Episode 252: Lake Windamere Yellowbelly With Shane Banks

Shane’s Windamere Yellowbelly Fishing Tips

• Yellowbelly fishing is a year-round option in Lake Windamere, despite most folks mainly targeting them during the spring months. Shane has found in recernt seasons that the winter months often provide exceptional fishing.
• Shane’s usual strategy is to start by working the rocky and rubbly shorelines, starting by casting close to shore, then backing out to where the lure is no longer being fouled by weed of slime and concentrating his efforts on that depth.
• When yellowbelly take a lure there may be a fairly subtle ‘tick’ on the line, despite that the fish may have taken the lure quite aggressively. A firm raising of the rod is all that’s required to set fine, sharp hooks.
• Shane doesn’t place much weight on the importance of lunar cycles or other factors and reckons the lake is prone to poor weather. The best option is just to go there and start fishing.
• If the fishing is quiet, reach for the smaller lures, finer leaders and more subtle techniques.
• The key to successful yellowbelly fishing is to have plenty of different techniques in your arsenal and to try all of them until you find what’s working.

Shane’s Yellowbelly Fishing Tackle

• A 7’ spin rod in the 4-8lb or 6-10lb line class, 1000-2500 size reel, 6-10lb braid and 8lb fluorocarbon leader will cover most scenarios.

Shane’s Top Yellowbelly Lures

• There are lots of suitable blade style lures but Shane’s go-to is the Ecogear ZX40. These are heavy for their size and cast long and straight. Shane likes to work them along the bottom in tiny 10-15cm hops that only allow the lure to vibrate 2-3 times per hop. Watch for the telltale ‘tick’ on the line of a fish taking the lure! The Bread and Butter Vex blades are another great option for this technique.
• If the fish are more active and are taking larger items Shane will switch to the smaller sized Zerek Fishtrap. He’ll fish this in much the same way as the blades, but finds it can be taken when fish are looking for bigger food items.
• The 3” Berkley Gulp grub in black colour is another proven fish taker and Shane fishes it on a black Bassman ¼ oz jig head.