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 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