I
just love spending a day on the River.
There are few places I have fished as
much as the mighty Murray and the
more I learn about this river, the more
secrets it has unlocked for me. While I
spent many years only casting or trolling
cod lures for the entire day, I now find
mixing things up a little makes for a very
enjoyable fishing session, rather than
just a total grind if the cod don’t play.
There’s no denying that this year has
produced one of the hottest callop bites
anyone has seen, and it has become
the perfect way to fish the water on the
way back to the ramp. In this article I’d
like to run you through how I spend a
day on the Murray, which, hopefully, will
increase your own catch rates on this
spectacular river.STARTING THE NIGHT BEFORE
Like most well prepared fishos, my day
actually starts the night before in the
tackle shed, rigging and getting the boat
sorted. The amount of time this saves in
the morning is really invaluable. There’s
nothing worse than having heaps to
organise at the ramp when you’re trying
get out on the river. Tying your leaders
and having the rods rigged means that
you will be fishing as soon as the boat
slows down and the electric motor enters
the water. If I know the water I’m fishing
well, I will also tie lures onto the rods,
enabling me to have the spare lure boxes
packed away so the boat is kept tidy.
Lures should be fitted with the best
hooks you can get. This can be done at
home before you hit the water. I almost
always throw away the standard hooks
that come with the lures when you buy
them. When targeting cod, you cannot
leave anything to chance. While you
may land a fish on standard trebles,
we have the potential of very large fish
in the river that will make short work
of inferior terminals. I can tell you I
would much rather spend five minutes
changing hooks than potentially losing
a trophy-sized fish because the hookfailed. There are plenty of good ones
on the market, such as BKK raptors,
Owner ST66s and VMC Fishfighters that
will give you a better chance of landing
the bigger fish if they come along. I’ve
also been changing all the trebles on
my callop jigs to singles, as these give a
much better hook up rate and tend to
snag less when fishing in heavy timber.
You also have the advantage of upsizing
them, which means you can fish with a
slightly stronger hook as well.
The night before is also the timeto select which stretch of the river
will provide the most opportunity for
the whole day. We are lucky in South
Australia to have so much river to
explore, all of which can provide a
memorable outing. I always check the
weather forecast to decide on where to
head. Usually WillyWeather gives a good
enough indication. I use the Mannum
forecast for anywhere from Mannum
to Morgan, where the river changes
from a north to south direction, and the
Renmark forecast is great for the rest ofHitting the snags at daybreakA range of lures to cover most bases Cooking breakfast before a solid casting sessionuoS
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ustralian (^) An
(^18) rleg http://www.saangler.com.au