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Cod hunters head to Lake Mulwala
  |  First Published: April 2014



With a bag full of 40ºC+ days behind us, Lake Mulwala is settling in to the place to be for cod hunters this time of year. A more consistent water temperature, minus the hot blasts, should see a reliable pattern emerge where the fish are biting on a regular basis.

Your cod fishing ‘purists’ tend to cast a vast array of shiny painted trinkets, generally being rewarded for their efforts, but of late, those happy to troll bouncing a lure off a bit of timber are surpassing them for returns. Whether it’s a hardbody, spinnerbait or crankbait, trolling at slow speed in the 1-5m depth range could be your answer. It may be a tad boring at times as you doze off, dreaming about other pastimes, but when your rod loads up and the angry green beast on the other end of your line goes bezerk, all is forgotten. If we could only bottle that initial hit!

My lure of choice for trolling would be in the 85-110mm range with a shallow bib that would get down around the 4m mark. A 5/8–1oz spinnerbait is another great option, but remember, these have to be trolled slower than a hardbody to eliminate riding too high in the water column.

Looking back, the past few weeks have produced some great cod, especially for a couple of local anglers. Storyteller, elite sportsman and raconteur, Winston ‘Whinger’ Rhodes deserves first mention after his recent outing landed him a mighty cod that measured in at a healthy 103cm. Whingers was casting spinnerbaits along the north side of the lake around the Kyffin's area. Numerous others have reported quality captures with the average fish size being in the 50-70cm bracket. Surface fishing is always popular this time of year and it was none other than local ‘surface’ specialist CJ Wilson who was at it again – CJ boated a beauty that clocked 93cm. To make the capture more meritorious, it was caught on one of his own home-made lures. CJ does have a You Tube video of a 112cm he got last year off the surface. If interested check out 112cm Mulwala Monster.

The recent Lowrance Da$h 4 Ca$h Super Series again proved a massive hit with 99 teams competing. The 20mm of rain and strong winds made things fairly difficult over the weekend but nevertheless, over the three 4-hour fishing sessions, 31 quality cod were returned to scale for measuring and release.

Below the weir, fishing has been good with healthy cod and cracking yellas being landed. If you are in the area and looking for some quick action, the general rule says you will catch more, but smaller, cod in the river and vise versa in the lake.

Late April, early May sees the running of the 4th Cod Nationals, five days of serious tournament fishing for the dedicated green fish angler. Anybody who is interested in getting involved should give me a call ASAP.

If you are visiting town I urge you to call into Lake Mulwala Fish Camp & Ski, the shop with the big green cod out the front (Opposite the Post Office) in Mulwala and say G’day. We are your largest Murray cod specific shop in Yarrawonga/Mulwala and specialize in all things ‘Green’! For any information on the upcoming events or fishing reports give us a hoy on 03 5744 3133.

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Winston ‘Whinger’ Rhodes with his mighty 103cm cod caught casting a spinnerbait.

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