new south wales Virginity

[timtam_]

Howdy ladies 

 

My previous post hunting for Murray cod hints didn't shine a light on anything for me so brother, father, and myself planned to shoot down to Northern NSW to try our luck at finding some green fellas. Getting the Friday off work helped with the 6 hr drive and by the time we arrived we couldn't find a chance to wet a line as all the waterholes in the immediate vicinity were covered with weed. 

Not looking good 

Saturday morning we slept in probably too long and weren't fishing until 8am. 3k walk to the first waterhole and gee she looked a treat. Clear water, no weed, lots of snags and boulders everywhere. 

and no bloody fish! 

On Saturday we covered nearly 12k's in some pretty hairy country. Up and down escarpments, through gorges, jumping from boulders to others which in hindsight wasn't the best idea considering how far we were from help. We retired at 3pm with no fish, no bumps, no morale left  

Decided to dry our luck in a separate arm of the river on dusk but again, ultra-clear water (6m+ visbility), with no run and no fish. 

Sunday morning was our last chance so we woke up to a warm 2 degrees Celsius and were fishing by 5:45am.

First Pool. No Fish. 

Big walk to next pool. 

Second Pool.  No fish. 

Another big walk to next pool. 

Dead goat in the river bed. 

Last Pool. 

FISH. 

Finally, as we reached the last corner of the last fishable pool before we had to make the trek back to packup and be home in time for the footy, we got lucky. I say we because while I was the only one to actually catch a fish, it was a team effort and we all deserved to see one of the critters. He took a liking to a red spinnerbait, slow rolled just over the top of the visible weeds on the bottom. Honestly felt like I was in a dream when I hooked up. I just kept saying "YES, YES, YES, I'M ON, YES". 

Got the little fella to the bank in time for some happy snaps, then off he went to go back to sleep. I lay down and took it in. 

We understand that the fact there was so much weed, no run, no water movement at all, and such low water levels probably put the cod into a hibernation of sorts. We plan to go back as soon as the river has had a good flush and the dirty water has cleared up. 

 

Thanks for reading apologies for the lack of photos 

 

[ellicat]

Congrats on the first. May there be many more. 

[kmcrosby78]

Cracking read Tim and congrats on a very, very well deserved first cod! I bet you slept well each night!!  What river system were you fishing?

[Dinodadog]

Your one up on me, I have caught all the cod except sleepy and murray, but I will before I kick the bucket.

[Drop Bear]

Awesome work mate and a great read thanks. Sorry they were not as thick as they could be but so great to have caught that cracker!

I hope that photo is going up on the wall.

congratulations. 

[Guest]

Top cod dude, great read big effort, however I am concerned somewhat, as not once did you mention any alcohol, all good just saying!!

[Nog]

Good effort in what looks like brass monkey country. I've fished  the Mole and Severn in Wwnter when flows are traditional low. Don't discount those weeded up sections of river in future. A scum frog or similar can be deadly. The weed keeps the underlying water warmer . And if you want to catch lots of fish you could always take up fly fishing

 

 

 

[Drop Bear]

1 hour ago, Nog said:

Don't discount those weeded up sections of river in future.

Nice stuff. That first shot took me ages to work out what it was. Cracking shot. 

[Luvit]

Hard yards paid off.

Great fish to be rewarded with.

[timtam_]

Thanks for the replies everyone. 
@kmcrosby78 - the Severn System near Atholwood. Might try the Dumaresque system next time but haven't looked into as of yet. 
@MSB - Beer was implied 
@Nog - I threw a surface mouse around for half an hour but with limited time I thought we should focus on the cleaner pools even though I knew there still had to be fish there. Will probably persevere with surface more next time!
@Luvit - Definitely hard yards. Just makes me want to do it even more. Your new england reports - what system were those?

[timtam_]

@Drop Bear have you ticked a murray cod off the list? Nothing I've ever caught hits like a cod. 

[Drop Bear]

9 hours ago, timtam_ said:

@Drop Bear have you ticked a murray cod off the list? Nothing I've ever caught hits like a cod. 

Nope. I have never caught a fresh water cod. Very keen to do this. Perhaps this spring...

[John]

unreal trip, thanks for sharing. cracker fish as well