Murray Cod

[Member]

On the website for Native Fish Australia they say that you should avoid targeting the Cod during the winter months, yet the closed season is not until September. Many folk reckon the winter is the best time to go after Cod, so this leaves me a little confused. Mind you it's not hard to do that these days. I'm heading for the Dumaresq in early July, does this make me a Cod vandal?
JD

[Member]

Nope, they probably just dont want to get their tootsies cold.....

[Member]

Yep , the cod will be wearing beanies for sure. Probably won't hear your lure coming.
Shake a bit of ice off your own tootsies first before entering the water.

 

[Member]

On the website for Native Fish Australia they say that you should avoid targeting the Cod during the winter months, yet the closed season is not until September. Many folk reckon the winter is the best time to go after Cod, so this leaves me a little confused. Mind you it's not hard to do that these days. I'm heading for the Dumaresq in early July, does this make me a Cod vandal?
JD

Ah what they are suggesting is that the sexually mature Murray Cod start hunting out nesting sites now and preparing them for the spawning season ( Spring , Early Summer Months ) , it is suggested that a big female caught and handled for pics etc may reabsorb her eggs and not spawn after the " stress" of being handled ! on the other side of the coin is the winter time is time to catch a big cod because it is easier for them to catch a smaller fish who's metabolism has slowed down during the cold lean months where shrimp / cray etc are buried deep in the mud , so they may feed more now because it is easier to catch a feed and they are also aggressive in protecting their nesting sites ! ( A big fish will eat smaller cod , yellow belly , boney bream , carp etc , they are just below humans in the freshwater foodchain )

[Member]

When it comes to Cod , I agree they should be left alone , but only in areas that contain wild populations of fish where no stocking takes place .
maybe the close should be extended in these areas including the winter period with No fishing at all during the close ,  the current regulation is so grey it's on the point of being ridiculous,  Many still fish the close season coming up with the excuse of , { I’m after Yellas } Yeh Right !  , one might ask , well what can fishery officers do about it , { A } nothing at all , intent cannot be proved which in turn makes the closed season not worth the paper it's written on

   
Regards

Pete

[Member]

When it comes to Cod , I agree they should be left alone , but only in areas that contain wild populations of fish where no stocking takes place .
maybe the close should be extended in these areas including the winter period with No fishing at all during the close ,  the current regulation is so grey it's on the point of being ridiculous,  Many still fish the close season coming up with the excuse of , { I’m after Yellas } Yeh Right !  , one might ask , well what can fishery officers do about it , { A } nothing at all , intent cannot be proved which in turn makes the closed season not worth the paper it's written on

   
Regards

Pete

Pete I agree with you but it stops anglers from filling their eskies during the closed season so forces them to practice C&R or risk getting caught with illegal fish in possession if they do decide to keep them ! I know there was talk of having a maximum lure size when tagretting yella's during the closed cod season ie 70mm max (example ) but really when it comes down to it its like having a honesty box at the farmers gate where you take the produce and leave the money in the box , I think another word for it is ethics !
Cheers
Ken

[Member]

Pete I agree with you but it stops anglers from filling their eskies during the closed season so forces them to practice C&R or risk getting caught with illegal fish in possession if they do decide to keep them ! I know there was talk of having a maximum lure size when tagretting yella's during the closed cod season ie 70mm max (example ) but really when it comes down to it its like having a honesty box at the farmers gate where you take the produce and leave the money in the box , I think another word for it is ethics !
Cheers
Ken

Ken

But sadly that's all it does , those fish that guard nest sites if disturbed by C/R or other don't bother returning , not a drama in stocked waterways , but wild fish waterways are not stocked and rely on good recruitment , every nest site disturbed limits  future recruitement and that's a problem

Regards

Pete 

[Member]

OK, so what's moral cut off for Cod if we want to REALLY do the right thing regardless of the rules? Do we stop fishing for them as soon as the the temp drops below a certain level? Wait for the first frost? Simply go by the calendar. The subject is stil open ended.
JD

[Member]

Many stop fishing wild areas on June 1  .

Regards

Pete

[Member]

So is this the same for Mary Cod too? I'm hoping to go chase a few of these when I get the info on where they are. 

[Member]

Are they not off limits ?

Regards

Pete

[Member]

MRC I'm sure have their own closed season in the Mary river system but outside this system they are a no target species unless in a stocked impoundment and upstream of it.
This is what i understand.

Someone may have more specific information about them maybe Gordon or Fitzy.

This is fast turning into another thread on the bass closed season so maybe a good read of that will prevent repercussions.

Steve

[Member]

There's some very smart people who think that Murray Cod may be breeding at different times up around Qld than they do along the Murray.

Food for thought........

fitz..

[Member]

That's just one of the great things about a forum like this; you get a great exchange of ideas and we all learn a bit.
JD