April Murray Cod
In the New England, April is usually a quiet time for pursuing Murray Cod. This is the time of year when the night temperature really starts to plummet. After having to wait for so long for the rivers to clear up, I was super keen to trek my Floatboat into some of the tightly overgrown sections of the river. These narrow areas are usually a no go zone for most fisherman as it’s just too bloody hard. The beauty of the Incept Floatboat is that it can be portaged into the most remote areas, once inflated it becomes a lethal flyfishing craft.
Now this was going to be a real flycasting challenge, as I tried to back cast under a solid canopy of Bottlebrush limbs. I also had reservations about this part of the river; during last year’s drought the water depth would have been pitiful at best. Within minutes my reservations were quickly answered, when the first fish rolled at the Orange/red Rattling Clouser. No hook up, but sometimes fishing can be more than just about landing fish!
Casting around the face of a Bottlebrush resulted in a snagged fly that turned out to be a good sized fish. A little red faced I fired a cast straight back at him, instantly he engulfed the 4/0 Rattler, once again the hook pulled again. It was bloody hard to get a good hook set in such a confined area and having such short line out wasn’t helping.
Paddling downstream in the search of bigger water, then it happened, a Cod rocketed up from under his log jam, within seconds he proceeded to weave my expensive flyline back into his home. It took several hectic minutes before I could handline the fish back out, a glorious and healthy Cod in the high seventies and around nine kilos.
Whilst renewing the chaffed tippet, I opted for a fly change as well, deciding on the big Bendy Roller Popper. Working the popper along a wall of submerged Bottlebrush, the fly disappeared in a large eruption. Even after a good strip strike, the hook failed to stay connected once again.
Aggressive bloops of the big popper resulted in a monster boil, huge, even somewhat scary. The size of this fish I’m not sure, but I worked various flies along the logs face in an attempt to find out. Nothing, but I’ll be back again. Nick
Cods Country 