Sweetwater Fishing Forums
General Category => Fishing Reports => Topic started by: poddy mullet on April 03, 2011, 07:19:13 PM
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The Macquarie River is flowing steady and clear at present, and is producing some amazing catches for lure casting anglers. Mick Coad, Brett Kleppe, Neil Duncan, Daniel Withers and I hit a local reserve at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning, and enjoyed one of the best native fish lure casting sessions I have ever seen on Dubbo’s Macquarie River.
Hiking approximately five kilometres, over the course of the morning we managed seven Murray Cod, and four huge Trout cod, as a bi-catch of the Murray Cod we were targeting. Spinner baits bent at ninety degrees, and stretched split rings were a common occurrence as the Macquarie River fish were in an early morning feisty feeding frenzy, belting almost any colour lure, and often when the leader knot had already been retrieved back through the top guide of the rod. For the morning fishing we landed 11 fish, consisting of seven Murray cod, and four large trout cod.
The penalties for being caught in possession of a Trout Cod are severe and it is totally illegal to fish for the species, but they are becoming a more and more regular bi-catch for those fishing for Golden Perch and Murray Cod along the Macquarie River in and around the Central West Region.
Trout Cod have officially been known to grow to 16 kilograms, or 35.2 pounds, and are a highly aggressive fish with plenty of potential to become a self-sustaining freshwater sport fishing species. Local legends even speak of the species reaching a massive 30 kilograms, or 66 pounds, in the Central West region.
It is fantastic to see the species thriving in certain areas in the Macquarie River, and if all fishermen and women continue to respect the endangered status assigned to the species, it may not be long until we see Trout Cod population numbers soar to a level where they may be legally targeted by freshwater anglers.
If you happen to catch a fish you suspect of being a Trout Cod, but you are not quite sure, one way of telling for certain is by looking at the jaw area. A Trout Cod’s top jaw overhangs the bottom, whereas a Murray Cod has a larger bottom jaw which overshoots the top. Trout Cod must be released without harm immediately after being caught.
Matt Hansen
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Awesome session Poddy - Well Done ;)
Cheers
CCFISHER :thumbsup
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Well done Matt! :youbeauty
A day to remember!
I was going through some shots of the Mary River Cod and the Murray Cod and looking at there close similarities. Those Trout Cod are stand outs though.
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Can I ask you what pound braid and leader do you use please.
I'm usually use 20lb with a 40lb leader, just interested in seeing if I'm fishing too heavy.
Dave
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Hey Bracey, I'd come back to 30lb leader for targetting these little chappies. You will cast further and really not notice a difference line strength wise. Matt
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Cheers Matt,
The MRC that I caught recently was about 85cm long, I didn't take it out of the water so I didn't have a clue how much it weighed. I caught it on 10lb braid with a 12lb leader. This is what got me thinking, when I'm chasing Murray Cod whether I'm fishing too heavy.
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Nice fish Matt, me old man's ashes were spread upstream of you just less than a couple of years ago. Only thing I could attribute to the numbers of fish now ;).
If it'd been my ashes river would have been toxic for years to come :o ;D