Episode 168: Murrumbidgee Murray Cod With Victoria Cameron

Victoria’s Top Tips For ‘Bidgee Cod Fishing

• Murray cod fishing is about persistence and putting in time on the water. They’re not called the fish of a thousand casts for nothing.
• A common mistake is to not change things up by switching lures or techniques when the fishing is quiet. There’s little point continuing to throw the same lure over and over if the fish are rejecting it.
• Victoria like to fish the large rocks in faster flowing water during the summer months but likes the slower, deeper pools during winter. Start mixing it up and trying different habitats around April. Larger lures work well in the cooler months, and surface fishing can be effective all day due to fog and low light.
• It’s worth googling to find public places where you can access the river, then look for gorges, logs, boulders and pools to fish.
• An approaching storm front usually results in a hot bite for 30 minutes or so just before the storm hits.
• Vic prefers to fish from 30 minutes before first light until around 10-11 am and then again in the afternoon from 3 pm till about 30 minutes after dark.
• Low water levels and minimal flow tend to slow down the fishing. Concentrate on the deeper pools with structure during low flow conditions.

Vic’s Cod Fishing Tackle

• Victoria likes to carry two fully rigged rods at any time each with a different lure, to enable her to quickly switch lure styles as the situation demands.
• Vic uses either a Shimano Zodias 6’6” rod coupled with a Curado DC reel or a Shimano Cod Raider rod and Curado reel. 30lb braided line and a rod length of 30lb fluorocarbon leader complete the setup.

Victoria’s Best Cod Fishing Lures

• The Bassman Codman or Codman DT Spinnerbait in 5/8 oz is a consistent cod catcher in the Murrumbidgee and can be worked through all types of structure and water flow. Vic loves to cast at structure and let the spinnerbait flutter down the face of it before working it. As a shore based angler she finds spinnerbaits useful for depth finding.
• Ever Green Timber Flash is a surface walker that can be slow rolled across a pool. Listen to the sound of the lure to figure out how fast to work it. Throw in some occasional pauses if the fish are not being aggressive, mix it up to try and get a strike. During summer and early autumn these lures work best around dawn and dusk when the light is low.
• The Jackall Mega Pomapdour is a great surface lure and is fished the same way as the Timber Flash but is noisier and works best on very still days. Be sure to upgrade the split rings to 60lb breaking strain and switch the stock hooks with quality Owner hooks.