Murray cod (open season): the reports started early, with a day visitor on Friday picking up six cod for the day, ranging from 45 centimetres to 68.5cm, all on stucky lures in the main basin.
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Over the weekend the fishing got a bit tougher, with the hot weather followed by the wind that arrived on Sunday afternoon.
A lot of good cod over the legal limit were still being picked up, mostly on hard bodies and mostly while trolling.
The biggest report was an 84cm fish from around Wade Island on Sunday. I ventured out on Sunday afternoon with a couple of mates for three hours for no fish and I did no good again on Monday afternoon, both casting and trolling in the wind.
However, on Tuesday, while fishing with my son Henry and his mate Riley, I managed to enter the one-metre club with a beautiful 115cm cod caught at 11am. I was trolling a twin spin Bass Man complete with plastic and stinger hook when I nabbed the fish which would have weighed around 35 kilograms.
I followed this up two hours later with a 62cm fish on the same lure. Riley managed a 65cm fish 30 minutes later on smaller spinner bait. We never had a touch on the hard body lures all day.
Yellow belly: still comparatively quiet. The weather of late and the dropping water level probably have a lot to do with it.
I had a good report on Friday, with Peter from Harden picking up six yellow belly, all on shrimp in the Murrumbidgee arm. Among them was a six and eight pound fish.
Redfin: reports were well down.
Silver perch: Brendon from Canberra bagged a 44cm fish from near the dam wall early last week while trolling.
Carp: still here and biting on the usual bait. We also had some fisherman having a bit of fun fly fishing on Saturday. He snagged 10 carp doing so.
Some tips for fishing these summer holidays is to fish in the shady areas in the heat of the day or fish deep down in the sun. You should also fish in the day on the new moon and in the evening on the full moon. But it is never black and white.
Remember if you are visiting please be aware of the life jacket and safety gear rules. Eleven infringement notices were handed out at the weekend.
Current water level: 71.3 per cent.
Current discharge: 4446 millilitres per day.
Current inflow: 696 ml per day.
Water visibility: up to one metre.
Weather: temperatures should rise to more than 30 degrees Celsius at the weekend. There is a good chance of showers as well, with winds up to 20 km/h from the west.
New moon: December 13.
Full moon: December 28.
Water temperature: 22 to 25 degrees Celsius.
