SMILING HAPPY PEOPLE

A trio of hard body lures wobbled out of sight as I clicked the Honda in gear. The young gentleman sitting on the deck beside me was excitedly firing questions at me. His older sister sitting in front of me was also chiming in with well directed questions as mum sat quietly, happy that she wasn’t the target of the inquisitive barrage.

Burrinjuck Dam Murray cod In the midst of the youthful enthusiasm, I was going about my business, double checking drags and making sure that the lures were in the strike zone, when young Brendan’s rod violently bounced and then sprang straight in his hands.

With his eyes wide and adrenalin flowing through his veins, his questions paused and I stated;

“That was a bite.”

Brendan unleashed a tirade of inquiry as to what could have hit the lure, when his mother’s rod bucked and flattened out as whatever had just attached Brendan’s lure was now clearly on her line and going home.

Given that the boat had only moved thirty or so metres from where we started fishing, I hadn’t yet checked that her drag was adjusted and from the amount of line disappearing into the river, I assumed that the drag was too light and the fish was swimming away unchecked.

The fished stopped and I took the opportunity to lean over and check the drag, and almost lost a finger in the process. The drag was set very firmly and this fish had just effortlessly ripped off twenty metres in one go.

Now this fish had my full attention.

The fish stopped burrowed another few metres to the log from whence it came and stopped.

It was my turn to fire out the directions. The kids cleared their lines and I moved them to the front deck so mum and I could battle this fish. I told mum that the fish was very big and not to panic when it came to the surface. Spinnerbait cod Murrumbidgee River

The boat swung into mid river and mum followed every direction. Given this was mum’s first fish ever, she had reason to giggle when a big Murray cod rolled on the surface and then set up camp under the boat. Twice the fish came out, charged about looking for a snag and then returned to the dark sanctuary under the boat.

The third time the fish was tiring and I was ready with the net.

Mum and the kids were screaming with excitement. At 110cm and 54lb on the Boga’s, this was a ‘real’ cod and given the fast, snaggy water we were fishing, it was a fantastic capture that would have done any seasoned angler proud.

The smile on the face of someone who has just excelled and landed a massive fish is priceless. But despite this being hard to top, I still had a full day ahead of me, with the focus definitely being on catching fish for the children.

The kids fished hard all day and when their fish came they were babies compared to the one that their mother caught, but they were every bit as excited as what they were in the morning when posing for photographs with 54lb of cod. This excitement is infectious and I genuinely feel the rush when someone else is getting so much enjoyment out of their fishing.

Before I started fishing professionally, I had become very elitist in my fishing. If it wasn’t a big fish, it often wasn’t good enough and I would return from some quite busy fishing trips frustrated. Even if we landed a lot of fish, to me it was pointless unless there was something large caught.

Now that I get to see a lot of people’s first fish ever caught, I have regained the enjoyment that you get from just catching a fish, any fish. Size doesn’t really matter – enjoy the fact that you’ve tricked that fish into biting, throw it back and hopefully catch it again in ten years time when it’s a metre long!

The Little Things

My job is to catch people fish and I have developed strategies that work very effectively in catching a fish regardless of size. There is a lot written and on DVD’s about big cod and this is where we freshwater fisherman aspire, but these big fish come when they’re Huge Cod from Murrumbidgee ready and in the meantime there are hundreds of trips that can be filled with smaller fish.

I must clarify that lure fisherman will rarely outfish bait for numbers of small fish. A worm, grub or shrimp through the warmer months of the year will attract some sort of fish for a chew, whilst lures generally appeal to a slightly bigger, more aggressive fish. That said, I love to fish with lures and do so by choice as I find it more exciting than bait fishing.

In addition, large cod are a predator and feed heavily on small fish. By fishing with small fish imitations, you’re mimicking the cod’s favourite meal and increase your chances significantly of tricking that fish into eating your artificial offering.

I estimate that a cod above 90cm I would land about one in every ten to fifteen trips. Through a normal summer I would average eight to ten fish a day so a bigger cod comes about every 100-120 fish or so. If I concentrated solely on bigger fish, the numbers of fish would drop significantly and even if I increased my strike rate for larger cod, getting a fish over 90cm every six to eight trips, by not getting those smaller fish to fill the gaps, I would have a lot of dejected clients who are unlikely to re-book.

The primary reason fisherman miss out when lure fishing for cod, is that they use too big a lure. When cod are in an aggressive mood even yearling sized fish will attack a lure as big as a banana, but like us, when you’re hungry, your eyes are bigger than your belly.

Even though you aren’t hungry, if someone offers an ‘M&M’ chocolate, you will likely eat one, but if offered a huge baked dinner, you would say ‘no thanks’. Cod are no different.

Through summer especially, fish are surrounded by swarms of shrimps, carp, bony bream, yabbies, smelt, gudgeon etc etc. Why would you eat a rattling contraption as big a banana when you are grazing constantly on an endless natural buffet?

But if you present a fish with a small lure right in front of its nose, that’s a different matter. A small morsel is more likely to be snapped up than a mountain of food.

What to Use

My favourite small lure is without a doubt the 50mm AC Invader (with the large bib). This lure is my “Get Out of Jail Free” card. It produces fish when all else fails. Coming in a close second is the 65mm Custom Crafted Extractor, also in the large bib.

cod lures

These lures come fitted with hooks designed for bass and golden perch. I increase the treble size and only use ‘Owner’ hooks. A half decent cod will bend the original hooks too easily and get away. NB: Small ‘Owners’ will also bend, but you’re a better chance of holding the fish.

By the time you’ve tied on one of these small lures, there’s a good chance that you haven’t caught much and you want to make sure that you stick each bite. Use good hooks – its your only link to the fish.

The reason I stipulated the large bib on the AC and Extractor is that small lures still need to be down in the strike zone (30-100cm off the bottom). The reduced body & bib size means that the little lures take some getting down to depth, hence the oversize bib. Follow the bottom contour with your lure as you would for a larger lure and you will fill more gaps in your fishing day with smaller fish.

Not all fish that eat small lures are tiny. The cod described in the opening of this article ate a 65mm Extractor. Not a big fish lure, but the cod didn’t care. Later that day, the same lure landed cod from 30-50cm long. Definitely multi-tasking.

Downsizing hard bodies is reliable, but the same principle also applies to spinnerbaits. My number one spinner has a massive size 8 colorado on the back. This blade vibrates like a hard body and is an easy teaching tool as clients find it easy to feel when the lure is travelling at the correct speed, but sometimes cod don’t like the big vibration.

In these times, I sometimes switch to casting small hard bodies, occasionally use a bibless lure, but more often use a smaller spinner. A lighter head and small blade(s) gives a compact lure which can tempt smaller fish which may have not been willing to attack a large spinner.

trout cod

The small spinners also appeal to big cod as they see the whole lure as food and swallow the blades, wire, head and skirt in one go!

Choose your Focus

There are periods in our lives when our focus is on a trophy fish. If this is what you and your crew like to do, put the long hours in with big lures and you will get your fish.

But if you have to babysit kids, entertain your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend or teach a mate who is new to fishing, the days and days of catching nothing whilst you seek a monster fish, will not make you a popular person.

Take a step back and rediscover fishing. The excitement generated by a 50cm cod for someone who has never caught a fish, or perhaps their first fish on a lure, gives you a sense of achievement and the person who caught that fish will never forget it.

The serenity of just being on the water wears off after a few hours. Smiling, happy people are those who have just caught a fish.

Invest in yourself

As we go through life we are constantly educating ourselves so we’re able to make the most of the constantly changing environment we live in.

We train ourselves to master a new skill or technique to make life easier, have attended University, Technical College to open up new career paths, but when it comes to our leisure, many fishermen invest a lot of money into equipment and little in education.

I was one who didn’t believe in spending money for guides or charters, instead spending significant time (and ultimately money) developing new skills, which I could have quickly, and more economically, learnt from a quality guide.

When I made the jump from recreational fisherman to professional fishing guide, I met some very experienced guides and quickly realised from a single conversation how little I knew about fishing that wasn’t within my niche.

Most guides specialise in a niche market (mine being Murray cod on lures in the Riverina). Just because I know how to catch fish in my own world, doesn’t mean that I can head into the tropics and become a gun barramundi fisherman overnight. You need to learn the unique features of each waterway, and where the fish live and what they feed on.

This is information that can either take weeks of trial and error – or you recruit the services of someone who is already skilled in that area, and more importantly, has the ability to teach you how it all works.

Guides become guides because they love fishing, love to talk about fishing, and enjoy teaching people how to catch fish. When you choose a guide, don’t be afraid to pepper them with questions. You’re entrusting them with your hard earned dollars and you want a return on your investment by way of information. At the end of the day, you should have new skills and be far more knowledgeable about the target species than when you met that morning. If you catch a few fish along the way – fantastic, but the most valuable thing you will have acquired is knowledge and experience.

The amount of money spent on a guide is minimal compared to the money we spend on boats, travel, accommodation and time to catch a fish. Guides are an investment in your future.