G'day fishos. Hasn't the year gone by quickly? Next Saturday, the Leigh Martin Marine Mercury Classic Lake Hume Classic is on again, dragging fishos from all over Australia to fish for more than $50,000 of prizes.
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Early bird registrations have closed, but you can still enter using the forms at various outlets.
Or you can sign up at the Lake Hume Tourist Park on Friday evening from 4-8.30pm) and Saturday from 5.30-10am.
Angling times are from 6.30am-6.30pm on Saturday and 6.30am-10am on Sunday. This event will be a catch, photo and release - in line with the current best practices. If you're going to fish the classic, regardless of whether you're north of Bethanga Bridge or above Bowna, you must have a Victorian fishing licence.
Let's get down to the nitty gritty. As I am writing this, the soft patter of rain is dampening my enthusiasm. So, it's a good thing it's not this weekend.
The weather next weekend looks to be OK, but maybe a tad cooler than expected. So, where to fish is the first thought. I would be looking north of the bridge up to Wymah, simply because of the amount of cold water coming down from Dartmouth Dam that ends up in the Tallangatta arm. Yellas tend to be a bit docile in colder water, yet it doesn't mean they wont eat.
Trolling will be the easiest and most effective way to entice the odd yella or two. McGrath wide body divers are always a lure of choice for a lot of anglers. When trolling, look for signs of underwater structure and rocky banks or outcrops, as these are prime yella habitat. Bait wise, well it's hard to go past the humble yabbie. Worms make a very good back up.
Over the last week the fishing scene has been vibrant out on the Hume with reports of good yellas and a few trout and reddies thrown in. A few cod are showing up as a bycatch which is a good sign, but make sure you release the fish as quick as possible.
Nathan Bradley from Wang nailed the daily double with a solid yella and equally impressive brownie trolled on Halco double deeps. Connor Heir, like a few other anglers recently, managed to tangle himself up with a cod while chasing yellas. Cliff Karnatz trolled a good trout and Mark Chaplin a good yella both on wide body McGrath lure.
Dart might be a little busier this weekend with the trolling comp in full swing, and reports over the last week have been very encouraging as there have been a few good bags of trout taken while flatline trolling Tassie Devils.
The Snowy lakes have been difficult with few anglers having anything to cheer about, angling with worms from the bank leading to better catches. That's me done for a while as Russ is back from his holiday.
