P36 - FISH & BOAT, February 2019 Fishing The Quest For Cod By Bill Bowtell Then added, “and the lure is a lit- Ed Princic of Barraba NSW My Dad used to always say,tle 75mm Oar-Gee that I use for(R) with his 110cm Murray “the bigger the bait, the goldens! (yellowbelly)”. After a fur- Cod. It was released to bigger the fish!” and proved ther ten minutes, or so, he boated a fight another day. his point on many an occasion with beautifully patterned, mottled green super-sized bream, flathead, snapper cod of 1.10 metres in length, with and even tailor from the rocks and an estimated weight of about 23kgs. estuaries around SE Queensland.It was a beauty. The little lure was As a true believer in this theory, you wedged well inside the mouth of the could imagine my disillusionmentbig fish. It really wanted to eat that when, on a cold winter’s night bream lure! Déjà vu. fishing down at “The Pin”, Dad Since that day, my quest has been found a dried up old beach worm in to catch a metre long cod. The quest the bottom of his creel and put it on is still ongoing, and although I have a 1/0 Kendall Kirby “beaked” bream caught more than 50 cod since that hook. He then proceeded to hookday, none have measured that magi- and land a 25lb (11.5kg) mulloway cal 100cms. The most recent trip of (Jewfish). He was as shocked as his my quest was around the full moon 12-year-old son! But accepted the period of November 2018. fact that it happened. For me, it was It is a well-known fact that fresh- like finding out that Santa didn’t ex- water fish respond to naturally oc- ist! curring events such as barometric A couple of years back I was fishing pressure changes, full moon/new for Murray cod in Glenlyon Dam,moon phases and seasonal condi- south-west of Stanthorpe, with my tions, in much the same ways as do good mate, Trevor Saunders, from saltwater fish. But many anglers Brisbane. I wanted (after several tend not to consider these important years of trying) to catch a “big one” – points when planning a trip into one of a metre, if possible. those areas of freshwater, such as this particular, well- took a heavy, bullocking strikeWe were trollingOne of the lads, Ed Princic,rivers, dams andimpound-weir noted, rocky point right on the crossover. It wasments. And the using Trevor’s’ a big fish. BthTrev and I reason(s)is/are home made profes- o simple – the afternoon storms ahead of a cold The reason – the eel-tails were The fish was having nothing on sionally built, cod wound inourlines, cleared physical aspectsfront pushing in from the southwest. nesting!And the protective malesoffer. Hard-bodied lures and an ar- lures, the size of the area, then sat back to of such occur- This could not have been worse!were super-aggressive, attacking an-ray of soft plastics of every shape, which was suited watch the action. rences are not as Taking the forecast on face value ything, and everything, that passed size and colour were thrown at the to enticing a big visual in a fresh- highlighted the need to be on the their patch of country. log, specifically targeting the posi- fish to strike – 130mm! Yes, we water environment as they are on the water early, even though the prime The second strike was a cod. It was tion where the fish was first located. were after a big cod! There were oceans and estuaries. fishing time was not until around sitting over a log in 6 metres of wa- The results were the same every cast other fishermen in the area doing My arrival at Lake Glenlyon, a the 7.30am time mark. ter and nailed a 1oz spinnerbait that – nil response! I even scanned the the same thing. body of water created by the dam- I worked two of my most favoured was worked past its position. But it area again, noting that the fish had Two lads from Barraba, New ming of Pike’s Creek, a westernpoints just as the sun crested the sur-needed some teasing to get the hit.moved well down the old log and South Wales, were trolling just wide flowing waterway of the upperrounding hills. It was warm and stillThe fish went a creditable 65cms.was now sitting under the overhang of Trev’s and my patch and madeMurray/Darling river system, was calm. Not a big one – certainly well short of another submerged thick branch, a turn, to first go wider, then come five days before the November full The first strike was a “thud!” fol- of a metre, but none-the-less satisfy- which formed a fork with the main back behind us, so as to pass over a moon. I was scheduled to pull out lowed by a sharp run towards deep ing for a couple of reasons. trunk. It was about 3.5 to 4 metres submerged ledge. and head back to Yeppoon six days water. It was unusual but remained Firstly, locating the fish. I had down. It was also the same point that we after the event. strong. I called it for a sizeable cod. worked the point for a couple of runs Up to this point, I had been us- were targeting, but our intention was This would give me a full ten days The fish came back to the boat and and noticed a lot of fish sitting mid- ing soft plastics (slow rolling hollow to first cross the ledge, then turn to of fishing. Surely a metre fish would sulked deep, forcing the issue of side depth, wide of a patch of brokenbellies), and large hard bodied lures run along its’ northern edge. come my way in that period of time, stepping from port to starboard and rock. They were yellowbelly. Beyond (Saunders, Ballista, Oar-Gees) all The two boats passed each other for I had learnt a fair deal over the back again on several occasions to that point was a solid piece of tim- worked very slowly past the log at with about 10 metres of clear-past three years, and was willing toclear the line from around the mo-ber lying horizontal in the water andbetween 3-5 metres on a 25m cast. ance. One of the lads, Ed Princic, put in the hard yards and time to tor. It was eventually coaxed to the propped up by a broken branch atAll had failed to attract any interest. took a heavy, bullocking strike right make it happen. surface – a whiskery old eel-tailed one end. It spelt fish, especially cod. Yet, the fish still sat there! on the crossover. It was a big fish. After purchasing my SIP (stocked catfish (tandanus tandanus) all mot- However, on each of my two runs, Spinnerbaits have their devotees. Both Trev and I wound in our lines, impoundment permit – fishing li- tled in grey and brown. the side scan failed to identify any It’s undeniable that they work, espe- cleared the area, then sat back to cence) from the camping area store- It measured 78cms and was thefish in the area. I decided to track incially on species such as cod, yellow- watch the action. owners, Brian and Debbie Dare, abiggest one I have ever seen. Andtowards the log on a different angle.belly and Australian bass. My first I recall halfway through the strug- comfortable camp was set up under the first that I had ever caught on a My fish moved from under the logever fish taken on a spinnerbait was gle, Ed calling out, “I’m only using my favourite western pine tree. lure. Little did I know, but six more to position just above the propped- an Australian Bass. 20lb braid. AND its straight to the Day one and it was an early start. were to fall to my lures before the up section. It was a very clear image. Continued next page lure.” The weather forecast was for early end of the trip. Now to turn the image into reality. The shoreline profile shows a myriad of gullies A 58cm Murray Cod taken on a McCod spinner bait. all feeding down into the main dam basin. Work those points for cod and yellowbelly.