Tony Bennett profile

North & Northeast Victoria

9 January 2007

With Tony Bennett

As I sit here writing this report, Santa has just delivered his sack of goods, the Aussies have belted the Poms at the MCG on Boxing Day, my young bloke has just cleaned me up in a game of backyard cricket and I’m feeling as full as a butchers dog after a couple of days of feasting.

A 100% full Lake Mulwala greeted excited anglers at they converged on a windy Yarrawonga/Mulwala for the traditional cod season opening competition, the Cod Classic. With 2660 competitors, this competition is becoming a “must not miss” event for many. Competitors traveled from all states of Australia to try and tackle the magical green fish. Just quickly, 375 legal size cod were caught between 2660 anglers. On average each cod took 113.5 hours of effort to catch. A full report of the competition will be available in both North East Angler & Vic Fishing Monthly magazines soon.

Apart from cod opening weekend, reports of fish have not been coming in at a great pace from within the lake. The two most notable captures (and releases) have come from illegal set lines that have been set within the boundaries of Lake Mulwala. First a couple of locals came across a fish of 1.3 metres struggling on a set line, then a crew from Albury found a fish of 1.28 metres that had fallen for the same trap. Credit must go to both groups of fishermen who found these fish struggling, released them and spent time with them until the fish were healthy enough to swim away again. There has always been an argument about what is the correct thing to do in these circumstances if you do come across some illegal fishing gear. Legally, you can not touch set lines (springers), cross lines or drum nets (in Lake Mulwala down stream to Tocumwal) without being in breach of regulations. The ethical dilemma comes into play when you find these barbaric fishing tools and wish to rid them from our waterways and take them away from the illegal meat gatherers. Also remember that if the owner of these finds you tampering with them you may have a fair argument on your hands. Best bet is to immediately report them to fisheries.

The weekend after cod opening, a group of a dozen boys from Finley and Albury came together for their annual social comp at Bundalong. For the weekend they caught 14 legal cod with Dean McGuire latching onto and landing a “magical mark” monster of 1.10 metres in the mouth of the Murray and Ovens River junction.

The only other good fish I have heard about and had the pleasure of seeing caught was taken by Doug Patterson. Whilst out casting surface lures on a perfect summer evening, Doug got a surface strike that sounded like a 100 year old gum tree snapping in half. After a brief fight that included the trebles from the lure being ripped through the leg of Doug’s waders, luckily not pinning him, a great fish of 96cm was landed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the camera before going out so only poor quality phone pictures of this fish exist.

Those that have been out throwing surface lures have been receiving many strikes, with the average landing 3-4 fish per night. The only problem with these fish is that the majority of them are in the 30cm-45cm bracket. This is a great fun way to target cod but be careful in the dark as it is very easy to take a fall on a slippery log at night and end up in the drink.

Downstream in the river, local gun Joe Linehan has been having a lot of success casting spinnerbaits off the bank searching for yellas. Fish up to 7lb have not been uncommon. A monster yella of 63cm was reported to the crew at Intents Fishing Mulwala. Apparently this fish was taken on the Sunday afternoon after the cod classic. A yella of this size around this area is rare but would tip the scales at around 15lb.

Personally I had a couple of nephews come down from the gold coast for X-mas that had never caught a cod before, so we headed down river for a spot of bait fishing. After 2 hours we had managed 10 small trout cod and 2 Murray cod to 40cm. After this we went for a quick cast and picked up another couple of small cod on spinnerbaits.

For those bait fishing in the river, the numbers of small trout cod attacking your bait will annoy you, but for young kids, it’s a good way to keep them entertained for a while.

The outlook for the next month or so should see the lake fish better from Majors Creek and above up to Bundalong while the river will turn up plenty of fish for the bait fishermen. Keep in mind if you are planning a trip here to do a spot of “quiet” fishing, it seems every water skier from Sunbury to Bunbury is here also, so your peaceful trip may be blown out the window.

In early February we have the Wilson’s Lowrance Da$h 4 Ca$h Super Series (17th & 18th) $10K+ cash prizes. For more information give me a call on 0357 441667.

If you do come across a good fish around the Yarrawonga/Mulwala area, I’m keen to hear about it and will try and report it in future reports. Send all reports to codclassic@aapt.net.au

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