Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Sweetwater-Impoundments-Brackish » Double Murray Cod Mayhem

Double Murray Cod Mayhem

By Philip Dickson

Anyone that fishes for the elusive Murray cod on a regular basis knows that they can be a real heartbreaker, with the amount of casts that goes into every single fish often resulting in days and even weeks of fishing with not a hit. In this article I wanted to share an experience that I had recently while targeting cod at Lake Mulwala in a skinny stretch of backwater. I was fishing out of my kayak, which I had only just purchased and it was my first trip away with it. Owning a boat since I was 18 years old, fishing out of the kayak is certainly a different experience but one I'm loving and will continue to pursue.

It was a bright sunny day, with still, calm conditions, so I thought I would break the trend a little and go earlier in the afternoon, paddle to the top of the skinny water and then fish my way back to the car, hopefully arriving there right on dark. On arriving at my destination, my confidence wasn't real high being that it was so early in the afternoon, around 1.30pm.

I had a couple of outfits on board. One was rigged with a spinnerbait and the other a swimbait with   a chin weight attached. After fishing several snags with no luck, I was pleasantly surprised to hook up on a fish of around 60cm on the spinnerbait. As the hooked fish got closer to the kayak a considerably larger model appeared beneath and needless to say it was the last thing I was expecting!

After coming to the top several times to inspect the smaller hooked cod, I was unsure whether his interest was in the fish or the spinner bait that was hanging out of the fish's mouth. Thinking that if I lifted the smaller fish out of the water the larger one would probably disappear, I laid the rod across my lap, reached behind me and grabbed the other rod, an Okuma Komodo baitcast combo that was rigged with the swimbait.

Peeling several metres of line of the reel, I dropped the swimbait into the water and shortly after it got nailed! The next few minutes or so was insane and something that I will never forget. Here I was trying to fight a fish out of the kayak with little experience and meanwhile the other fish is still swimming around under the kayak. Not wanting to get them tangled was a little nerve racking, however fortunately, mainly due to a lot of luck, I was able to subdue the big girl.

After getting some lip grips on her I was able to paddle into the bank to get a few photos and a bit of video. Needless to say, I was absolutely pumped. After watching her swim off, I then picked up my other rod, which was still in freespool and wound in the smaller fish. I then got a few photos before releasing the little fella.

After Countless hours of fishing out of my boat for these fish and never being lucky enough to jag that big one, catching this fish the way that I did is something that will stick in the memory bank for ever.

Cheers, Phil

Gearing Up:

Okuma Komodo Baitcast Rods - KM-C-661H 6'6" / 8-15kg / 1/2oz - 2oz
Okuma Komodo Baitcast Reel - KDS-273