Crater Lakes

CRATER LAKES Rod Shepherd

Because of the current weather pattern that’s causing an inundation of flood water due to excessive rainfall, all of our rivers are basically out of action. That leaves our impoundment lakes open and full to any anglers who brave the all-too-often wet weather conditions.

The freshwater scene has seen many out on Lake Bullen Merri catching mainly Chinook salmon, with a few rainbows and tiger trout thrown in for good measure. Most anglers have been flat line trolling in 6m+ depth following the lake’s perimeter, whilst other visitors have been bank fishing, mainly from the northern bank. Using PowerBait, local minnow, mudeye and earth worm, plenty of fish from 800g to over 1kg have been caught. Yes, plenty of smaller fish are out there to frustrate anglers, but please use a damp rag when handling these small ‘fry’ when destined for release.

Lake Elingamite continues to produce plenty of both rainbow and brown trout, with most fish weighing in around 900g, with a few larger specimens measuring in excess of 60cm and 1.8kg. The depth at the boat ramp has well exceeded 70cm, which is excellent for this lake. Thanks to all the winter and springtime rainfall, this smallish waterway should be open to most trailer boats well into the new year. Again, many fish have been taken flat line trolling a variety of minnow lures close to the surrounding weed beds, plus also on the cast. A few intrepid fly anglers have also had success to varying degrees. A few good redfin to 1.3kg have also responded to the above tactics.

Some big old brown trout in excess of 8lb plus the odd rainbow are being caught out of Lake Purrumbete. The tiger and cheetah trout now being caught are weighing in at well over 1kg. These specimens are being taken mainly by lure casters working the weed beds. The big browns along with some solid Chinook salmon are also responding to lures cast towards the weed beds, with the northern and eastern shoreline favoured.

Some redfin are still available at depth using soft plastics, live minnow and jigs. It’s just a matter of finding a school on the sounder, anchoring up and going for it! Most of the redfin have been on the small side but a few over 30cm are about.This Elingamite redfin took a Damiki Saemi medium diver on the troll.

From page 98 fishing out of the boat. I usually have a couple of rods set up with nymphs on one rod and dry/emerger fly patterns on the other. I start off fishing with the nymphs until the mayfly hatches really get going, and then change over to the dries, which generally are a Shaving Brush on the dropper and a Possum Emerger on the point. They have proved to be deadly month have been a 55cm brown and a 50cm rainbow, both of which fell to Possum emergers. Hopefully the mayflies will continue to hatch into the early summer months, due to the lateness of them starting to hatch.

Young gun Nathan Angee has turned his hand to fly fishing after a frustrating session on Wendouree where he couldn’t tempt the mayfly feeders on lures. Nathan happened to have his fly rod on the fly fishing, judging by the very large number of reports I have received. However, other anglers who have been out catching trout and redfin have been using lures, soft plastics, and baits, which include mud-eyes. The trout will change their attention from mayflies when the hatches slow down and the mud-eyes really start to move in large numbers. A couple of the trout that I have kept have had small

Ballarat Fly Fishers Club President Nick Roche and Wastell Sponsor Andrew Summers from Mayfly Tackle presenting Bryce Younger

with the 2022 Wastell Trophy. Image courtesy of Ross Goyne.

at the end of the hatch, when the bigger fish seem to come out to play and mop up the last of the mayfly. Generally, the smaller stockie rainbow trout are smashing the mayflies at the start of the hatch.

A couple of notable trout caught over the past in his boat, and he started casting brown nymphs at the mayfly feeders, who showed no hesitation in at eating them. Nathan is now hooked on fly fishing as he landed seven trout in that session, two being around the 50cm mark.

At Lake Wendouree, most of the focus has been bug/spider mud-eyes in their stomachs, so there is a hint that this could have already started to happen. I enjoy fishing mud-eyes from either the shore or out of the boat, it’s one of my favourite forms of fishing. I’m looking forward to some exciting times ahead.

The fishing in Moorabool Reservoir really fired up in late spring, once again due to the mayfly hatches. The reservoir is full and overflowing, which it has been consistently for a couple of months. Generally, the water clarity is crystal clear but, in some areas, where the little creeks run into the reservoir it has generally been a little discoloured. However, this has not stopped the rainbows and browns in Moorabool from feeding, and making the most of the available food sources which are around. The mayfly are at the top of the list now, just like Wendouree.

Fly fishers have been having a ball, catching some true trophy brown trout over 10lb. These are not easy to catch by any means, it’s about having all your stars align, the right fly or lure, right weather conditions and your tackle holding up when you latch onto one of these big ones. Well done to the guys who have been lucky enough to catch them. I have been fly fishing Moorabool myself, hoping to catch one of these trophy trout while they are feeding on mayflies. I have seen them mooching down mayflies but unfortunately, they have been too far out to reach with my flies.

One session at Moorabool I had, the weather wasn’t ideal, with bright blue skies and a southeasterly wind. As a rule of thumb, the best mayfly hatches occur in overcast conditions, but sometimes you have no choice but to fish in sub-optimal conditions, and that’s the situation I found myself in. I arrived at Moorabool where I had planned to fish with the wind direction. There were no other anglers in the area.

Wastell Trophy Winner Bryce Younger with a 60cm brown trout from Moorabool

Reservoir. Image courtesy of Bryce Younger.

I started fishing a team of two different types of brown nymphs, and it wasn’t long before a few duns started to hatch, then a few more. Then all of a sudden a couple of fish started feeding on them, a couple of rippers in front of another fly fisherman who had arrived after me.

I thought sooner or later one would come my way, and I didn’t have to wait long when a trout started sipping duns in front of me. I cast my couple of nymphs in area the fish was working, and retrieved my flies with a slow figure-8 retrieve. All of a sudden my line tightened and then went slack. Unfortunately, my tippet broke and the fish departed with my flies.

I rerigged my leader with a couple more nymphs, and started working the area around me. Once again, my line tightened and a brown trout around the mid 40cm mark launched out of the water. I managed to land him, take a couple of photos then released him.

I continued to work the area with my nymphs when another fish started to feed on duns. My confidence was up and I thought it was only a matter of time before this trout ate my flies, which it did. My line tightened once again then suddenly, my fly line was being ripped out of my hand, I saw my backing on my reel and I knew I had a good one on. Our battle continued for a while with the beautiful brown trout leaping out of the water on numerous occasions. Eventually I won the battle and landed a beautiful 60cm brown trout weighing around 6lb, and after a couple of photos she was released on her way.