Murray Cod trip

[AlbertW]

Hey All,

Sorry it’s taken a while to get this report up but I’ve been pretty busy ever since I got back. Anyways one day I randomly decided to go and target Murray cod and for some reason Tamworth was on my mind. No special reason but I think I heard that it held cod for a long time ago. Did some more research and learnt about all of the New England area. As many of you know @big Neil is a gun cod fisho so he was the first person I reached out to. After a couple of messages he was able to connect me with @Hill373737. Hilly (Steve), being the top bloke he is, offered to take me out and try to get on my first cod. I then headed up with the parents to Tamworth and occupied them with some touristy things to do, e.g lookouts, museums etc.  

Day 1

I got up at the ripe time of 4 am and by 4:45 Hilly was already outside of my hotel ready to go with kayaks in tow. By around first light we were already on the peel river. Straight away we got over our first rock bar (the first of many). Then after riding the current for 30 seconds we hit the second rock bar. This now opened up to much bigger river, probably 30-40m in width. We started off with topwater, fishing the cod walloped with not much action. Hilly had a cod swirl on his but that was the end of that. After a while we heard a big boof on the water and by the time I got there there were only white feathers on the surface, Hilly and I both suspected that it was a small cockatoo that had been boofed by a cod. Despite that sign nothing else came of topwater and we switched to diving stump jumpers. The biggest learning curve was that of positing myself along the bank and making accurate casts with the baitcaster as I had very little experience with it. After half an hour the accuracy started breaking in and I could cast into snags and only get snagged on the trees a couple of times. Soon Hilly managed to wrestle a yellow belly from underneath a stack of submerged branches and I took some pics for him. A while later I managed to pick up my own yella, casting along a wall of roots and soil. We fished most of the snags along the way with no more hookups so we stopped at the next rockbar and had a lunch break. We then proceeded to spend half an hour going down a tiny stream, getting caught every now and then on rocks and having to get out and push the yak into deeper water. We finally reached the second part of the river and it was a bit shallower than the first bit but had more cod holding structure. We fished on for another couple of hours, tackling snags and getting snagged in the process. I was casting at a tree until Hilly yelled out “I’m on to a cod!” or something along the lines of that. Hilly had been peppering a bunch of submerged twigs and had successfully annoyed a cod into taking the lure and it was a decent one! We quickly paddled to a shallow area where we could stand up and land the fish and just as I was about to snap the lip grip on the cod it ducked under and the treble came loose. We estimated it was about 70cm which is a pretty decent cod but nothing compared to Hilly’s 124cm cod from last season. Nothing else for the rest of the day but it was already enough for me to see such a big cod. We then paddled all the way back up river, crossing rock bars and even dragging the yaks along the shore for the final stretch. The entire journey was hard on my bum and I had foolishly declined borrowing a foam pad for the seat but for Hilly who’s basically an ex champion kayak racer the 6km round trip was considered easygoing and relaxed. Then it was back to the hotel for dinner and an early nights sleep.

 

Day 2

Woke up even earlier on day 2, crawling up at around 3 o’ clock in the morning as Hilly had gotten the boat out and we were heading out to a dam. Again, we were on the water just as it was first light. We started off with topwater again, me using the same cod walloper and a seedless frog and Hilly an assortment of surface and subsurface lures such as walkers and shallow divers. No luck on topwater so we packed up and sped off to another spot. We put the trolling motor in and slowly worked the submerged trees that littered the bay we were in. Both of us started throwing divers and spinnerbaits and working them past the snags. Hilly had switched to a lighter baitcaster with a smaller spinnerbait rigged with a black grub. When suddenly liked the cod he managed to hook up to a fish as he was working the base of the tree. The fish took off like a rocket which gave it away that it was a carp. After getting it in the boat and snapping a few pics, I was given the honours of bonking it on the head and leaving it on the shore to feed the foxes. There was nothing notable about the rest of the day, except some bites and taps that never seemed to connect. And with the wind rolling in fast we decided to call it quits, after trying around 5-6 spots. Back at the boat ramp we met Bob (haha don’t know you lived in Tamworth Pickles) who also said that the going was tough and he only bagged out on yellow belly in an hour or two, which as Hilly explained that Bob had grew up and fished Tamworth all his life and would use freshwater prawns as bait or tree jig with grubs. We had a nice chat at the boat ramp spinning a few yarns, especially Bob who recounted once how he forgot his reel and used a coke bottle he found to handline in a metery cod. As Hilly explained on day 1 the dam held bigger fish but it was also very easy to donut and I decided to go double or nothing  (my bum was also  still sore from day 1 which was a contributing factor) I was then back at Hilly’s place admiring his shed waiting for dad to pick me up. I forgot to mention earlier but Hilly has a cracking shed, with a caravan, his kayaks and trailer and his boat all fitted in only half of it. The other half held tools, fishing gear, a remote controlled race track and a bunch of other cool stuff. On his walls there was notably a laser engraving of the 124cm cod he caught on some timber and tons of pics of him or his mates holding big fish. Then dad pulled into the driveway and then we had to part ways. The next morning we quickly checked out of the hotel and I gave the river another shot for an hour but with the recent rainless weather the river in town was still too shallow to fish properly. I then had to properly part with Tamworth and we were back onto the highway. We stopped at Newcastle and while my parents got lunch I had a quick flick with a vibe on the bc and managed to tick off my first squid which was about time as I had only caught cuttlefish on squid jigs before. Got back to Sydney and picked up my dog from my mates house and went home for a well deserved nap. The end.

Afterword

Again, huge thanks to you@Hill373737the trip definitely would not have happened if it wasn’t for you and I really appreciate you taking the time and taking me out on your kayak and boat to hopefully get me onto a cod. Even though my cod may not have been caught the trip is still a success in my books with meeting lovely people like yourself and seeing the amazing scenery of the countryside.

Cheers,

albert

 

 

[AlbertW]

[AlbertW]

[AlbertW]

[AlbertW]

[big Neil]

Great summarised reports Albert. Many thanks to Steve for taking the time to show you the ropes re chasing Murray Cod. It's seldom easy but always worth the effort to be out in the pristine environments where these native species hang out. Top photos too guys. Better luck next time you have a crack at them. At least you got a Yellowbelly, as did Steve.

Cheers, bn

[DerekD]

Hi @AlbertW

I really enjoyed this report and thank you for posting. The combination of photos and story and people made for an enjoyable early morning read.

Hi @Hill373737 , thank you for spending the time with Albert. He reached out to me a few years ago wanting to get into fishing. His family are very supportive but lacked the knowledge to get him where he wanted to go. I've spent a lot of time with him but while he is prepared to learn I am prepared to teach him what I know. Between what you and other Raiders can show him and his hunger to learn and try things I think he will turn out to be an extremely capable and versatile fisher. I look forward to seeing how far he grows over the coming years.

Regards,

Derek

[Hill373737]

@AlbertW Mate, great report and it was a fun couple of days although I'm disappointed that you didn't get onto a cod. Its typical of cod fishing that I set you up on what I consider the best snags in that part of the river and I pull a 70 off an ugly snag on the shallow side of the river that I would rarely cast at. That snag will get hammered from now on when I'm down there.

You're a good learner, it didn't take you long to get the hang off positioning the kayak to best work over a snag and I saw a noticeable improvement in your confidence casting into structure. It takes a bit to work out that getting hooked up in snags occasionally just means you are getting in tight enough to have a real chance at a fish.

We'll have another go at it later this year when you come back up again, maybe next time we'll hit some of the harder to get to water in the kayaks!

@DerekD Thanks Derek .... I was fortunate as a kid that my dad and an uncle were mad fisherman so I had plenty of on the job training, Fishraider is a great information and support resource for fishos but a session on the water with a more experienced person can fast track your learning. I know you and others on Fishraider get that and happily give up your time.

[R E G I C Y C L E]

Great report! Cod are a tough species to crack, but persistence will get you there.

[bessell1955]

Great report, well written.

[Pickles]

Loved reading your report Albert - you’re right about Neil - the  FishRaider community is made up of top blokes like Neil and Steve. It’s so hard to find fish prospecting and local knowledge makes such a difference.

Edited January 29 by Pickles

[big Neil]

7 hours ago, Pickles said:

Loved reading your report Albert - you’re right about Neil - the  FishRaider community is made up of top blokes like Neil and Steve. It’s so hard to find fish prospecting and local knowledge makes such a difference.

HAHA Bob. Self praise is no praise, so I'll sing your praise. You are one of my heroes. You are an absolute treasure. Your willingness to take people out fishing, show them the skills and techniques that have taken you a lifetime to perfect, is legendary. On top of that you are modest, patient and a great educator.

You're right about it being hard to successfully prospect for fish without local knowledge...but so much harder when there are thousands of species and not just a handful.

Keep doing what you do so well Bob.

bn

[Lizardboy]

Albert, great report, it seems you have likely caught the cod bug. I'm in the same boat, stuck in Sydney, but would much rather be west of the divide. At least I have salt and freshwater options on my doorstep with Queenscliff lagoon, Manly Dam and the creek in between while I plan my next cod trip!