BUNDIGERRY CREEK, A HIDDEN GEM

“This looks like trout water,” I said to Marty as I peered out the window of my Subaru into the foaming white water below us.

“I can’t imagine too much living in there. Downstream in the slower water looks better,” Marty replied.

Marty Asmus and I clambered down the steep bank to the waters edge. I had my camera in hand, and Marty picked up my casting rod with a spinnerbait attached.

Given that this was a reconnaissance trip and it was the middle of the day, we were not expecting to catch anything, but Marty flicked a cast across the narrow canal and within two turns of the handle line was pouring off the reel.

“I’m on,” he called through a big grin.

The run slowed as quickly as it started and Marty winched a 40cm Trout Cod to the edge. The little Trouty was released and Marty flicked my spinnerbait back out into the raging torrent.

Next cast was belted at the water’s edge by a Golden Perch which missed the hooks. The Golden’s continued to follow the lure each subsequent cast, but weren’t interested enough to bite.

“Stop playing with the fish,” I called, “We have to keep moving.”

Marty was mumbling about having to leave fish biting as he begrudgingly climbed back into the car.

As hard as it was to leave active fish, this day we had a different purpose. Marty and I were collecting data for our guide to the riverside reserves between Gundagai and Narrandera. With sixty reserves to cover in a weekend, we needed to move.

In the process of building our book “Unlocking the Murrumbidgee” we uncovered all the access points to the Murrumbidgee in this 200km (by road) stretch of river, and also found some fantastic water along one of the Murrumbidgee’s tributaries, the Bundigerry Creek.

The Bundigerry Creek is a heavily regulated stretch of water, primarily designed to transfer water from the Murrumbidgee River to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) at Leeton and Griffith. It has a series of weirs and regulators on it, which in turn create pools and fast flowing water in which the fish have adapted and flourished.

The Bundigerry Creek originates as a man-made canal stemming from the Berembed Weir, 60km west of Wagga Wagga. The current flow at its origin is super-fast, but slows considerably as you move downstream to the point where at the 5-Mile Reserve (30km downstream) a weir has created deep, still water. In summer, water skiers can make this area busy, but in winter, when the big fish feed, it’s an anglers paradise. Submerged timber, drowned creeks and virtually no current make it ideal for lure fishing.

From Bank to Boat

Our taste of Bundigerry Creek fishing had Marty and I restless. We needed to get back to that water. Given the variety of habitat that extends downstream, we opted to fish the headwaters for a start to see if any big fish pushed their way to the weir wall and gradually work our way downstream in subsequent trips fishing the slower water.

Bank fishing was an option, but we both like to cover a lot of water when fishing (and we like the rescue rate of snagged lures out of the boat), so we decided to launch a boat into the raging current. Marty’s 3.7m Clark was a logical choice as it can be manhandled down almost any bank and the 18hp Tohatsu is light enough to carry, but powerful enough if we wanted to race downstream to fish new water.

Arriving at Berembed Weir, the Creek looked good. Clean, clear and fast. We dragged the boat over the rocks, threw in the rods and commenced our reconnaissance of this new water.

The sounder showed greatly variable water depth from one to four metres, which was surprising considering this part of the Creek was dug with an excavator. The water was obviously re-carving its own path. With no obvious indicators of depth above the water, we relied on the sounder to follow the deeper water where we hoped the fish would be.

After sounding out a few likely trolling runs, we decided to get the lures wet and catch a fish.

Marty opted for the ever faithful medium yellow/black Hammerhead and I opted for a 90mm AC Invader in a custom white/yellow/green/black spot combination. Our first run for the day was underneath a tall bank lined with She-Oaks. The water wasn’t deep at two metres, and we were debating a move, when my reflexes were tested by a rapid strike. The fish used the current and raced away downstream freely stripping 15kg braid from the reel.

The length of the run and power of the strike had me thinking 10kg cod. The fish stayed deep and lunged away from the boat, but as happens in this part of the world, a feisty 55cm Trout Cod popped to the surface.

Marty smiled as he put the net away. He was happy not to see a 10kg cod on the end of my line. Everything is a competition!

This early success was short lived as we toiled for two hours without gaining another strike. A change in tactics was required.

Motoring upstream toward the wall, we found a group of large rocks laying on the edge of a three metre drop-off. A small eddy adjacent to the rocks would allow fish to rest out of the current. It had to be a prime location.

Marty manoeuvred the boat so that we were a rod length from the drop-off and we both worked our lures along the wall. My Invader was munched in true cod fashion and a healthy 55cm fish was wrestled aboard. A quick photo and release and I was back into the fishing. I cast my lure back into the same area and it barely dived below the surface before a twin of the previous fish latched on.

Marty was rummaging through my lures to find another Invader of similar colour to the custom one I was using when his Hammerhead, left forgotten in the rod holder, took a good strike. The fish failed to connect, but this gave encouragement and Marty proceeded to nail three straight fish in the next hour.

The next weekend, I was unable to fit a trip in, but Marty and his uncle Bruce Milne, snuck away for a few hours. I received the phone call as they were driving home, six fish in fours hours from 55-75cm, a couple of undersize fish, and plenty of missed strikes.

Needless to say that I was completely pumped for another Bundigerry Creek attack.

New Tactics

Marty and I held a council of war and decided to try the slow, deep water at the 5-Mile Reserve weir pool. This time we were fishing for keeps - deep water, big lures and electric motors. It was time to up the stakes and coax a big cod out of the depths.

Dave Longmore was invited on this expedition and as a skilled fly and lure caster, he was keen to diversify from his normal fishing methods to try his hand at river trolling. I organised Marty and Dave to travel together as they live close to each other (but thirty minutes drive from Wagga Wagga, where I live). however Marty had to pull-out at the last minute, leaving Dave and I.

The forecast was for wind, rain, and freezing temperatures, but driving out the conditions were not too bad. I pulled in at the boat ramp where in the morning half-light we checked out the water.

“Looks pretty clear,” I said

“Not as clear as the headwater, but still good,” Dave replied.

We launched the boat and decided on a short drive to acquaint ourselves with the water and find a few suitable trolling runs. My sounder showed variable depth from barely a metre is some places to over eight metres in the old river bed. The average depth was between four and six metres.

Scanning around I found a long bank which had good snags along its length all lying in the channel.

“This looks better,” I called to Dave who without a view of the screen had no idea what I was talking about.

“OK, let’s get fishing,” he replied

The lure choice for me was easy, with my custom painted AC Invader the first to be tied on. Dave opted for a proven winner and tied on a yellow/black Hammerhead.

The skies were black in the distance, but the boat was bathed in brilliant morning sun as we crawled along with our lures nipping the top of the logs six metres below us.

The blustery wind was making me work hard to keep the boat straight, when all went still and silent.

It was the calm before the storm.

“It would be nice if it stayed like this,” I said hopefully.

“Very pleasant,” Dave replied.

If we were going to get a fish, it had to be soon as the weather was closing back in fast, the sun disappeared and the first gust of storm-backed wind was whistling up the creek toward us.

As if to script, my weathered ABU 6000 howled into life as something big ate my lure.

The fish ran hard to get back to his snag, but the open water and 15kg Fireline slowed his lunge short of a bust-off. The fish took a breather as I regained some line, before it powered off again.

“He’s still taking line,” Dave called, “That’s a nice fish you’ve got on there.”

The wide head sways gave away that this fish was what we were targeting. After a few minutes we ended up with a stalemate, the cod sat on the surface eyeballing me, twenty metres from the boat flatly refusing to come any closer.

I could see that the fish had the lure in the front of his mouth and rather than apply more pressure and run the risk of pulling the hooks, I clicked the electric motor into gear and drove over the fish.

The cod tried to evade the approaching boat but I was able to direct it toward Dave and the outstretched net. The last bit of my nervous energy dissipated as the fish dropped into the bottom of the net. At 94cm and 19kg (42lb in the old scale) it was a pig of a fish. The cod was very fat and obviously feeding actively in the cold May water.

The rain was just starting to come down as we revived the fish. With the lip gripper removed, the cod sparked into life showering us with water. It’s always a nice feeling seeing a big cod swim away so strongly.

We decided to troll back toward the car as Dave forgot his wet weather gear and given how cold it had became in the past hour, he could have ended up with hypothermia if he got any wetter.

A further hour of prospecting identified some excellent water that we could work a lot easier in better conditions, however a sheet of rain blowing horizontally toward us shortened our morning and we quickly loaded the boat and headed home.

Bundigerry offers a wide variety of water conditions within close proximity. If the fish aren’t biting in one area, you can be fishing completely different conditions by travelling a few kilometres in the boat or car. It’s a versatile region and well worth a look.

Facts

The Bundigerry Creek branches from Berembed Weir which is approximately 40km east of Narrandera and 60km west of Wagga Wagga.  From Berembed Weir the water moves through Bundigerry Creek into Bundigerry storage (5 Mile Reserve Weir), through Lake Talbot at Narrandera to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area at Leeton/Yanco. This system is operated and maintained by Murrumbidgee Irrigation.

Narrandera is nearest town to the Bundigerry Creek, and with its population of 5,000 offers a full range of services with clubs, cafés, caravan parks, motels, hotels and Bed & Breakfast accommodation. Narrandera is very picturesque with historic buildings and cedar-lined streets that have been declared an urban conservation area by the National Trust.

Captain Charles Sturt passed through the district in 1829, and was probably the first white person to do so. There is a memorial to the explorer just west of the Newell Highway and north of the bridge over the Murrumbidgee as you enter the town from the south.

Fish stocking of the Bundigerry Creek upstream of Narrandera has been extensive with NSW Fisheries adding 10,000 Murray Cod in December 2002, 7,000 Golden Perch in December 2001 and a further 5,000 Golden Perch in March 2002. Silver Perch numbers have also been increased with 6,000 Silver Perch released in December 2002. The Bundigerry Creek also has a strong population of Trout Cod which has stemmed from the NSW Fisheries campaign to re-establish this species in the Murrumbidgee River and its tributaries. Lake Talbot in the centre of Narrandera is also well stocked with native fish.

Camping is available at numerous locations along the Creek with the 5 Mile Reserve, Island View, Windmill Bend, Bundigerry Bend and Berembed Weir being the most accessible locations. Boat launching is available via a concrete boat ramp at the 5 Mile Reserve and via dirt ramps at Island View and Windmill bend.

For more information on this region contact the Narrandera Tourist Information Centre on (02) 6959 1766 or by email to tourist.centre@narrandera.nsw.gov.au
 

© Jamin Forbes May 2006