The long weekend was a busy one on and off the water. Temperatures reached in excess of 30 degrees Celsius and the winds mostly stayed away. Bait fishermen had the better rub of the green, with the majority of the yellows being caught holding close to the trees and on the bottom. The guys with live shrimp and small yabbies were cleaning up with many boats picking up 10 or more fish in the day. Moving trees to find the fish was the trick with most trees only giving up three or four fish before a move was required. It was sad to see so many large females with eggs being discarded at the cleaning tables as well as a few undersize and illegally-captured Murray cod. Not only were fishermen taking the cod but returning to the tables to clean them. The best fishing areas remain at the trees from Big Scrubby up as far as the top parks on the Murrumbidgee. Trees in around 20 foot of water with the fish around the base. Lure fishermen, particularly the trollers, had slower going. With the fish holding in on the trees a change of tactics is required, if you can’t bring yourself to use bait. The use of soft plastic grubs, such as Gulp, or Z Man Grubz in 75mm rigged on ¼ ounce jig heads and a no 2.0 hook, slow rolled vertically amongst the timber, has taken over as the main method in the yellow belly tournaments. Jigging crank baits such as masked vibes is also worth a go. The water temperature will continue to rise and the fishing will only get better from here. The water temperature in the main basin remains a couple of degrees down however the evening fishing from the bank remains quite good. Contractors working in the park have been landing two or three fish every night during the week, fishing with shrimp. The fish are coming on the bite just before dark. Another report was of 45 yellows landed over the weekend from the bank downstream of the park between the park and the village. Not much has been happening in the Yass River arm with the water remaining more brackish. The Goodradigbee above Wade Island is well worth a go also.