In recent weeks we’ve seen some waterways fish extremely well, and others very poorly.
One of the best locations has been the Peel River, which has been producing excellent catches on poppers and spinnerbaits. In recent weeks we’ve had great results on the AusSpin 1/2oz Cod Botherer in dark purple, and black/chartreuse has also been working well.
When it comes to surface lures, two of the best have been the Custom Crafted Moonwalker and the larger Jackall Pompadour.
Anglers fishing with bait have also been doing very well in the Peel River. The weather has been great, and the water is nice and clear. We’ve had good flows of water through summer, and it’s been an awesome season, which bodes well for winter cod fishing.
The dams have been quiet except for Chaffey, which has been fishing very well over the last three months. With the water level around 96%, there’s plenty of submerged vertical structure to attract the fish. The yellas are still feeding, and the best way to catch them is to vertically jig soft plastic grubs around the trees. We’ve had the best results on 3” Gulp Grubs. If you prefer to troll you’ll probably catch your share of yellas, but vertically jigging grub tails around the trees would be best.
Keepit and Split Rock been very quiet. Still, this should change as winter sets in, when the bigger cod come out to play.
If you want to travel further afield, Copeton has been fishing sensationally lately. Big lures have been catching the bigger cod, with good catches on wakebaits, surface lures and plastics.
If you want to wet a trout line, the streams have been yielding some good catches. There are nice flows in them, and anglers have been getting nice trout on a variety of flies and spinners.
In June we can look forward to catching big winter cod at both Split Rock and Keepit, by casting the shallow foreshores. Look for gently sloping grassy banks; you don’t need steepness or structure. The cod will be in the warmer water there, and will readily take big spinnerbaits. Good times are from 5pm to midnight, or 3am to 8am. As far as I’m concerned, if you have to get by with only three hours sleep, so be it – it can definitely be worth it!
Another great thing about winter is that the willow trees fringing the rivers start losing their leaves. That allows us to cast spinnerbaits underneath the branches, up tight against the structure that we couldn’t reach before. Big cod live under there, and now’s our chance to catch them.
This month’s report has been supplied by the crew from AusSpin Lures and Tamworth Fishing Tackle. For more information on what’s biting and where, drop into the store at 15 Roderick St, Tamworth or phone (02) 6766 7100. The friendly staff will be happy to answer any questions you may have. You can also check out the full range of AusSpin spinnerbaits, all manufactured in-store.
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