READ YOUR RIVER

Boats these days are expensive, polished and almost works of art. Needless to say that many fishermen aren’t keen to place their floating pride and joy into our inland rivers and creeks where rocks, logs, mud and sand are eagerly waiting to dent, dirty and scratch.

Our large open dams such as Burrinjuck, Blowering, Lake Hume etc are less likely to damage your boat and do have good fishing, but finding where the fish are feeding in these massive waterways can be a challenge. But if you’re careful and take your time motoring around, even for larger boats, the Murray Darling Rivers are a fishing goldmine with each bend offering new features and opportunities.

In order to get the most out of a river, you need to be able to interpret the flow of the water to identify the most likely spots that hold fish (and also where you are able to drive your boat without hitting shallow water).

The deeper water is usually on the outside of a bend where the current is quickest. Over the years the river scours away at the bank undermining trees causing them to topple in. These snags break the current flow and allow fish the perfect ambush location. The prime locations are at the top (where the current first hits the bank) and bottom (where the main flow leaves the bank) of the corner.

Straight sections of river can have large numbers of snags and lower flows, but many of these snags are in shallow water and/or have silted up. These snags are better casting propositions as it’s easier to position the boat with the electric motor when the current isn’t rocketing past.

Finding and fishing these areas is complicated when a weir or lock is bought into the equation. Where the water backs up behind the weir wall the current flow is reduced to almost zero. In addition, the snags that may have been on dry land under normal river conditions can now be covered with up to five or six metres of water, making them very attractive homes to cod.

However the same principles still apply. The river bends will still have the deep water on the outside; it now has an extra few metres of water on top of it. You just need to use your sounder to find the areas that have snags on the bottom.

Native fish are inherently lazy and wait patiently for a meal to come within striking distance. Although I am of the belief that almost every snag has a fish of some size and species on it, Murray cod are quite particular when in comes to setting up house.

Being the top order predator, cod get the best snags in the river. This is usually the biggest piece of timber in or adjacent to the deep water. A rule of thumb is that the bigger and older the timber, the larger the cod who owns that piece of real estate.

Unfortunately, it’s rare that inland rivers are clear enough to see more than a metre into the water, so we rely on depth sounders to see what’s underneath. The part of the snag above the water gives us clues as to what lay below, but you must rely on what you see on the small screen and feel with your lures to get the most out each snag.

When setting up your sounder, forget about using it to see fish. Turn off the fish ID symbol and adjust the sensitivity so you can clearly see the size and shape of the logs. In time you get a feel for what you see on the screen and how this translates into what is in the water below (you can speed this education process by finding some clear water and run your sounder over logs/rocks you can see).

Identify the water most likely to hold fish and then flog it for all its worth. Cast or troll repeatedly to an area and come back to that location later in the day. It may be the third, fourth or fifth visit to an area that produces, so keep the faith and keep going.

In order to offer the best fishing for my clients, I regularly research unfamiliar water. In these circumstances the sounder is invaluable and is the best tool to allow quick decisions as to whether a location is worth fishing or not.

If you want to put theory into a guided day on the water, call me on 0427 692522 or visit www.riverinasportfishing.com

© Jamin Forbes July 2007