It’s been a very busy period for me recently with all the planning and organising for the Macs Lures River Rats Family Fishing Classic. It has restricted my time on the water but I have had plenty of helpers with reports this month, which has been great.

Broken River is in a very poor state. Water conditions are the worst in years with crays even leaving the water due to minimal oxygen levels.

However, there are still anglers catching fish mostly on surface lures and on hardbodies. Young Jayden Blum had a day out casting the new Macs Demolisher during the River Rats comp landing over half a dozen cod and yellowbelly.

The Broken River out towards Dookie has quietened right off. What was once a hot spot for locals is now very average. There are some untouched waters closer to Shepparton and hopefully I will be targeting some new areas in coming months.

The Goulburn River has been up and down in water level, but it has been fishing its best for 3-4 years. Local fisho mark Gibson landed some cracking fish prior to this report with one pushing the 90cm mark.

River Rats comp fish in the Goulburn were mostly either out towards Toolamba or out Medlands Road area Bunbartha. Bait seems to be the best method to land small fish but the bigger ones are being trolled up.

Cod legends Rod Mackenzie and Gus Storer recently fished the river and were very impressed with the water and say our area has huge potential for the future, which is great a huge tick of approval.

No surprise at River Rats comp 70% of fish were caught in the morning sessions with temps rising to over 40ºC on both days with the 2 days leading into event hitting 40ºC as well.

Local fisho known as Sheeves has been catching plenty of legal sized yellowbelly lately. Worms have been the best method if you can cast them into a weedless patch off the banks.

In the warm weather, fish will head out into the deep water that can only be accessed via a boat or kayak.

We’ve had reports of the yellowbelly being caught again in good numbers. Light tackle with unweighted scrub worms have been working well around the edges. It’s not the easiest way to fish but the weight of a scrub worm should be enough to get a big cast in.

I have not had many reports from the basin lately, I think this is because of the windy conditions. Feb/March/April seem to be good months to target the biggest fish out there but with the wind being too extreme most anglers have been keeping away.

With the lack of fishing at Waranga, many locals have been trying to target redfin in the channel systems. However, in the past month or two the channels have been very average, which is a major let down for those who love targeting these fish. Fingers-crossed we see the wind drop right off so we can get back on the basin in March.

Macs Lures & River Rats Family Fishing Classic

Open Male

Open Female

Un13 Boys

Un13 Girls

• 125 entrants, furthest travelled was from Geelong

• Over 200 fish were entered in event

• Over 150 attended Fridays Fishing Expo and Rod Mackenzie Cod seminar

• Raised over $700 for Give Me 5 For Kids with club President shaving his 12 month old beard

• All entrants received a FREE Mac's lure

Huge thanks to the River Rats Club members & Congupna football club members for their help and support over the weekend.