Tony Bennett profile

North & Northeast Victoria

4 September 2007

With Tony Bennett

For the genuine cod fishos, it’s a fair bet that you may already be suffering withdrawal symptoms from the effects “closed season” may be having on you. Look on the bright side though, the season will be open in less than three months with a range of new rules and regulations in place that will see our mighty Murray cod continue to thrive in the future.

The closing stages of cod season saw a flourish of activity around Lake Mulwala with anglers getting their final fix before being forced to put the gear away of a few months. The most productive report I received came from Dave McKenna from Albury. This is the exact report Dave emailed to me:

“With the current weather pattern I could not resist at having one last crack at Mulwala before the season closes. I arrived at the lake at 7am on Sunday 26th and by the amount of cars and empty trailers at the Majors Creek boat ramp I must have been late. I started off casting spinnerbaits working the river edge and had a lot of bumps with no hook ups. At one particular tree the Bassman was bumped that hard it felt like an electric shock going through the braid, I put another 50 casts into the same tree and even changed colours, but no result. With this I decided to put a stinger on and came up trumps 10 minutes later with a nice cod of 52cm. After an hour of nothing I moved further down the lake working the timber and the weed beds, boating another 6 cod in an hour. All fish were in fantastic condition and 4 of these were over 50cm with the biggest at 55cm (the new size limit next season) and all are still swimming. I cast for another 2hrs without a touch which was a bit puzzling, then trolled for 2hrs without a hit and gave it away happy with 7 cod for the day”.

Personally, I spent a day out with Mulwala lure test pilot Joe Linehan casting fancy looking pieces of bent up wire, silicon skirts and flashy blades (spinnerbaits) around in search of a green fish. Not much was said but at stake was a fair bit of pride, as we support rival lure companies. Unfortunately for Joe, his lure was belted by a good size fish that failed to stick. Trailing a couple of yards behind his retrieve was my lure in the perfect position to present to the already excited fish. I said to Joe “watch this, count to three”, and as scripted, bang, I had hooked up. A great 51cm yella was landed and the score ended up Bassman 1 Others 0. No other fish were encountered for the day but I was reported to the police and have a possible charge of grand theft pending!

Whilst out we crossed paths with Yarrawonga character George Jovanovic who practically lives on the lake. Earlier in the day George had picked up a nice cod measuring in at 70cm while trolling the river between Majors and Bundalong. As the season drew to an end George picked up numerous nice fish weighing in at up to 25lb.

There has not been much else to report for the month as I received no stories from any cray trips. For those who continue to fish in this region during the closed cod season, take into consideration your methods when chasing yellas. Downsize all gear to minimize tangling with a cod. I know there are some grey areas surrounding what constitutes fishing for cod but if you are fishing with bardi grubs or using a number 1 Stumpy lure, who are you trying to kid? Keep in mind also that the complete section from downstream of the Yarrawonga Weir through to the traffic bridge is totally closed to all forms of fishing.

The interest being shown in the 2007 Yamaha Cod Classic is starting to hot up as expected with enquiries regarding the event being received on a regular basis. With an amazing $100, 000+ in prizes up for grabs including 6 boat, motor and trailer packages, plus a fully decked out fishing canoe you would have to be mad to miss out. Entry forms are now available. Enquiries, ph: 03 5744 1667.

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