The Christmas and New Year period saw anglers flocking to the central highlands to enjoy some fantastic fishing. Overall the weather was good providing lots of fishing opportunities.

Our Officers were on patrol throughout the period, and they saw some fantastic catches. Overall 317 anglers were checked, along with 109 vessels.

The standout waters were as follows:

Arthurs Lake – After some tough times we were really pleased with how well this water fished. Both lure and fly anglers were catching fish. Green and gold cobra wobblers worked well for both trolling and drift spinning anglers, particularly around Jonah Bay. In the Cow-paddock, fly anglers reported seeing plentiful rising trout taking duns and damselflies. All fish were in fantastic condition.

Woods Lake – Trolling anglers did well on cobra and bibbed lures, particularly on the eastern shore of the lake. Fly anglers did particularly well on dry flies in the marshes located in the South Western corner of the lake. This included one very impressive fish that weighed in excess of 2 kilograms.

Great Lake – Cobra lures  trolled on lead lines caught plenty of fish. The green yellow and red pattern appeared to the best, whilst green and gold and brown and red also did well. Swan Bay, Haddens Bay and Cramps Bay were the hotspots. One bait angler fishing with worms in Swan Bay caught four impressive fish ranging between 420mm and 480mm in an afternoon session. Fly anglers also did quite well, with good wind lane fishing conditions available. There were some very large gum beetle falls.

Four Springs Lake – There were less anglers, but some impressive bags were caught from the northern end of the lake by bait anglers fishing with mudeyes under floats. Fly anglers also did well from the shore.

19 Lagoons – Excellent polaroiding conditions occurred throughout the period. Anglers reported seeing plenty of cruising fish from Lake Botsford, Lake Augusta and Lake Ada. Tailing fish were also reported from Howes Bay Lagoon and Double Lagoon. Drift spinning with small hard body lures worked well.

Throughout the period our Officers detected and dealt with 29 offences under Inland Fisheries and Marine and Safety Legislation. 7 anglers were found to be fishing without a licence, whilst one was found to be using more rods than allowed. Boating safety continues to be a concern, with 8 vessels found to be not carrying their required safety equipment. A further 10 anglers were found to be not wearing their PFD. Boating safety will continue to be a focus for our compliance team over the coming months. Before you head out on your next trip, please check that all of your equipment is in good order.

With so many waters currently fishing well and the warmer months of the year upon us, why not start planning your next trip to the highlands. We strongly encourage anglers to head back to Arthurs Lake, it is currently fishing well.

All the best for some great fishing in 2019.