A Week At Windamere – PICTORIAL

This trip to Windamere had been on my mind for a while. After seeing countless photos of monster golden perch being posted on Facebook and Instagram in years past, I wanted in on the action this year, so a date was set and trip preparations were put in place. Along for the ride was Ash Foxwell.

We set off from Melbourne at 4am Sunday morning and pulled into the campground some 12hrs later & a couple hundred dollars lighter after stopping in at couple of tackle shops along the way for a few last minute supplies.

We quickly setup camp and with the bonus hour of light from the start of daylight savings decided to hit the water for a afternoon fish, we quickly rigged up a couple of rods and set off to explore the lake.

Fishing a new waterway is always both an exciting and daunting task. With next to no information as to where to go or which areas to fish, we set off looking for an area which would somewhat resemble what we target in our home water of Lake Eildon. After a short run we came across a moderately sloping bank with a series of rocky points, a few brush piles and some standing timber and began casting the area. It wasn’t long before we got our first inquiry. Ash was hopping a Mask Vibe around a weed bed, and came up tight, to say we were both surprised with what surfaced was a bit of an understatement.

A rather smug looking Long Neck Turtle after munching on a Jackall Mask Vib.

It was my turn next, also working a Mask Vibe across the bottom, I was approaching the end of my retrieve when I received a small tap right under the boat, after a brief but nervous fight we had the first Yella in the boat and solid specimen to open our account.

Over the course of the next 5 days we learned a great deal about both the fish and the lake. Spending an extended time at a new location really allows you to key in on crucial factors such as daily bite windows, technique & retrieve styles and what type of areas are holding fish.

We found unsurprisingly the most productive fishing to be around dawn and dusk, when the fish were most active and in larger concentrations, even hooking a couple of fish well into darkness.

Even well after the sun had gone down we still got fish.

Fishing larger lures such a Jackall Mask Vibes and noisy baits like TN60s were more effective in these periods of low light, I believed this was because of the larger displacement & vibration these lures create, allowing fish to locate them a lot easier. That was the theory I worked on anways and it seemed to work.

Downsizing both line class and lures proved to be effective during the day when the bite slowed down. Ecogear ZX’s proved to be most effective,  fished on 4lb leader and 1-3kg rods. Although not dirty fighters, an 8lb+ fish can still give you some hairy moments when fishing “bream gear” around structure.

Double hook up!

Theres not too many places you can go, and catch two 60cm + Goldens in succession.

Although our catch consisted of mainly Yellowbelly, Ash also managed to tangle with a few of the lakes other residents

Off back to the depths.

Windamere has got to be one of the premier Yellowbelly fisheries in the country, for sheer numbers, size and weight of the fish, not many locations come close. Our final tally for the trip was 77 Yellowbelly, 2 Catfish, 1 Silver Perch, and that greedy little turtle! Although this was our first trip to the lake we will definitely be back.

THE FACTS