G'day, fishos.
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It always amuses me to hear the knockers saying, "What a waste of time, I saw a big mob of cormorants diving around where they put those fish in the other day, they'll be all gone by now" or "Did ya see the size of them fish they put in? The reddies will eat 'em all in no time".
I've heard the same old lines, and many others, ever since we helped NSW Fisheries release the first dose of 200,000 plus yellas in 1982 but have a look at where we are now! Hume and Eildon are the first two dams that spring to my mind when talking about restocking success stories.
Both have been producing good numbers of trout this season.
Both are just starting to fire on the yellow belly front and, although Eildon's cod fishery is a little further advanced than Hume's, both are seeing a lot of cod being caught.
Restocking has been a huge success story in both those impoundments, and many more, so, next time you buy a fishing licence, just be aware that you're one of the reasons so many fishos are having success, give yourself a pat on the back and ignore all the knockers that are always about, regurgitating those same old lines every time there's another release.
Dartmouth (83.16 per cent): is a very popular destination at the moment.
I ducked up with a mate on Tuesday on a bit of a reconnaissance mission and there were 17 trailers at the ramp.
We did a bit of a grand tour, heading up to running water in the Mitta, Gibbo, Wombat and Scrubby Creek arms just to have a look about.
A couple of things jumped out at us. One is the amount of timber that's floating about. There are a few logs about in the open areas, but once you get well back into any of those creeks mentioned and any other major bay, I would suspect, it can be a battle to reach running water. It was like driving an ice breaker at times!
The other more positive stand out was the amount of very small trout about that are obviously from this year's spawning effort.
We landed over 20 that were probably 80mm to 120mm, with the bulk being rainbows! A great sign.
We also managed a couple of better fish, which were sacrificed for one of those lunches only fishos usually get to experience.
It looked like anyone trolling fenders, lead lines or flatlining did well after chatting with a few other fishos too.
Hume Dam (97.2 per cent): fished well this week, with reddies, cod and yellas all cooperating for most fishos.
One of the best bags of natives I've heard of for quite a while was caught over two small sessions last week by two blokes who wish to remain anonymous, so we'll just call them Leggo Head and Greaser.
These two lads nailed seven cod and nine yellas in those two sessions, trolling hardbodies, with the custom-crafted "Tadpole" the standout lure.
Biggest cod was only around 55cm, not sure about the yellas, but when you throw a few solid reddies in as well, it makes for a couple of ripper sessions in a few hours fishing.
These fish were picked up in the Murray arm of the dam trolling rocky points; well, that's what they told me anyway.
The Bidgee is running pretty hard at the minute and might be better left for a week or two if you're planning a trip.
The Murray: below the wall has jumped slightly again, prolonging the trout bite in that area. It's pushing hard at around 19,000 meg and was running at around 12,000 this time last week as a comparison.
There's still some rippers being caught, up to and over the 4kg mark, with a variety of lures being used.
The yellas continue to have a chew at the wall and right through the system, with most fishos saying small hardbodies and vibes are the go.
Burrinjuck (91.1 per cent): has been reasonable of late. Just spoke to a couple of locals from up that way who say the reddies are on the chew, as are the yellas and cod. Shrimp have been good in around the 7 to 10 metre mark, but these fellas trolled most of the fish they picked up.
Everything's shaping up well for cod opening in and around that area too.
Snowy Lakes may fish all right for those brave enough to head up that way. They often fish at their best when the weather gets a bit crappy at this time of year.
Streams: Looked terrific during the week, but predictions for the weekend aren't filling too many fishos with confidence.
It's quite likely they'll be high and dirty, so if you happen to be heading up into the creeks, worms on the bottom might be your only real option until they start to clear.
Anyhow, let's just see what this forecast weather does, and we'll report in again next week.
