BY CATCH DREAMING

It was a cold winter’s morning, with mist lifting off the water, and the sun burning off the last of the frost. I slowed the boat and we readied our lures for the first run of the day. The sounder showed a drop from 1.5m to 3m and a big log lying on the bottom. I had caught some nice Murray cod off this snag in previous weeks and it was a good location to start fishing for the day.

I cast my lure out and clicked the motor into gear. I felt the lure dive down and stick momentarily against the log before it burst over and into clear water. The fast wobble of the lure was replaced by a jolting strike that melted 15kg braid from my reel.

“I’m on,” I said to my companion for the day, Marty Asmus, “and it’s a good fish.”

The fish slowed after the initial ‘panic’ run and I noticed that there was comparatively little weight on the end of the line. I had called the fish as a cod in the 5-10kg range and with the lack of weight, I was starting to think otherwise, when the fish took off again pulling another few metres from the spool.

The fish stayed deep and kept plugging away before grudgingly coming to the surface. I was stunned when a trout cod about half the size of the Murray cod I was expecting popped to the surface. Marty picked up the lip gripper and tried to secure the fish so that the hooks could be removed but the fish clamped its jaws shut. There was no way we could get the lip gripper on. Marty cradled the fish into the boat for me and we admired a muscular 55cm trout cod before release.

This account happened many years ago and was my first encounter with a mature trout cod. As they are a totally protected species we cannot target them, but they live alongside Murray cod and golden perch in the Murrumbidgee, and are often incidental captures.

The Murrumbidgee River (encompassing the regional centres of Wagga Wagga, Narrandera and Gundagai) is fortunate to be part of the national recovery effort for trout cod. The National Trout Cod Recovery Plan was released in 1998 and highlighted the way forward in an effort to boost trout cod numbers and attain the overall objective of down-listing the species from endangered to vulnerable and eventually de-listed from the both the Commonwealth and NSW threatened species schedules.

Trout cod populations were once widespread through the Murray, Murumbidgee and upper Macquarie Rivers and their tributaries, however in a relatively short period of time breeding populations contracted significantly. The main cause of this decline is linked to habitat modification by extensive de-snagging of rivers, overfishing, and regulation of rivers.

De-snagging in particular is noted as a key factor in the decline as trout cod prefer logs in mid river, adjacent to deep water and in high current flow. These are the snags which were removed to allow easy passage of riverboats which operated in the Riverina region up until the 1920’s.

It’s not all doom and gloom with trout cod though as they are making a big comeback thanks to an on-going conservation stocking program conducted by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the initiatives from the Recovery Plan. Re-stocking plays a big part in the trout cod recovery with fingerlings being re-introduced into NSW and Victorian waterways since 1986. Certainly in the Murrumbidgee River around Wagga Wagga, Narrandera and Gundagai, the results have been dramatic. Trout cod relish the cool fast water typified by the Murrumbidgee and have been re-established in numbers to the point where they can become a nuisance (albeit a good problem to have) when targeting other species.

Bait fisherman in particular are badgered by immature trout cod with these ferocious little fish usually the first species to attack a well presented bait. They don’t lose any aggression when they grow up either, with adult trout cod often the first fish to hit a lure. The aggressive nature of trout cod makes them relatively easy to catch, and gives the impression that they are in larger numbers than may be the case. For example, despite their apparent abundance in the mid-Murrumbidgee below Burrinjuck Dam, NSW Department of Primary Industries fish sampling has shown that trout cod typically make up less than 10% of the total fish species available to anglers at most survey sites.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries continues to monitor the Murrumbidgee population in order to establish how effectively the adult fish are breeding and how sustainable the populations are. It’s important to ascertain whether the fish numbers we see relate to hatchery bred fish, or are wild spawned from within the current population. Until we see trout cod successfully breeding and maintaining (and preferably expanding) their range, trout cod should remain protected. Despite almost 20 years of continuous stocking, scientists have only recently been able to demonstrate that stocked trout cod have recruited in the wild in NSW.

The success of recovery initiatives in the Murrumbidgee and other waterways in NSW and Victoria, has led to pressure from anglers to establish recreational fisheries for trout cod. As part of this initiative, the volunteer organisation Native Fish Australia (Victoria), released a plan in August 2006, which makes sound recommendations toward the establishment of a recreational fishery for trout cod within Victoria. NFA investigated streams, rivers and lakes seeking the most suitable waters for establishing new populations and expanding existing trout cod stocks with an ultimate goal of allowing anglers to target trout cod from healthy, sustainable fisheries.

The NFA plan also highlights the importance of a recreational trout cod fishery in boosting the fish’s recognition and status. With their fighting spirit and willingness to eat lures, they should join our native Murray cod, Australian bass and golden perch as a premium freshwater sportfish.

By-Catch Heaven

For a few seasons I had been targeting Murray cod between Wagga and Narrandera with great success, but in this hard fished stretch of water big fish are relatively difficult to catch. I decided to leave my favourite stretch of water and seek some new challenges in the faster water toward Gundagai where stone riffles and sand banks are interspersed with deep holes.

The Murray cod upstream from Wagga are far less numerous than downstream, but generally speaking if you catch one, it’s usually of a better size. The trade-off is that there are more hours (or trips) between bites.

Shane Graham (Arnie) and I slid my boat into a backwater just above a stony riffle bed and started a trolling run in the deep water adjacent. The autumn water was clear and cool and running fast with the last of the irrigation water silently winding its way downstream toward Griffith, Leeton and Coleambally.

The bank looked perfect with several large snags, a clay dropoff along the edge, and a wide eddy for the fish to rest out of the current. It should have produced a cod, but after numerous passes failed to generate a strike, I was thinking that this wasn’t going to an easy days fishing.

We motored upstream and struggled to find water deep enough to hold fish, when we happened on a rock cliff that just screamed Murray cod. Huge rocks were strewn along the river bed and a massive, swirling eddy had to be a hotspot.

I positioned the boat close to the cliff and we ‘drove’ our lures through the rocks. A double strike produced a pair of fat redfin, which are a novel catch in the Murrumbidgee. A tasty pair of 1kg redfin is better than no fish at all and I started the boat moving again.

My custom painted AC Invader was working hard in the racing current as we entered the big eddy, the sounder showed a sharp drop from two to four metres and I let more line out to get the lure swimming down the face of the drop. I just clicked my reel back in gear as a fish hit the lure at top speed. The reel hummed in my hand as line was pulled freely off the spool. I knew it had to be a good cod.

The run stopped as quickly as it started. By now, I was awake to the fighting tactics of the trout cod and downgraded my estimation of fish size from ‘cow’ to ‘good sized trouty’. Trout cod don’t give in and this fish kept its head down and took some minutes to land on 15kg line. At just under 60cm it was a thumping trout cod.

With the fish released, we started trolling a clay drop-off strewn with logs. It was also the deepest water we had found and should have held the big Murray cod we were targeting. Not on this day though, as the trout cod started to really hit their straps and were belting our lures with regularity. It was hard to believe that these fish only exist in several isolated populations within the Murray-Darling basin as we released six of them in a couple of hours fishing.

My fishing focus changed after this trip and I moved away from the swiftly flowing areas to fish the deep water above the Murrumbidgee’s weirs. Interestingly in the still, pooled water we caught Murray cod and no trout cod, highlighting the trout cod’s love of fast flowing water.

A New Day

Toward the end of winter the Murrumbidgee is at its clearest with many months of low water and slow flow allowing suspended sediment to settle. For Marty Asmus and I, this is our favourite time to fish the river as the larger fish seem to feed actively in the 6-7 degree water, and better still, no-one else bothers to fish in the cold.

We decided to fish the same stretch of river that Arnie and I fished in the Autumn. This time there was a metre less water and driving the boat around in the shallow water was more challenging.

The ice on the boat was thick as we fumbled with cold hands to tie on our lures. As we waited for the sun to gain strength, we trolled the rock cliff and large eddy where Arnie and I had caught the trout cod and redfin previously. We didn’t raise a scale and I talked Marty into donning his waders and dragging the boat over a stone riffle so we could access the clay bank above. I was full of encouragement as Marty battled the small rapid with boat in tow.

Once above the rapid, we trolled through some big logs when my custom AC Invader was chomped by a solid 50cm trout cod. My drag was heavily set to stop a rampaging Murray cod hooked in a forest of snags, but the trout cod still put up a good fight. These ‘pit-bulls’ of the fish world never give up.

My luck continued soon after with a 50cm golden perch. By this time our hands had nearly thawed out and we opted for a change in tactics and moved to casting. We both like to cast with spinnerbaits and I opted for a quad-spin and Marty for a double blade.

The section of river we were fishing has logs packed on top of each other where the strong summer flows wash them all together. The biggest of these log jams was a likely place and it didn’t take too many casts before I landed a 53cm golden perch. A good fish by any standards, but it wasn’t the big Murray we were after.

The next log jam had a large willow tree growing over it, but the clear water revealed a plethora of drowned red-gum in what had to be a cod condominium. I wedged the boat on top of a log and sat down to a hotdog (from the thermos) and icy cold Coke, whilst Marty tried to get the advantage and started flogging the water to foam. I was in form on this day having landed all the fish so far and once fed, I flicked my quad-spin straight down the mouth of another fish.

Marty’s frown deepened as he heard the braid whistling through the guides of my rod. This fish was tough and needed maximum pressure to stop it from reaching the snags below. Marty usually plays deckhand for any fish landed but this fish was the final straw and I had to unhook and release the 54cm trout cod myself.

My next cast saw Marty’s frown become a scowl as my spinnerbait was belted. Line poured off the reel momentarily before the hooks came free. It may have been a 100cm Murray cod or a 50cm trout cod. Trout cod hit that hard that it can be hard to tell the difference.

A wry grin came across Marty’s face as he reached for my tackle box. He rummaged through my lures and selected a painstakingly rigged brand new quad-spin with stinger hook and soft plastic trailer. Needless to say that it was a twin for the one I was having success with.

We drifted downstream to a new pile of logs and Marty’s first cast with my lure was followed to the boat by a small golden perch. I let Marty try to catch this little ‘pooka’ fish whilst I spied a prime location coming within casting range.

I let fly with a flurry of casts from the back of the boat before Marty got within range. Marty realised what I was up to and stopped harassing a smaller log lying along the bank and walked down the back of the boat to cast at the two giant logs I was fishing. Marty flicked his first cast at the junction of the two logs where I was focussing my casts. I turned my attention toward the bank, when I heard Marty’s call;

“It’s a muzza,” he exclaimed, as the water exploded beside the boat.

“How do you know that?” I asked as I whipped my lure back to the boat.

“I saw it,” Marty replied through gritted teeth.

The big Murray disappeared back under a log and Marty’s graphite rod folded deeply as he went for glory and clamped down on the spool with his thumb. A tense few seconds passed as the 10kg Fireline sang. Marty lost his thumbprint as the fish lunged deeper for more cover, before it changed its mind and charged back into clear water. Marty kept the pressure on and the fish surfaced, thrashing wildly beside the boat.

By this stage I had the net ready and at full stretch managed to get the cod’s head into the net as it went crazy on the surface. Marty lent over and stuffed the rest of the fish in the net and we cheered at winning one of the most adrenalin charged ‘cod moments’ we have been involved in. At 110cm and 22.0kg it was a fantastic fish.

These big cod are the fish I like to target and in my part of the world we are lucky enough to have trout cod (and golden perch to a lesser degree) as by-catch, ably filling in the many hours between bites from the giants of the Murrumbidgee.

Facts

The trout cod (Maccullochella macquariensis) was first described from the Macquarie River in 1829, however its similarity in appearance, and overlapping range, to Murray cod caused continued problems with identification until 1972, when is was described as a distinct species.  

It is distinct from Murray cod by its overhanging upper jaw and the presence of a dark horizontal stripe from the snout, through the eyes and onto the gill cover (note that a similar eye stripe can also be present in juvenile Murray cod). The trout cod also has a straight head profile whereas the Murray cod has a concave head profile. Trout cod are brown or bluish grey with irregular spots and bars on the upper and lateral surfaces of the body as well as on the soft dorsal, anal and caudal fins. The fish is pale ventrally. The tips of the fins can also be tipped with white. Trout cod are reported to grow to 85cm and 16kg, however it is commonly seen at 40-55cm and 1-3kg.

Trout cod reach sexual maturity at 3-5 years, and 0.75-1.5 kg in weight. Generally male trout cod mature younger and smaller than females, although there would be some variation depending on environmental conditions and growth rate. The trout cod is a carnivorous, top-order predator, and its diet includes freshwater crustaceans, such as crayfish, yabbies and shrimps, as well as fish and aquatic insects.

Trout cod utilise river positions where large snags are located close to deep water and in fast current. These characteristics are distinct from those of Murray cod and golden perch, indicating that trout cod habitat requirements are more specific.

The early confusion in distinguishing trout cod and Murray cod probably distorted records of its historic distribution, but trout cod are believed to have been widespread in the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Macquarie, Goulburn, Broken, Campaspe, Ovens, King, Buffalo and Mitta Mitta Rivers. These populations contracted to two breeding populations. A naturally occurring population in the Murray River below Yarrawonga Weir and a translocated population, in Seven Creeks below Polly McQuinns Weir in Victoria.

Breeding programs starting in the 1980’s have re-established populations in areas where the trout cod formerly existed. The Murrumbidgee catchment in particular has received significant stockings since 1988 with trout cod released at Yanco, Narrandera, Collingullie, Wantabadgery, Gundagai, Glendale, Angle Crossing, Murrell’s Crossing, Cooma Weirpool, Adaminaby, Talbingo Dam and Bendora Dam.

Dr Dean Gilligan from the NSW DPI (Narrandera) reports in his March 2005 paper Fish Communities of the Murrumbidgee Catchment: Status and Trends that juvenile trout cod sampled in the lower Murrumbidgee in 2004 were likely to have been recruited from the last fish stocked at these sites in 2001. Work continues on establishing the extent of this recruitment, but this early data represents a degree of success in re-establishing self-sustaining populations in the Murumbidgee from the Gundagai to Narrandera regions.

Trout Cod Legal Implications

Trout cod are totally protected and are listed as endangered under threatened species provisions of the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994. If you catch one it must be returned unharmed to the water. As such, it is illegal to catch and keep, buy, sell, possess or harm trout cod (or any other threatened species in NSW) without a specific permit or licence, and heavy penalties apply. For endangered species these penalties can include fines of up to $220,000 and up to 2 years in prison.

There can also be significant penalties for causing damage to the habitat of a threatened species without approval through such actions as dredging riverbeds and constructing instream barriers.

NOTE: carrying out routine agricultural activities, such as cropping or grazing, and fishing within existing regulations are allowed.

 (Source: http://www.fisheries.nsw.gov.au/threatened_species/general/content/fn_trout_cod)

© Jamin Forbes October 2006