting some of your favourite lures to the fish. More often than not, you will be rewarded with some good fishing. LAKE EPPALOCK Water clarity is continuing to slowly improve at this location, while water levels are slowly declining. At the time of writing this report, Lake Eppalock was at 94% of capacity, which is exceptional for this time of the year. The great redfin 90 APRIL 2023
fishing has continued at this location, with some very high numbers being caught. Unfortunately, a lot of anglers are only managing to catch small redfin. If you want to catch
larger models, you may need to work hard to find them. The bait schools are moving around a lot, and the larger redfin are also moving around, so you may need to cover a fair bit
of ground to find a good concentration of larger fish. If you pick a location and you are catching a lot of small fish, don’t stay there too long – 10-15 minutes at the most. Move to another
Bendigo angler Paul Vlaeminck with a quality Murray cod caught on a Cod Hunter Flathead hardbody. Paul enticed the fish with a slow rolling retrieve next to a good lay-me-down piece of timber.
spot, and repeat until you find what you’re after. You may not have to drive to the other end of the lake; if you have suitable structure you may only need to travel a short distance. The best concentrations of redfin are currently being caught in 2-5m of water. Good lure options have been soft plastics, soft vibes, blades and ice jigs. Reasonable numbers of golden perch are still being caught. Trolling the edges of the rocky shorelines or around the edges of timber has been productive with small to medium hardbody lures. Trolling 1/2oz single willow-style spinnerbaits has also been effecctive on the golden perch and the occasional Murray cod. Casting lipless crankbaits has been a good option for both species. CAMPASPE RIVER The most productive fishing in the Campaspe River has been in the section below Lake Eppalock to the Avonmore Bridge area. The water clarity has been the best in this section. In this section of the
river there are ‘limited access’ areas. Please do the right thing when walking the banks and fishing the river. If there is no public access, always ask permission from the local property owner before fishing the river. Never leave any rubbish behind. Don’t be afraid to pick up any rubbish you see, even if it’s not yours. If you walk through gates, always leave them as you found them. Try not to disturb any stock animals if possible. The fishing has been good in these shallower sections of river, with good numbers of golden perch and some quality Murray cod being caught. Hardbody lures, spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits have been working well. During periods of low light, surface lures and swimbaits have been good options on the Murray cod. The fishing in the boat able sections of the Campaspe at Elmore and Rochester has been slow. This is mainly due to the water taking
