Episode 38: Glenelg River Mulloway With Mark Gercovich

Mark’s Top Tips For Glenelg River Mulloway Fishing

• The Glenelg estuary is large by Victorian standards and mulloway can be anywhere in the system. Most consistent results come from focusing on the lower reaches from the mouth to Taylors Strait, plus you’ll spend less time travelling and more time fishing.
• It’s important to fish light and use small lures for mulloway in the Glenelg River system. Not only will you catch more mulloway, but you’ll also get a good by-catch of bream and estuary perch. Good sized mulloway often take 40mm blades but light gear is needed to get the blades to the bottom and working.
• Tides and lunar cycles can play a part in determining the quality of fishing, especially towards the end of the wetter months, when there is a bit of fresh in the system. Mulloway are often in the deeper saltier water beneath the dirty overlying fresh.
• The overwhelming best time to target mulloway is in the pre-dawn to just after dawn period, especially when there isn’t too much traffic on the river.
• An electric motor and a quality sounder are must-haves for tackling mulloway (Mark uses Minn Kota motors and Humminbird sounders). A good strategy is to troll small hard body lures along the “second step”, which is usually within 3-4m of the banks. Watch the sounder until numbers of mulloway are found (they’re obvious on a good sounder), then stick around and figure out how to get them to eat.
• Mulloway tend to hug the bottom and frequently take lures that are in their face. It’s important to get the lure right down to the bottom.

Mark’s Preferred Mulloway Fishing Tackle

• A 7′ Rod with a quality 2500 sized reel will do the job. Mulloway tend to fight relatively clean, but relatively big fish on light gear require silky smooth drags. Mark is sponsored by Daiwa and uses their Saltist Hyper Rod coupled with a Freams or Sol 2500 reel. A quality braided line and about one and a half rod lengths of 6-8lb leader complete the outfit.

Mark’s Best Mulloway Lures For The Glenelg River

• Small soft plastic lures are effective. Squidgy Fish in black silver and Gulp 4″ smelts in black and white work well, but the popular option at the moment is the Z-Man Slim Swim in motor oil. Cast them out as far as possible, sink to the bottom and work back slowly, keeping them in contact with the bottom
• Daiwa Double Clutch 75mm hard body lures are perfect for trolling along the banks whilst using the sounder to located aggregated fish. Or for casting or trolling when the fish have been located.
• Ecogear VX40 blades are a good all-round lure for the Glenelg and are just as effective on mulloway as they are on bream, despite the small size. Fish them the same way as for the Slim Swimz.