If you’ve caught a bigger cod than this whopper, we’d love to see your photo and give you the bragging rights.
What started as a quiet afternoon of fishing turned into an unforgettable moment for one visiting family.
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The Matheson family were originally from around these parts and are regular visitors from Melbourne.
On Thursday, April 9 Hannah, along with her parents, Ian and Julie, husband Evan and two boys headed down to the banks of the Murray River at Bundalong, fishing rods in hand.
With no luck using leftover roast pork as bait, they switched things up to cheddar cheese with cranberries, and that’s when everything changed.
“Dad was first to cast, and the second his line hit the water, he knew he’d hooked something big,” Hannah said
“A passing BBQ boat even stopped so everyone could watch the action unfold.”
As soon as his line hit the water, Ian Matheson knew he’d hooked something big.
To everyone’s absolute amazement there was a huge Murray Cod on the line.
The whopper fish, estimated at 90cm long and close to 30kg, didn’t fit into the net and took all of Evan’s strength to help pull it in.
After a quick photo, the big fella was released back into the river, where he swam off strong and proud.
“It’s safe to say, the locals are already calling Dad ‘The Bundalong Fisherman’,” Hannah said.
“We’re so proud of him, what a catch a what a memory for all of us.”
A quick photo and the fish was released back into the river.
If you’ve caught a cod to rival Ian’s, or even bigger, we’d love to see a photo. Send them in to editor@yarrawongachronicle.com.au and bragging rights are all yours.
Did you know?
• The Murray Cod is on of the largest freshwater fish species in the world and can live for 50 years and exceed 1.8m or six feet.
• The Murray Cod is known to eat ducks, cormorants, freshwater turtles, water dragons, snakes, mice, and frogs.
• Using cheese as bait for Murray Cod is actually a well-known and highly effective technique among Australian anglers. The high fat content and strong scent of cheese seem irresistible to them.
• They are not actually cod (Gadidae family) but are part of the temperate perch family.
• The season is closed from September 1 to November 30 each year to protect spawning.
• They often move upstream to spawn, as far as 120 km in late winter or early spring.
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