Well hello park rangers! With the week providing not much pleasure due to the crappy conditions one could be forgiven to think when will it end?

Over the last week fishing has been very difficult to say the least, I had the opportunity to visit Bullen Merri. The wind was up around the 15-knot level which made it difficult but if you persist enough, use tried ‘n’ true techniques and throw in a bit of luck, a bad day can quickly turn around.

At the end of the day my personal count was 2 keepers, both browns, just over the 2kg mark and countless throwbacks, the amount of smallish salmon was a problem. To hook into the bigger fish, a downrigger set at around 30ft with big stick minnows in tow was the key. The trick is to make sure the lure was just off the bottom and with a short drop back of no more than 1.5mts.

When it came to using other lures such as Lofty’s, etc., it was like trying to find a copper when you need one, no hope. So until the wind drops and the weather get somewhat warmer things will be slow. In the next 2 months the bullheads should spawn, this will trigger the bigger fish to move in to the shallows, making it well worthwhile to visit the place and do a bit of night fishing.

Lake Purrumbete is worth a looksee, with Shag Rocks and Hoses Rocks providing some nice small salmon to 1 kg. I suggest you use a good berley and unweighted glassies as you primary bait. If you can get some live minnows all the better.

Lake Modewarre is still well worth a visit, with the fly boys picking up some nice browns and rainbows on Emerges and Dunes, in browns and olive colors.

Wurdibuloc is similar to Modewarre but with the winds coming from the south try drifting live baits over the flats down the southern end of the Reservoir. This area has produced some lovely browns in the past weeks so I see nothing to change this.

Till next week, stay upright.
Karl

See Karl's previous report here.