Now that the colder weather has set in the smaller, more active fish have gone off the bite and the larger, more territorial fish are starting to appear.

I have had several good reports that larger Murray cod are attacking larger deep diving lures in the Goulburn River. Trolling slowly between the Broken River junction to the Mooroopna car bridge has been very effective with some great Murray cod crash tackling lures. I have found that StumpJumpers are working very well on these fish as they are very versatile lures that troll very well and are easy to flick around the large structure if you are that way inclined.

I spent a day on the water just trolling a No. 2 Stumpy in a green and orange color and had great day landing two cod between 60-70cm and 2 smaller golden perch. Trelly’s Tackle World has a great range or Stumpys and they are a very cheap cod lure. But I wouldn’t go hunting cod without having a good mix of Codgers and Oar-Gees as well.

The lake has been fishing pretty well. In April I managed to get out to the lake more than usual and fished with some new metal vibe lures from Lazer Lures.

I found that these lures work really well on the big golden perch in the lake. They vibrate like hell when casting and retrieving from the bank. They also troll very well with River Rat’s member Jessie Vella landing some great fish out of his kayak around the island.

I have also had success on the Vibes casting and retrieving for redfin in the local channels. I also believe it won’t be too long before metal lures becomes another cod fishing craze.

May is the month when the crays start to move. In early April I hadn’t heard too much about crays being on the move but I expect reports to filter in any time now of crayfish on the prowl.

Last season not many anglers crayed in Shepparton so it could be a gold mine out there this season if you put the time and effort in. Around Murchison is where a lot of people get decent amounts of crayfish and I can’t see the craying there slowing off this season.

I will hopefully have a full report on where the crays are in next month’s VFM.