G’DAY fishos!
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So the fisheries boys from Victoria and NSW finally got together and had a yarn about Murray cod slot limits.
It’s good to see commonsense prevailed and we now have common ground.
For those that hadn’t heard, size limits for cod in both NSW and Victoria are the same.
You’re going to be allowed to keep a Murray cod if it’s between 550 millimetres and 750 millimetres, as long as you catch it in the open season of course.
I don’t think either side were all that happy to change but its nice to see we’ve grown and matured a little from the stubborn old “two rail size days” where no-one would give any ground.
The other thing I’d like to mention is there’s a couple of low life oxygen thieves getting about around boat ramps again.
I’ve heard of two light bars being stolen from vehicles at ramps in the past week, one of them my son’s.
There was a spate of this sort of thing a few months ago and it looked like it had settled down but apparently not.
It’s hard to know why these people think they have the right to steal something that someone else has worked and saved for.
Please keep an eye out for any other vehicles around ramps, particularly if they haven’t got a boat.
Take a couple of photos on your phone, you can always delete them later if nothing happens.
I don’t know how much CCTV is to set up and its a shame we’re even talking about it but maybe that’s an option down the track if this continues.
Now to more pleasant topics.
The weather wasn’t kind for anyone last weekend, particularly those trying to fish the Leigh Martin/Mercury Lake Hume Yellowbelly Classic.
A dose of wind and rain in the early hours of Saturday along with a big drop in temperature didn’t make it very pleasant for those who were brave enough to head out.
I think quite a few may have opted for a sleep in and that may be a factor in the not so huge numbers of fish.
I haven’t heard from organisers about exact numbers yet but the belief is they were down.
That’d be understandable considering conditions.
As the week has progressed and the weather picked up, so have the fish.
Reports have got better, with reasonable numbers of both yellas and reddies being caught.
Late afternoon is still prime time.
Tom “Chucky” Walker and girlfriend Jenna Ferguson picked up a couple on Tuesday evening.
Chuck’s was 43 centimetres and I’m not sure how big Jenna’s was but it’s a pretty safe bet to assume it was bigger than Chuck’s!
There was no competition of course but it would appear size does matter at times.
Dartmouth’s going OK.
Trolling attractors with scrubbies or crickhoppers behind is working well but we had one customer that picked up eight nice fish in a session using a Killalure 45 millimetre “Pak Rat” behind a fender on Wednesday morning.
The streams are OK without being great.
Small bladed lures such as Vibrax and Celtas are the go.
I’ve had a couple of reports that Eucumbene has improved a little but is still slow.
Most fish are coming from bait off the bank.
It’s prime time for Blowering.
The full moon last night would have seen quite a few fishos trolling into the wee hours I’m sure.
I’ve just had a couple of days at Burrinjuck, where Rod Cockburn from Wagga Compleat Anger and myself ate, slept and fished the time away.
Results were a couple of cod and half a dozen or so yellas.
The fish weren’t going crazy and, like Hume, late afternoon was certainly prime time.
Sounds like the south coast’s been fishing well too.
The Demiel family has just had a week or so over at Mallacoota and did really well on the flatties and bream in the lake.
I also had a call from Gary Matheson, of Tallangatta, who’d just come back from Mallacoota as well.
Gary and a couple of mates picked up 40 or so flatties on vibes but the main reason for the call was to brag about a 91 centimetre that he picked up.
Don’t worry, I’d be bragging about one that big if I could catch one too. Well done mate.
Don’t forget, next Friday, November 14, and Saturday, November 15, is Dartmouth Women’s Fishing Classic.
Details dartmouth.net.au/ womensclassic.
Catch ya all next week.
Results 2014 Leigh Martin Marine Mercury Classic, Lake Hume: 332 anglers caught 317 fish — 104 yellow belly, 63 redfin, 8 trout, 142 carp. Adults: Yellowbelly: 1st Mick Lyons 66cm, 2nd R O’Keefe 65cm, 3rd J Dodds 60cm. Redfin: 1st Rhys Creed 42cm, 2nd Jamie Roberts 42cm, 3rd Ray Gamble 40cm. Trout: 1st Joel Carroll 65cm, 2nd Wayne McPherson 49cm, 3rd Mick Wenning 33cm. Carp: 1st Sam Went 75cm, 2nd Steven Hudson 71cm, 3rd J Van Holten 69cm. Juniors: Yellowbelly: 1st S Chetcuti 61cm, 2nd Zara Brown 60cm, 3rd Campbell Boyle 58cm. Redfin: 1st Hunter Hartnet 38cm, 2nd Gabby Bowran 38cm, 3rd Gabby Bowran 36cm. Trout: 1st Gabby Bowran 53cm. Carp: 1st Jack Brown 71cm, 2nd Connor Schmidt 64cm, 3rd Jack Barton 64cm. Team: Social fishing — 15 fish. Best represented club: Kinross — 29 members. Mystery draw: Wayne McPherson 39cm yellowbelly. Champion Angler: Men: Jamie Roberts — 12 fish. Women: Katrina Smith — 2 fish Boys: Riley Bourke — 2 fish Girls: Gabby Bowran — 5 fish Lure wall: John Bihler; Swag: Sarah Schmidt; Minn Kota: Cyril Prizabella; Boat and motor winner: Allan Fabris.