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Tamworth Murray Cod Today I'm fishing Lake Keepit near Tamworth in NSW. We're trolling for murray cod. I'm fishing with Dean McFarlane from the local tackle store.. he knows all about this lake and says we could catch a cod or two. The water level is pretty low, but there's still plenty of submerged structure - and hopefully that means the cod are lurking below. Dean uses a quiet Yamaha 4 stroke to keep up a good trolling speed without spooking the fish. We're trying smooth cronar reels with sensitive fireline and 75 mil orgy plough lures. The action is deep and wide and slow, so you need to get the lures down there and once in the depths let them punch away at a steady speed. Always be working your rod tip, don't troll along at hundred miles an hour, always work the tip of the rod bouncing that lure all around. We soon snare a beautiful specimen. He's around the 40 cm mark, and has plenty of weight. You can see the size of mouth - it's quite large compared to the size of the cod - it's no trouble at all for them to gorge a big lure down there. The sun's getting stronger, so that's probably the last we'll see of the cod today… This afternoon I'm back out on Lake Keepit with Sydney flyfishing guide, Justin Duggett. We're gonna do a bit of flyfishing, not for normal table fish, but for noxious sportfish. European carp are an introduced species which plague the dams. These bottomfeeders stir up a lot of mud, destroying the habitat of our local fish and plantlife. Probably the worst sort of fish - they kill lot of native fish as well. Best policy is to put them out of their misery and leave them high and dry. We don't want them going back in. We're using flies that resemble the shrimp these fish feed on. I tell you, this is a great way to rid our waters of this pest - because European carp happen to be fantastic sportfish! They are a good looking fish, it's a shame they're no good for native fish. These carp are highly prized in Europe as sportfish, with their big charges, deep dives and a lot of weight. Unfortunately, they're also one of the worst eating fish! But at least this is one less carp creating havoc amongst the locals in the lake. Trolling Lake Keepit is not the only place to find murray cod. Probably the best spots are the many river systems around Tamworth. Today Dean and mate Ben show us a few of his tactics. Our plan is to target the structure - and there's a truckload of mean-looking snags. Hooking up is gonna be easy but how do you get em outta there ? Cod lie in the shade under the snags waiting to ambush their prey. The dominant fish get the best spots - so the bigger the snag, the bigger the cod. They're territorial - so even when they're not hungry, they attack things. So when cod fishing, if can't get them into a feeding frenzy just annoy them into a bite ! First strike goes to Ben - not a murray cod, but a close cousin. A nice little yellowbelly with spinnerbait, nice native fish - pretty abundant around here. Very aggressive. Yellowbelly feed on shrimp and yabbies, so they love chasing our spinners and hardbodied lures. The great thing about river fishing is we can work the banks and rapids, targetting the best snags at every bend. Dean's hooked up between a few logs - and it looks like our first Murray Cod. I reckon it might be time to change my tactics - so come in spinner ! You can use soft plastics or hardbodies but these spinners are the ones doing the damage today. Spinner baits, Colorado blades for vibration and slider grub, they wiggle their tails and attract cod. Murray cod are known to reach up to 15 kilo in this sytem…but this fellow's still a healthy looking fish. For all the
tips and advice about fishing for murray cod, yellowbelly or
carp in the Tamworth Region, talk to Dean McFarlane at Tamworth
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Tamworth Murray Cod Tamworth
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