Recent weeks have highlighted what an amazing, self-sustaining fishery we have here in Lake Mulwala. The lake has truly become a year-round fishing option, with at least one species available for twelve months out of twelve.

From December to June there is Murray cod, from May to September the redfin fire and from September to December the golden perch keep anglers busy.

The golden perch are absolutely going off in Lake Mulwala at the moment. Anglers are landing and releasing cricket scores of them. To try and give everybody a mention would require many pages, but there were several common denominators across all reports.

The first is the good condition the fish are in, especially with their golden yellow colour that has bordered on orange.

The second is size of the fish, with the majority being 33-38cm along with numerous big females of 50-60cm.

The third common denominator is that 99% of these fish have been taken from open water at the town end of the lake.

Mixed in amongst the goldens has been a fair smattering of both Murray cod and redfin, not to mention carp!

Talking of carp, I took the family out in the boat for a quick fish, hoping to tangle with a few goldens. After catching six or so in a couple of hours, my trolled lipless crankbait received a massive hit, which was followed by a powerful run.

I called it for a good cod and proceeded to do battle. Numerous other boats that had joined the trolling merry-go-round were crowding in and watching the action, while all the while I was yelling “get out of the way”. This fish was pulling some good lengths of line off my light 2kg outfit. To my surprise and disappointment, after a few minutes I had at the boat a dirty big carp that weighed a touch under 10lb.

In December, of course, comes the chance for us all to have our first Murray cod fix for the 2008-09 season. Keep in mind that the new legal size limit for cod is now 60cm in all NSW waters. My prediction is that the lake will fish better than the river for legal-sized cod, with lures and bait both accounting for fish.

The fishing competition season is getting close with many great events planed for Lake Mulwala. Anyone looking for information on the Yarrawonga Mulwala Xmas Engel Fish-a-rama on December 30, Golden Dollar$ on January 10, Lowrance Da$h 4 Ca$h on February 21/22, or the His & Hers Partners Classic on March 21 can give me a call on 03 5744 1667, or check out www.codclassic.com.au .

I often get asked about water levels, and the best answer I can give is to check out www.g-mwater.com.au/water-resources/storage-levels for up-to-date information.

As for Lake Mulwala, it’s been running at 93% with a guarantee from Goulburn Murray Water that it will be kept at consistently higher levels this summer than in the past few years.

I’m happy to announce that Vanessa and I are soon to open a fishing tackle outlet in Mulwala. It will be called Lake Mulwala Fish Camp & Ski and is located opposite the Post Office.

We will offer personalised customer service, professional local fishing advice and a huge range of quality gear for visiting and local anglers. We have staff that are dedicated to fishing and hope that we will become your first port of call every time you hit town.

The author and his son Cooper with an ‘almost 10lb’ lure-caught carp that put on a fight a Murray cod would have been proud of.