There are many things on offer native fish anglers around Mildura during the month of July.

The cold winter starts to take its toll and begin to slow everything down, including some fish species. But monster Murray cod will be lurking and definitely worth casting the snags for.

There are not too many things better than braving the cold frosty mornings on the banks of the Murray River around a warm fire. Crawling your way out of the swag in the morning around the fire and boiling the billy whilst thinking about the days fishing ahead is one of life’s great relaxations.

Cod fishing over the past month has been a bit hit and miss with barometric pressures either steady or on the low side of good. A fair few cod in the 75-80cm range were being caught quite frequently some weeks back. Quite a few of the cod have been hooked in every place but the mouth, signifying that these fish are not feeding properly yet.

The odd metre long cod has been caught on large trolled hardbodied lures; the bigger the lure the better it seems. Colours haven’t too much of a concern as cod have been caught on a large variety of colours lately.

There have still been some nice yellowbelly caught despite the colder weather on large lures with quite a few going around 50cm, which is a very good size for the main river. Similarly, bait has been producing some great results around root balls and weed beds with shrimp being the go-to bait. With little flow in the river at the moment, light bait rigs are a must.

Water clarity has been excellent over the past month, which can bring lure colour into play especially when fishing shallow. When the water is this clear, it pays to aim for long casts into snags as getting too close may spook the bigger fish. Spinnerbaits will also take on a world of their own in this clearer water with nickel and black blades working best. Natural colours are worth trying also. A lot of anglers have been having a lot of success lately on dark coloured lures in the clear water.

Toward the end of May, water levels dropped significantly to compensate for the maintenance of the weir structure at lock 11. Weir maintenance is always a fascinating time as people flock from everywhere to view the river bed and maybe even find that long lost lure!

The next month is due to be a hot month for Murray cod fishing. The first couple of frosts are always good to kick things off and to slow everything down even more. Once the cod start feeding properly and aggressively scoffing most things that come their way, we should see some great sized fish being caught.

Winter is a very special time of the year around Mildura for Murray cod fishing. Even though yellas and other species are harder to catch during these months, it is the onset of a giant green fish that make those freezing winter days tolerable.

Get out there and get into it!

Darcy Collins, 3 years old, and Evan Hudson from Mildura proudly holds up their 50cm yellowbelly caught recently around Mildura