Change of tactics pays dividends...

[big Neil]

So the Murrumbidgee water levels are way down on what they have been in January and there's very little water coming from upstream. End result the fish aren't biting like a month ago. So one option was to chuck spinnerbaits and lures around from the boat. This was ok for a while until the river dropped even more and it was difficult getting far without running aground.

Today I tried a different tactic and hit paydirt. It's a full moon so I headed off to the river to do a spot of surface lure casting from the bank. No joy there so I put the shrimp net in and in no time had some very nice sized shrimps. Loaded up the 2 rods with shrimps, attached the bells and sat down on a log to wait for some action, There's a nice sandy beach near to the boat ramp and it's fairly shallow, running down to the main river channel, some 15mtrs across towards the far bank. I guessed that the larger Cod would come up onto the sand bank to eat smaller fish in the shallows.

I was fishing by 3.15 and at 4am I hooked up to a Cod which went 53cms, just under size. A few smaller ones followed. All looked very healthy and well fed.

Despite long periods with no bites I stuck it out and as soon as it came light they started biting again...often both rods going off at once. The bites were hesitant though and it was difficult hooking them.

At 7am they started biting properly and I got several more smallish ones before hooking a better one way downstream. It put up a decent fight as I tried steering it round the snags, against the current. Turned out to be 56cms and a keeper so it headed home with me at 8am. Had things to do so had to leave them biting.

Plenty of food for thought there, for me to ponder, and I'll definitely head back early hours to see if I can develop a new set of tactics. Here's a couple of pics of the larger ones.

[big Neil]

Good luck Swordie. Don't forget to take ample supplies of "medicine". lol. Where are you headed? Neil.

[Cargo05]

Neil we will have to start calling you the cod whisperer, well done again. You certainly have the Bidgee sorted.

[big Neil]

Neil we will have to start calling you the cod whisperer, well done again. You certainly have the Bidgee sorted.

You can call me what you like. Just remember to call me when the ales flowing. LOL. On a serious note one may think that fishing a river with limited species available, would become humdrum. Quite the opposite for me though. These fish can be very elusive and almost every time I visit the river I learn something that works and something that doesn't...then next time, it's different. Sorta keeps me coming back. There's always a new challenge waiting just round the next corner. Cheers, Neil.

[Cargo05]

Yep, can understand that.

John

[luderick -angler]

Mate well done on the cod. They are coming back well. That's fishing always keeps you thinking no matter your target species. You should try the fly mate! It's the next big thing. The central west boys on the Macquarie and Turon do well.

[big Neil]

Mate well done on the cod. They are coming back well. That's fishing always keeps you thinking no matter your target species. You should try the fly mate! It's the next big thing. The central west boys on the Macquarie and Turon do well.

Sounds interesting...Cod on fly. I'm trying to get better results using spinner baits, diving lures and surface lures at present so anything else will definitely have to wait a while. It's very easy for we fishos to "dabble" with a heap of different things and be only average at them. For me it's a case of trying to get consistent results from my current methods. I get good results from bait fishing already so am focussing on "lures"...still a long way to go with that. I did try fly fishing with a guide in Tasmania and had some good results on trout. Out of curiosity, what type, size flies do people use for Murray Cod? Do you have any photos of the flies used? Where is the Turon...I have fished in the Macquarie near Wellington, NSW? Cheers for now, Neil

[luderick -angler]

Nice that your concentrating on one tactic to suss them out! The gear we use for fly is usually 8 - 10 weight rods they are around the eight foot mark in length helps turn over the big flies leaders are short usually 7 to 9 feet of 17lb fluro. Flies range from big deer hair and foam poppers with marabou tails and lots of hackle, big mouse fly imitations tied using foam and strips of possum fur sub surface we tie big bugger style flies or massive rabbit fur zonker patterns with dumb bell eyes lots of hackle as long as it has plenty of movement and displaces water. Colours are usually black reds and purple or green and yellow frog patterns also work well ties with foam they act like a gurgler pattern.

The Turon is a trib of the Macquarie comes in near Long point on the bridle trail. Its close to Sydney and an awesome fishery plenty of goldens and they released another 20000 trout cod in the Macquarie they are coming back good. Mate I plan to give the cod a go where the mitta meets lake Hume in a week as well as the Kiewa river along with chasing the trout higher up these streams. Keep at it and good luck.

Edited February 27, 2016 by luderick -angler

[big Neil]

Many thanks for the information Luderick -angler. I'll look forward to reading your post when ur back from the Mitta and Kiewa region. Hope you get among them, good luck, Neil