Episode 185: Lake Mulwala Murray Cod With Cristie Felton

Cristie’s Top Murray Cod Fishing Tips

• Murray Cod fishing during tournaments often means you’re not fishing at the prime times but are restricted by comp times. Cristie finds that under these circumstances it pays to have plenty of lures to choose from and to rotate through them to find what’s working.
• Cristie and Lee took out the individual and team categories in the Freshwater Masters and did it without using their fish finder. She recommends looking for cod in 0.8 to 1.2m depth and wearing polaroids. Look for structure such as lay downs and stumps and get your lures in close proximity to to the structure. During daylight hours the fish tend to lurk close to cover and take sub-surface offerings.
• Don’t drop your lure straight on the cod’s head. Cast well beyond the point at which you expect a fish to be lying in wait and make sure the lure if working at the correct depth as it passes the fish.
• Be patient and persistent, don’t give up. Cristie has noticed whilst daytime fishing for cod that there are small bite windows at various times through the day. The best way to take advantage is to continue fishing consistently right through the session.

Mulwala Murray Cod Fishing Tackle

• Cristies tournament winning tackle setup includes a Storm Discovery 4-6kg spin rod with Sufix 8 core 30lb braid and a sufix 30lb fluorocarbon leader. As the braid is fluoro yellow, Cristie uses a relatively long leader so as not to spook the fish. She uses a Rapala R Type 25 size spin reel and finds it more than adequate for Murray cod fishing.

Top Murray Cod Fishing Lures

• The Mudeye Single Paddler is Cristies favourite surface lure. she doesn’t use it much during competitions but finds it’s a great lure for when she’s fishing for herself around dawn and dusk. Fan casts out and slow roll back over water from 0.8 to 1.2m. Running the lure along lay downs works well, but Cristie also finds it’s worth just fanning casts out all around the boat as cod can be on the move around twilight and may not always be in structure.
• Gangster Spinnerbaits make some great cod lures and Cristie finds the 1/4 oz mini-frogger is a great option. Cast long, let it sink for a couple of seconds and then slow roll it along the length of laydowns. This lure is a slow sinker and Cristie typically fishes it in the top 1/3 of the water column when in these shallow areas.
• The Mudeye Shallow Happy is one of Cristies favourite hard bodies and took the Winning cod in this year’s freshwater masters. It’s a 90mm lure that has a relatively small and near vertical bib, making the lure run shallow and dive relatively gently. Once again, the best technique seems to be fishing the lure parallel with, and close to, laydowns at a constant, slow speed. If you feel the lure tough bottom stop winding momentarily and allow it to rise up a little before continuing slightly slower.
• Mazzy Vib vibration baits in Windy Black colour work well on Lake Mulwala when worked once agin along laydowns. This lure is very versatile though and can be jigged vertically, burned across flats, hopped long the bottom or slow rolled past structure. There are both silent and rattling versions of the lure available. Cristie generally prefers a rattling version and reckons they can annoy a cod into coming out and taking a swipe. however, she also finds that cod sometimes prefer the silent version, so be sure to have a few of each in your kit.