Bullen Merri - Don't be lazy, use all your weapons

I spent the weekend fishing the iconic Lake Bullen Merri with the Preston Northcote Angling Club. Typically the club fishes the joint twice a year in the winter months. Primarily this is because we get to stay at the headquarters of our sister club, the Camperdown Angling Club, right on the shores of the lake. And a top spot it is too. I feel for the other poor lunatics who bring down their bivouacs and fish the place at night as howling Antarctic winds pour through the place whilst we enjoy the comforts of a heated lodge. Yum.

The fishing was tough this year. The guys trolling the lake only caught small Chinook Salmon that have been heavily stocked over the last year. The fly fisherman (me) didn't know what they were doing because they were using BMS flies instead of buzzers during the evening rise. Club fishing god  Peter "Swampy" Patterson (winner of the freshwater prize over the 2012/13 season) won the competition using power bait off the bank. Now before you say "anyone could do that" I warn you that Swampy has so many subtle bait fishing techniques that you probably wouldn't stand a chance. My fishing partner MadDog (who won biggest fish of the comp.) wanted to kneel down and worship him when the two crossed paths late on Saturday afternoon. Swampy held his pillow case open and our jaws dropped when we saw five giant rainbow trout inside. We had also tried power bait, amongst four other baits, without these results. Although you might put this down to luck, there were four other fisherman within coo-ee of Swampy and none had this sort of action. Considering he does this time and time again, it reminds me that there can be significant expertise in what seem like the most simplistic of fishing techniques.

MadDog taught me the lesson of the weekend. He was spinning the lake shore in the pre dawn light and to maximise his opportunities he decided to bait fish with a worm at the same time. Lucky he did as the fish he caught on that worm won the biggest fish of the comp.

So whenever you are thinking:

"Here's a good idea. Hold on, should I try this technique? Errrrrr perhaps not, it's a bit of effort, I don't want to."

Stop and do the extra work to maximise your catch. It could get you the big one. Unfortunately I didn't get a touch in exactly the same position using a live minnow that was swimming around wildly and yelling "eat me".

PS. Note that in the video I say a few stupid things as most of the time I was a little tipsy. Also I confuse the stocking of Chinook Salmon with Quinnat Salmon in the lake. See the DPI website for details of what actually was put in.

PSS I have been asked what are Swampy's secrets, how does he catch so many fish on bait? Here is what I have observed:

• Swampy uses fresh bait whenever possible. His top baits are gudgeon and wood grubs. Wood grubs are very difficult to find but gudgeon can be caught in a bait trap. Swampy uses a custom home made bait trap, he does not use those little green traps. The trap he has is pretty big (but legal) and he always uses fresh fish for bait i.e. not cat food, which is pretty crap. He caught the most bait over the weekend save for us with our 6m net. However we did not get the big bullheads, he did.
• Compared to all the other traps around the jetty, he caught more bait.
• He also uses power bait in over 20 different falvours. He rotates though these over the course of the day. It's a bit hard to describe how Powerbait is actually put on a hook. I was shown by his grandson and the main principle is too smooth it out until there are no cracks in it at all. Cover as much of the hook as possible, leave just the point exposed. Use hooks with the little barbs up the shank if possible.
• He specified to me that he only casts 20 ft from the bank at the location he was in. The drop off was quite close to the bank here so he would have been in 4-6 metres of water.
• On this trip I think he had 20 types of Powerbait, scrubbies, mudeye, wood grubs, minnows, gudgeon and bullheads.
• Swampy puts in the hours. On this trip he fished from 6am until 5:30pm in two spots not 100m apart. I remember a Murray Cod trip where he fished until 2am. He won that comp with a fish caught around 1am when everyone else was asleep.
• I am not sure how he reacts to bites, I don't know how long he waits to strike. Nor do I know how hard he strikes. More Swampy research is necessary here.
• Swampy uses pretty good gear. He uses 9ft custom mudeye rods most of the time.
• He rarely fishes from a boat and never spins.
• Swampy's motto is, and I quote, "Let the fish come to you". He does not move about much.