My First Murray Cod! Yeeha!

[Mik]

Hi all

Very quick report.

Headed to Lake Cargelligo for work yesterday. Of course I knew there are Cod in the river there so I was "FORCED" to take a detour & throw in a few before it got dark.

Drove to a section of the Lauchlan River just downstream of the Lake Cargelligo wier & got set up for the steep climb down the bank to the waters edge. I had previously had some bust offs here so I had a good idea of where my luck might come in.

As it turns out I was right on the money but the first 20 minutes were a frastrating attempt to overcome a drag issue with my little Chronarch. Seems I had neglected to clean it properly on my last outing & it was a little sticky. After several birds nests & some colourful language that made the fish blush, I sorted it out & nailed a bewdy right in the zone between two overhanging branches of a large tree that almost crossed the now very low river.

A tentative whip upwards to get my Poltergeist 8metre deep diver under the surface & BANG, I was hit & on. For my first ever Cod on a lure (I caught a few with my father when I was very young) it wasn't a huge & dramatic life or death struggle I had been dreaming / fretting over all these months. The fish put up a reasonable struggle to get back to cover for a few tense moments then he basically gave up & came in nicely. I would love to tell ya's it was all the skill of keeping rod tip up & not letting his head go down & the sheer experience of knowing just how to play him... but I guess I'll save that one for the pub stories!

He came to the bank & I got the lip gripper in (Thanks again Watto, great tool, the grippers mate, not you! )

He weighed in at just around 2.25 Kg & measured 52cm. He wasn't huge but he might as well have been a 2 metre monster for the thrill & pleasure he gave me as my first Cod.

So there you go, I've popped my cherry & was one happy little black duck. I changed tactics & threw a popper around for awhile until the light beat me & I couldn't see for jack. I knew it was time to leave when & started tripping over every bloody twig & lump around the bank.

One for the album......finally!

He was realeased after some happy snaps & took off like a Politican in a sex scandal.

Edited May 9, 2007 by Boofhead

[sparkles]

Nice one Boofhead,

I am enjoying hearing about your edventures, keep em coming.

Arch

[aussie big bob]

good on ya boof

hope to be into the fresh water fishing in the next week or so on the bidgee

prob no fish will be around but hopefully a few good crays

cheers

bob

[1975]

Thats a good effort mate, I'm still waiting for my first on a lure. ( did catch a small carp last trip to dubbo on a smiling jack tho )

Billy

[Penguin]

Well done Boof,on nice MC,

Now I bet u cant wait for that next monster one to

take a liking to your lure.

penguin

[Mik]

Thanks fellas

Hope you have a good trip Bob, never fished the Murrumbidgee before although I lived near it for a few years.

Hey Billy I'm sure you'll get on to some eventually. I have been told of a few spots around the area between Dubbo & Wellington. PM me if you want to know the story. I beleive a tinnie is pretty much a necesity though so that might make it hard.

I coped some flack from my employees for not bringing the Cod to the barbie they had that night but hey, I figure there's plenty of time to catch a feed & I'd rather see more go back than come out. I would love to try one eventually though, I hear they are good eating but for now my Karma will hopfully get a good boost for puting back anything I don't need.

Penguin, mate I can feel it in my water, the big one is "Just Around The Corner"

[Mrs Stumpy]

What a great yarn that I am sure will become a whopper at the Pub.

Your comment,"it wasn't a huge & dramatic life or death struggle I had been dreaming" funnily enough that is how I remember my first murray cod from fishing as a child.

Thanks for brining back to life my childhood memories of fishing.

[Mik]

What a great yarn that I am sure will become a whopper at the Pub.

Are you implying that I might embelish the truth Mrs S?

Good heavens above, I would never consider my humble little fish to be anything other than what it was.....A fecking' HUGE monster that I fought for 6 hours until both man & beast were exhausted & ready to collapse. Thankfully my super human strength prevailed & I heaved the Behemoth in & .......

Oh, yeah, I see what you're sayin'

[Flightmanager]

Up Ya Go Mik!! Great fish , great report!!

Ross

[Mik]

Up Ya Go Mik!! Great fish , great report!!

Ross

Tanks Matey!

[frankp]

love the report

great reading and congrats on the fish.

[mako1]

Great report.

Nice looking fish.

[MGibbo]

Awesome - that sounds like fun - might have to come down your way and have a go!

I love how you describe your posts - you can picture every moment. Well done.

Cheers Thelma or is that Louise!! (aka Marg)

[bobfish]

Thats a nice first, congrats A murry cod usually takes you by surprise too, your taking in the view then Wham bam thank you mam....

[Funda]

Nice one dude!

I still remember my first cod and it is a very rewarding experience, they are a very special fish arent they.

One thing I'd like to point out tho without being critical or detracting from your fantastic first cod, it's heaps better for the fish if you support it's body weight with a hand under it's gut area rather than hanging it from the mouth as in your pic.

Anyway it's a top first MC and nice to see you released it too, well done!

[Mik]

Nice one dude!

I still remember my first cod and it is a very rewarding experience, they are a very special fish arent they.

One thing I'd like to point out tho without being critical or detracting from your fantastic first cod, it's heaps better for the fish if you support it's body weight with a hand under it's gut area rather than hanging it from the mouth as in your pic.

Anyway it's a top first MC and nice to see you released it too, well done!

Hey Funda

Yeah mate, I kinda thought about that after the fact, but my adrenalin was pumpin' so much & I was so caught up in getting a pic for memories that I neglected to do the right thing. I think I'll be taking a tripod with me next time & put the camera on timer as its hard to get yourself in the pic & lift correctly.

Good point thou.

Can I ask, have you ever taken one for the table?

Just curious as I am still a little undecided on this issue. I know HEAPS of people who take them for a feed but I think if I ever do it will only ever be one between 50 & 70cm Anything bigger would definatley go back. I also feel that the amount of C&R I try and practice well out weighs any arguments of "Plundering".

Murray Cod, Goodoo, Greenfish, whatever you want to call them they are an absolute cracker of a fish & I hope I have the pleasure of a few more in my lifetime & my sons too.

[Funda]

Hey Funda

Yeah mate, I kinda thought about that after the fact, but my adrenalin was pumpin' so much & I was so caught up in getting a pic for memories that I neglected to do the right thing. I think I'll be taking a tripod with me next time & put the camera on timer as its hard to get yourself in the pic & lift correctly.

Good point thou.

Can I ask, have you ever taken one for the table?

Just curious as I am still a little undecided on this issue. I know HEAPS of people who take them for a feed but I think if I ever do it will only ever be one between 50 & 70cm Anything bigger would definatley go back. I also feel that the amount of C&R I try and practice well out weighs any arguments of "Plundering".

Murray Cod, Goodoo, Greenfish, whatever you want to call them they are an absolute cracker of a fish & I hope I have the pleasure of a few more in my lifetime & my sons too.

Yes pics when fishing on your own can be difficult, I usually take the pic of of the fish in the water just before the moment of release, camera in one hand and hand holding the fish by the mouth in the water is the easiest way I've found.

Every now and then A fish is deep hooked and bleeding (very rare now that I mainly use spinnerbaits) I feel there is no point releasing the fish to bleed to death, so yes every blue moon one gets taken for the table, lets face it that it's a fact of C&R that there will be times a fish just dies no matter how well we try to treat them.

They are beautiful on the BBQ and I dont feel guilty that 1 in a 100 I get could possibly end up this way, on a side note I reckon it's ok to take the odd one from a stocked impoundment but think the wild river fish are best left where they belong, unless the unfortunate happens and it carks it on me which hasnt happened to me for a few yrs now.

Happy cod hunting

Cheers, Allan

[Flattieman]

Congrats on your first, Boof. Murray Cod are an iconic Aussie ##### - one that I hope to encounter sometime in my life. Well done on landing a good one!

Flattieman.

[Laredo]

beautiful fish and good work on releasing a very pressured species

now you just need to start dynamiting carp and they'll let you into fishing heaven!

[Mik]

Allan

Thanks for the tips & thoughts. Everyones opinion will vary I guess but for me I think your ideology makes sense. I absolutely love these fish, they are truly "Special"

Perhaps I'll get a few in Burrendong if I persist long enough & maybe take one for the Barbie.

Flattie, I hope anyone that wants the thrill gets a chance at least once in their lives. I'm lucky enough to be working in these areas where the Cod reins supreme. Hope you get a crack at one eventually.

Laredo - Mate with my luck I'd end up getting hit in the head with a carps arse as they flew through the air!

[Mik]

A few days after Allan (Funda) correctly pointed out to me that I had inadvertantly held the fish I had caught in a poor position, namely hanging from his lip by a lip gripper. I read an article in a magazine (PM me if you want details) which was basically all about catch & release fishing for Murray Cod. The article had an interesting point which I thought I'd share here, as I know there are others like me who are a little inexperienced with things.

Anyway, basically the article made mention of the fact that when holding Cod for the purpose of taking photos, measuring etc & also during the release, it is very important to ensure the fish is kept upright. IE Dorsal fin upwards. Fish kept on their sides for a period ("Even a few short minutes") become unbalanced & will find it very difficult to find their equilibrium. The authours believe if a fish becomes unbalanced it has a very low survival rate.

In the case of large Cod this is a large contributing factor in mortality rates.

Another more obvious point (To me atleast) is temperatures. Hot days equal hot surfaces, boats, rocks even river banks can become alot hotter than the water the fish came from. So exposure to these potential frying pans should be avoided.

Finally, (This could be a contentious one) they advocated the use of lip grippers as opposed to landing nets for the simple reason that more often than not when a fish is placed in a net to bring it into a boat or onto shore it invariably tangles the lure it fell to in the net. (Obviously certain lures are more prone to this than others) This can sometimes lead to an exhaustive struggle on your part to free the fish & untangle the lure. Wasting valuable time when you need to be getting the prize back to his home ASAP. I can agree with the above based on my experience with Yellas. I have had some lures get so tangled in my enviro-net that I've been forced to cut the hooks to enable me to get the fish back quickly. (I've also had my share of hooks in fingers, one quite badly, whilst trying to untangle a bloody mess in a net) I haven't used my net since Easter.

I know plenty of you are out there saying, "Duh, we knew that" but I am also sure there will be a few who may read this, learn something (Like I did) & maybe one day find a fantastic Cod (Or any other fish) and know they are doing everything they can to ensure Catch & Release doesn't = Sink & Die.

Finally, it illustrates a point made in the same article that when you fish for Murray Cod, always be prepared for "The Big One" and expect to need the equipment to land a big fish. That way you know your gear will be up to the task & the big fella will have every chance to terrorise its prey survive another day.

Personly I KNOW I'm gonna catch a big fish everytime I go out, now will someone please TELL THE FISH!

PS - Yes, your'e dead right, this was just an excuse to show those that might have missed this post ..... My FIRST Murray Cod

Edited May 14, 2007 by Boofhead