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Exciting times ahead
  |  First Published: April 2013



This should be the most exciting time of the year to target Murray Cod. As the water starts to cool, most of the fish in the Murrumbidgee River feed heavily in preparation for the Winter chill.

With the unusually high number of big fish that remained active throughout the heat of Summer, we should be in for a stellar month.

Cod have dominated catches for the past month and will surely continue to because the golden perch tend to be less tolerant of the colder water and will doze off into hibernation.

Bait fishing has been most successful for the past few months but we can expect this to change over the next month or so.

Lures will step up, provided the river produces some clear and consistent water. Big hardbodies trolled repeatedly along the same stretch will be good way of picking up decent cod. Just make sure you pick a bank with plenty of good structure.

Don’t dismiss underwater structure; almost any sounder will pick up structure on the bottom of the river.

EUCUMBENE

Things are starting to heat up in the mountains, with the brown trout spawning run just around the corner. With plenty of big browns already being picked up around Anglers Reach and Providence, we could be in for a memorable end to the season.

While almost the whole lake has begun to produce good numbers of fish in recent weeks, good numbers of big browns have been picked up at the Providence end.

If you’re a lure caster or troller, put in a fair bit of time around this part of the lake. Big and bright lures have been the key.

For bait and fly fishers, try Rushy Plains, Buckenderra, Yens and Providence.

There have been reports of big catches on bait and fly, too but lures have fared better at Providence on the big browns. This will certainly change in coming months and it could be worth a session or two.

The majority of anglers will turn their focus to the Eucumbene River and let’s cross our fingers for good autumn rains and an early spawning run into the rivers.

It’s always an exciting time on the water but it can also get very crowded and tempers can be tested. Be courteous of each other and remember, if an angler is already fishing the ‘run’ that you wanted to, find another spot; there are fish everywhere at this time of year.

Images

1

Matt Kanck with a nice late season golden perch from Burrinjuck Dam. Catch rates on goldens decrease as the water cools and the impoundments will be the best option for these feisty natives.

2

Chelsea Macintosh, daughter of Custom Crafted Lures creator Steve Kovacs, shows that it’s not just dad who knows how to fool fish. This Beautiful Brown was Chelsea’s first on fly, caught on a recent trip to Moonbah Hut in the Snowy Mountains.

3

The author managed to sight cast this old, poorly conditioned buck brown on a Zebra Buzzer fly on a 6wt outfit.

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