dean Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Spent the Easter break touring the central tablelands. We started at capertee and camped a couple of nights along the Turon, then through Sofala, Hill End and down the bridal track on to the Macquarie were we spent another couple of nights. For the final night of the trip it was back to Hill End down through Dixons long point and up to Ophir reserve. This was mainly a family/camping trip with a little fishing thrown in, mainly early morning before the kids woke up. On the Turon we were after Trout. Small hard bodies in natural colours accounted for many fish, both browns and rainbows, even a few redfin were landed. My mate Dave landed the biggest fish a 50cm brown, that's a nice fish for this river. I spent a couple of hours with the fly rod one afternoon, even though I failed to land a fish I still learnt a lot and will keep trying. I spent the couple of mornings on the Macquarie chasing cod and was rewarded with 3 nice cod and a small yella all caught on spinnerbaits. I wasn't going to fish at Ophir but when a local came back with a nice rainbow that afternoon I couldn't help myself and set of for a quick fish the next morning. I think he caught the last fish in the creek, all I could manage were a couple of Redfin. It was a great trip and I would certainly like to spend more time on the Macquarie, I'm sure there would be some bid cod swimming around in the river. Enjoy the photos. Cheers, Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irongustavius Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Nice work Dean. That's up around my part of the world, but I certainly haven't got into the fish there that you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Excellent photots as always Dean and an entertainting read. Judging by the photos, there was no specific skirt color on the spinnerbaits that did the damage? (I'm a big fan of the purple/bronze skirt in the first photo) All the fish look to be in excellent condition; especially the cod. Looks like a terrific part of the world to roam with a rod and lure. Would you mind giving me a rough idea what hardbody was effective on the trout mate? Cheers Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
days Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Good write up. great pics to looks like it was a great weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bombora Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Great report and pics and some beautiful spotted ferals! That's a great river brown your mate scored. Was gonna head up there next week, but wondering about school holiday crowds. Many on the river? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Thanks for the comments. Ian, the fish were in great condition the purple/bronze colour is a great colour for cod, unfortunately I lost the lure after the second cod. The other cod and yellowbelly were caught on a bronze/amber colour. I haven't really fished for cod long enough to have a preference yet. All the trout were caught on zipbaits, Dave caught his fish on the rigge 35F and I the khamsin tiny DR and rigge 46MDR in natural colours. bombora, the place was packed. Turon gates looked like a costal caravan park during Christmas holidays and there were campers along the river all the way to Sofala, I didn't come across many people fishing though. Angus, did you live in the area at some stage, fish the Macquarie at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madden Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Great variety of fish you can't ask for much better than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.kenny Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 That looked like a fantastic trip Dean, the fish were probably glad that it was a family camping trip rather than a proper 'fishing' trip . You are just smashing them. The range of fish caught in that area suggests I should venture out there one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 That looked like a fantastic trip Dean, the fish were probably glad that it was a family camping trip rather than a proper 'fishing' trip . You are just smashing them. The range of fish caught in that area suggests I should venture out there one day. Noticed theres no cod on your pb list, that could easily be fixed with a trip over the mountains. Well worth the effort. The area has a lot to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irongustavius Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Dean I grew up in the central west, fished the Macquarie a bit but only for small trout and redfin. I'd love to get onto a big cod one day, I've only caught smaller ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.kenny Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Noticed theres no cod on your pb list, that could easily be fixed with a trip over the mountains. Well worth the effort. The area has a lot to offer. Yep, Murray Cod is certainly on my bucket list. I have been reading the latest posts on the green fish and keen to give them a crack this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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