My son Daniel with a Moorabool brown last week. Mostly, each age class of trout is fat and strong on every lake at present.
I’m one of the many who’s gladly hit the rivers and creeks since the Victorian stream trout season opened last month. And, as it’s turned out, for good reason: after some decent rain and then mild to warm weather, they’ve been fishing well.
The lakes have been somewhat left behind in the rush, and I get that too. We often want what we can’t have, and it was streams, not stillwaters, that were largely off the menu for months. However, I’ve been reminded over the last week or two that lakes don’t just stop because the streams start.
Newlyn damsel leaper.
On Victoria’s central highlands lakes near my home, the positive legacy of a wet winter is more and more obvious as the weather warms up and the bugs become extra active. With levels about as high as they can get, and covering ground that hasn’t been submerged for a year or more, there’s a perfect mix of food for insects, crustaceans, baitfish and frogs, all off which are booming. This is coupled with those big inflows settling down again, meaning that in most cases, water clarity is very good. Clear water and lots of it – perfect!
Most lakes, like Newlyn, are full and clear.
One thing which isn’t instantaneous, is the return of lots of big fish. Most waters still reflect the populations of large trout present before the dry spell backed off. In lakes such as Wendouree, which hardly changed level, this means the transition is pretty much seamless. For the likes of Hepburn though, they’re coming from a low base – figuratively and literally.
Masses of midges at Hepburn are only going to add to trout growth rates over coming months.
Very good stocking from VFA over recent months mean that there are plenty of young trout to take advantage of the ideal conditions, and some of these are already more than just ‘stockies’. Still, don’t expect monsters everywhere – at least not yet.
Even the 'stockies' are now fun-sized while you wait for a bigger model to show.
As for the actual fishing, the best of (my preferred) sight fishing action so far (and keep in mind I’m only getting out for a few hours once or twice a week) has been provided by dragonfly/ damselfly leapers, and trout sipping terrestrials – especially beetles, ants and termites in stormy or humid conditions.
The mayfly have been underwhelming to date, although I’m hearing the odd reasonable report from Wendouree. The leapers are challenging but possible if you can hold your nerve and persist; the terrestrial sippers are much more cooperative if you can find them – for what it’s worth, a size 14 Shaving Brush seems as good as anything for me lately, despite the lack of real duns among the terrestrials. Another fly that's worked well when the ants and termites are about, is a small (size 16) Royal Wulff with the bottom half of the hackle trimmed so it sits flush with the surface.
Gulls indicating a light dun hatch at Wendouree last Wednesday.
In the last couple of days, the weather has turned wetter and colder, with over 50mm of rain across most local catchments. This is a nice refesh as we get closer to summer - if temporarily dampening the terrestrial insect activity, although it doesn't take much warmth to get the damsels and dragons going again.
So if you can tear yourself away from the streams for a bit, try a lake session when it’s mild, and preferably with a light/ moderate breeze and some cloud. In a month or two, streams will be the main game anyway, so now’s the chance for something different before patches of summer heat slow the lake action.
