G’day fishos.
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The days might be getting longer but the temperatures haven’t picked up too much yet.
You really have to admire those brave souls that are getting out for a fish really early in the morning.
I’m not sure how many there are, I’m not out there to see them myself, but there’s always one or two and I tip my hat to them.
I actually got out to Lake Hume on Monday arvo myself for a session and was lucky enough to land a 53cm trout on a largish (100mm) Yakamito “Slim Minnow” which is just a long slender shallow diver.
I posted a couple of photos on Facey, as you do, and was surprised to get a phone call from one of our local fisheries boys asking me to have a much closer look at this fish because he believed it could be an Atlantic salmon.
This took me by complete surprise as I knew Atlantics hadn’t been released in Hume and questioned why he thought there was any possibility that it could be an Atlantic.
What I didn’t realise was that Atlantic salmon have been released into Khancoban many times in the last decade.
If you put that together with the information NSW Fisheries have gained after the release of the tagged rainbow trout into Khancoban, particularly the evidence that shows more tagged rainbows have been caught downstream of the lake than anywhere else, well, there’s obviously every chance that Atlantics have made their way out of the pondage as well, and then down into Hume!
The biggest problem we have here is identification, as they are so similar to brown trout it’s often difficult to pick the difference.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that we often catch leaner, silvery looking trout out of Hume which is not the standard sort of colours you get from browns in say Dartmouth, Khancoban, Eucumbene or Jindabyne, so we often get fishos thinking they’re catching salmon from the Hume already.
There are a few ways to pick one from the other but the main three are:
The bone that flaps around a bit and comes from the top jaw is called the “maxillary”. On a brown trout, the maxillary extends past the eye. On an Atlantic salmon, the maxillary is generally about level with the back of the eye.
The tail on the salmon is slightly forked (more predominant on smaller fish), while the trout tail almost straight.
There are teeth located on a raised section in the centre of the roof of the mouth of both fish and these are called the Vomerine teeth. On the salmon these are a shallow tooth in a single row. On a trout, these are in two rows, very close together in a zig-zag formation.
If you think you’ve picked up an Atlantic salmon don’t be afraid to drop it into the Compleat Angler where we will try to verify your catch and pass the info onto fisheries.
Dartmouth was a bit ordinary on the weekend but a few fish were picked up flatlining Tassies during the week.
SAVE THE DATE
Leigh Martin Marine Mercury Classic, Lake Hume, October 13 and 14.
Hume: Has been better again this week but still not producing for everyone.
A big Slim Minnow worked for me and I know of a couple of others who hooked on them as well, but King Cobras and Tassies are also getting a few whacks.
The one I caught had a half-digested reddie, about 100mm in length, and about a dozen smelt in his gut.
The water was glassed out and you could see quite a few pods of smelt working around the place so here’s hoping those trout get up and start smashing into them.
Dave Burles also picked up a nice 63cm and brother Hayden got a few small reddies again during the week too.
Mulwala: Still at zero per cent but we shouldn’t have to wait much longer.
Khancoban: Has been patchy but a couple of reasonable fish have been caught trolling nine to 13cm Rapalas in trout patterns.
Blowering: Reasonable with some great cod getting nailed off the top and on swimbaits for those other brave souls to fish the night shift. Also some good ones from the bank bait fishing.
Murrumbidgee: Good for both crays and cod at the minute. It’s clear but very low, so bigger boats would struggle.
Burrinjuck: Patchy but the odd big cod being caught using big hard bodies.
Wyangla: Fishing pretty well, with both bank, bait and lure fishos going well. Best lures seem to be big hard bodies at the moment.