Sometimes the cod grind isn't that bad!!

[Hill373737]

Along with a lifetime of fishing, I've spent quite a few years doing all sorts of endurance based sports such as long distance kayak racing, mountain biking and various adventure races so I'm fairly comfortable with a bit of pain and suffering, and since moving to Tamworth, I'm fast discovering that fishing for Murray Cod is just another form of extreme endurance sport dealing with sub-zero temperatures, thousands of casts and then, more thousands of casts.

Today was one of those days where it all came together and I boated this 80cm model fishing the edges with a chatterbait at sunrise up at Split Rock - I'm still smiling and its a great reminder of why its not so silly to freeze your bits off casting!!

To top the day off, I pulled a 72cm carp out of the weeds on my bream gear once the sun was a bit higher in the sky. 

I've been counting down the days till its closed season for cod but now the pressure is on to get another in the  next 3 weeks - guess who's going fishing tomorrow!!

[Isaac Ct]

Cracking cod mate, and that carp would've been a brute of a fight. 

Well done.

[Yowie]

Nice cod, and a carp not far behind in size. Good work, worth the effort of frozen jatz crackers. 

[masterfisho7]

One top cod well done 

[rickmarlin62]

Nice fish mate  split rocks hard to crack  plenty of fish in it  but dont like bitin

[dirvin21]

Nice cod mate

I'm prepping to hit the rivers for one last cod session before season end

[Rebel]

Top Cod.

Keep at it.

Well done.

[big Neil]

Great to see somebody getting a Cod. 80cm beats my PB by 1 cm and it looks like a really healthy specimen. Top result!

I haven't managed to go Cod fishing for months as the river is still flooded and likely to break its banks when the next deluge from the dams gets here. Only positive out of any of this is that the farmers should have plenty of water for this Summer.

Looks like a trip to Sydney is possible for late September, if the planets align.

Cheers mate, keep up the good work.

bn

[bessell1955]

That Cod is in prime condition.

[Hill373737]

4 hours ago, big Neil said:

Great to see somebody getting a Cod. 80cm beats my PB by 1 cm and it looks like a really healthy specimen. Top result!

I haven't managed to go Cod fishing for months as the river is still flooded and likely to break its banks when the next deluge from the dams gets here. Only positive out of any of this is that the farmers should have plenty of water for this Summer.

Looks like a trip to Sydney is possible for late September, if the planets align.

Cheers mate, keep up the good work.

bn

Thanks Neil - its a PB for me but I'm only 3 cod and 6 months into my cod journey. If you fancy a few days in Tamworth, it would be great to get out and chase cod or if its during Spring we could target yellas. Plenty of room at my place to stay and I'm sure it would be a great learning experience for me.

cheers

[Hill373737]

On 8/10/2022 at 9:12 AM, dirvin21 said:

Nice cod mate

I'm prepping to hit the rivers for one last cod session before season end

Thanks mate. I hope the weather gods are kind to you, there is plenty of water in the Peel and  Namoi at the moment after a lot of rain last weekend in the area and more forecast for this weekend. I saw the Namoi at Manilla through the week and it was up, running and very brown. You can see the water level spike in this image. 

[Hill373737]

On 8/10/2022 at 5:48 AM, rickmarlin62 said:

Nice fish mate  split rocks hard to crack  plenty of fish in it  but dont like bitin

Thanks Rick - I've been fortunate to get some pretty good advice from a couple of long term locals which has definitely helped - 9 trips to Split Rock now for 2 hits on surface that didn't connect and an 80 model, like all the impoundments up this way at the ,moment, there's a lot of water between the fish and they are still recovering from the drought.

[dirvin21]

1 hour ago, Hill373737 said:

Thanks mate. I hope the weather gods are kind to you, there is plenty of water in the Peel and  Namoi at the moment after a lot of rain last weekend in the area and more forecast for this weekend. I saw the Namoi at Manilla through the week and it was up, running and very brown. You can see the water level spike in this image. 

Looks like the Gwydir or Severn for me

[big Neil]

1 hour ago, dirvin21 said:

Looks like the Gwydir or Severn for me

Good luck Dave (and Amy?) I'm sure you will give it your best shot. bn

[Pickles]

Well done @Hill37373780 cm is a stonker, ( @big Neilwill be smiling). A bit different to   SP flicking in the warm morning sun on the coast hey.

[Hill373737]

11 hours ago, Pickles said:

Well done @Hill37373780 cm is a stonker, ( @big Neilwill be smiling). A bit different to   SP flicking in the warm morning sun on the coast hey.

Very different @Pickles I used to complain about early bream sessions on Wyong River when it was 6 degrees! That feels tropical now!!

I'll get a saltwater fix shortly, I'm heading across to Nth Haven for a weeks fishing in a couple of weeks!

[big Neil]

16 hours ago, Hill373737 said:

Very different @Pickles I used to complain about early bream sessions on Wyong River when it was 6 degrees! That feels tropical now!!

I'll get a saltwater fix shortly, I'm heading across to Nth Haven for a weeks fishing in a couple of weeks!

Good to see that you're getting some fishing in Steve. Got a bit of Carp fishing arranged for Friday and a trip to the big smoke next month for a fishing fix. Back into Carp fishing during the closed Cod season. How is Lake Keepit fishing these days...had some nice fish out of there. If my memory serves me well, I think the Peel River runs into and out of it. 

Good luck with your trip to the coast mate. bn

[Hill373737]

On 8/22/2022 at 12:13 PM, big Neil said:

Good to see that you're getting some fishing in Steve. Got a bit of Carp fishing arranged for Friday and a trip to the big smoke next month for a fishing fix. Back into Carp fishing during the closed Cod season. How is Lake Keepit fishing these days...had some nice fish out of there. If my memory serves me well, I think the Peel River runs into and out of it. 

Good luck with your trip to the coast mate. bn

Good luck with the carp fishing Neil, I'm on a mission to bank a few every time I fish, it probably won't make a dent in the carp population but at least makes me feel good.

I had a couple of trips out to Keepit when I first moved up here but decided to focus on Split Rock as I was a bit overwhelmed with the size of Keepit at almost 100% full. I think I'll spend more time there in Spring chasing Yellowbelly and carp.

The Namoi River runs into Keepit and the Peel joins the Namoi downstream of the dam wall.

Hope you have some luck on Friday.

[rickmarlin62]

The peel runs thru chaffey dam between tamworth n nundle

[big Neil]

13 hours ago, Hill373737 said:

Good luck with the carp fishing Neil, I'm on a mission to bank a few every time I fish, it probably won't make a dent in the carp population but at least makes me feel good.

I had a couple of trips out to Keepit when I first moved up here but decided to focus on Split Rock as I was a bit overwhelmed with the size of Keepit at almost 100% full. I think I'll spend more time there in Spring chasing Yellowbelly and carp.

The Namoi River runs into Keepit and the Peel joins the Namoi downstream of the dam wall.

Hope you have some luck on Friday.

That would account for my recollection of seeing a PEEL RIVER sign when driving into Keepit recreational area, must have been on the downstream side if the dam.

My favourite dam was always Pindari. I used to have permission to fish a small creek just downstream of the dam. Wasn't very big and there was a deep hole on a tight bend where I used to bait fish. Caught stacks of very large Yellas there.

bn