Batlow

Targeting trout and goldens

BATLOW Wayne Dubois

waynedubois@westnet.com.au Almost everything will be firing this month, and with so many places and fish species fishing at their best this month, it’s hard to work out which ones to focus on and write about. Golden perch at Blowering Dam, Burrinjuck Dam and Lake Hume will be a main target for many anglers this month, especially for those die-hard native fans. With the Murray cod season still closed for another month (other than Blowering Dam) the native lovers will be hammering the golden perch in our lakes to get their fix.

The golden perch should be quite easy to target this month, and most techniques should see you with a bend in the end of your rod.

Bait fishing with a small to medium-sized yabby rigged on a paternoster rig, or a big unweighted or lightly weighted juicy worm or grub, is a good way of catching plenty of golden perch at this time of the year, especially when fished after dark.

Another great way of targeting the golden perch this month is by fly fishing in the backs of weedy bays or banks that have a heap of rubble or timber. Good flies include Mrs Simpsons, Woolly Buggers, Hamills Killers, Bass Vampires, Golden Humungous or small Deceiver flies. There is always the added chance of hooking a trout whilst using these flies, too. A good set of Polaroids will help you pick out the pockets of weed, which is where the majority of golden perch will be ambushing from.

Trolling can be productive this month as well. Some of the best lures to troll are lipless crankbaits like Mazzy Vibes, Rapala Rippin’ Raps and TN50 and TN60 Jackalls, Slap Walkers, 50-70mm hardbodies from the Viking range, AC range or Balista range, and small spinnerbaits, especially the Outlaw spinnerbaits ‘WD Low Profiles’, which I designed specifically for golden perch.

Casting with the abovementioned lures can be

even more productive than trolling. Once you have located a school (either by trolling or using your sounder) simply pull up and hammer the area with your chosen lure. At this time of the year golden perch can be in quite large schools, and casting in that one area you just hooked or sounded fish can be very rewarding.

TROUT FISHING

Those anglers who aren’t into targeting the natives can get their trout fixes at a number of places this month. Jounama Dam, Tantangara Dam, Talbingo Dam, Lake Eucumbene and 3 Mile Dam are all worth a shot this month, but the majority of trout lovers will be hitting the creeks and rivers now that the trout season is back into full swing.

The Tumut River will see its fair share of anglers this month, and with good reason – it is one of the most

consistent trout fisheries on the mainland of Australia. Generally, the discharges from Blowering Dam in November are quite low, meaning the Tumut River will be low and slow, making for some amazing and quite easy fishing.

If the river is in low flow, lure fishing is about as easy as it gets. You quite simply jump in the river and slowly work your way upstream whilst casting ahead of yourself as you move up. The best lures for this style of fishing are the good old Rapala CD3s and CD5s, IMA Sukaris, Asari Matsutas, Rooster Tails, Bling Spins and Gillies Feather Tails. Colour selection with these lures is critical. The river is almost always crystal clear, and most of the time any bright, really unnatural looking lure will just scare fish and limit your chances, especially at

those bigger, smarter fish. By sticking to natural colours you will scare fewer fish, and thus increase your catch rates. It is very hard to beat a rainbow trout coloured lure when targeting trout, but it is closely followed by lures in brown trout colour.

Fly fishing is generally very good this month also. The odd fish is already starting to take a dry fly, and all fish will respond to wets, especially nymphs. It pays to cover both bases by using a dry fly as an indicator and a 1-4ft long dropper off the dry, with a bead head nymph attached. This helps you to work out what the fish want on any given day. After you see what the first ten or so

fish for the day are caught on, it’s easy to change your set-up. If you’re getting them on both flies, leave this set-up as-is. However, if you find most fish are rising for the dry, get rid of the nymph dropper. And if all of the first fish are caught on the nymph dropper, get rid of the dry fly and replace it with a floating indicator. You can then add another nymph so the fish then have two flies that they are interested in to choose from. Fly fishing using these strategies will see you catch more trout all year round, and in all sorts of conditions.

Drifting bait also works well in the low flows. The key word here is ‘drifting’.

If your bait is not drifting you will catch far fewer fish, so be sure to actively fish your bait for the best results. Many types of bait will catch trout at this time of the year, such as worms, PowerBait, yabbies and prawn tails, but it’s very hard to beat a juicy wood grub. It may be hard work to gather these grubs, but it’s worth it when you’re hooking fish after fish.

Golden perch will be at the top of most native fishos’ target list this month, as Murray cod are off limits everywhere in the area other than Blowering Dam. The Tumut River is possibly the most consistent trout fishery on the mainland of Australia. It holds good numbers of both rainbow and brown trout, with some very big specimens in the mix.

The trout season got off to a bang, with regular high flows making it challenging but fishable.