Cod were not washed out of the Goulburn during the recent flood; in fact, a 14-year-old sports-minded lad who plans to be a professional footballer landed a decent catch last week.
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With sport in his genes — his grandfather and father were both Australian champions in their chosen sports — a hobby with a sports team seemed logical.
However, he was started on his fishing journey by his grandfather, who gave him fishing gear for Christmas.
Getting back to the story, this youngster landed a 57cm keeper in the Goulburn last week, and like all true anglers, the bait and location of his catch are going to remain a secret.
He and some friends also landed several smaller cod and a carp — not bad for a comparative beginner in the fishing game.
There have been other reports of cod being caught in the Goulburn, from Nagambie through to Murchison, Toolamba and all the way to the Murray.
The Goulburn is back to almost normal for this time of year, so logic says fishing should be good.
All local rivers have likewise settled back to normal flows, so bait and lure fishing are getting positive results.
The reports from the Murray, including Lake Mulwala, are also on the improve, so all the usual spots are worth a try, but remember the Murray is in NSW, so you will need a fishing licence from that state, as well as one for driving a boat.
Waranga Basin is still providing anglers with redfin — small yabbies, live shrimp and worms are getting results, as well as the body lures, but make sure your lure is bouncing around the bottom.
Best colours are red and purple, and redfin pattern works well too. Reddies are known to be cannibalistic.
Redfin are also being caught among the trees at Eildon, and also in the Hume Weir, where the fish is considered to be Victorian.
The irrigation channels are also yielding redfin, as well as other species including yellowbelly and cod, and, of course, carp.
If you want trout then early in the morning at Eildon and Dartmouth, you can always fish the rivers and streams. Wading is the best way to go. Wear an old pair of pants and shoes, if you don’t want to spend the big dollars on proper water gear.
At this time of year you can use grasshoppers and black crickets, mudeye and, of course, worms; cast them to a shaded hole upstream, and good luck. Trout will also take lures both minnow-style and spinners.
If it is among your talents, now is an ideal time to try fly fishing. It’s a skill not everyone has mastered, but is worth trying.
So much for freshwater fishing, now let’s look at the saltwater.
Down south at Queenscliff, Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters said the action had been better than average, with plenty of pinky snapper, flathead, as well as salmon, whiting and squid being caught both inside and outside the heads.
Outside there are huge schools of couta — mainly smaller fish, but you can catch couta up to 1.5m.
The problem with couta is they are incredibly bony and infested with worms — not good for eating.
But years ago they were the number one fish for Friday nights: couta and chips was a staple.
I remember my dad bringing exactly that during my pre-teen days, but couta has gone the way of the dodo as far as a table fish goes and has been replaced by the more popular whiting, blue grenadier, flake, flathead and more.
Rod said there were also schools of bluefin tuna around the 30-fathom mark off the bluff at Barwon Heads.
Rod said as well as snapper and tuna, he was also catching salmon, whiting and squid. Fishing in Western Port Bay off Hastings, there were pinky snapper, flathead and leatherjacket, while in the deep water off Phillip Island there were gummy shark on the run-out tide and whiting among the shallow grass beds.
North of the border at Eden, John Liddell said snapper, morwong, flathead and other table fish were biting along the inshore reefs, and large flathead on the sand bottom between the reefs.
John said there were also schools of kingfish at the Green Cape near the Victorian border, and occasionally a large gummy shark further up the coast at Narooma.
Graham Cowley said the fishing at Narooma was much the same as Eden, with patchy success off the shelf.
When it is too rough or windy to go offshore, Graham said there were always bream and huge flathead around around the oyster leases and other structures inside the bar.
The only problem was from sharks on the rocks and inside the bar.
Early this year a group of keen anglers flew south to Flinders Island to fish with James Luddington around Lady Barron and other small islands.
James said he was catching flathead and gummy shark, as well as occasional snapper, salmon, couta and the odd kingfish.
James said there was always the option of heading off the shelf; he said they were catching trumpeter on the deep bottom and albacore tuna when the weather permitted.
Well that’s all folks, stay COVID-safe and when in the bush watch out for snakes. Another couple of people were bitten by brown snakes in Queensland — fortunately they were treated quickly enough to recover.