Vote, then fish this weekend

By Kevin Tyler

May 19, 2022

Sightings: Platypus numbers are being researched. Photo by Nicholas rowlands

Tomorrow, before you go fishing, there is one important job to be done — you must vote if you are on the electoral roll.

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Once that chore has been carried out you are good to go fishing.

Around our region the fishing has been good, with anglers reporting decent hauls of cod and yellowbelly at most of the usual haunts.

However, there is one spot I have not mentioned for a while: the mouth of the Broken Creek where it meets the Murray River.

Reports say that there are some deep holes around the area and some cod have been caught.

While fish over a metre have not been reported, I do not doubt that some big fish have been hooked there.

I did hear a story from a group that has been researching the number of platypus in our local waterways, and their numbers may have been affected by predation by big cod.

Having said that I have sighted a platypus in the Goulburn not far from the Shepparton city centre, just off The Boulevard.

Cod have also been reported in the Goulburn around Toolamba and Murchison. Fish between 50cm and 75cm are being caught but the majority are juvenile fish, which in itself is good news for the future, with these fish growing to keeper size as they mature.

The Murray River is also worth fishing at Ulupna Island and Morgans Beach, as well as the area around Cobram.

Lake Mulwala is being lowered in a plan to rid the lake of weed. It gives anglers an opportunity to see the original river bed.

Another waterway worth noting is the Broken River between Benalla and Shepparton, fish the deep holes with bait or lures — surface fishing is getting the best results.

Redfin are still biting in Waranga Basin but some work is needed to find schools of fish.

Eildon is also worth a visit, with trout starting to come on the bite.

But cod and yellowbelly are also being caught on the rocky ledges.

At Dartmouth the trout fishing is picking up. As it gets colder, trout become more active; trawling a fender with a bait or lure is still working well, the best times are early morning and late afternoon.

Lake Hume is still worth fishing — schools of redfin are still active but they are becoming more difficult to find.

Saltwater fishing is going well and Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters at Queenscliff said resident snapper were still being caught on the reefs inside the heads and also off the coast.

There are also silver trevally and flathead.

Western Port Bay is producing flathead and some resident snapper but the main snapper run is a couple of months away in late July to early September.

Some good-sized gummy sharks are biting in the deeper water off Phillip Island and San Remo.

Best time for the gummy shark was on the run-out tide, while the best bait were fresh salmon fillets.

Up north at Eden, John Liddell reports that Mark from Freedom Charters was getting good hauls of reef fish along the coast to Green’s Cape, but when it was too rough, fishing in Twofold Bay was producing salmon, flathead and small shark.

He said there was not a lot of action off the shelf.

Graham Cowley at Narooma said it was much the same with kingfish off the northern end of Montague Island and good-sized flathead along the sand.

School tuna are starting to be sighted off Portland and anglers who head out wide are getting fish up to 30kg.

Well, that’s all folks for this week, don’t forget to vote — and good fishing.