And what a great season it was, with so many ‘fishos’ getting new PBs, and a few lucky enough to catch cod over the one meter mark, well done.
It was also great to see so many youngsters getting out and about on the water, and walking the banks casting lures.
In the past couple of months, with the rising dirty water, the fishing has definitely slowed down with catches being few and far between.
Timing is everything, as Pat Westcott found out a few weeks ago.
It was a cold miserable rainy day when Pat has decided to go fishing on his own, on the Wakool common.
The water was very clear and still.
Pat cast out his spinnerbait from a high bank and, on his first cast, was well and truly surprised when a cod from the deep engulfed it just metres from his rod tip.
After a few tense moments trying to guide the fish away from the snags, Pat was left stunned holding up a ripping 96cm cod.
What makes this all the better it was all caught on GoPro. If you’d like to see his video head over to Youtube and search ‘Ranga With a Rod’ — it’s one of the best cod takes I’ve seen.
Only two days after this, the water had risen making the water dirty and fast flowing.
It’s only been in the past couple of weeks that there’s been a bit of movement again, with a few nice fish being caught around town.
Ian Jorgensen landed a couple of healthy looking cod between the 60cm and 70cm mark, Shannon Bulmer reeled in a solid 69cm cod and Andrew Hall from the Riverside Caravan Park managed a cracking Yellowbelly and a solid cod fishing around town.
But hands down the best fishing has been out on the Billabong.
The Wills boys have been getting plenty of action around the Wanganella area with some great catches of both cod up to 70cm and Yellowbelly up to 50cm.
Pat managed to fluke a couple of nice Yellowbelly from the same area using worms, which has been the best bait for Yellows. For cod, it’s been bardi grubs.
Dean Herberte took the family out for an afternoon of fishing around the Conargo area and was shown how to fish by his experienced fisho mum Colleen Dingle.
Colleen reeled in a cracking 88cm and a 68cm cod using chicken for bait, and Dean managed a nice 48cm Yellowbelly caught using worms.
That’s a great family day out.
Young fisho Tom McKern was pleasantly surprised recently when he caught a cracking 78cm cod whilst walking the banks of the Bullatale Creek casting a surface lure.
The smile on Tom’s face pretty well summed up how excited he was to catch his cod. Well done, Tom.
Looking forward to the coming months, we will see a rise in the water temperature.
This will hopefully see the Yellowbelly start to move around yet again.
I will normally target the shallow banks or the back waters where the Yellowbelly would normally be feeding. Worms are by far the best bait to use.
And just a reminder that all fishing methods for Murray Cod are prohibited in all inland waters during September 1 and November 30 each year.
I’ll take this time and take a break from writing articles for the next few months, and look forward to the up coming Yellowbelly season.
Stay safe on the water and happy fishing.
Remember, for all your fishing tackle and camping needs call in to see Pete at Deniliquin Betta camping — Deniliquin’s number one fishing and outdoor supplier.
If you see or suspect illegal fishing, please call 1800 043 536. Make the call and make the difference.
~ Rhys 'Westy' Westcott
31°C