Batlow

Feeding up before winter

BATLOW Wayne Dubois

waynedubois@westnet.com.au Air temperatures might be starting to cool down but this doesn’t mean the fishing is as well. The fishing in May is usually the complete opposite of the weather and can be described as ‘hot’, especially in the trout streams and rivers. REDFIN

Blowering Dam’s redfin are also a good option at this time of the year. Schools are now more concentrated in the deeper water as they prepare for their annual spawning effort. These fish are still targetable trolling, however extra deep diving lures will be needed. Fish will be anywhere from 20-80ft down, but I find there’s almost always fish holding at the 30-40ft mark so it pays to start exploring in that depth.

The AC Slim Invader in the 40ft model is perfect for locating schools whilst trolling, as are heavilyweighted soft plastics. Even if you don’t troll one of the heavily-weighted plastics, it pays to have one rigged and as soon as you catch fish trolling, pull up and throw the plastics out. Continue to catch fish until they shut down, then repeat the process i.e. troll until you catch a fish, then cast plastics.

Alternatively you can have an ice jig or blade rigged ready to go as these lures are just as good and quite often even better than Your best chance of big redfin starts this month as these fish form massive pre-spawn schools. Finding one often means finding hundreds at this time of the year, so they are definitely worth the effort of finding.

the soft plastics. NATIVES

Murray cod and golden perch will be feeding up before the onslaught of winter, and they too will be worth focusing some energy on this month. Mid to late afternoon is the best time to target the natives at this time of year. Unlike summer, where most of the action is after dark when the water has had a chance to cool, at this time of year the water temperature overnight and early in the day is much cooler, so the fish are at their most active in the late afternoon, when it’s warmer. Try to focus most of your energy during those hours for best results. TROUT

Trout in the lake can be a bit hit and miss, but from now all the way through until the end of spring the surface water temperature will be more to their liking, and they are certainly worth targeting. I find trolling or casting lipless crankbaits to be the best way of targeting the resident trout. The main reason is that these lures will catch just about anything that swims, so by using them you are not going to miss out on catching any other species in the process. The other reason I like using them is that they are a sinking lure, so you can cover the entire water column whilst trying to work out where the fish are holding.

To page 67 Natural coloured sinking hardbodies, like this rainbow trout coloured Sso Mino, will be hard to beat on spawning trout.

Murray cod will be quite active this month as they hook in before the onslaught of winter.