Trelly's Fishing Report

Bellarine Peninsula, Queenscliff, Surf Coast, Lake Eildon, Shepparton Lakes, Goulburn River, Shepparton Region Channels, Waranga Basin, Loddon River/Cairn Curran, Campaspe River / Lake Eppalock, Bendigo Family Fishing Lakes

Clifton Springs

Some fantastic reports this week with most species fishing very well and with some fantastic weather coming up! The Snapper reports that have come in these last few days have been awesome with reports of fish between 1.5 – 4kg in fantastic numbers right along Clifton Springs, once again the channel is seeming to hold better quality fish up towards Portarlington. The other side of the channel is also holding some good numbers of better quality fish. Point Wilson, The Quarries, Bird Rock and the 9 foot bank are all great locations to have a look and usually a good area if you want to avoid the crowds.

 

Queenscliff

Queenscliff is still fishing very well in the bight for calamari, boat anglers are still having good success in the deep and shallow water. Land based anglers are still slamming quality squid off the surf around bell reef with black and red jigs being the standout colours. The Queenscliff cut has also fired up this week with the Trevally and Snapper fishing going bonkers! Casting soft plastics in the channel has been resulting in some fantastic quality fish with trevally getting over 40cm and snapper reaching 60cm, fantastic size fish for this area and they seem to be in good numbers too.

 

West Coast

Along the west coast has been fishing quite well for angler’s deep dropping with electrics pulling up a variety of tasty species. Blue eye trevalla, Blue Grenadier and Gem Fish all making an appearance on the deck.

 

Surf Coast

The surf coast estuaries are starting to fire up for both bream and perch with most systems giving up some nice fish. Adam from Trellys Geelong fished alongside Rob Thornton in the Aire River on the weekend where the pair had a cracking session on Bream, landing numerous to 42cm with Zman Grubz working best.

 

Barwon River

The Barwon River has responded well to the warmer weather with the river fishing really well for Redfin, Perch and Yellowbelly. Casting spinners and soft plastics along the bank and structure where the fish are hiding is by far the best way to target the fish with Queens Park being a standout location. Still plenty of reports of carp coming through in the same area with corn being the best bait.

 

Waranga Basin

Waranga Basin is seeing good numbers of small Redfin getting caught in the shallow water while trolling shallow hardbodies and plastics. Once found casting soft plastics towards the school sees great numbers of fish come to the boat however most are fairly small. Yellowbelly are still getting caught while trolling and casting lures like Jackall TN60’s and Zerek Fishtraps towards the rocky points and drop offs.

 

Shepparton region channels

The channels towards Rushworth and Waranga basin are still fishing ok with some nice Yellowbelly getting caught on Ecogear ZX40’s and soft plastics. Focussing your efforts around drop bars and bridges has been the key to finding some good fish.

There have been ok numbers of Redfin getting caught in the Main eastern while working soft plastics and small hardbodied lures.

 

Lake Eildon

The Yellowbelly in Eildon have slowed down a little around Bonnie Doon and the Delatite arm but there are still good numbers getting caught once a good school has been located. Trolling size 2 Stumpjumpers and 55mm Codgers have both been working well along with casting Jackall Transams and TN60’s or TN70’s.

We had some good reports of Yellowbelly also getting caught around the Howqua arm while grubbing within the trees and trolling size 2 stumpjumpers along the rock banks. 

Murray Cod are still going well around Jerusalem Creek, Big River and the Main arm. Large swimbaits like Jackall Gantarels and the new Biwaa Seven Swimbait have been performing well around the shallower grass flats and when fished with a chinweight have also been performing well along the rock banks. Surface lures in the morning and afternoon have still been accounting for some awesome Murray Cod up to and over a metre.

 

Dartmouth

Dartmouth Dam has been fishing great recently with plenty of good sized Trout getting caught while Trolling. Trolling deep with Lead line or a downrigger has been the key due to the warmer weather that we’ve been having. There have been some great reports of people boating 50 trout up to 50cm over a single weekend. Trolling Crick-hopper lures, Tassie devils and Scrubbies behind a fender has been the stand-out method when trolled deep off of a downrigger or with weight attached in front of the fender to get it down to where the fish are holding. 

 

Loddon River

The Loddon River is really clear at the moment. Which is seeing a number of anglers rewarded. If using bait try a small sinker around the weed beds with a shrimp and you’re in with a good chance - Have seen some of these fish measuring up to 50cm in length. If casting lures at these fish I recommend using a TN60 or TN50 but in silent, when the river clears up as well as it has the fish can be a little bit finicky so something without a rattle usually works better.
Cod season is coming upon us fast, Those early mornings or late afternoons are the best time to target these fish. Pompadours are a must have for this river system. However if you're chasing the fish of a lifetime try to use bigger lures such as the JOE THE RAT surface lures made by Kuttafurra now stocked at our Bendigo store!
If you are targeting these fish on bait try using some of Trellys special chicken, this has proven to be a great bait for our local waters.

 

Cairn Curran

There are a number of good catches coming from the bank, the most productive way to catch these fish has been on a running sinker rig with a scrubbie. They’re starting to fire up on lures around the lake, with most anglers casting towards the bank from the boat. These fish are being caught on jackall mask vibes and small hard bodies such as your RMG’s.
Try using gulp black minnows around the trees with the warmer weather coming through the fish will start to move out to deeper water.
Redfin are starting to also come on the chew with reports of fishing being caught up to 1 pound. These fish are tough to find but worth the persistence, the best lure to try and get a good number of these fish is to use strike tiger nymphs in darker colours and retrieve slowly. 

 

Campaspe River

The Campaspe River is starting to clear up at current. I’ve seen a few fish caught in this river recently and should be good just in time for cod opening.
If targeting Golden Perch try using small hard bodied lures such as your Arashi deep 10 in blue gill, or your size 3 stumpys.
With cod season not far away, try casting pompadours in the early mornings or late afternoons and be persistent as the water is still a little murky. If bait fishing try using a big yabbie or trellys special chicken. 

Lake Eppalock

This lake is still fishing great, with catches of golden perch measuring over 60cm not uncommon. The key is persistence with anglers having to work hard to get good numbers. Casting lures with minimal rattle has been the key to encouraging a bite. So lures such as your TN60’s silent or Jackall mask vibes have been a proven lure, it’s also worth using scent on these lures such as your Sax scent yabbie.
Have started to also see a few good catches of Redfin caught from the lake, troll in around 15ft of water until you find a school then try using bobbin’s or jig plastics to get good numbers. Have seen some reddies measure upward of 40cm!

Bendigo’s Family Fishing Lakes

Lake Weeroona is still going great with some big sized carp being caught. It is best to use a small ball of bread or corn on a small hook. Lake Tom Thumb is also seeing carp and small reddies caught.
Crusoe Res and Kennington have seen a few reddies caught on plastics and trout taken on tassie devils. If using bait powerbait is still the standout.