MURRAY cod are in good numbers right along the Murray River from Pental Island to Fort Courage, although size is proving a problem in many areas, reports Rod Mackenzie.
Swan Hill has large numbers of small cod taking shrimp, worms, bardi grubs and lures.
Yellowbelly are in good numbers in the same area.
The best reports of big cod have come from Robinvale where specimens a metre long are being caught deep trolling large-bibbed minnow lures.
In the northeast, Geoff Lacey says the Kiewa River at Tawonga is patchy for trout on lures.
Lake Guy at Bogong Village is fishing moderately well.
Yellowbelly to 3kg are being caught in Lake Eildon on spinnerbaits and minnow lures.
Eildon Pondage is producing rainbow trout to 2.8kg on Powerbait and mudeyes fished under a float.
The Goulburn River is clear and rainbow trout to 1.25kg are being caught on gold bead head nymphs at Gilmore Bridge and Martins Lane.
In the Western District, Lake Bullen Merri is slow for rainbow trout to 700g being caught downrigger trolling.
Lake Purrumbete is a better option with shore-based anglers catching brown trout from 2.5 to 4kg on minnow lures and gudgeon under a float.
The top spots are the Quarries, Shag and Hoses Rocks.
Bream are being caught in Yambuk Lake and the Fitzroy River.
The Hopkins River at Warrnambool has bream to 32cm taking black shell and estuary perch being caught at night on lures and Woolly Bugger flies.
Bream are biting on greyback minnow in the Curdies River, with the best results coming from the lake at the Peterborough end.
The Gellibrand River at Princetown has bream, as does the Aire River where fish to 44cm are taking shrimp.
Surf beaches at Aire River, Princetown, Clifton and Peterborough are holding salmon from 800g to 3kg.
A double paternoster rig, with pilchard on the bottom hook and a soft plastic lure on the top leader is working well.
Apollo Bay has a run of salmon to 700g at Marengo.
In Port Phillip Bay, snapper are dominating the catch.
Solid reports of snapper to 8kg have come from Chelsea to Mt Eliza, Mornington and Corio Bay outer Harbour.
Best baits are squid, silver whiting and pilchard.
Mornington pier has barracouta taking lures, and there are good catches of calamari squid being taken inshore from Mornington to Mt Martha.
In South Gippsland, Western Port anglers are experiencing a hot snapper run with fish from 2.5 to 11kg being caught.
In the Gippsland Lakes, the Mitchell River has bream biting near the Butter Factory and between the mouth and the cut.
In the Tambo River, bream are best near the mouth and Rough Road.
Bream have congregated near the mouth in the Nicholson.
Luderick, bream and flathead are being caught on prawn and soft plastic lures from the boardwalk and jetties at Metung.
Hollands Landing has bream and flathead taking prawn.
Lakes Entrance has salmon and silver trevally at the Entrance and yelloweye mullet being caught from the jetties.
At Lake Tyers, the bream are quiet, flathead are plentiful and being caught on soft plastics and trevally and tailor are moving through the channel.
The estuary system at Marlo is producing bream, estuary perch, luderick and mullet. Dusky flathead are being caught at French's Narrows on lures.
Surf anglers are catching salmon, tailor, flathead and gummy sharks on squid and lures. Mallacoota Inlet has large flathead and bream biting in the Bottom Lake on prawn and soft plastic lures.
