With plenty of water in most of our rivers, those chasing Murray cod on lures are going to find the fishing a little tough over the next few months.

Don’t let this deter you. Stay focused, do the hard yards and the rewards will come. Single-minded determination is the key to catching big cod on lures.

While the lure fishing starts off a little slowly, those drowning baits will no doubt revel under these conditions and reports filtering in already confirm bait fishos are having plenty of success.

The Murray River from Swan Hill to Boundary Bend has been the talking point locally, with plenty of cod and some excellent catches of better than average golden perch on bait.

The cod are scoffing a variety of different baits including cheese, grubs, worms, shrimp and anything else they can get their gobs around, while the yellas are hot to trot on the worm-shrimp cocktail.

As the weather begins to heat up, in past seasons the redfin have gone ballistic in a couple of our local lakes and Lake Charm and Kangaroo Lake near Swan Hill should fish well this month.

On the subject of hot weather, where do you go to wet a line when the air kicks up over 40°? Trolling lures along the Murray can be like sitting in a frying pan and the transformation from rare to crispy takes but a short time.

Drowning bait under the shade of a big red gum tree sounds good but is accompanied with all the dangers of a game of Russian roulette. It’s on these hot days that massive limbs come crashing down without warning. If you happen to be fishing under one when it does…

There’s only one place to be when things really heat up and that’s the beach. As soon as you drive down over the sand dunes, the temperature drops by at least 10°. Salt Creek is our hot-weather fishing destination, along the Coorong National Park in South Australia.

Access to the beach is by 4WD only and overnight stays require a permit. Once you’re on the beach there’s a good 100km to explore and search out the gutters. Fish include salmon, mulloway, snapper and a variety of sharks.

As much as I love chasing native fish in our local rivers, the unknown of what lies just beyond the breakers is what makes surf fishing so alluring. Couple that with the option of being able to fish without frying to death, and a trip to the beach is a refreshing alternative.

I know where I will be when things heat up this Summer – how about you?

SLIDES.

1-

Gus Storer shows that persistence is the key to trolling dirty water. A little hard work produced this 24kg cod.

2-

The beach at Salt Creek produces plenty of small bronzies. These little scrappers are great fun off the beach and not bad chewing, either.