G'day fishos. Over the last couple of weeks, reports of reddies having sores or a rash have become a little more frequent.
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Victorian Fisheries is well aware of the problem and has advised anglers not to consume them or release them back to the water.
Any angler catching an affected redfin is being asked to place them in a plastic bag, keep it in the fridge or on ice and then drop it into the shop so that we can arrange Fisheries to pick them up to be assessed.
Do not freeze them, as this may make identification of this fungal issue difficult.
While focusing on Lake Hume, in the words of an old paint ad the reddies keep on keeping on.
They've not showed signs of slowing down and the fish seem to be getting bigger.
Finding fish could not be any easier by just looking for birds working the water or a group of boats in a little area. Blades, vibes, large plastic minnows, jaggers and ice jigs are all working the fish over.
A smaller plastic about 100mm above whatever you're using on the bottom can only help hook fish.
Another issue that has popped up in recent weeks out on the lake has been the state of the ramps at Bowna and the Pines.
Russell has told me that contractors could be moving in as early as next week to level out the rocks that have been placed down the side of the ramps.
However, until then please take care as the rocks are very large and awkward to move on.
Dart wasn't at its best over the last week, as the warm weather did push down to better water.
Still, this didn't stop Linda and Simon Graham from having a good day out, with six fish making it to the net while dropping two others - three fish were kept for the dinner table.
They trolled these fish both flatlining and using leadline as the morning wore on, using Tassies and minnow style lures.
Dan and Aaron also trolled a few as well, though I do believe one of them didn't bother the scorer.
Ian Dyball snared a brilliant trophy brown, pulling the scales down to a lazy 3.92kg, and a mudeye under a bubble was this beast undoing. Well done Ian, that's a thumper in anyone's book.
Angling up on the streams has taken off - in particular the Mitta River and tributaries have gone up a cog. Doesn't really matter whether you chase them on bait, lure or fly, there have been a run of better fish in recent days.
More than likely, these are the big bruisers from Lake Hume that are wandering upstream to fulfil their reproductive urges.
Reports of fish up to 4kg have been filtering through.
Young Leisha from the Lavington Anglers Club spun up her personal best brown trout, going well over 2kg.
Russell informed us that there will be a 24 water release from Dartmouth Dam in the coming weeks, and the same for Lake Jindabyne on May 21.
It seems like the Snowy Lakes are well worth a visit at the moment.
A party from Albury trolled some big fish up the Eucumbene River arm of the dam that shares the name.
These fish were trolled up over the shallow flats and were of a decent size, but I'm told it wasn't all that easy. If you want to have some fun, then Tantangara is firing the best. However, be aware the size is significantly down on the other lakes.
Wigstons, cobras and small bib lures trolled along the river bed have seen the most action, but better-size fish have been taken of the bank using bait.
There's been a few reports of big cod on large spinner baits being trolled up at Blowering, as well as some better-sized reddies down around the 12 metre mark on ice jigs.
Lake Mulwala also going OK on the troll and with swim baits cast to stumps. Just a reminder that the cray fishing season opens soon, but we'll have more on that next week.
- Send your pics to 0475 953 605 or 0475 947 279