After spending a couple of days braving the elements of Hay with Mick Chisholm I can report some excellent fishing. Mick landed a great 103cm cod on a spinnerbait so despite the wet, cold and windy conditions, it was definitely worth fishing. Even though we caught this big fish, there was a lot of effort involved. Conservatively I estimate 1000 casts per day, so the key to fishing in winter is patience. Even though it was cold and typically the fish aren't overly mobile in frigid water, this cod ate the lure in plain view beside the boat. Seeing a fish like this one dart out from under a log and inhale the lure certainly gets the adrenalin pumping. We also boated a dozen or so smaller cod and missed another whopper that didn't connect with the hook on strike...but that's cod fishing - you can't catch them all!
As regular visitors to riverinasportfishing.com will notice, this is my first report for the upcoming season 2009/10. Who knows how this season will fish but last season was a good one for me. On guided trips alone, Riverina Sportfishing landed 685 fish (12% more than last season). In this total were 361 Murray cod, 285 trout cod, 25 golden perch, 8 redfin, 2 carp and a 4 hybrid cod (not sure which camp they fall into - either MC or TC). My average number of fish per day for the entire season was exactly the same as last year at 7.5 fish per day. The biggest fish was a 110cm Murray cod. Interestingly the most difficult time of year to catch fish was through the heat of summer, whilst when the water is cool (10-18 degrees) the fish are easier to catch and when the water is cold (<10 degrees) you are more likely to get a big fish. When the water is hot (>25 degrees) it's hard to tempt anything at all. It's raining reasonably regularly now, so with some water back in the dams and rivers (fingers crossed), the upcoming season should be a ripper.