Cod fishing

[NAGG]

Hey all

I've decided to pursue new fishing options (bare with me) .
With the weather so fickle these days - blowing out my offshore fishing options - I've decided to cast my eye out west of Penrith NSW & look at fishing the dams on the other side of the Blue mountains .
We have a few options less than 4 hrs travel - Windemere , Carcoar , Wyangala & to the south west Burrinjuck - all known cod fisheries (& other species) My typical Snapper trip involves a 3-4 hr drive ..... so no big deal for a weekender ( typical of my fishing trips)

I went for a drive over the weekend & had a look at Lake Lyell ( Lithgow) - it's a trout , bass & redfin dam. ..... excellent camping & probably the best boat ramp I have seen
A quick look at Carcor (Blayney) lovely looking small dam - nice bankside camping Carcor.jpg
Then camped out on the banks Wyangala Dam ...... this place is massive Wyangla 1.jpg (unfortunately I didn't get to look at the facilities - I was too early yesterday) but I believe it's very good . A lot of water coming into the dam atm
I ran out of time so I didn't get to Burrinjuck - I was an hour way but it was shitty weather & the back roads were pretty badly potholed decided to head to the Hume Hwy & home.

Anyhow ...... I'm an absolute Newby when it comes to cod fishing so I'm after some advice on anything cod related .

I've now got a couple of good outfits ( 1 spin - Millerod Beast buster LM Exist 5000 + 30lb braid ... spinnerbaits , swimbaits etc ) & I picked up a swimbait outfit on the weekend (Millerod Beastfreak Daiwa Tatula 300H + 40lb Braid ) The cast.jpg Which will also be my Barra swimbait outfit . So I've got my starting point .

So I do need some help with Lure selection ....... what works for you guys

Where do you target Cod in a dam

Preferable Conditions - time of day , moon phase etc

We will see where this takes me ...... who knows I might end up buying another boat more suited to lakes - or even rivers .

Look forward to hearing the good oil .

Chris

[chris69]

If the lure don't go past ones nose you want catch one ,mate goes to Copeton trolling ,but he likes rock hopping for them too going pool to pool in the river that feeds it,they like to use very big spinner baits,same as any fish in a dam log lay downs and weed edges,same as bass id expect and like any other fish the moon affects fishing,and were you would catch a redfin a cod should not be to far away,and if i caught a small redfin id put it out as a livey if your aloud down there.

[stevej]

I’ll send a pm or om me your mobile and I’ll send a photo of some lures to use in those dams.

if you come blowering or burrinjuck way my advice might be more useful

[NAGG]

I’ll send a pm or om me your mobile and I’ll send a photo of some lures to use in those dams.

if you come blowering or burrinjuck way my advice might be more useful

Appreciated ....

Chris

[NAGG]

I guess find the bait would be a good start .

I'm curious as to lure selection when to throw that lure

Eg - when & why you would throw a spinner bait as opposed to a swimbait .

I get the top water thing .... low light , night .

Cod fishing makes barra fishing look like a poor mans sport ....... $100 & I would have a lure selection that covers a barra dam pretty well . $100 might get you 2 cod lures & a $1000 is what you probably need to spend at the start to cover your bases.

My local tackle store (Bass Angler) has a pretty decent range of Cod lures .... ..... so what are the staples I should be buying ?

Chris

[stevej]

I have enough rods rigged withb

a 5/8 and 1/2 ounce spinner bait black purples dark reds
A big plastic paddle rail on a jig head
two other rods with clips to take a gantia and another swimbait depending on what depth distance to cast etc

I don’t leave the swimbaits attached as they bang around and damage the blanks in the upright storage

just too tedious posting photos here sorry

[stevej]

The two spinner bait rods are cod freaks so i use them to troll with as well with as invaders or other similar lures

then four rods for grubbing yellas , tn50/60s, blades n soft vibes

[NAGG]

I have enough rods rigged withb

a 5/8 and 1/2 ounce spinner bait black purples dark reds
A big plastic paddle rail on a jig head
two other rods with clips to take a gantia and another swimbait depending on what depth distance to cast etc

I don’t leave the swimbaits attached as they bang around and damage the blanks in the upright storage

just too tedious posting photos here sorry

Would you throw more Spinnerbaits than Swimbaits ..... or vice versa ?

What clips do you use ? ......
I have to say ..... never been a fan of clips for barrafishing

Chris

[Barry Ehsman]

I have caught a lot of Cod with 3 meterys in there but by no means an expert, a lot of luck involved,putting the lure in front of their face is key.

The 3 meterys 1 was on a Black & red Motherfrogger spinnerbait, 1 on a Mudeye diving lure & the other on a weedless Fishtrap fishing for Yellas.

Have caught 2 Cod in the 90s on surface at 4 in the morning -3deg on a Kingfisher watersnake surface lure, also caught about 25 Cod up to 95cm on a White Motherfrogger spinnerbait, nearly cried when i lost it to a snag.

Have a lot of big lures some worth up to $85 but havn't had much luck with them.

Havn't caught may lately with the dam so full. all the good banks are now under water, but Copeton does look good at 100%.

Caught most of my fish poking along the banks with the electric casting to the structure.

Also don't like clips rather use a loop knot, lure works better as well.

[stevej]

All differing opinions
simple in water testing I’ve seen no difference with a clip over knots and doubt the fish can tell the difference
Especially on a 50-150gm Kure

i use these and never had one correctly sized open
http://www.wilsonfishing.com/Product...Mustad-Fastach


and spinnerbaits where I’m too afraid to throw a $100 lure or amongst heavy timber or casting against the bank with water up against it

i had live scope and gave up on every other type of cod fishing as it’s just beats everything for dams
didn’t even cast unless I saw a fish

Well I would troll a bit if the wind came up or to our the Bimini up and have something to eat and fish at the same time

[shortthenlong]

My 1 cent of cod fishing is I've been to Copeton twice. I have no idea with most of my lure fishing being barra and not much of that impoundment. I have a basic tinny with no electric motor. Both times I had success in the 80 to 90cm size and both times was on a predatek boomerang in bettle black. They can be had at the big snake for 20 bucks.

I never bothered with spinners

I know you love your gear Nagg but you don't need 1000 dollars in lures to get started

Matt

[NAGG]

My 1 cent of cod fishing is I've been to Copeton twice. I have no idea with most of my lure fishing being barra and not much of that impoundment. I have a basic tinny with no electric motor. Both times I had success in the 80 to 90cm size and both times was on a predatek boomerang in bettle black. They can be had at the big snake for 20 bucks.

I never bothered with spinners

I know you love your gear Nagg but you don't need 1000 dollars in lures to get started

Matt

Hi Matt

I'm glad you got fish fish on your two trips - that's awesome ....... I can only wish that I can nail some .

My aim is to catch big fish while casting & from what I gather that's the domain of big lures ....... now I know you can tie on an 8" placcy & be fishing for them - but if the fish are switched on to surface lures .... that placcy wont do it . If the fish are in weed that boomerang wont do it .
I've been reading a bit .... watching some video & it's pretty clear that there are staples that guys in the know fish . Jackall Gantia & Gantrel for example which come in at around $70 a pop . A decent crawling surface lure will be up around $40- $50 ( Kingfisher , Pompadour ) ..... big plastics like the 10" Megabass Magdraft come in at near to $60 ...... It quickly adds ups .
Sure there have been plenty of cod caught on a $30 stump jumper mega

My point was by comparison for barra fishing - A Rapala X Wrap or X Walk will come in in the $20s - A pkt of Hollowbellies or slick rigs - $12 -$20 with jig heads ...... that's pretty well all I use with the odd storm suspending or wild eye shad thrown in . Cheap as chips compared to a decent cod lure .

For my way of thinking - spending $300-$400 (fuel etc) to go for a weekends Cod fishing , you want to give yourself the best chance of getting a bite ...... & from what I'm hearing those bites are not as frequent as barra fishing .

Oh & btw - I do have one of those Predateks

Chris

[gunna]

These dam cod must be smarter than the river ones. I bought a near life time supply of Berkeley Frenzy poppers when Anaconda had them in the specials bin. At $5 each I can throw them into the gnarliest of snags. They have caught me dozens of fish. Likewise I buy the cheap spinnerbaits out of the US and again they never let me down. Different fishing I know. It’s just walking the banks and it’s fairly obvious where the fish live. In the rock pools I use chubby size deep divers.

[NAGG]

These dam cod must be smarter than the river ones. I bought a near life time supply of Berkeley Frenzy poppers when Anaconda had them in the specials bin. At $5 each I can throw them into the gnarliest of snags. They have caught me dozens of fish. Likewise I buy the cheap spinnerbaits out of the US and again they never let me down. Different fishing I know. It’s just walking the banks and it’s fairly obvious where the fish live. In the rock pools I use chubby size deep divers.

Dam fish have probably seen every presentation known to man

Chris