8th March 2010

From the Fishers Mouth

3rd March 2010

I fished Mulwala yesterday and whilst the day started OK, with 6 bites through to lunchtime, we only managed one small cod in the boat. The middle of the day was ordinary with no action whatsoever and then as the shadows lengthened the fish switched on and we managed a handful of small fish in the last hour before we stopped fishing. The shallow water in amongst the trees produced the most activity with 70mm AC's and Extractors being the best lures. Spinnerbaiting was hard work with more bites on the hard body lures.

1st March 2010

From the Fishers Mouth

27th February 2010

I fished Hay for the afternoon yesterday for eight fish in the boat with quality fish absolutely smashing the spinners. This trip was an unplanned last minute voyage with a borrowed gear and boat (thanks Dean) as we were coming home from the Actioncraft factory after checking on the progress of the new boats that Dave Carter and I are building. The new boats are still some weeks away from being ready for service, but at least we will get to 'play' with them in a fortnight or so. On the local scene, the river at Wagga is very clear and the fish here are friendly at the moment, so now is the time to book.

22nd February 2010

From the Fishers Mouth

18th February 2010

After a big build-up to my Hay trip, we ended up coming home early as the water was dirty and the fish largely unresponsive. We caught a few small cod and a single 45cm golden, but came up short with the quality fish that frequent the regions I fish. The Adventure Bound crew (Lee Raynor & Andrew Clark) will be back in a couple of months time when the water is clear and the fish are easier to catch, when we can finish off the show. Locally the river is awesome, with a good morning and afternoon bite.

15th February 2010

The River is fishing well, Blowering looks the  goods and with all the rain adding a flush into the river, the fishing should only improve from here. I have a few days at Hay this week, so look for some great photo's in a few days time.

From the Fishers Mouth

8th February 2010

From the Fishers Mouth

5th February 2010

A quick session on the river yesterday produced a couple of trouties (to 60cm), two good redfin and a nice golden perch. We worked hard for the fish in wind and rain in crystal clear water (until a flash flood turned it to chocolate milk). We tried a few different lure types with soft plastics raising the interest of the fish, but we didn't have any hook guards for the jig heads which made the lures snag very easily (I will get back to that project soon). The trusty old Mudguts spinnerbait in red/black or purple/green proved again how consistent this lure style is.

1st February 2010

Blowering was hot and cold over the full moon period. I fished three consecutive nights for 9, 12 and 2 respectively. The final night was mixed with only two fish in the boat but we had bites all night - they just wouldn't stick. Poor Dave was beside himself missing eight fish in a row, before a small golden stayed connected. The best fish was a nice golden of 3-4kg, but we landed several other nice fish. The large cod were largely absent, but a few small ones made there presence known. The Murrumbidgee is going off, with spinnerbaits doing most of the damage. I have found the fish biting well in the afternoon with little activity throughout the morning and over lunchtime.

From the Fishers Mouth

25th January 2010

From the Fishers Mouth

18th January 2010

The Murrumbidgee continues to fish well, helped along by the cool change. The water temperature was climbing toward thirty degrees which makes the fish very lethargic, but with a few cool nights, the temperature has dropped and the fish are continuing to bite. The peak of each day is the morning session through until about 11.00am, with a smaller bite between 3.00pm and 4.00pm. Casting spinnerbaits remains the method of choice, with a well presented lure being snapped up readily. Blowering is worth a try for redfin (use your sounder to find them) and I was sent a photo of a large cod landed last Friday in Blowering (have no idea who caught it), so the big fish are still sniffing about.

From the Fisher's Mouth

RSF Report

12th January 2010

Mulwala for the day yesterday in 42 degree heat. The fish were OK in the morning, with the bite tapering as the temperature increased. It was hard work with about ten bites for the day, but we dropped a couple of nice cod (one spinnerbaiting and one trolling) so with persistence you can turn up a fish or two. The bites were random with fish hooked in the lake, the river, shallow and deep, so no real bite pattern to report.

8th January 2010

First report for the year and I can pass on that the fishing is taking a roller coaster ride at the moment. In the past four days, I had a fishless afternoon (third ever!), a lean day with a handful of fish, followed by a day with eleven fish and then today with thirteen fish. Cod are a very complex creature and who knows why they are biting better as the week progresses, but I am not one to complain. Spinnerbaits cast tight to structure are working well, but if that isn't your thing, its hard to beat trolling a 70mm AC Invader (30ft bib) in yellow/black or magic knight. Nothing huge of late to report, but enthusiastic fish from 50-55cm make the day fun.

27th December 2009

Mild summer days, a bit of rain and overcast conditions make for perfect cod fishing. The usual heat we experience at this time of year, has left us alone for while and allows the water temp to stay at a comfortable 22-23 degrees. The fish are biting sporadically throughout the day, with casting, trolling and bait fishing all working effectively. Most of the fish are small but there have been some excellent captures amongst the juvenile fish. When the fish are biting well on lures, use strong colours such as red and black so that the fish have no problems seeing it. When the fish are more subdued, tone the colour down and keep noise to a minimum. There are plenty of boats and swimmers about at the moment so always keep a watch when navigating.

From the Fisher's Mouth

21st December 2009

Excellent fishing in the Murrumbidgee in the past couple of days with no size to the fish, but plenty of enthusiasm in the little cod. Yesterday we landed a dozen of these small fish out of twenty or so bites in a busy day casting spinnerbaits. Using the smaller Colorado bladed Mudguts spinners with copper blades proved irresistible. Blowering is a tough option at the moment with a lot of small redfin dying all over the lake. The cod and golden's gorge themselves on these small fish and become almost impossible to catch as the 'real' food is an easy meal. The redfin deaths are due to EHN virus which infects primarily small redfin and trout, and not our native fish. The redfin kill is almost an annual event and makes life tough when trying to catch fish that are full to the brim already.

From the Fisher's Mouth

13th December 2009

Some interesting trips in the past week with days along the river and up at Burrinjuck producing a few fish. Through the day the fishing is difficult at the moment, but in lower light periods and early evening, the fish are biting well. Trolling 70mm AC's or 65mm extractors will hedge your bets and attract bites from both cod and goldens, but for bigger cod, use a 90mm AC or hammerhead and persist. Bait fishing last week in the river produced a lot of fish with not many monsters, but plenty of numbers to keep the kids amused in the upcoming holidays.

From the Fisher's Mouth

7th December 2009

Riverina Sportfishing has a new home in the print media with a regular column 'From the Fishers Mouth' in Saturday's Wagga Daily Advertiser. Look out for the latest news, tips, reports and other fishing, camping and boating trinkets in the Weekend Advertiser or check back here where I will post each report. My first two columns are as below.

From the Fisher's Mouth 7/12/09

From the Fisher's Mouth 1/12/09

2nd December 2009

My first trip for the cod open season was last night at Blowering Dam. It would be an understatement to say that we commenced at top speed. After doing a spot of casting bibless lures for goldens on dusk, Riverina Sportfishing's own Dave Carter hooked what he initially thought was a good sized golden, which after a few minutes materialised into the biggest cod either of us had seen. Given that Dave was using his 1-3kg Nitro and a 20lb leader we held our breath for a long time before we got its head into the net (the rest wouldn't fit). At 149cm (pics here), this cod eclipses Riverina Sportfishing's previous PB of 127cm and Dave's own PB of 110cm, by a long way. We have no idea how much it weighed but suffice to say that it took three of us to lift it into position for the photo's. By the way, we also released another sixteen fish for the evening.

30th November 2009

A couple of trips last weekend, namely Mulwala and the Murrumbidgee near Narrandera. Mulwala was quiet on Saturday with only a handful of fish landed from a dozen or so timid bites. Trolling hard bodies was the most successful technique as the fish were only nipping the rear of the lure which doesn't result in a hookup on a spinnerbait, but does on an 'Owner' equipped hard body. Sunday was a better day fish wise, with plenty of bites, but the size of the fish was nothing special. The windy & stormy weather over the weekend did little to assist the fishing and with some settled weather the water should clear up and the fishing will improve along with it. On a side note, I have just updated the rods and reels in my boat. My new baitcasters are 2-4kg Nitro crankbaits carrying Daiwa Heartland reels, whilst the threadlines are also Nitro rods with Daiwa Tierra reels, so if you want to test them on some fish, give me a call.

23rd November 2009

A break in the hot weather and some good fishing ensued. Blowering is still fishing well, with the goldens active through the afternoon (but you need to be able to find where they are holding), whilst a lot of big cod have been caught early morning by people chasing the big goldens about. Burrinjuck is fishing extremely well, but as for Blowering you need to be able to travel to where the fish are schooling. The Murrumbidgee is performing well with hard bodies such as the 70mm AC Invader in pink or brown being the pick of the lures. Spinnerbaiting has backed off a little at the moment, but as the cool conditions continue the fish will start to eat them more readily.

15th November 2009

Ah yes, glorious spring weather at 40 degrees.....where are the cool mornings and warm days? The Murrumbidgee has heated up to 26.5 degrees which is extremely warm for this time of year, but it does make for a pleasant dip in the river at lunchtime. The fishing is steady with a few fish coming from the river with a lot of effort. Spinnerbaiting has slowed with the increase in water temperature with trolled hard bodies becoming the preferred technique. Blowering has masses of fish still mooching about in the shallows, but they aren't active just yet. With an improving moon phase through this week, Blowering will fire again.

10th November 2009

RSF Report

8th November 2009

With the moon waning away, the fishing at Blowering has tapered off a little. The fish are still schooled up, but rather than biting all night as they were a week ago, they have a shorter bite window, which at present is just pre-dawn. Hopefully soon the bite can happen during the day and we can all get more sleep! I fished the Murrumbidgee at Hay for the day yesterday and whilst we landed some great cod to 70cm and goldens to 50cm (pics here), the flies nearly drove us mad. If you are heading that way, make sure you buy a fly net to go over your hat (available from the Compleat Angler in Wagga). The water is very clear at Hay and accordingly the bite was slow through the day, but once the heat went out of the sun, the fish bit very well.

2nd November 2009

Plenty of fishing action around the Riverina at the moment. The river was awesome up until Sunday when it was a little quiet, but Blowering is the pick at the moment with golden perch schooling in readiness to spawn. The fish are sitting in shallow water and are easily seen through a good pair of polaroid glasses. Casting jackall's worked on Saturday  for my clients, whilst on Saturday night Al and Tony from Wagga had a blinder landing seven golden's all over 60cm (pics here) and backed this up with six cod to 70cm and a four pound redfin! Burrinjuck is seeing golden's spawning with fish around the Good Hope region.

26th October 2009

The Murrumbidgee has finally warmed up with 19 degree water and excellent clarity. The fish are reasonably active taking both spinnerbaits and trolled hard bodies. Further afield, Burrinjuck and Blowering are both fishing well for goldens, whilst Mulwala is going off with fish biting feverishly over the past weekend. My pick would be Blowering chasing huge golden perch or either the Murrumbidgee or Mulwala for a great days casting.

21st October 2009

Just back from a day at Burrinjuck where the fishing wasn't easy but we landed a couple of nice fish with a 2kg yella and a 62cm cod being the pick of the fish. The water has warmed several degrees since the weekend, which has the carp spawning in the shallows, so it wont be long before the golden's follow suit and become somewhat easier to catch. For a bit of fun, cast small hard bodies to the spawning carp - with the right retrieve they give them a whack!

19th October 2009

The Murrumbidgee is finally fishing as it should in spring with active fish attacking lures with aggression. Spinnerbaits are the lure of choice at the moment, but trolling a hard body on the deeper bends will also produce fish. Further upstream Burrinjuck and Blowering are both fishing well. The goldens are big and hungry in Blowering at present and for a trophy fish this is where efforts should be concentrated. Burrinjuck will continue to improve as the water temperature rises but casting/trolling bibless lures and small minnow styled hard bodies will produce fish as it did for Dave Carter and myself last weekend.

5th October 2009

Have we finally seen the last of the cold weather? The up and down conditions are playing havoc with the fishing with some good days where the water warms up, followed by freezing cold and drizzly days where the water temp drops down and the fish activity stops. My lawn has finally started to grow so there must be some warmth in the soil, about which time there is also warmth in the water, increasing fish activity again. The river looks good with 'clearish' water and a good flow coming down. The bite window has moved from early morning to midday which is more user friendly when trying to get the kids out of bed to go fishing through the school holidays. Blowering and Burrinjuck also fish well from now on, so if you're looking for an activity to keep the kids amused, or to escape the kids for a day, give me a call.

24thSeptember 2009

RSF Report

22nd September 2009

Whilst I talk a lot about fishing the Murrumbidgee  & Murray Rivers, there are plenty of other waterways where I have a few tricks to catch the resident fish. Blowering and Burrinjuck are two dams that fire up at this time of year and I have fished both locations over a twenty year period. Blowering can be a difficult place to fish, but the quality of fish is outstanding and it's worth the time invested to tempt what can be the fish of a lifetime. Today Dave Carter and I had a ripping day at Blowering landing goldens to about ten pounds (see image gallery) and losing battles with a handful of other golden giants. We were using light spin tackle and caught fish both casting and trolling using bibless lures and small minnows. Where and how to use each lure type is the difficult choice, which a day on the water with Riverina Sportfishing can boost your knowledge so these decisions are made with confidence.

18th September 2009

A couple of outings in the past few days have seen more fish lost than landed. Plenty of action at Hay, but only a handful of fish requiring de-hooking (including a goldfish on a spinnerbait!), whilst the river closer to Wagga is fishing well, albeit with a quiet spell in the middle of the day. Elsewhere, Blowering and Burrinjuck are starting to produce their spring run of goldens. Blowering in particular has fish in the shallows where they can be targeted with small shallow running lures. Burrinjuck is still quiet for lure fishing but bait fishing after dark is always a solid technique this early in the season.

14th September 2009

Still the middle of the day is fishing slowly, but the mornings and afternoons are going well. A couple of nice yella's presented for young Rhys and Jack along with eight other cod to 60cm landed. Rhys missed a good cod of about 90cm which jumped clear of the water like a Barramundi and successfully unhooked itself in the process - at least we got to see it! The warm weather is seeing the water temperature rising rapidly so the fishing should stay good for some time.

10th September 2009

I have been out testing the waters around Wagga over the past couple of weeks and things aren't progressing as quickly as I would have hoped. The lingering winter weather is keeping the water temperature low which is slowing the fish down considerably. The bite is definitely in the morning at present with very little action through the middle of the day. Early morning is however, reasonably busy. An interesting fish I landed up from Wagga yesterday was a thumping redfin. At this time of year, you get the odd pan sized reddie, but this fish was a good 3-4lb (sounds better in the old scale) and ate a spinnerbait. The water is a little murky, but this will clear if the water stays stable for any length of time. With the irrigation water imminent, increased flows are almost upon us.

24th August 2009

Fresh back from a four day trip with Ben from Parkes (with Dave Carter assisting) where we didn't get a lot of fish (16 cod and a golden), but we did manage to get two fish at 110cm, another at 98.5cm, one at 75cm and the rest between 50-60cm. Casting spinnerbaits was the method of choice and between us we had thousands of casts, but seeing a 20 kilo plus fish eat the lure beside the boat, makes all the dull hours disappear in an instant. Winter fishing is hard work, but we set out with a goal to target big fish, and came home with excellent results. The pics are here.

18th August 2009

Not much fishing for me in the past few days aside from a wicked carp session with about 30 hookups in a hot 90 minutes. Nothing whips 'el guarpo' into a frenzy like fresh bread. The sacrifice a few of these carp made was for Murray cray bait with Clint and Steve travelling down from the central coast to get some new additions for Clint's crayfish collection. I have a four day trip later this week, so hopefully will have a stack of great photo's for my next report.

10th August 2009

Mulwala is putting on a winter show at the moment with cod biting well considering the chilly conditions. Mark and Lucas Fleming enjoyed a busy day on the lake landing eleven cod, with young Lucas landing seven of these to 65cm (and getting busted off by a big fish). Mulwala is filling slowly and has another metre or so to go until full. There are plenty of boating hazards with many logs just under the water so be careful when navigating. Boat ramps at the yacht club and hogan's are open and with the lake still rising it wont be long until all ramps are open and access is back to normal.

28th July 2009

A while since my last report as I have been travelling with my family over the school holidays. Even though its cold, there's still some fishing action about, but don't expect an easy day. Winter fishing is all about patience and hopefully landing a large fish. The small fish are fairly inactive and it can make for a long day without a bite so prepare yourself mentally for a lot of hard fishing. In the past week I have fished Mulwala and had a brief night session at Blowering. Mulwala is almost full again and despite the 6.5 degree water we managed 5 fish from 55-65cm with the highlight being my son Tully (6) first cod on a spinnerbait (and yes, I'm a proud dad). This was the only cod on spinners and the rest were taken on 120mm AC's and Hammerheads. Blowering could have been brilliant as I had a great bite on a big lure but didn't stick it, but otherwise it was a freezing cold few hours of fishing. A few bait fishing sessions along the Murray & Murrumbidgee Rivers on our travel to and from Lake Eyre produced a few small cod and some goldens, so if you're keen, the fish are waiting.

6th July 2009

After spending a couple of days braving the elements of Hay with Mick Chisholm I can report some excellent fishing. Mick landed a great 103cm cod on a Mudguts spinner (see the pics in the gallery), so despite the wet, cold and windy conditions, it was definitely worth fishing. Even though we got this big fish, there was a lot of effort involved. Conservatively I estimate 1000 casts a day, so the key to fishing in winter is patience. Even though it was cold and typically the fish aren't overly mobile in frigid water, this cod ate the lure in plain view beside the boat. Seeing a fish like this one dart out from under a log and inhale the lure certainly gets the adrenalin pumping. We also boated a dozen or so smaller cod and missed another whopper that didn't connect with the hook on strike...but that's cod fishing - you can't catch them all!

As regular visitors to riverinasportfishing.com will notice, this is my first report for the upcoming season 2009/10. Who knows how this season will fish but last season was a good one for me. On guided trips alone, Riverina Sportfishing landed 685 fish (12% more than last season). In this total were 361 Murray cod, 285 trout cod, 25 golden perch, 8 redfin, 2 carp and a 4 hybrid cod (not sure which camp they fall into - either MC or TC). My average number of fish per day for the entire season was exactly the same as last year at 7.5 fish per day. The biggest fish was a 110cm Murray cod. Interestingly the most difficult time of year to catch fish was through the heat of summer, whilst when the water is cool (10-18 degrees) the fish are easier to catch and when the water is cold (<10 degrees) you are more likely to get a big fish. When the water is hot (>25 degrees) it's hard to tempt anything at all. It's raining reasonably regularly now, so with some water back in the dams and rivers (fingers crossed), the upcoming season should be a ripper.