Hill373737

I agree with Dave - cod are generally tough to catch in dams but senkos may be an option in a flowing river where you can target specific areas that cod are likely to sit in ambush however if it was me, I'd still be throwing something with more flash and action as I suspect a lot of cod hits are a reaction bite when fishing lures.

Well done Neil - I suspect you only picking up 1 fish on the first day would be due to you being busy keeping James and Debbie sorted and fishing!! At least with cocktail franks, it would be one of the best options if you needed to snack on the bait. I have vivid memories of fishing in Kiritimati many years ago and watching our guide pick up and start nibbling on a tuna frame that had been lying on the gunnel in the sun for a few hours!!

Dave, great photos and write up - its always very satisfying to take someone out and get them onto some fish, especially when its american fishos onto an iconic aussie fish. Well done mate!!

Nice work BN, that looks like a good session mate and I'm pleased you got out and got a few. Its still very hit and miss here, few fish around but you definitely work for them.

Yeah mate, they're camphor laurel, I think its one of his favourite timbers to work with.

Will do, at the moment he's making a few prototypes to fine-tune them, once he's happy and he (we) have a few fish on them, I think he'll probably make a few for sale.

@R E G I C Y C L E @Little_Flatty Thanks for the comments on the lures, they are beautiful and make a great change to painted lures. Here's a few more photos of different prototypes Dan has so far. Here's a few topwater lures for cod. And a few Bass Bugs And a couple of spinnerbaits, there are weights inside the timber but early experience is its tough to get the balance right to make them swim well.

Thats probably a good thing, I don't need you up @rickmarlin62 here annoying the cod!! haha!!

Great that you've got out mate, its the same up here, damn hot by 9am. Slow start for the month, a few cod and yellas but lost a good cod lyesterday evening after dragging the kayak most of 2kms up river to get to a stretch of river I hadn't fished before, it got deep into a snag and during a bit of tug-of-war, I pulled the hooks, this was then followed by dragging the kayak a couple of kms back to the river as a lot of the river was too shallow to paddle. Hope you're on the mend! cheers Hilly

Thanks for the offer mate, we'll have the van in tow so should be OK for accommodation - we're just currently tossing up between a run along the Murray / Murrumbidgee in May or Darling River / Menindee / Broken Hill. If we do the latter, I'll get down your way later in the year as I'm keen to have a crack at a cod in my grandfathers old stomping ground, Balranald.

Hey @Rockspinking water level is low but there are a few deeper sections near town that hold cod but do get a bit of pressure. I'll drop you a PM with some spots.

@big Neil that is a lovely piece of work mate, well done. With a bit of luck I'll be down that way in May, will touch base once I finalise details to see if we can organise a catch up. cheers Hilly

February followed the trend off the previous few months for me with some good days and a few tough days. I seem to have lost my cod mojo at Split Rock and put together 5 cod donuts in a row before I finally picked up a small cod. I was pumped to just get a fish there but had too laugh when I bumped into a guy at the ramp that I knew and he boated a 108 and 93 on his last couple of casts that morning - I'm sure you need a touch of the masochist to fish for cod (actually, probably any fishing of the truth is known.) Donuts and tough periods aren't unusual when fishing impoundments but previously the river is like a cod fishing therapy session however thats not the case at the moment ..... fortunately, the scenery has been spectacularly consistent. Its not all about the scenery and there have been enough fish to keep things interesting, although I reckon the fish to cast ratio must be very low. My fishing mate, Dan, who is an absolute whizz with timber has been dabbling with making lures, he has made a few different prototypes and for cod, he has a nice 80mm diver and a couple of top water lures. They are absolutely beautiful looking lures and it was great to see him christen a diver last week on a nice cod. Thats a wrap for February in the fresh up here, roll on March which will include a few days hopefully annoying some big flatties over the coast next week. cheers Hilly

@frankS Mate, that is an impressive list. I've had 6 since my first boat in 1988 which iwas a roof topper when we travelleed around australia for a few years and I thought I'd had a few. I always lusted after a Betram 28 back when I was doing a lot of offshore fishing in the late '90s .... it would still be a dream boat for me but would probably look out of place up at Split Rock, if I could fit it on a trailer.!! haha!! Its sometimes too easy to think of a boat as a hole in the water that you throw money into, but they actually buy some great memories!! Thanks for sharing!! Hilly

Thanks for sharing this Donna, looks great. We finally got our van last year (also a Manta Ray, we love it) and since then I keep tossing up selling my Renegade 420 and getting a topper to take with us when we're away in the van. What boat loader are you using, any photos of the boat on the roof? Hilly