Murray Cod Mania: Why This Native Fish is a Winter Angler’s Dream
It’s getting cold, grab the swimbaits and get into the action!
During winter, small and immature Murray Cod tend to be less active due to the colder water temperatures. However, large fish get out and about, looking to feed and fatten up prior to the upcoming spring/summer spawning season. Generally, Murray Cod are regarded to often seek deeper holes and structures such as submerged logs, rocks, and ledges where they can conserve energy, but advancements in technology such as Live Sonar has opened the minds of anglers and show that large cod are extremely mobile and will hunt, especially in lakes and impoundments such as Mulwala and Eildon (and other dams). Understanding this behaviour is crucial for targeting the right locations for your fishing session.
Winter Murray Cod on Swimbait
The approach for anglers to use slow-moving lures that mimic the natural prey in their habitat can be effective. Consider using large paddle tail swimbaits such as Irukandji Sicario, Megabass Magdraft, Magslowl or PML Rumble Shad swimbaits. These styles are the most common approach being either ready to fish out of the pack or only need basic rigging to be in the game. This rigging may be a simple jig head rig, with an assist belly treble or harness attached and ensuring your bait presents naturally through the water. Having a lure option ready that has a softer more subtle approach can be a winner. While these large cod are out in patchy treed or semi open areas, they can still be flighty and a subtle soft landing or more finesse vibration through the water can pay off. Look into Irukandji Bloodhawk or downsize your lure to minimise spooking. Also, never rule out a well-presented glide bait. Still somewhat underground to a lot of anglers and not common place, those in the know draw big cod in from a long way with the Glide.
Irukandji Bloodhawk
Slow deliberate retrieves and keeping the lure in the prime zone is always critical. Live technology gives you real-time feedback on how fish are reacting to your bait and lures. This can be invaluable in adjusting your presentation. If you see that the fish are not responding to a certain lure or retrieve speed, you can make immediate adjustments to trigger a strike. Slow, deliberate movements are often more effective in the colder months.
While Murray Cod can be caught at any time, Live sonar/live scope or Active Target fishing has seen a solid uptake in anglers donning the winter woollies and rugging up to fish bite windows through the night. We discussed nearly a decade ago the bite times around moon rise/set and moon phases, these still hold true. Don’t ever ignore the golden hours in the early morning and late afternoon, there is often high activity levels of bait at these times, and predators will be near.
Now while the live tech delivers all these hugely perceived benefits and people scream its video games and not fishing etc, it doesn’t make the fish eat! If you don’t have live, it is not the end of your fishing career. Having a solid base of being able to read the water, structure, bait and animal activity (yes, terrestrial life and fish life do interact together during activity times) will give you a huge chance (as it always has!)
The best anglers are those that pay attention to the world around them and harness things to increase their knowledge. Get out there, rug up, grab the rod, reel and tackle bag and get into it. It’s cold, but the rewards are there for the making and the taking!
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