If you were reading the racing form guide it would say “great chance, do not dismiss”. With plenty of water and some cool crisp days on offer, the thought of targeting a mighty green fish at Mulwala should be at the top of your mind.

As stated (and proven) time and time again, this is when your chance of tangling with a genuine beast is fair. Larger hardbodied lures trolled in depths deeper than 5m or bigger sized spinnerbaits/chatterbaits cast in the slightly shallower areas will be your best option.

Looking back, once the dust had settled on an amazingly successful Cod Nationals I had the chance to do a bit of exploring in search of some green fish. The best return came from an entertaining trip with Cod Nationals runner-up team Steve Hogan and Wally Jarvis. Accompanying them was USA based bass angler Frank Reed. One of Frank’s goals whilst in Oz was to tangle with one of our iconic specimens and I was privileged to be part of it and share his enthusiasm.

A slow start to the day had us scratching our heads on what to do next but a slight change in location fishing more towards the middle section of the lake had us hit the jackpot. In two hours, five cod were landed with four measuring in excess of 60cm. Frank was rewarded with a healthy 63cm prize and memories I’m sure he will share with many when he returns home.

Kristy Lake, a super-keen female angler was another happy camper who proudly showed off to me a great photo of her new personal best cod that measured 74cm. This fish was taken trolling around the main traffic bridge.

Marc Ainsworth along with family and friends fished Lake Mulwala and upstream in the Murray and Ovens Rivers for eight days. Marc said, “The fishing was tough with only three or four encounters most days. The most productive day was with a high barometer when 11 encounters (hits or landed fish) were experienced in a morning session. The best Murray cod landed measured 77cm and was taken on a cast hardbodied lure. The next best was 74cm. Golden perch to 50cm were also caught, with the 'magic hour' before dusk being the best time to chase these temperamental natives”.

A super e-mail I received came in from Stephen Beecham and read as follows “I put all your advice to great use catching 17 cod and three yellas below the weir. The cod ranged from 45-80cm. The biggest cod measured 80cm which weighed 20lb. It was good to release the fish to fight another day”.

 Kev Brooks fitted in a few trips between sowing and was rewarded on a constant basis. The new holographic Koolabung lures in the 120mm two metre range were his weapon of choice producing cod up to 95cm whilst a couple of bigger fish took that much of a liking to his lure they decided to keep it and blow him away!

Cray season is now open with reports being slow at present. I keep harping on about making sure you are well aware of all rules, regulations and bag limits. Ignorance is no excuse when Fisheries come calling. If you need, call in store and I’ll kit you out with a measuring device and all the info needed to make sure you are totally compliant.

Frank Reed and Steve Hogan proudly displaying Frank’s 63cm Murray cod.