It seems that the old Murray cod are the main target for many people of late, and why not.

Cod have been biting pretty consistently since opening, making me believe it’s been one of the best, if not the best, start to a cod season in living memory.

I often think of how good it would be if we could fish with today’s gear way back when cod were really thick.

In the really early days, when nobody knew any better, it was just carnage, with both pros and amateurs taking and selling whatever they could land their hands on, and that was plenty. In 1883 more than 147 tonnes of Murray cod were sent to market from one port alone (Moama). 

Imagine how many meterys you’d catch on a spinnerbait then.

Luckily there were a few people around with a bit of foresight and in the early 1900s a Royal Commission was held into their decline.

Unfortunately, similar to today’s Royal Commissions, no decisive action took place. 

Dams and locks were then built to irrigate our rich river lands and this, combined with continued overfishing, saw the Murray cod numbers and stocks decrease even further.

Dams and weirs halt the migration of fish at breeding times and often release very cold water, impacting fish and other aquatic life for hundreds of kilometres in some cases.

Oh, let’s not forget that “wonderful” desnagging program that came out too.

We were lucky that someone in power recognised that it was a major mistake and replaced heaps of timber, but at the time it was just another major hurdle Murray cod had to overcome to survive.

At around the same time as desnagging took place, probably a bit earlier, production of native fish was really getting fired up.

Restocking started to take place and was working.

Clubs and other angling bodies got involved and, combined with the dollar for dollar scheme brought out by NSW government, stocked heaps of waterways with a lot of fish.

Along with this, the fishos’ mentality started to change.

It became acceptable, even encouraged, for you to release fish. He wasn’t the first fisho to do it, but love him or hate him Rex Hunt brought that to the masses and should be applauded.

Of course closed seasons and size limits are also in place these days and I’m sure it’s a combination of all the above that has given us the healthy fishery we have.

There’s actually plenty of keen fishos out there that don’t keep fish at all for one reason or another and that’s fine, as long as they don’t try and make you feel guilty for keeping whatever you want to take, within the rules of course.

It’s become a bit like that now, where you feel you have to justify taking a fish home but that’s not such a bad thing in some ways.

Have a great weekend.