Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

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Leonard
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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by Leonard » Thu Jan 29, 2015 5:10 pm

wokka1 wrote:
bong wrote:[ but apparently under the EJ Whitten bridge there's much deeper water which should produce more carp, or at least less wary ones.
You won't find the water any deeper there than anywhere else. I've fished in a Yak from Solomons ford (very end of Canning street) to that point and the closer you get to the bridge the more rock gardens and shallow riffles you encounter. Of course there are deeper holes but without a sounder or historical knowledge you will struggle to find them. Your best bet for deeper water is the stretches above the various fords along the river.

However... you don't need depth for the Maribyrnong barra... snags and reed and weed and a good dash of stealth will get you fish fairly often though the last couple of seasons have been hit and miss. Always approach the bank quietly as there is a very good chance that Mr mudsucker will be mooching in the shallows waiting for you. (And maybe Mr Joe Blake in the grass so be careful)

Redfin are usually small but are everywhere. If you see something bailing up baitfish in a snag it's probably Reddies.
Much appreciated!!! :grin:

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wokka1
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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by wokka1 » Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:58 pm

Just bumping this thread. I've now got a sounder on my little river Yak and have had a look at:

Garden avenue ford down to Brimbank ford...this stretch averages 1 to 2 metres till you head past the little gravel beach area on the bend then hits up to about 3.5 m. Above Garden av ford averages around 3 to 3.5 with a deeper hole about 100 metres beyond where the bike track turns up the hill. Once the river makes a right angle the average drops to about 2 m. I used to be able to paddle all the way up to horseshoe bend ford but the last big blow toppled a gum right across the river and it's impassable.

Solomons' ford ? (very west end of Canning street) upstream to Whitten bridge. The first 400 or so metres, where the bike track is pretty close to the bank and the river wide fluctuates between about 3 and 4 m but hits 5 in a couple of places. The rest of the way has a few 2 m ish holes but is mostly around 1 to 1.5 m with some quite shallow water thrown in.

I've also had a look upstream from Canning reserve to the upper tidal limit which as near as I can tell is below what I call Solomons ford. The first km or so beyond the reserve hits 5 m in places before fluctuating between about 4 and bugger all with exposed shallows at low tide in some places. The very upper tidal reaches aren't much more than a metre in most pools but I can tell you that the bream don't care too much about depth, nor sunlight but they do hold tight to structure.

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adamk
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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by adamk » Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:16 pm

question anyone ever had any luck during the night ? or is it a day thing ?

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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by sloth » Sat Apr 04, 2015 7:47 am

Cheers wokka. As an lb angler not being able to sound the structure is a massive frustration. Rare to get that info provided - much appreciated.

In my experience with bream they are so structure orientated it's not funny and if you're not dropping right next to the structure it can be the difference between a donut and a hot bite. Not local ...but I was fishing a rock bar the other day where a metre from the bar was nothing ... Drop it within 30cm of the edge and it was a bream a cast !

And adamk - the nong will still produce at night - I've had success on hardbodies and soft plastics at night. I modify my tactics to fish a bit deeper and if you see any baitfish activity follow them and cast around the school. There is a risk though of connecting to something a bit bigger than bream though.

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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by wokka1 » Sat Apr 04, 2015 8:12 am

Some of you LB fishos might have already done it but a walk or cycle along the river above Canning reserve at a dead low tide would be very educational I think. A lot of stuff, both flats and snags gets exposed that you just don't see at high.

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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by sloth » Sat Apr 04, 2015 1:29 pm

Good advice. I've never really spent much time that high in the system - tend to stick around anglers and the racecourse. Sounds like worth a look :)

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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by wokka1 » Sat Apr 04, 2015 1:54 pm

I'll eventually run the sounder over the Canning to Afton and Afton to Edgewater sections. I don't expect as much structure (other than the man made stuff) other than contours and drop offs but it will be interesting all the same.

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adamk
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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by adamk » Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:21 pm

sloth wrote:Cheers wokka. As an lb angler not being able to sound the structure is a massive frustration. Rare to get that info provided - much appreciated.

In my experience with bream they are so structure orientated it's not funny and if you're not dropping right next to the structure it can be the difference between a donut and a hot bite. Not local ...but I was fishing a rock bar the other day where a metre from the bar was nothing ... Drop it within 30cm of the edge and it was a bream a cast !

And adamk - the nong will still produce at night - I've had success on hardbodies and soft plastics at night. I modify my tactics to fish a bit deeper and if you see any baitfish activity follow them and cast around the school. There is a risk though of connecting to something a bit bigger than bream though.
was meaning carp wise as the closest place to fish if i'm walking is werribee river, train station area. an its a bit far up for bream i would gather. 15 min walk for me.

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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by wokka1 » Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:35 pm

sloth wrote: they are so structure orientated
Not always, opposite Poynton's 1530 this arvo.
IMG_20150404_153514102 (Large).jpg

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wokka1
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Re: Upper maribyrnong report (Keilor East)

Post by wokka1 » Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:41 pm

adamk wrote: was meaning carp wise as the closest place to fish if i'm walking is werribee river, train station area. an its a bit far up for bream i would gather. 15 min walk for me.
I've fished Brimbank a couple of times till dark and caught nothing, Best results for me have always been hotter settled days. But then I tend to float fish to fish I can see or in places I have seen them schooling in the past. The calm water makes them both easier to polaroid and keeps the float in the zone longer.

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