Lake Talbingo

[Wolly Bugger]

For many years I had fished Lake Talbingo on and off, without much luck. Usually from the Sue City end.

All this changed one year when a mate and I made a day trip from Canberra. We launched the tinnie at the dam wall and tried various spots until our luck changed.

Using lead core line, with 3-4 colours out, rigged with cowbells, and rapala 5cm rainbow pattern or a single hook with a segment of scrub worm, we started nailing the rainbow trout.

We were trolling along the eastern side travelling south. about 50 metres from the bank. If we moved out too far, hook ups would stop until we moved back in closer to the bank.

For the next few years, I would head back to the same spot at roughly the same time of year, perfecting what I began to learn.

One year my late father and I were there, we started fishing around 9 and we were off the water by about 3 or 4. Having had a ball catching large numbers of trout.

There were others in the caravan park who had been there for a few weeks and all they had caught was one redfin.

Even if they were fishing the right spot, without using the right technique they would still have been fishless.

The thing was you could visit this exact spot earlier or later and be lucky to catch one or two fish.

Lately people have been asking where is the best spot to fish.

Obviously the best spot is where the fish are, and they are biting. Fishing tends to follow a pattern, determined by a number of factors, water temp, spawning, air pressure, rain fall are just a few.

So it is really a matter of timing, being in the right spot, at the right time. We often hear about the success stories but rarely about the number of times people or amount of time people put in without any luck or success.

Take Frankston pier for example you can catch salmon from the pier under the right conditions, but the point is you can visit the pier 10 or 20 times before you're timing coincides with the arrival of the salmon.

Generally late afternoon and particularly when there is a strong westerly or southerly blowing and waves are breaking.