I don’t know of many fishos who went out that didn’t land one themselves, or were in a boat that didn’t land one.

I know we’ve touched on this before, but the increase in cod numbers hasn’t happened by accident and is a testimony a few basic things that have happened over the past 30 years or so.

The reversal of stupid decisions to de-snag the rivers led to the replacement of logs and trees that are so important for cover and breeding sites.

Cod breeding techniques improved, and stocking bigger numbers became a reality. Then there were the fantastic efforts of angling clubs in raising money to help restock rivers and streams right across the country.

Rules and regulations now protect smaller cod, giving them a chance to reach maturity, and also protect the larger breeders by having the 55-75cm slot limit.

The catch and release mentality of the modern fisho has also played a huge role. Releasing your fish gives it a chance to breed and also a chance for other fishos to catch that fish again.

Like they say, they’re too nice a fish to only catch once.

The other thing that’s really starting to make a difference is environmental flows.

When water is put into the right places at the right time, fish breeding can occur on a massive scale and – if they can consistently get it right – I can see that we could get to a point where restocking wouldn’t be needed in some areas.

On that note, why not come along and listen to Dr Zeb Hogan, host of National Geographic channel’s Monsterfish, this Wednesday night.

Dr Hogan will talk about the mega fish he’s caught all over the world, and also about how important fish migrations are.

It’s at the Albury Entertainement Centre from 7.30pm this Wednesday, December 12. The venue will be open at 6pm to give you a chance to look at the public displays that are also on show. Should be a fantastic night, but even though it’s free, you’ve been asked to book your tickets on line at https://alburyentertainmentcentre.com.au/whatson/fish-passage-2018 

Dartmouth (74 per cent) – hasn’t been fantastic this week, but we haven’t had too many reports either, with a lot of fishos targeting cod last weekend

Streams – are looking great, and happy to say there were a few positive reports from the Kiewa and Mitta valleys in particular. With this warmer weather, the insect activity has jumped considerably. You’ve only got to have a look at your car windscreen for confirmation.

With more tucker getting about, it makes those trout a little more active and with a couple of 37 degree days, things should only get better. I think we can bunch the bigger rivers up a bit here and say the cod season opened well just about everywhere. 

The Murray above Hume was great, with good numbers reported, although I don’t know that I heard of anything over the metre mark. Below Hume was high, as expected, but that didn’t stop the cod having a crack.

Tim Wilson and I landed four and were off the water at 7.30 opening morning due to that dirty four letter word ... work. Tim landed a 69cm and a 66cm, with the larger one a trout cod. All caught on our “Chicken’s Hit” bait.

We’ve had great reports from the Kiewa, Ovens, the Murray below Yarra, King, the Goulburn and so on.

But we’ve also had a couple of indifferent reports from the Edwards.

Mulwala – has been a hive of activity, with a total of 2731 participants in this year’s Yamaha Cod Classic – 362 of which were juniors. A total of 677 legal cod were weighed in, 88 golden perch (over 45cm) and 430 carp.

Rhonda Mace caught the largest at 117cm and also landed another over a metre, just to prove it wasn’t a fluke. The largest caught by a junior was a 960cm by Mitchell Munroe. In all, there were 11 cod over the magic metre mark weighed in. 

The Murrumbidgee – was also fishing well with a couple over the metre mark reported, along with big numbers of smaller cod. Lots were caught on bait, but hard bodied lures and spinnerbaits also accounted for a few. Shrimp are on the move in the Bidgee at the moment and that’s also brought the yellas on as well.

Those who fished Blowering were restricted because of the Warby speed challenge, meaning the dam was closed to boating during the day. But there were still some decent cod. Burrinjuck wasn’t fantastic, but most still managed the odd fish.

Sounds like our local area was as good as any and should keep firing with all this warm weather predicted, so there’s no excuse for you not to get out and have a crack.