VER the past few years I’ve
spent a lot of time learning
about Murray cod and have
enjoyed reasonable success on
these iconic yet fickle Australian fish.
When the more southern barramundi
dams f looded, our impoundment
barra fishing came to an end. We
needed a new challenge. Together
with a few mates, I started exploring
the rivers and dams of the New
England area of NSW chasing Murray
cod on lures. Following are some of
the lessons I’ve learnt.
The attractiveness of this species
isn’t related to their fighting qualities
or the taste of their fillets. Murray cod
are fat, slimy, green spotted lazy slobs
that can be fickle and annoying. But
any fish that can suck in a duck, chomp on a
water dragon or eat kilo sized yellowbelly
definitely has sportfishing credibility. Cod
have a massive mouth and a huge stomach
cavity. They eat anything that will fit in
their gob, even if it has claws or beaks or
feathers or teeth.
This was revealed while walking the banks
of the upper Severn River on a recent trip.
It was a beautiful bit of river. On the opposite
bank was a large sandstone wall. My lure would
often hit the wall with a “ding” and fall into
the water. At one point a water dragon about45cm long was disturbed by the lure
and jumped into the water to be met by
a huge “boof ” as it disappeared down
the gob of a cod. Having a thrashing,
biting, snarling, scratching lizard in
your throat isn’t my idea of a good
meal, but cod eat things like lizards
with gusto. That makes them a pretty
interesting predator in my books!
The first lesson of cod fishing is that
you have to fish for cod and cod only.
Don’t be distracted chasing yellowbelly,
redfin or those feral slimy horrible carp
that seem to somehow be getting
popularised as they infest a lot of dams.
Carp are a turd with scales, cod are a
respected iconic Australian fish. To
catch Murray cod you need to fish with
larger lures, heavier leader and be
focused on the goal. This means you have to
have a plan and put in a lot of time. There can
be a lot of casts between bites, particularly in
the big impoundments. In the rivers of New
England there are good numbers of cod but in
my experience fish over about 85cm are pretty
uncommon. In dams like Copeton and Pindari
there are regular catches of monsters over
110cm long, and these 50lb plus bucket
mouthed whoppers are now protected in NSW
by the new maximum size limit of 80cm.
To catch big cod you need to be driven,
persistent and focused. These are fickle fish andThe unique challenges posed
by Murray cod present
many anglers with a steep
learning curve. DAVID GREEN
details valuable lessons
he’s learnt while targeting
these frustrating yet highly
appealing fish.
Yet Fun!
Fickle
O
INLAND NATIVES
54 | fishingworld.com.au | March 2015