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Targeting individual fish


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Went out yesterday for about 6 hours with mate Jeff. The water was extremely shallow, often only 60 cms on the sounder. We worked our way upstream, stopping at likely spots, where we picked up Cod (assumed) adjacent to a snag. We then set about finding what they wanted on the menu. We had some luck on cheese but the yabbie got some interest as soon as it hit bottom. I was trying out shrimps and cheese, Jeff had cheese on 1 rod and a yabbie on the other. The bite on the yabbie got more and more intense and finally the rod doubled over and the fish was in the snag. After about 15 mins of releasing line, tightening it and releasing again the fish swam out and a very healthy Trout Cod of 46cms came aboard. Good start. We only had 4 yabbies, managed to get the one back from the Trout Cod, and used it again. We moved around the snags sounding out likely spots holding fish and continued to get Cod and a decent Carp, that was blacker than night. Inevitably, we lost a heap of gear in the snags!

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Time flew by and it was after lunch before we even realised. We'd only travelled about half a km from the ramp when we decided that we needed to get out of the sun for a while, so headed back downstream again to a place where we've had good numbers of Cod previously. On the way I spotted a likely corner with the current running into it, against a steep bank. We decided to get some shade here and lobbed the four lines in. It was a good move! Heaps of snags with fish showing. We got a few more Cod but our baits were being picked at by turtles, which we could see surface every now and then. However they never went for the last yabbie, which was a fiesty big sucker. Next thing, without warning, the rod with the yabbie almost leaps out of the boat and it's game on. The fish trying desperately to get back to its underwater hideout and Jeff battling to keep it away. A really good tussle and the only keeper for the day was in the net. We pulled up stumps and made the short trip to the ramp in 5 minutes. Can't wait to get out there again. Busy schedule this week so it may need to be an evening /night session. Thanks for reading BN

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Great narrative with good juxtaposition of the photos. Well done with the catch. Do you have a photo of the keeper?

Do you catch many trout cod? Saw on ifish a fella saying they're c&r only because they're a threatened species?

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16 minutes ago, flatheadluke said:

Great narrative with good juxtaposition of the photos. Well done with the catch. Do you have a photo of the keeper?

Do you catch many trout cod? Saw on ifish a fella saying they're c&r only because they're a threatened species?

Hi Luke. No didn't bother with a photo of the keeper as we were chasing time a bit and ready to call it quits. Trout Cod (aka Blue nosed Cod) are indeed a protected species and can't be kept. They are bred in Narrandera (near to where I live) and are certainly in good numbers, where I regularly fish. They are an extremely aggressive fish and good fun to catch.

Here's a picture of a Trout Cod. They have spots (not a pattern), a black line through their eye and an overhanging top lip.

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Cheers, BN

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4 hours ago, adkel53 said:

Murrumbidgee River somewhere near Narrandera I am guessing? How do you rig the cheese/yabbies Neil?

You are spot on adkel53. I fish mostly between Narrandera and Whitton, on the Bidgee. I use 1cm cubes of Colby cheese as it is quite creamy and simply push it down on the hook. Yabbies and live shrimps I hook through the tail so that they flick and move freely. The best rig for live baits is the paternoster rig as this prevents the live bait from digging in to the bottom or hiding.

There's an article on Murray Cod fishing (in the article section) which you may find useful. Cheers, BN

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