End of Summer

[big Neil]

Been a hot Summer down here on the Murrumbidgee River with many days in the 40s celsius. The 5 months of flooding last year left us with all dams full and the river very high, for the Cod opening on Dec 1st. The bait fishing has been good with 29 outings for 139 Murray Cod, 14 Trout Cod and 2 Carp. Most fish have been small / average in size with only 7 Cod over the 55cms minimum limit. I've taken a couple home and had a couple of good feeds with the neighbours. Biggest fish was a Carp of 78cms and it went like a train, trying everything to get into the snags...me battling for about 10 mins to keep it away from them. Great fun! Alas it had to be despatched. I'm not sure where things are up to with the introduction of the Herpes virus (in the Carp population) but everyone is saying that they're not getting as many Carp as previous years...that's gotta be good for the native fish species.

I haven't been able to do any lure fishing so far. The battery for my electric motor went belly up and I can't afford a new one just yet. The river has been running very fast with daily releases between 15,000 megalitres and (presently) 5,000 megalitres. The river levels have dropped dramatically in the past week and it won't be long before some of the boat ramps are unusable. I managed a few night fishing trips and had moderate success with the Cod, once again only bait fishing, though.

One statistic worth noting is that I haven't caught a single Yellowbelly in the 3 months, thus far. I normally target them during the Cod closed season (Sept -Nov) but couldn't due to the severe floods. Usually pick some up, even when fishing for Cod...but none so far. I don't think it's anything odd, just circumstance, most likely.

So Summer is ending and there's no sign of it getting any cooler, in the short term. The Winter Cod season will soon be upon us and the tactics will be revamped for that. Tight lines everyone. 

This report was brought to you by McDonalds, KFC, Burger King and the donut shop round the corner. Big Neil.

[Guest]

Nice report Neil

[BrassRoots]

I was reading the carp a little while ago and I heard a bunch of people thinking that once the big cod came back that they would keep the carp down by eating the young. You think that might be the case where you are?

 

[Cargo05]

I have been waiting for your report Neil. 29 outings for 139 Murray Cod, 14 Trout Cod and 2 Carp is a great effort. After last season it must seem like a fishing paradise. My Victorian mates are also reporting good cod numbers, so the floods appear to have made for an explosion of cod numbers.  

[big Neil]

6 hours ago, BrassRoots said:

I was reading the carp a little while ago and I heard a bunch of people thinking that once the big cod came back that they would keep the carp down by eating the young. You think that might be the case where you are?

 

Hi BrassRoots. Murray Cod feed on Carp but because Carp are such prolific breeding machines, it makes very little difference to the numbers of Carp. On the other side of the equation the Carp eat the eggs and fingerlings of Cod, sometimes with devastating effect. I think that the Fisheries are doing the right thing by introducing a virus into the Carp populations. They won't be eliminated but should be greatly reduced in number. Cheers, BN

[big Neil]

46 minutes ago, Cargo05 said:

I have been waiting for your report Neil. 29 outings for 139 Murray Cod, 14 Trout Cod and 2 Carp is a great effort. After last season it must seem like a fishing paradise. My Victorian mates are also reporting good cod numbers, so the floods appear to have made for an explosion of cod numbers.  

 

G'day John, how you doing mate? I think that Cod numbers are on the increase and that the management plan which Fisheries adopted some years ago is definitely working. Hard to say (at this time) if there will be a substantial increase in Cod numbers, due to last years floods. Last years fish are still too small to be caught by anglers. It takes a Cod 5-6 years to grow to 50 cms. The other factor that needs considering is the black water fish kills which occurred and killed thousands of big breeding stocks.

All that being said, the rivers down here in Southern Australia have very good stocks of native species and that should continue in the future. I certainly have a very optimistic overview for Murray Cod fishing in the future.

Which rivers do your Victorian mates fish, John? I caught a Cod at Porepunkah in the Ovens River, in Northern Victoria (Jan 17). Cheers, Neil.

[Cargo05]

G’day Neil

It is great to see the increased numbers of cod, and trout cod in the Murray Darling Basin. I was going back to fish the Pirtek challenge in a couple of weeks, but unfortunately that isn’t going to happen now.

My mates mainly fish the Murray, from Mulwala to Barmah. Some big cod have been caught on pink hard bodies. One bloke caught 5 cod in one session. They went 80cm, 60cm, plus 3 between 40-50cm. He also lost two big fish at the back of the boat. They have been catching yellas to 51cm in the same water, using Oar Gee lures.  

Another mate caught 3 good cod in the Main Channel out towards Violet Town a couple of weeks ago.

[big Neil]

Thanks for that information John. Neil