Where do I start? The past month has been a cracker with so many fish being caught both on bait and lures.
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The biggest fish for the month goes to Chris Pyle who, while trolling an 85mm Swagman Jumbuck in the Colligen Creek, managed to hook into a true giant.
Chris’ monster cod measured in at a whopping 117cm.
This giant of the creek took about 10 minutes to reel in and put up a great battle, cracking Chris’ rod in the process.
A great fish and one that will never be forgotten.
Over the Easter weekend there were a few big fish caught out around the Benarca Bend area, with one camp saying they hooked into a cod that measured 110cm.
Robert Whyte of Bendigo trolled up a beauty that measured in at 102cm.
Both fish were caught trolling the deep water.
Fairly new to the fishing scene, Stacey and Frank O’Dwyer had a great couple of sessions casting lures.
Stacey landing her first yellowbelly. It was a healthy 55cm, and one hungry fish. It had totally engulfed the lure.
To go one better, Stacey then reeled in a new PB cod of 84cm.
Frank also landed some nice cod up to 73cm on spinnerbait.
Purple lures where the go to colour, Stacey said.
Donna Jefferies also knows how to out fish the boys, reeling in a new PB cod of 80cm.
Dan Davidson caught three nice cod, his biggest going 88cm at at Benarca.
Justin Adair has had a stellar few weeks landing some great cod, many of which measured in their 70s.
The Black Cat Cafe came in handy on Good Friday when John Creenaune, Julie Watson, Nick Downie and Rhys Watson drowned some bait at Picnic Point with no catches recorded.
They weren’t the only ones, so they decided stay close to home the next time out.
It was a good idea with Julie Watson catching a new PB of 64cm on a grub, then dropping another big one when the net man was too slow to net it.
They ended up catching two keepers - 64cm and 61cm - and four smaller ones between 33cm and 54cm.
Not bad for two hours of fishing using grubs and chicken thighs as bait.
All fish were released back into our waterways.
Leigh Westcott made a quick trip from Bendigo and was well rewarded, landing two of the tagged cod that were released by the Deniliquin Kolety Fishing Challenge team close to Willoughby’s Beach.
The biggest, number 15, measured 70cm and number four came in at 62cm.
Mark Lightning was out casting his surface lure around when a hawk took a liking to his lure.
The hawk had been eyeing off the surface lure whilst being cast out.
All of a sudden, the raptor descended grabbing what it thought was an easy meal, only to be caught up in the line.
With a little bit of cooperation from the hawk, the lure was successfully removed ... along with a few feathers.
The hawk flew off wondering what had just happened. Hopefully it won’t be doing that again.
Michael Todd and Rob Menadue ventured out for an afternoon session and landed a few nice cod up to 65cm, and a couple of yellowbelly as well. I
t’s been great to see the increase in yellowbelly captures over the past few months. They all seem to be of a great size.
Yellowbelly have been scarce over the past five or so years for reasons unknown, but they are back and I’m not complaining.
Brodie McQuie and Pat Westcott wrestled with some big cod recently.
Brodie landed the biggest for the trip going 102cm, caught on a surface lure.
Pat landed some nice cod around the meter mark as well.
Speaking of surface lures, now is the time to get out either early morning or late afternoon and cast your surface lures around heavily timbered areas or willow trees.
The cod will be laying in wait for an easy feed, and if your out trolling lures I don’t think it really matters at the moment what area or depth of water you fish.
They are being caught everywhere.
If you’re looking for something different to watch, check out my YouTube channel ‘Ranga with a Rod’. You’ll see a few videos of Pat and myself catching a few nice cod around town.
Remember for all your fishing tackle and camping needs call into see Pete at Deniliquin Camping and Outdoors - Deniliquin’s number one fishing and outdoor supplier.
He’s now relocated to Davidson St next to the Deniliquin Bakery.
And for any of your boating needs, call in and see the guys at Deniliquin Yamaha.
Both are major sponsors of the Deniliquin Kolety Fishing Challenge.
• If you see or suspect illegal fishing, please call 1800 043 536. Make the call and make the difference.
Author of Westy's Brag Mat