F_W_2015_03_

fishingworld.com.au | March 2015 | 57

more than a couple of metres. Think of a cod
as a motivated mouth attached to a morbidly
obese body. He’s the big bloke at the truck
stop parked up in the chair waiting for the
burger with the lot to come to him. He isn’t
going to order a small serving of salad. A cod
generally doesn’t want some gourmet $40
bream lure that comes in a packet with
Japanese writing on it. The cod wants
Aussie-made lures designed for him to eat.
No lure is too big for a big cod. That is why
the ducks and other water fowl on Copeton
Dam live in a perpetual state of anxiety!

Spinnerbaits
It’s important to understand some of the
intricacies of spinnerbaits. Large round blades
will rotate at a lower speed than long thin
blades. They also create “lift” in the lure that
drags it up to the surface. The heavier the
weighted head is, the deeper the lure will travel.
If you use a large soft plastic as a trailer, it
increases the profile of the lure but decreases
the rate of sink and draws the lure to the
surface on retrieve. The deepest styles of
spinnerbaits used for cod have a weight

between 5/8 and two ounces and have slightly

downsized double blades or a single willow

blade. The preferred blades used by most

anglers for cod are generally roundish

(Colorado) blades rigged in a double pattern on

a single boom. Paired booms can carry multiple

blades which increases the amount of vibration

but can decrease hook exposure unless you use

a large stinger hook. While this all sounds a bit

complex, the key is to work out a way to slowly

roll your spinnerbait so it stays in contact with

the bottom.

The most effective method I’ve found for

cod is to always cast from shallow water into

deep water. A lot of anglers motor around dams

and rivers casting to bank side structure. This

can work well when the fish are up in the

shallows, but in general we work points and

bays by getting in tight on the bank, casting

out to deep water and letting the lure run up

the slope on a slow constant retrieve so it bangs

its way through the boulders and logs. This can

make a huge difference in catch rate as the lure

stays close to where the fish live.

Skirt and blade colours are subject of much

debate. I’ve found cod bite on all combinations

at times. In general, I like bright colours like

chartreuse and silver blades in discoloured

water and gold or blackened blades in clean

water situations with dark skirt colours like

purple and black. I always use a stinger hook on

my cod lures as it gives a better hookup rate.

I often use a shad tail or yabby style soft plastic

trailer to increase the profile size of the lure, but

if I want to keep the lure right on the bottom

I ditch the trailer to keep it simple and keep it

deep. I use Bassman spinnerbaits most of the

time. Bassman’s Glen Casey really knows his

cod and makes a great product.

Hard-bodies

Hard-bodied lures work well on cod. The key

seems to be wide slow action that shuff les and

has a broad sway. A lot of the very best cod

lures are made by locals in the towns close to

good populations of cod. Examples include

Mud Eye Lures, Kingfisher Lures, Oargees and

Down Under Lures. If you’re targeting really

big cod, use as big a lure as your gear will

handle. Even relatively small cod will have a

crack at a huge lure. One lure that I really like

is the Mud Eye lure that looks like a fur