A bit of news for those who fish Mulwala through autumn and winter.

Following is a summarised version of a media document, for those that haven’t seen it.

Communities around Yarrawonga Weir are advised that the MDBA will lower Lake Mulwala between late autumn and mid-winter to undertake structural works and manage the aquatic weed egeria densa.   

Lake users, including boat operators, recreational users and pumpers, should consider adjusting their activities for changed water levels. 

MDBA head of river management David Dreverman said the lake drawn down would start in late April and the lake would be refilled to its normal operating range by late July. 

“We are very aware of the importance of Lake Mulwala to the local community, so we’ve been talking with people in the area to limit any disruption to local activities,” Mr Dreverman said. 

“Starting in late April, the water level will be gradually lowered by 1.2 metres and finish mid-May.

“We’ll adjust the rate at which the lake is lowered to make sure supply is maintained to the major irrigation offtakes.” 

Mr Dreverman said the second phase of the draw down, from mid-May, would see the water level lowered to about three metres below the normal operating level. 

It would be held at that level until about mid-July. 

“We expect to start refilling Lake Mulwala by mid-July, ready for the start of the irrigation season,” he said. 

“This draw down will allow routine testing of the weir structure and work to control erosion on the lake foreshore. 

“It’s also an opportunity to prevent the invasive water weed egeria densa from becoming a problem. Subjecting the exposed weed to frost is the best way to stop 

it spreading to the extent that caused problems in 2009.”

Even though the water level will be very low it doesn’t mean that you can’t go fishing there, in 2009 when the water level was lowered I went there with Rod from Compleat Angler Wagga for a day’s fishing and we would have landed more than 15 fish for the day all on casted Spinnerbaits. 

Yes, there may not be much water to fish and you have to be very accurate with your casts but it is still worth a trip. 

The other thing it is good for, especially if you have a GPS on your boat, is you can travel the channels and track them on an SD card for future reference when the water is back to its normal level.

Had a call from a fisherman during the week with what he thought was an unusual thing. 

He and a mate went fishing in the river, launched at Wiradjuri, travelled to (pretty much) Ashmont, hooked a couple of fish and decided to keep a cod of around 65cm. 

No drama, not breaking any rules. 

Took it home to clean it and when he did, he collected two golf balls and a float normally used on a yabby or lobster pot. 

Don’t know what the golf balls were doing there. I have a pretty bad slice when playing golf, but not that bad.

I do know that there would have been a bit of grunting and groaning trying to pass them, anyway it is not unusual. 

Years ago fishing in Mulwala I was told that boiled eggs were good to use for bait, so I tried a couple and had two hooks straightened while using them. 

I have heard of people harvesting big cod (when it was legal to do so) and have found full grown ducks, feral cats, piglets, galahs, water rats and, if you can remember not that long ago when Lake Albert was at its lowest, a large cod tried to eat the buoy at the northern end of the lake. 

Cod are voracious, opportunistic hunters/feeders that will pretty-much eat anything that can be eaten and, if you can believe the old stories, have even had a go at homo sapiens.

Burrinjuck was pretty quiet especially for the lure fishermen, only a couple of smaller cod reported on bait, yellas on shrimp and no reddies. The water is dropping, making things a bit harder but, once again, if you have a GPS on your sounder, go and mark the bigger structures that are now showing for future reference. Blowering is the same, although it has caught a couple of fishermen with the “islands” not so deep under the water and at night this makes them fairly easy to mount, hey Ken Perrin and Bryn Mathew.

Talbingo is still quiet with no reports coming in, but it soon might be the easiest place to put a boat in with the dropping water levels and, if I remember correctly, it’s about 15km from the wall to Sue City so there are plenty of places to drop a line. Tantangara and Eucumbene are producing a couple of nice fish so it could be worth a trip for a weekend; Tantangara one day, Euc the next. What’s the worst that could happen? Have a good time and maybe catch a fish? Jindabyne has been a bit hit-and-miss with only a couple of reports but very picturesque.

Hume Weir saw 120 fish caught in the AYC out of 32 boats (with eight boats getting doughnuts) so it was a little tough and bloody hot with a storm thrown in for good measure.

Mulwala hasn’t given me any reports. Hopefully a little different this weekend with the masters fishing tournament on and a good contingent of Wagga anglers attending.

The Murrumbidgee is fair with reports of a couple of good fish, mainly on bait. There were over 30 boats on the river between Narrandera and Wagga last weekend just to let you know – I have eyes everywhere.

The South Coast has seen the marlin still heading south and they are now past Apollo Bay, the Narooma flathead comp is on this weekend so will give a report next week.

Dam Percentage

Eucumbene 51.8%

Blowering 30.7%

Burrinjuck 43%

Jindabyne 71.9%

Tantangara 21.3%

Talbingo 86%

Mulwala 98.8%

Dartmouth 79.1%