Tony Bennett profile

North & Northeast Victoria

26 March 2007

With Tony Bennett

This report is dedicated to Robert Ansett, a fishing gentleman.

Of recent times, my local report seems to be made up more of results from local fishing events than that of individual angler’s encounters with the mighty green fish. These fishing competitions actually give a better picture of how the lake is fishing because of the feedback from a larger group of anglers. As long as these comp’s are doing the right thing ethically and running under total catch and release rules and regulations, I’m happy for one to be held every day of the week.

March started off slowly with limited action being reported early. This changed somewhat when the 30 odd participants of the “Pro Fish” series hit town. With them they brought the wind and rain that saw the cod go into shut down mode for the first day of the event. For the day a combined total of 300 fishing hours was accumulated for the return of 6 legal fish. Break this down to an average of 1 legal fish for every 50 hours fished, you see that things were tough. Gaye Silva from Team Lowrance had the pick of the fish for the day with a lovely 87cm cod being taken trolling near Majors Creek. Gaye’s lure of choice that did the damage was a new fully painted (including bib) Oar-Gee.

Sunday morning saw a rise in barometer and a rise in fishing action. With competitors needing only 2 legal fish to take the lead, the event was still up for grabs. David Brown and Derek Blow had a great morning boating a 75cm, 71cm and 58cm cod and felt confident that the booty was theirs. Enter “Team Outlaw”, father and son combo, Paul and Tom Hetherington from Finley. Backing up from their 56cm cod on Saturday they had a great morning measuring in 2 x 53cm, a 51cm and 50cm cod pipping “Team Brown Blow” at the post. Their simple fishing technique concentrated on casting Outlaw spinnerbaits to the edges of the sunken timber and retrieving them down the face of the drop offs into the deeper water of the lagoons. Perennial bridesmaids, or as it was quoted “always look like bridesmaids” Graeme Clark and Jim Taylor from “Team Wagga Fishing World” finished in a solid third place. Over the weekend teams averaged about 8 undersize cod each.

During mid March, 11 dedicated fishos from the Vikings Fishing Club in Canberra made their annual pilgrimage down to the lake. In total the crew landed 15 cod and 8 yellas. Enter trip organizer Harold Lauer, alias Mr. Pickwick. Harold landed the biggest cod to come from Lake Mulwala (of recent times) some 8 years ago measuring in at 1.35m/95.5lbs and he was at it again. Trolling a new fully painted (including bib) Oar-Gee around the edge of the river near the Everglades, Harold hooked into another beauty measuring in at 1.10 meters and estimated at around 65lb. Next time I pass by “Mr. Pickwick” I may give him a rub on the belly for a bit of luck.

Later in March on a perfect autumn day, I had the pleasure of sharing a midweek trip with Craig Paine from Harcourt. Under the false pretence of me teaching Craig a few finer points of fishing Mulwala with spinnerbaits, he proceeded to give me a lesson himself landing a couple of nice cod to my big zero. The day turned out to be an eventful one as we heard a few squeals and screams coming from a boat fishing near us. It then made its way to us in a hurry, via the most direct route over a few snags looking for someone with a camera. It turned out to be good mate Joe Linehan who had got his Snap Back spinnerbait tangled in the mouth of a magnificent looking 90cm cod. Joe was shaking like a boy who had seen a ghost but was a happy man once his PB cod was photographed and released.

To finish the day off, a bloke who will go by the name of “Old Mate” cruised past asking about our day's activities. After a bit of a yak he was happy to brag about his esky that held a 75cm and smaller legal cod. When quizzed about his ethics of keeping such a fish that is in its prime breeding time of its life, his answers and attitude left a fair bit to be desired. I have nothing against people keeping a fish for a feed but it is up to the new and middle age fisherman to educate the younger generation on sustainable fishing practices. With attitudes like this goose, we are still a long way from achieving a result that will see a healthy fishery for his grandchildren.

No Mulwala report would be complete without detailing the outings of Roger Miles from Cod Hunter Fishing Tours. Roger had two phenomenal days personally in late March, along with some good days out with clients. Two clients spent four days casting spinnerbaits and Jackals (lipless crank baits) in the lake fishing right up to Bundalong, landing 20 fish with cod to 64cm and yellas to 48cm. Fishing solely with Jackal TN60’s, TN70’s and Dozer’s, Roger and friend Greg Scoble had an amazing run over two days landing 26 fish. Of these fish, 17 were legal size, 6 undersize and 3 yellas. To top this trip off some of the fish measured in at 97cm, 74cm, 73cm, 68cm and 64cm. The boys fished all different types of structure, from the edge of weed beds to lay down and vertical timber, finding fish in most locations. Rogers’s advice is that there are still plenty of fish about but you have to work hard for them.

Outlook for Lake Mulwala – Fishing will continue to be tough but those who persist, putting up with copious amounts of weed fouling their lures time and time again should be rewarded with some good fish. Preferable locations would be on and along the edges of the deeper channels and lagoons.

Outlook for Murray River – The water downstream from the weir remains at very low levels and will only be dropping more. Boat navigation should be done slowly and carefully. Reminder that Murray Cray season opens on May 1 and runs until August 31. Ignorance and not knowing the laws is no argument for the fisheries if you are caught breaking the law.

If anybody has a good story or would like to report their catch from this area drop me a line at codclassic@aapt.net.au.

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