Signs that fishing, Border waterways are on the comeback

Easter's only a stone's throw away, and if this keeps up it will be just sensational.

There's another drop or two predicted for today, too, apparently.

Add another month's growth onto what we've already got happening around the country, and things will be looking spectacular.

The recent rains have been welcomed by all and sundry, and I'm sure we would all agree that our favourite streams, creeks and rivers really needed the drink.

If you're planning an Easter destination, this makes the world your oyster really.

The Upper Murray, Mitta, Kiewa, Ovens and King valleys all look spectacular as it is, and fishing should be excellent in all of the above.

The whole coastline has come back dramatically since the fires too and fishing really well from all the reports we're getting.

Obviously, most of the areas mentioned above had little to no fishing pressure over the Christmas/New Year break - when they would have normally had thousands of visitors - so you would expect that to be an advantage come Easter.

Talking to a couple of my Compleat Angler mates up and down the coast, it sounds like the estuaries are full of flatties, whiting and bream.

The outside fishing is great, with most bottom bashers having little problems getting a feed and game fishos hooking quite a few kingies, dolphin fish and marlin, in particular.

The last of the $10,000 golden-tagged fish was caught at Bemm River on Thursday, but there's still plenty of the $2000 fish swimming around in Victorian waterways.

Dartmouth (46.6 per cent) - has been patchy, and despite the cooler temps most success still seems to be coming from those getting down a bit with lead lines or downriggers.

Best lures seem to be the standard 13.5 gram Tassies at the moment.

There's also been a bit of success in Lake Banamboola - the reg dam just below Dart - on bait and lures.

But it's a battle at times to get it at the height you might prefer.

There's also a few of those golden tagged fish in there to target as well.

And while Tassies and smaller minnow-style lures are working OK, it's worth trying a larger minnow such as a Yakamito 100mm Slim Minnow or similar size Rapala lure.

Mulwala has been tough for some, but others are still nailing a few. Trolling or casting spinnerbaits or smaller hardbodies in the shallows seems to be the best trick.

Size can be a bit of an issue, but there's still the odd fish being caught that's in that 55-75cm window and the occasional big bloke. More often than not, those big fellas are being caught at night casting larger surface lures or swim baits.

Eucumbene (26.3 per cent) and Jindabyne (67.1 per cent) - have both been dropping fractionally, but are producing a couple of fish.

Looks like Euc has been the pick of the two over the last week or so, with trollers catching a couple a session and mudeye fishos doing best from late arvos into the night. There's been some decent browns caught and the odd good rainbow, but the standard size trout you pick up has certainly shrunk a little over the past few years.

The streams - seem to have settled and cleared after the rain in most cases and are fishing really well after that freshen up. There's still quite a few hoppers about and also heaps of crickets, so bait shouldn't be an issue. The Mitta has dropped considerably and is much easier to fish at the moment than it has been for a while.

Lake Hume (16.2 per cent) - has had a rough trot of late, but recent rains have freshened it up a bit and there's a few fish moving.

Quite a few yellas have been reported on the troll and also grubbing around the timber. A few cod have also been reported. The reddies still love the yabbies and worms that are being dangled in front of them, but you'll have to wade through a few small ones. Graeme Jans was lucky enough to bring home 30 decent ones on Thursday, with the biggest being 36cm.

The Murray - below Albury is pretty low, but fishing well with good reports all the way through to Mulwala. Had one customer in that fished around Kismet on Thursday and landed 10 cod; two were keepers.

Blowering (38.7 per cent) - has started to show signs of life as far as redfin are concerned. One customer picked up a number up to 350mm last week using small yabbies and vibes. He fished on a bit of a drop-off in the 6m range and ended up with more than 3kg of fillets.

Access to Tantangara has just been reopened via the Long Plain Road.