G'day, fishos. Releasing fish has only really been going on for a few decades now and was really brought into the spotlight, and accepted by the masses, once Rex Hunt's fishing shows fired up.
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Fortunately, we now have generations of anglers who see releasing fish as "the norm".
It's one of those things though; you sometimes have that doubt in your mind if those fish survive.
I recently posted a couple of photos on the Compleat Angler Facey page of Josh Read, a super keen local angler, who'd caught the same trout below the Hume Dam wall twice in a four-week period, showing everyone that if a fish is handled correctly, it should have no problems surviving.
Well, there's now another chapter to that story.
That same fish has now been caught twice since by Ross Borella, another super keen angler who frequents "the wall" regularly and is often fishing alongside Josh.
How do they know it's the same fish?
This particular trout is a super fat fish with very distinctive markings. On inspection of all four photos taken at those different times of capture, it's clear the markings are identical and it's the same fish.
I suppose this is just further proof that, again, if you handle your fish with care, take a quick snap and release as quickly and carefully as possible and try to make sure it's strong enough to swim off properly at the time you let it go, there's every chance another angler will get as much joy out of catching that fish as you did.
I've noticed this season in particular, just about all the keener anglers I've seen out there on my limited visits have been releasing their fish, which, in the long-term, can only be good for the fishery.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating releasing everything you catch.
I love a feed of fish as much as the next fisho, but why keep more fish than you need?
Remember, try to limit your catch, not catch your limit.
Dartmouth (82 per cent): is fishing as well as it has for years.
Everyone I've spoken to that has been up there in the past week or so has caught fish, and quite a few of them.
Flat lining or lead lining with Tassie devils of assorted colours is working fine and it doesn't get much simpler than that.
These few warmer days we had this week might put them down a little, but it should still be no problem for you to catch a feed if you're heading up.
Streams: have settled a little and slowly getting to better fishable levels.
Despite being a tad high, they're fishing well though, with fishos drifting worms going particularly well.
We're also getting good reports from spin and fly fishos and expect things to keep improving, depending on the weather.
Khancoban Pondage: hasn't scored a guernsey in our column for quite a while. We hadn't heard too many reports from up that way, not many stunning ones anyway, but it seems a few trout are again being caught in reasonable numbers, particularly on bait and particularly early mornings. It's great to see it picking up and it remains one of the most beautiful places to fish in the country.
Hume Dam (98.3 per cent): was pretty kind to most fishos again this week, although the wind has made it a bit uncomfortable on quite a few occasions.
There's still no shortage of reports of trout, yellas, redfin and even cod this week.
We've had reports ranging from Granya to Tallangatta, land-based and boats, ice jigs to plastics to Tassies to hardbodies to yabbies and worms from three to 30 metres, and they've all been positive.
The fishing's been fantastic all over the place really. How blessed are we to live where we do.
If you're land-based, don't despair; on the Vic side, you have quite a few reserves that give access to the dam, including Jacksons Point, which is one of the most popular.
On the NSW side, Bowna Reserve or "The Pines", the area between the Apex ramp and the Lake Hume Resort, are both fishing well.
The Wall: is still producing some magnificent trout, and tactics have changed slightly as the water level has dropped. Lead fish are still very popular, but plastics, shallow minnows and even Tassie devils are working, particularly in those hours of lower light.
The yellas are firing up slowly, and with these couple of warmer days about, you'd only expect them to improve.
Murray below Albury: has been great on the yellas, with numerous fishos flicking vibes and hard bodies to catch them. Trout are also showing up on bait and lures, fishing gravel bars.