I fished the Mulwala Cod Classic in a yak

[arpie]

Hi guys

WOW!! What a weekend! About a month ago, a buddy with a yak showed interest in a group of us heading down to Lake Mulwala to have a go at the famous Cod Classic competition that officially launches the opening of the Cod Season early in December! Being very much a Cod Newbie, it had always been on my 'to do' list, so I thought I'd give it a go - along with about 25 other yakkers!! We were in with a good chance to take out the biggest 'team' that had entered! And, we WON IT!! The prize was a huge Engel Ice Box, which the team has donated to Heroes on the Water (a group that encourages injured ex service men & women to join us out on the water in our yaks, as a 'thank you' for their service to our country - eventually organising weekends away as well as day trips.)

I headed down to Canberra on Wed & spent the night with Kim and then we headed down 'in convoy' to Kyffens Reserve on Thurs - in 40 degree + temps! Not having an air conditioned van, it wasn't TOO bad a drive (little did I know! ) ....... until we arrived at camp & I hopped out of the car, started to put the rear tent onto the VW Campervan & before I even hammered in 2 tent pegs - nearly passed out!! Gees, I felt crook!! I couldn't believe it! I had to sit down in the shade & suck down a whole bottle of Mizone before I could tap in some more pegs, (I'd only brought 4 with me for the whole weekend, guessing I'd drink 1 a day) with many more stops & more drinks before all the pegs were in! Luckily for me, Kim took me into town to upgrade on another 8 bottles just for me!

I headed out for a brief session on Friday, with no real luck - tho I thought that I'd had a couple of nudges on a diving lure, but it wasn't til Sat that I DEFINITELY got undeniable hits.

There was some yak 'show & tell' & I really liked these 'twisted lights' making an 'all round' night light - this is the 'before' pic

and the 'after' pic - talk about BRIGHT!

We LOVED the Carlton Draught Horses with Cart

We sat around watching the casting competition - the young kids were amazing. Adam Royter put in an appearance too.

I made sure that I was covered up from the sun!

Michael brought his Pineapple Ukulele along & Kev brought his Macaccas (or are they Maraccas)? They were noisy! We had a couple of jam sessions together & swapped some music!

That first night, we fell into bed exhausted - tho in excited anticipation of good fishing on the Friday morning ........only to be woken up at 4am to the sound of a howling wind & flapping plastic & poles as every tent, awning & pole was buffeted with BIG winds!! I had to jump out of bed & pack away the awning of the campervan as I'd forgotten to take ropes with me & was scared that it would collapse & damage the van. A HUGE tree branch (commonly called 'widow makers' down there) had fallen down that morning without notice (other than a massive 'CRACK') & blocked the road to our camp - it can happen THAT quickly! One of the guys used his Big Mac Truck to drag it from the road ....... and the area that some of the boys had chosen to camp near, had tree branches that were rubbing together that kept them awake for most of the night!

In the wee small hours of the NEXT morning, I was awoken to water flicking onto my face, which was unusual, as I was inside the enclosed campervan at the time!! The rain was virtually horizontal & coming into the air vents this time! Another dash to batten down the hatches to keep the rain out!! The 2 Portaloos/tent setups were both flattened!!

I'd hoped to give spinnerbaits a real go this weekend, so my plan was to do some trolling with a couple of diving lures on the way to Spot A ...... and then pepper the trees with spinnerbaits, to generate a hit!! Guess what?? It worked!

Talk about a 'cast of thousands' ......... I'd bumped into a couple of the yak guys early in the piece & they had already landed nice cod in the high 40-50cm and I'd heard on the grapevine that a few more had been landed ......... and I'd not had a touch!

Then, I had a 'grapple' from one of my Spinner Baits at the end of one of the islands & knew that it was a definite hit & miss! Damn! So, I hung round there & circled the island a couple of times, casting into the shallows, as that was also where the guys in a boat had landed theirs just minutes earlier! The spinner of choice was a natural brown coloured one, with my 'gecko/lizard' added to the 2 hooks & another bit of worm added to make it 'weedless'! I' had about 100 of them so put a few handfuls of the lizards & worms on the table for the team to try! It soon became my favourite lure! I also was lucky enough to win a copy of the AFN publication - Kayak Fishing Manual. It has some really good articles in it, so recommended for newbies to get & read

The 'lizard/gecko' lure that did the trick. Sadly I lost it to a 'rod tip wrap' on the last cast, as it was belted away after breaking the braid!

The wind had really come up, making the water quite choppy. I considered heading back to shore, but headed between the 2 islands instead, deploying my drogue.

I cast towards a tree stump & came up tight against a fish! I thought that it would be a yella! But no, it was a COD!! YAY I am on the board!! Only 48cm, but a COD!!

I then headed out into the more 'open' area between the islands & with the wind on my back, was making LONG searching casts ahead of my drift ........ basically doing a flathead retrieve - jerk & wind, jerk jerk, wind, wind ....... and blow me down, I had a massive hit that missed! Gee, it felt a good fish!! So I continued that pattern & came up with my 2nd fish, this one going a tad under 55cm. This one was in top condition, with a huge rotund belly & must have weighed in excess of 2kg, I reckon!

Looks a bit like a flathead, doesn't it??

Damn!! I didn't get a pic of me with either of my cod!

I had a terrific time - not sure that I liked all the submerged trees ........... but I was SO pleased that I'd managed to land a couple of the targetted species ........ so was a happy chappie!!

cheerio & thanks for reading

Roberta

Some more good pics of the weekend .......

3000 people all wanting to win a boat!

some of the yaks

I bumped into numerous submerged trees & luckily didn't tip or damage the fins of the yak!

One of our guys went for a swim & inadvertently knocked 2 of his rods in as well ....... including a loomis!! Luckily, both were retrieved!!

I thought I'd better read up on the rules!!

One of the guys had a you-beaut 'structure' Fish Finder! Amazing underwater pic of the trees

Only one of our guys caught a legal Cod, so he went into the Boat Draw!

Edited December 6, 2012 by Roberta

[Centrepin]

Thanks Roberta that is a great read.

The team spirit and the events really go a long way to compliment the fishing.

The ukele is growing in prominence as the instrument of choice when camping.

So light and easy to transport. I know someone that would love to jam with you some day.

Thanks for sharing,

Geoff and Evi

[paul.kenny]

Hi Roberta, congratulations on getting two nice cod....it looked like a tough but enjoyable weekend. Good on you and your team mates for donating your prize to our wounded servicemen and women.

[arpie]

Hi Geoff

,,,,,The team spirit and the events really go a long way to compliment the fishing.,,,,

I really like fishing with other people - you swap tips & commiserate on the miserable conditions, no fish, etc & it makes the 12hr drive seem more worth it!

I was just amazed at how smoothly the whole thing went. Obviously, an army of volunteers do all the meals & registering etc - and there were so many tackle stalls to drool over ........

Let us know if you ever head up to Forster ........ I have a spare yak & we could hit the water! If you have a uke, we could have a session with that as well!!

Hi Basscatcher

......it looked like a tough but enjoyable weekend.....

It was great fun - shame the wind came up on the Sun or we would have stayed til Monday. Garry caught his legal cod within 3 metres of shore - just after putting in again after lunch!! One other young bloke was using big diving lures, but only casting in amongst the fallen timber around the shores & he was monstered ....... seems they like to hang around REALLY shallow water, too!! He rarely fishes in water deeper than 1m!! He has a blog on the net somewhere & I hope to make further contact with him as he is a bit of a cod master (even tho he is just leaving school this year.

Here's a couple of pics that other people took of me!! I was in the smallest yak ...... again!!

with a couple of the boys

And our group - it will become a yearly 'event' for us now - we'll try & win the Biggest Team Prize from now on!

There must be a bit of a time warp down there - lots of the local kids still wear 'mullet' hair cuts (like the young bloke in the pic with Adam Royter!) SO funny!!

cheerio

Roberta

[Jewhunter]

Awesome report Roberta!

Are they your 1st Cod?

Looks like you had a hoot & to nail your target species

is a top effort.

Congrats & thanks for the report.

Cheers,

Grant.

[pomey_git]

looks like an awesome weekend.

Fishing really is a social sport.

well done on the Cod to. They look very impressive.

[arpie]

Hi Grant

...Are they your 1st Cod?....

Gd'day, Grant! I was there 10 years ago in my Foldaboat & landed 1 tiny one tho I didn't have a camera, so no record of it! As we all know - no pic, it doesn't count!!

So these 2 were definitely my biggest to date & I was really chuffed to land them, as there were a lot of better freshwater yak fishos there that didn't manage to land any on the weekend!! I was amazed when Garry got his so close in to land - near where they were fishing the bloke's rod out of the water!

Good luck with your cod session with Dan - I hope you get some whoppers!!!

...looks like an awesome weekend. ...

Absolutely!! We even had a generator & our 'organiser' had actually brought along his coffee machine so the coffee addicts could get their daily hit!! It was rained on, but came good again a day after!!

Plenty of this going on too!!

I was surprised that the 55cm one wasn't bigger as it seemed HUGE in the net!!

Roberta

[Jewhunter]

Thanks for that Roberta.

We got back yesterday arvo, bloody exhausted!

We got 49 cod for the trip. Post will be up soon.

Love the genny & coffee machine!!

Cheers,

Grant.

[arpie]

Well done, Grant!! Can't wait to read it!!! AWESOME number of fish!

Yeah - with the Genny - just as well everyone was in agreement, as they can cause fisticuffs in some camp situations if someone is annoyed by them! This was a 3k one & was really quite quiet - recharging peoples phones & cameras as well! So, handy if you have one!

Shame I don't drink Coffee!! Love the smell of it but not the taste (unless you add heaps of chocolate & call it Mocha!)

cheers

Roberta

[Guest hawkesbass]

well done congrats on the cod.looked too be a top weekend away.

[bassboy888]

Awesome work roberta! congrats on getting 2 cod in what sound like trying conditions. that soft plastic trailer looks very interesting and different! who would have thought a cod would engulf that

[Hodgey]

Excellent report as always Roberta!

I had an abbreviated trip down there this year and only spend 24 hours fishing. We usually camp at Kyffens for the 4 days but this year we stayed on the river at Forge Pump Beach 2. Much better camping area...but ridiculous amount of boat traffic and noise Back to Kyffens for us next year.

Quite a few yellas and trout cod bought back to camp but the cod were a little quiet; especially on lure. I landed one @ 51cm on a green hammerhead hardbody with my third cast, but that was to be my only one for the short trip.

Cheers

Ian

[slinkymalinky]

Great report and trip, Roberta. Congrats on getting amongst the Cod... don't they hit hard and aren't they beautiful to look at!!

How's the thumb by the way? Holding a Murray Codby the lower jaw is something you probably won't do too often. If you still have skin on your thumb, you've been very lucky

As usual, some great tackle tinkering with your weedless wonder

Cheers, Slinky

[PRED-ATOR]

WOW great Cod Roberta,

They sure are a pretty fish. Do they pull hard?

Well done on getting amongst them and its good to see so many yak fishers, i seriously didnt realise how many people are into it these days.

Cheers, Stan

[arpie]

...that soft plastic trailer looks very interesting and different!...

ABSOLUTELY!! Who would have thought it!! Just goes to show that you should try everything you have!! Mind you - once that one got the hits, I didn't use anything else!!

...I had an abbreviated trip down there this year and only spend 24 hours fishing... I hope it was the Sat that you fished!! In the back of my mind, I was hoping we'd meet up down there Ian! We were at Kyffens too & I am sure the team will be there again next year!! (not sure whether I will be tho - I didn't like all that submerged timber!!!!)

..How's the thumb by the way? ... To be honest, Tony, I didn't notice any teeth marks! Maybe mine were the toothless wonders!! The 2nd one put up the better fight ..... I thought the first one was a yella! he, he, you know me & tackle - always thinking outside the square!!

Shame is, I chucked away my newest 'fav lure' when I had a rod tip wrap late on the Sat! I had previously chucked away a Bassman spinner when I used a snap (yeah, I know! ) and it parted company, shooting off at a million miles an hour!! Funny how much faster they go (and further) when there are no strings attached!

...They sure are a pretty fish. Do they pull hard?.... They would have to be one of the prettiest fish out there. The first one didn't pull that hard, but the 2nd one did & I am sure that the one that got off would have pulled hardest of all!!

Some 5+ years back, when fishing near Narrabri, my cousin caught a cod & brought it back to the house (which was on the river) ..... where we all felt sorry for it & decided to let it go, so conducted 'arti-fishy-respiration' on it in the bath (tank water) before releasing it! I think there was even a pic of it somewhere, reviving in the bath!!

cheers

Roberta

[slinkymalinky]

You won't notice their teeth until the first time one kicks while you have your thumb in its gob. After that, you'll never go cod fishing again without gloves or bogas

Not so much teeth as an oral version of a wood rasp.

T