After a burst of cool weather and a promising forecast (mild, some cloud and not too much wind), I’d planned to spend all of today reacquainting myself with some of the nearby lakes. For reasons I won’t bore you with here, my mission was cut short. However, I did manage a few interesting hours before the real world called ‘time’.

First stop was Moorabool Reservoir, and at 94%, I’m wondering if I’ve ever seen it so full in March? It looked amazing, and quite clear too. I managed one decent follow on a small Magoo, and then headed over the hill to Newlyn.

At the first bay, the lake looked disappointingly discoloured; possibly with algae. With a walk further up the eastern shore though, conditions improved, and I felt confident pulling the same Magoo from Moorabool through the wide gap between the outer weedbed and the shore. While I had no action, I felt a longer stay may well have produced something – the lake feels fishy, and at 78%, levels are more than healthy for this time of year.

Finally, with the clock ticking, I popped over to Hepburn, walking in the at the dairy end to allow for the stiffening south-easterly. This lake too is at a good height for autumn at 71%, and even the main basin reveals fishable gaps in the weed.

Hepburn’s almost permanent (in recent years) algal bloom continues: I could fish the water on the lee shore with confidence, but on the windward shore, the algae was thick. Just as I arrived, I saw one good fish bust up on smelt beyond the weed on the eastern shore. Unfortunately, the weed was simply too broad in that spot to allow decent presentation. Good to see one though, and I imagine there might have been more action earlier in the morning, as the cloud was literally breaking up as I arrived.

Overall report card based on an incomplete investigation? Promising, but with the best (probably) to come.

(PS: Water temperatures were around 18C on all three lakes, so no issues there.)