Fishing for redfin perch at Lake WIlliam Hovell on a 45 degree day
Crystal clear water, swimming and fishing. Is there a better place to escape the heat on one of the hottest days this decade than Lake William Hovell? It was 45 degrees in Wangaratta!
I love Lake William Hovell. I love swimming there and I love fishing there. The redfin perch fishing as fantastic at some times of the year. The trout fishing is also fantastic art certain times of the year, particularly during the cooler months.
This time of the year, during the heat of summer it is the redfin fishing that lures people like myself to Lake William Hovell.
It is not just the redfin fishing that lures us up there though, it is also the crystal clear water, the swimming, the wildlife and the fact that it is always 4 or 5 degrees cooler up there than it is in Wangaratta.
This was the last thing I expected to catch fishing in the Ovens River
This was the last thing that I expected to catch while fishing in the Ovens River. I have been fishing in the Ovens River for 4 decades and have seen a lot of things come and go, and seen a lot of changes to the fishing.
During the 1980s the Ovens River was an absolute redfin fishing hot spot. The river was teaming with redfin, otherwise known as English perch and it was not uncommon to catch 10 or a dozen nice redfin in a single afternoon.
During the 1990s fisheries stocked the Ovens River heavily with yellowbelly (Golden perch) which seemed to create a rapid decline in the number of redfin
By the end of the 1990s yellowbelly stockings had discontinued in the Ovens River and trout cod stocking began under the trout cod recovery program which lasted several years.
With all of these native fish being stocked into the Ovens River, the redfin population was decimated to the point that they have become as rare as hens teeth.
So rare in fact that I can only remember catching 1 single redfin in the last 20 years and that was about 8 or 9 years ago on a cast lure.
This redfin was the last thing that I expected to catch in the Ovens River in Wangaratta. To be honest, I would have been less surporised if I had of caught a rainbow trout!
I suspect that this redfin may have been washed into the Ovens River from a nearby creek, lagoon or dam in recent rain events and no doubt it was only a matter of time before a Murray cod or a trout cod found it....and ate it!
Xiro explorer V drone footage of Lake William Hovell
Check this out, I took my Xiro Explorer V drone to Lake William Hovell on Monday morning and took this footage.
Personally, I think this is the best footage I have taken with my Xiro explorer drone. It is sooooo beautiful up there.
Make sure you view this video in hi-resolution if you are able to as the low resolution does not do it much justice.
The camera and video quality on the Xiro Explorer V drone is just amazing.
Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia
360 degree flyaround of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral in Wangaratta, using a DJI Phantom 4 drone in Point of Interest (POI) mode.
King River North East Victoria
Awesome amount of water flowing out over the spillway of the King River lake William Hovell Dam
Kayaking the KING RIVER Near Wangaratta Victoria
King Valley to Buffalo Range Victoria
Music Joakim Karud
Lowrider Lake William Hovell is an all time favourite in the King Valley.
Located approximately 18km from Cheshunt, the lake offers a picturesque recreational area perfect for BBQs, walking and hiking, fishing, canoeing and four wheel driving activities. The lake contains trout, redfin and some macquarie perch, and the size can surprise, with trout to 3kg and some healthy reddies in the warmer months.
The lake was officially opened in 1971 and was built to harness the waters of the King River for downstream irrigation purposes. When the lake opened to the public almost 30 years ago, a number of unique regulations were put in place, most of which still apply today. Boats are limited to 8kph and 10 horsepower, camping within the confines of the reserves is prohibited and most of the western shore is landscaped, safe and accessible. This means the shore based angler can take the kids for a day’s fishing, have a choice of locations to fish from and not be hassled by power boats or water skiers. Those anglers who have a boat can access a huge variety of water for what is a small lake. The eastern shore is quite deep and offers good trolling. The top of the lake, where the King River runs in is only 20 minutes from the boat ramp and offers lure casting, trolling, bait fishing and bait drifting. In between there are a number of bays on the western shore to explore.
As an irrigation storage, Lake William Hovell is often at the mercy of huge fluctuations in water level, with the lake sometimes drawing down to virtually the old river course in summer and filling to 100+% in winter. As a result of this it fishes best for trout during the winter months.
Target Species: Brown and rainbow trout, redfin. Macquarie perch are protected in this storage.
Best Methods: For trout, fish can be caught trolling, bait fishing, fly fishing or lure casting. For redfin, trolling, bait fishing, lure casting and jigging work well in the warmer months.
Lure Selection: Rapalas, baby merlins, mepps, celtas and tassies all work well here at times.
Getting There: 70km from Wangaratta on the Whitfield road.
robbiefishing Q&A episode 2
Here is episode 2 of my weekly Q&A segment. Unfortunately the recording in my new fishing studio did not go as planned and the white balance is not great. Thankfully I have already began working to resolve this issue.
Every Wednesday I will be answering fishing questions. They can be questions about me, questions about fishing or any questions really....just ask me anything. Obviously if the question is too private I can not answer it.
I am already looking forward to filming next weeks Q&A segment and am looking forward to filming 5 videos per week as part of my upload schedule.
Old mate lures, remember to enter the coupon 'robbiefishing' at the checkout to get 10% off.
King River camp
Took an extended weekend to relax and unwind in the Victorian high country. It's so beautiful up there. Get out and Explore. You won't regret it. Unless you get bit by a snake......
Trout fishing at Merriwa Park
Today Holly and I went trout fishing in Merriwa Park. The small lake in Merriwa Park is stocked annually with ready to catch rainbow trout in time for the winter school holidays and as you can see in this video it is hugely popular.
Trout fishing is populat in any lake at any time, but these family friendly waterways are a smash hit for so many younger people.
As an able bodies adult, I always release all of the trout that I catch in these small dams as they are stocked primarily for kids and people with mobility issues. In saying that, all licensed fisherman are allowed to fish for them.
I like to encourage people to enjoy this small pond trout fishing, but please be mindful of the kids and people with mobility issues before taking the trout out of the waterways and home for a feed.
Edi, King river
Camp site just outside Edi, between Edi and Whitfeild.
Flash flooding Tarrawingee December 13th 2018
When my wife and I went to go fishing at Beechworth this morning we never expected to encounter this. In almost 44 years living in Wangaratta I have never seen flooding like this in Tarrawingee.
The Tarrawingge to Beechworth road is completely flooded and is now closed by a police road block, and there are reports of a bridge being swept away on the creek just out of Tarrawingee.
It is not just Tarrawingee, there is water everywhere and the Hume HIghway is flooded and closed just north of Wangaratta with 50 vehicles stranded. My father is on one of those vehicles and has just told me that the police helicopter has just arrived on the scene.
10 hours ago we were still in severe drought here in North East Victoria, and now there is damaging flooding with more rainfall to come. It is pouring rain right now as I type.
I am not sure how much effect this will have on the local fishing. Obviously the Ovens River will come up dirty and rise, but how long it stays effected for I do not know.
Either way, flooding is usually very good for fishing and I am sure that the long term benefits will be great for the fishing in North East Victoria.
King River Crossing
Bruce Tyler (Right) and Daniel Parker (Left) show how easy it is to cross a river. In this case, the King River in North East Victoria, above lake William Hovell at Pineapple Flat
welcome to the robbiefishing fishing show
My first full length fishing show style video broken up into segments.
In this video I have some redfin fishing fun, teach you how to set up your baitcaster reel, and do some Murray cod fishing in small water with my great mate Brett Corker.
As mentioned in the video, here is the link to the Old Mate lures that I like. If you buy a lure, or number of lures through this link, don't forget to use the discount code robbiefishing at the checkout to save yourself 10%.
Please leave a comment below the video to let me know what you thought of this new format of video. I am unsure of whether I will go down the path of making longer videos less frequently, or shorter videos more frequently. Please let me know what you think.
Murray cod fishing, redfin fishing and a baitcaster reel tutorial all in the one fishing show type video. I hope you enjoy it.
Cheshunt Victoria Australia
Located in the fertile King Valley region of north east Victoria is this delightful township. Cheshunt is beef, sheep and what once was tobacco country. Tobacco has now been replaced, and Cheshunt is now home to some of Australia's best boutique wineries.
drive through the ovens river in the corolla.
Lake Mulwala in Yarrawonga flooded Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's largest river by volume, but not by length.
At the moment the Murray River is completely flooded. At lake Mulwala in Yarrawonga, the the Mulwala weir is struggling to cope with all of the floodwater coming down the Murray River.
The Ovens River, the Murray River, the Kiwea River, all of them are in moderate and majot flooding at the moment. This flooding, while it is bad for a few people, it was provide amazing fish spawning habitat this spring.
Check it out, Lake Mulwala in Yarrawonga flooded Murray River. I hope you like it.
Edi Cutting
Daniel and Leigh being boys
one of first trips to edi cutting 2012
this is one of the first trips to edi cutting. love it at this spot one of the best places to camp in the king valley.
Winton Wetlands History
The European history of the Winton district is rich and diverse. Recognised as Mokoan and then Winton Swamp, people settled around this district in the 1850s and it developed to become a thriving rural community.
This video tells the story of the land, history, lake and the decomissioning of the lake and the next chapter of the Winton Wetlands.