Tony Bennett profile

North & Northeast Victoria

22 April 2008

With Tony Bennett

The past month's fishing in Lake Mulwala has been nothing short of sensational. I’d probably go as far as to say it’s the best months fishing I have heard of in the last 15 years. I didn’t know how to chronicle all the fish that had been caught and reported for the month, so I will start from early in the month up until most recent.

To get things underway, the final leg of the Masters Series took place. This event is hotly contested by 80 plus competitors who fish Lake Glenbawn, Windamere and finish off with Mulwala over a six month period. The best 3 fish for the Mulwala leg measured in at 86cm, 77cm and 70cm, and were caught by Helen Taylor, Gerard Miller and Dave Silva respectively. Dave’s fish was big enough to put him into the lead and take out title of “Champion Angler” for the series.

The next report I received came via e-mail from Rohann Stephens in Wallan. This is what was reported. “Kelly (wife) and I spent the recent weekend in Mulwala with her showing me up on her first go with a bait caster and spinner bait. What turned out to be a slow morning proved to be an action packed afternoon, after we found the right color Bassman spinner bait. The tally was 1 x 83cm, 1 x 71cm, 1 x 57cm and a couple at 50cm. Had great success on the lake so far this year with a lot of fish caught being between 50cm and 83cm. Great fun and makes the trip from Wallan well worth it. If only we could be as lucky as you to live up there. Always look forward to read your article in Vic Fishing Monthly to see how the Lake is fishing.” Thanks for your report.

I was lucky enough to witness a couple of PB captures for the month with the first one being caught by Anthony Pavlou from L. Wilson & Co tackle. Whilst out, Anthony was testing out a new hard-bodied lure he is developing for the company. After casting it into a likely looking snag he was belted by a great fish that measured in at 97cm and estimated to weigh around the 40lb mark. To say Anthony was over the moon was an understatement. After numerous photos the fish was released to fight another day.

Labor Day weekend saw an influx of boats and fishermen hit town with many fish being reported. The crew from the Vikings Fishing Club in Canberra made a trip down with fish of in excess of 1 metre being taken by their crew. Over this weekend I received reports that at least 6 fish over the magical mark of 1 metre were landed.

The next report I got came from another e-mail and went like this “Hi Tony, 4 of us had a great 2 day trip to the lake, caught 26 cod (ably assisted by Roger Miles) measuring up to 76cm, released all but 2 which were consumed on site and most tasteful too they were.  Plan to have many more trips to the area, trouble is finding the time”.

This leads me into Roger’s escapades for the month with Cod Hunter Fishing Tours. Roger says he has been averaging between 8-9 fish per day with clients. The most productive methods have been trolling black, purple and metallic lures around the middle of the lake, while casting spinnerbaits and jackals in the top part of the lake has also been productive. Whilst on Roger, he spent a couple of days doing a bit of research on the lake with good mate Derek Blow. In the process they were both blown away by fish they got to see that they estimated were in excess of 1.20 metres. On the bright side though, Roger did manage to land a great fish coming in at 106cm on a cast Bassman Spinnerbait.

The next PB capture I was happy to be part of was shared with Yarrawonga’s local Mr. Whippy, Damien Scholton. After meeting Damian recently, I promised to take him for a fish. After I tried to convince him to use my spare baitcaster, he persisted with what he was comfortable with, an old spinning reel set-up. This he was very competent with, and he proceeded to land a very nice fish of 70cm on his old faithful black and green spinnerbait. Since then he has raised the bar once again with a nice cod that pulled the measuring tape down to 85cm.

To finish the month off, I was informed of a great cod that was landed and released by Mansfield dog doctor, super persistent fisherman and all round nice guy, Andrew Jacotine. Andrew makes regular trips to Mulwala in search of the mighty green fish and came up trumps when he cast his home made spinnerbait into the bucket mouth of a 1.15 metre specimen.

Fishing below the weir has remained very poor with lower water levels. I still have not heard of a decent fish that has been caught down here by legal means for some time.
History tells us as the water starts to cool down from now onwards in the lake, fish will become less active but the quality/size will increase. This is the time of year that those who put in the hours working the deep water are rewarded with fine captures. At present the lake is holding at about 77% and steady with water temp around the lake between 18-20 degrees celsius.

This report is dedicated to John from the Caltex servo in Wangaratta who prompted me to get off my backside and submit this.

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