|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Details of Riverina Sportfishing's 2008-09 season are contain below.
30th June 2009 Not much to report of late as I have been enjoying the end of season, but a two day trip to Hay produced 15 fish on spinnerbaits. The weather was ordinary and the water freezing, but with a lot of casts we extracted the cod. A pair of monster cod were dropped off consecutive logs indicating that given time the big fish will come. There are still some fish about but you can expect a very hard days fishing.
12th June 2009 How quickly it comes and goes. The water level in Mulwala has dropped even further preventing access to the water in anything but a small car-topper or canoe. The water is also very turbid and dropped in temperature to a chilly 7 degrees. These factors combined have shut down the fishing for the moment. With some sunny days the water may warm up a little, but the hot fishing of late May & early June is unlikely to return. The Murrumbidgee is also suffering from the freezing nights with water temperatures of 7.5 degrees making it challenging. Winter is here and until the water warms up I book multi-day trips chasing trophy-sized cod along the lower Murray and Murrumbidgee. Winter is hard fishing, but the rewards can be the fish of a lifetime.
6th June 2009
2nd June 2009 Just a quick update on Mulwala. The conditions are all but identical to last year with the water level down and the fish biting brilliantly. With the shallows part of the lake exposed fishing the channel edges is producing plenty of good fish. If you would like to find out more about how to fish this great lake give me a call.
30th May 2009 The quality of the fish as we head into winter definitely makes braving the morning chill well worth it. The water temperature is hovering just above ten degrees in the river which slows the small fish down and makes the big ones hungrier. Most days we tangle with a cod around 70cm and throw in the odd 50cm golden or a 65cm trout cod (see image gallery) and you have quality fishing. There are a lot of casts in between bites and you need to be patient, but the fish will come. The number of bites per day is around 6-8 so its not easy with ten hours on the water, but there's a good chance of a massive cod this time of year, so each cast is filled with anticipation. This is the best time of year to fish Lake Mulwala, so if you have always wanted to find out some of Mulwala's secrets give me a call.
18th May 2009 I love fishing in May. Low, clear, cold water full of hungry cod and no-one around to share them with. The fish don't hook themselves though and there are lots of casts required to coax a bite, but there are some ripper cod emerging at the moment. Luke Haisell gets this weeks best fish with an 85cm cod that chomped a purple spinner. Trips in the past week saw numbers of fish from a low of seven (very cold day) to a high of thirteen. It should get better in the next week if the weather stays good.
11th May 2009 The water is down, but the fish size is up. Casting spinners or hard bodies is the preferred way to catch a fish in the river with so little water. There almost isn't enough water to float the boat in most places. Good fish are there if you' re patient and cast accurately into the snag filled deeper water. The retrieve must be perfect as the water is cold and the fish take a little while before they decide to attack. Congratulations to young Matt Paton with his PB cod of 78cm from the lower Murray. A great fish.
28th April 2009
23rd April 2009 The brilliant conditions continue with perfect weather and ideal river conditions. The fish are biting spinners with vigour and there's no sign of them slowing down yet. My worst day's fishing in the past week has been eleven fish with up to eighteen landed for the day. Some quality fish are coming on board with several fish over 70cm and some cracking bites indicative of a few inquiries from some even larger cod. There is no better time to improve your fishing.
7th April 2009 We are smack in the middle of the best spinnerbait conditions since last year. The water is crystal clear and is still very warm which has the fish excited and hungry. The clear conditions allow you to see some of the strikes which is a rare opportunity for cod fishermen. It doesn't really matter what colour lure you have tied on, as long as it lands centimetres from the log you're a good chance of getting it paid some attention from a cod. Practice your casting before you head out and you will have the jump on your fishing partner. The cold in coming so don't leave it too long to book - still plenty of mid week days available.
31st March 2009
26th March 2009 Now we are seeing some results. Since my last report, the fish have come on big time with almost eighty fish landed. No monsters amongst this lot, but we were outgunned by a couple that bent and broke spinnerbaits and lost another lump of a cod that simply spat the hook. Trolling hard bodies has also worked, but if you can cast accurately than spinnerbaits is the most exciting way to fish. Most of my weekends are booked up until the end of April, but I have plenty of time to fish through the week if you can get away from work. Weekdays are quiet on the river and you rarely (if ever) have to share the water with another boat.
20th March 2009 Autumn weather heralds cool mornings and warm, clear, still days. This is the prime time of year for lure fisherman with cod especially taking great interest in lures. Not all days are gold though with the odd day not being as productive as the next. For example my last three trips have only produced a handful of fish each day but the quality has been quite good, and amongst these trips was a half day with three nice cod, a solid trout cod and a thumping golden perch. As we head toward the new moon we should see the fish biting more consistently over the next week, and also this is the time of year when big fish make an appearance.
9th March 2009 The Murrumbidgee is just starting to show signs of things to come with the fish biting sporadically. Still not a full day bite but at times the cod switch on for an hour or so and attack anything that moves, however the rest of the time it can be hard work. Plenty of small fish for the bait fisherman, but start practising your casting at the next few months are the lure-casters time of year. My weekends are booked until the end of April, but plenty of time through the week if you want to fill in a day off work.
4th March 2009 I fished Hay yesterday with a couple of mates and we landed 16 cod and a golden on spinnerbaits. Cod ranged from 55-65cm. For the day we probably had close to thirty bites, so no shortage of action out west. Hay is a long day, but ideal for a two or three day trip.
2nd March 2009 A couple of river trips last weekend saw fish coming into the boat with all but one or two coming from trolled hard body lures. Spinnerbaiting at the moment is fairly unproductive as the fish seem to be away from the shallower areas and are sitting in deeper water. The water temperature at 23-24 degrees probably has a lot to do with it, as the fish move into deep water to stay cool. The fish I have been catching are very pale, indicating that they are spending a lot of time in the deeper water. The mornings are quite cool at the moment so as the water cools we will see some great fishing over the next month or so.
26th February 2009
24th February 2009 Finally the Murrumbidgee is back to where it should be at this time of year. Putting time in to casting spinners or trolling hard bodies will produce fish (especially early in the morning) whilst the bait fisherman I see along the river are kept busy with small cod. Mulwala is good, with lure casting being an exceptional technique as many strikes are visible in the clear water. The cod are fat and strong in Mulwala and are biting steadily through the day as opposed to the Murrumbidgee where the middle of the day is quiet. Blowering is fishing well for redfin with an afternoon foray during the week producing 30 redfin or so. Nothing huge but the schools are there if you know where and what to look for. I have a technique for getting the reddies on plastics, so no need for live bait. If you're keen for a day to learn some of Blowerings secrets (those that the Dam wants us to know anyway!) give me a call.
18th February 2009 A mixed bag in the past week or so of fishing. The river is limping back toward being a reliable option, but Mulwala is fishing very well. Casting spinnerbaits is the method of choice with a steady stream of bites coming from well presented lures. The clear water at Mulwala enables excellent fishing with many of the hookups being well within sight and often beside the boat! At about two hours drive (for me anyway) its an easy day trip option. For the lure fisherman its a better option than the Murrumbidgee at present.
12th February 2009
10th February 2009 How depressing is the weather we have been having? The extreme heat has done nothing for the energy levels of we humans and the fish are also reflecting this by being dormant. Even when you do eventually hook one they are lethargic and not interested in a fight at all. The Murrumbidgee has been fishing terribly with single figures for extreme efforts. None harder than for Chris De La Rue and Shane Jasparizza who toiled in 45 degree heat, dust, smoke and wind for a lone golden. Now that's a hard day. Better results for Scott Musk with a good lot of cod to 60cm from Mulwala with more fun coming late in the day casting small hard bodies at cruising carp. Once you get the lure and retrieve right the carp hit very hard! Some respite from the weather came today with a cool change dropping temperatures by twenty degrees which will also lower the water temp and get the fish hungry again. My spies tell me that cod are moving so its looking good for my trips later this week.
2nd February 2009 I have found some water where the fish are big and hungry and compared to my beloved Murrumbidgee - at present are simpler to catch. Dave & Mitch Carter and I, drove up to Blowering to test a boat and landed cod and yella's to 60cm. At 12lb apiece, the goldens were rippers and some were too good for us and released themselves on the rocks. Its not all plain sailing however as to catch these fish you need to be there in the dark. You will also need to navigate your boat safely around a waterway filled with hazards in pitch black. Once you get to your chosen location you will have to interpret the images on your sounder very accurately to analyse where the fish are and at what depth they are feeding. You will also need to be able to 'feel' what your lure is doing under the water to keep that same lure in the 'strike zone' without the use of your eyes or a torch. Fishing at night is very rewarding and when the days are over 40 degrees its a cool option. If you would like to learn, a guided night or two at Blowering will have you comfortable in the dark and open up a whole new world. See the pics in my gallery.
1st February 2009
27th January 2009 The fish of the season so far goes to Sarah Roy of Wagga with a great 110cm Murray cod. This great fish ate a Custom Crafted Extractor fitted with a pair of No 2 Owner trebles. These hooks are deadly sharp, biting deep into the jaw, allowing us to stay connected whilst the pressure was on. My spinnerbaits are also fitted with Owner hooks and the hook-up rate has jumped dramatically. These hooks aren't cheap but given the time and money we all spend chasing a fish around its an investment. On the fishing front, a flush of dirty water has slowed the lure fishing significantly, but bait fisherman are cleaning up with grubs and shrimp getting heaps of attention.
19th January 2009 A funny week just gone. Hot, cold, windy, still, water up, water down and in amongst it all were some tough trips. The fish do not like variable weather conditions and they become rather hard to catch, but with patience and being diligent with lure placement you can still scrape a few fish together. The past couple of days have been better with fish staying active through until lunchtime and after that more time spent on the water has been casting practice!
12th January 2009 First report of the new year and the hot summer is here. The fish are biting OK, but nothing spectacular. A few days at Hay casting spinners and trolling hard bodies raised cod to 60cm and only one big fish demoralising us with a stubborn run and bustoff. I will have some pics posted later this week.
29th December 2008 Interestingly in the past few trips is the diversity of the fish being caught. The usual Murray cod are being matched by trout cod, golden perch and redfin. The river has a few redfin, but I have been getting a few 'pan sized' reddies each day which is different from the norm. The average number of fish per day is around 12 with the odd hard day amongst the good trips. The weather has a lot to do with how they bite and this season the bite slows for a day or two after a storm passes through.
23rd December 2008 Finally some hot summer weather and some hot fishing to go with it. The cod are biting sporadically throughout the day, with a different peak period each trip, but when they bite its great fun. Either trolling hard bodies or casting spinners is catching fish, but with spinners you need to have pinpoint accuracy as the fish don't like to leave home.
18th December 2008 Still getting rained on and its still reasonably cool for this time of year. Apart from a couple of very hard days early in the week (two and four fish respectively), the fishing has been very good. Nothing massive amongst the catches but plenty of smallish cod attacking spinnerbaits. The water around Wagga is nice and clear in spite of the rain and the temperature is hovering around twenty degrees. If Summer decides to start any time soon we should hopefully see a marked increase in fish activity. My last six trips have yielded 66 fish in total so when they decide to bite you catch plenty of fish.
14th December 2008 A wet bum and no fish? - Unlikely at this time of year, but have definitely had the wet bum side of things in the past few trips. The rewards by way of fish have been forthcoming despite the wet and windy conditions. Trolling hard bodies is starting to produce some fish, but well-presented spinnerbaits are the way to go for all fish species at present. A mixture of fish have been showing up on recent trips with even a couple of redfin per day featuring in the catch. Bait fisherman have been cleaning up on small cod, which is good for a while and kids love the constant action, but you cant beat lure fishing to tempt a big fish.
4th December 2008
2nd December 2008 A warm welcome to those who are visiting Riverina Sport Fishing from other Australian fishing websites. I pride myself on educating people about our native fish, their habits and life cycle. Intrinsic in my tours is how to catch, handle and safely release our fantastic native fish so that future generations can enjoy our waterways and the fish that inhabit them. You can only learn so much from reading websites and if you really want to learn and more importantly, be learned, then a simple phone call to myself on 0427 692522 will allow frank and open discussion.
But enough of that.....and on to the fishing. The river continues to fish well in spite of stormy weather. Casting spinnerbaits or trolling small hard bodies will both catch fish, but you will have to work hard to get results. Patience and attention to detail in lure presentation is required. Bait fisherman are getting plenty of fish downstream of Wagga and as always soaking a bardi grub is a very reliable way to catch a cod. The cloudy weather is holding the water temperature between 18-20 degrees which is ideal. Wind and rain squalls have made conditions hard, but when the sun pokes through and the wind drops the fishing is excellent.
22nd November 2008
17th November 2008 What a weekend. Three days fishing for 48 fish requiring de-hooking. Apart from a quiet Sunday afternoon, the bites were forthcoming with persistence and accurate casting. Murray cod, trout cod, golden perch and a lone redfin saw three separate crews enjoy some of the best fishing the river has produced so far this season. The highlight could have been the 82cm cod to Joel Board, or the hard fighting trout cod to 65cm, but it went to a massive old 'silverback' Murray cod that decided my plastic boat was in its space and charged the boat. We had to look twice to make sure it wasn't a Great White Shark! Not something you see every day...
11th November 2008 A couple of days at Burrinjuck saw my fearless crew, Al & Brad, dodging gale force winds and rain to try for the goldens that should be thick at this time of year, but we could "only" get cod to 10kg. The wild weather made it tougher than it should have been, but small hard body lures swam in 4-6m of water were snapped up periodically. There are plenty of small redfin which fill in time between decent fish, so with better conditions this week the goldens will return and the 'Juck should fire. Blowering fished well last weekend primarily at night for goldens, but with the full moon this week there will be action aplenty. The river still has a good flow and is clearing downsteam from Wagga, but upstream is clear, fast and fishing well.
3rd November 2008 What a great time of year to fish. Warm days, warm water and hot fishing. The Murrumbidgee, Blowering, Old Man Creek and most other waterways are firing. Spinnerbaits remain the weapon of choice for the active fisherman with well placed casts accounting for more fish than trollers. The river has a strong flow through it at the moment which is allowing access to sections of river that haven't seen much fishing pressure for over twelve months and the fish are responding. I have landed cod and trout cod to 15lb (and lost bigger) in the past week on spinners so now is the time to go fishing.
28th October 2008
21st October 2008 If you fish Blowering with any regularity, you know how hard it can be to fish. The largely barren landscape has few features to target when fishing and with the ultra-clear water the fish can swim too deep for most lures. Dave Carter and I had a quick look last night based on reports from the full moon in days previous and despite great reports of golden perch we could not get near a golden, but managed nine feisty cod to 63cm as by-catch (see pics in gallery). I have spent many years fishing Blowering at night and have my boat set up for night tours. If you want to learn how to fish in the dark now is the time.
19th October 2008 More spring weather and more fish. Golden perch are hard to come by in the river, but reports from Blowering and Burrinjuck have been glowing in the past week. Its a good thing that the Murrumbidgee is infested with cod which makes for an active days fishing. Blowering and the 'Juck are well worth fishing and if your keen to learn more about how to fish these dams, give me a call. As for the river, spinnerbaits continue to be the most reliable lure with hard bodies taking a few fish. To fish spinnerbaits effectively you need to be able to cast very accurately. Practise in the backyard whenever you get the chance and with better casts, you will catch more fish.
6th October 2008 The stormy weather has been good and bad for the fishing since my last report. In a week of fishing and travelling almost 2000km, we landed 57 fish with the top three fish going 87, 75 and 70cm. Some days we hardly raised a scale but later in the week the fish switched back on and the late afternoon bite on spinnerbaits was unbelievable with fish almost jumping into the boat. Once home from my road trip I hosted Des and Tim Goonan for a day on the river and we worked very hard for eight small fish. Whilst the day was perfect the water was a little cloudy. We managed five of the fish on hard bodies which is a change from past weeks.
23rd September 2008 Murray cod on the fly! Shelby Jarrell got a couple of nice fish on the fly rod last weekend. Normally reserved for trout, the fly rod can be an effective tool to target native fish. The fly rod has the ability to make a rapid succession of presentations to a snag which makes it ideal to tease out a fish. I have constructed a fly which works perfectly in the Murrumbidgee, so if you're a keen fly fisherman and want to add native fish to your list of fly rod captures, let me know. In my past couple of tours, I have also cast plenty of spinnerbaits which is far more reliable at present than hard body lures which are not yet appealing to the fish.
19th September 2008
9th September 2008 Another quick trip to the river just to make sure the fish were biting saw Dave Carter land a great cod of 94cm/32lb on a spinnerbait. Aside from this great fish, we had golden's tempted to follow our lures, but wouldn't go the extra distance and bite. Things are happening around the region with Blowering producing some big goldens (spasmodically though) and Burrinjuck also starting its 'golden' run.
3rd September 2008 Finally some warm spring weather is bringing increased fish activity as the water temperature creeps into double figures. The ideal weather was too tempting for Marty Asmus and I, so we slipped out for an afternoon's casting the river for seven solid fish on spinnerbaits. Golden's are starting to school up in the river making them a little easier to find than other times of the year (getting them to bite is the tricky bit!). Blowering is hot and cold, but on its day the fish are hitting shallow running lures trolled or cast over the flats. Spring is great fishing with Burrinjuck and Blowering (not to mention the river) all fishing well right through until Christmas. If you want a guided trip book now to secure your day(s).
30th August 2008
26th August 2008 Freezing cold mornings and icy winds typified my first couple of trips for the season. Hosting George Podmore for a couple of days at Hay we managed some nice cod to 60cm casting spinners but the cold water had the fish struggling to open their mouths to eat the lures. The odd fish was aggressively grabbing at the lures from the surface indicating that it wont be long before they are biting. Backing up after Hay I spent a pleasant day with Chris and Rod from the ACT on the Murrumbidgee near Wagga. A lot of casts were had for a handful of bites, but the 6 degree water was just too cold to tempt more numbers of fish. With warm clear days through this week, the water temp will be rising quickly and the fish's appetite along with it.
14th August 2008
11th August 2008
22nd July 2008 I have just returned from my annual trip to the lower Murray river. This part of the world is home to giant Murray cod and whilst we hooked five of these monsters, we couldn't keep the hooks in any of them. In our party there were a couple of fish landed at 115cm and 113cm (about 60-70lb each), but the best we could get in my boat was a 19lb cod and a 20lb+ carp which ate a 150mm AC Invader. The fish in this section of the Murray are hard to tempt, but if you're after that once in a lifetime fish than this is the place to target them. If you would like to have a go, August is the best month and I'm available to organise a fully catered guided tour for you.
6th July 2008 I hosted a couple of late season trips to Mulwala in the past couple of weeks where the fishing has tapered off with the increasingly cold and miserable weather. A handful of fish each day were caught on a mixture of both spinnerbaits and trolling hard bodies. There are still fish being caught around the Riverina but the water levels make getting to the fish difficult. Once the spring irrigation flows commence and the spring weather is upon us, I will start taking tours again, but until then (August/September) I will be enjoying my winter holidays.
|
