First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Murray Cod, Australian Bass, Golden Perch and more.
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Sebb
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First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by Sebb » Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:02 am

Hi all,

After reading some posts (especially by truedogz), I got inspired to go out cod fishing again (after 3-4 years, multiple land based trips, it was tough, missed a lot, lost a lot of lures, caught one, gave up).
I bought a kayak few months ago and I thought it'd be a game changer. I was so pumped, did the homework (researching aka googling) and thought only of the positives and did not consider the negative factors. Kayaking on calm no wind days on a lake or the bay is easy and relaxing, but boy oh boy river kayaking is so much different.

So I went with a friend (and his kayak) to Goulburn river in Murchison for our first cod fishing on kayak, spot a place to launch where I also saw two guys having beers and fishing landbased caught one small cod on a yabbie. The spot was picture perfect, ticking all the boxes for cod.

The plan was to paddle upstream and drift down while casting spinnerbait/stumpjumper. Little did I know, once we got on the water, the current was pretty strong and washed us down fairly quickly. Quicker than those two guys cascading the beers onto their throat on 34 degree day. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. Something like got stuck on rapids, sunken trees, sore arms, almost broke a rod, etc. Thank God I'm alive. Spent more time paddling than fishing.

Does anyone willing to share a place where I can launch and kayak fishing safely for cod? and some handy tips please. Somewhere around 2 hours drive from Melbourne be nice.

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Re: First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by happyfriggincamper » Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:43 am

Great report, good for a chuckle - not at you, but being able to relate to all the effort in planning a trip, conjuring up all the positive outcomes in your mind (disregarding the negatives completely), then executing and getting a slap of reality on the actual troubles associated with it. Very easy to fall into the "fishing will be easy" mindset when most reports only cover the positives and not all the difficulties and losses to get results!

Havent kayaked, but from what ive seen of those areas, id guess further up near shep where the river is deeper, the current might be slower.

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Re: First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by April Fool » Thu Jan 03, 2019 11:02 am

I am also not a kayaker but I know the river (downstream) well. Here is the thing...we are right in the middle of the irrigation season, and a very dry one at that. Also, water is being transferred to the Murray system via the Goulburn. So...you get water fluctuation like this!
Murchison flow.PNG
You can check flow rate on this link by clicking on 'Water Status Reports'. If you scroll down when the link opens, you can also see the forecast flow for several days.
https://www.g-mwater.com.au/water-resou ... r-storages
My advice would be too revisit the area when water demand is not that high. Perhaps March or April, or maybe even next month! It is very unpredictable...don't give up on the area. If you get any other options suggested here, then try them in the meantime.
cheers
Jim

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Re: First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by davek » Thu Jan 03, 2019 11:03 am

I was out at the Goulburn this morning and it was running high and fast, almost higher than after the big rains we had recently. When the water drops Murchison will be ok for your yaks, slower and lower, don't give up, cheers davo
It's an exhilarating feeling catching a fish
But it's an even better feeling releasing them

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Re: First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by cheaterparts » Thu Jan 03, 2019 11:24 am

Seb85 wrote:
I bought a kayak few months ago and I thought it'd be a game changer. I was so pumped, did the homework (researching aka googling) and thought only of the positives and did not consider the negative factors. Kayaking on calm no wind days on a lake or the bay is easy and relaxing, but boy oh boy river kayaking is so much different.

Kayaking can be challenging anytime , river flows can catch you out - First I don't do a lot of fresh water fishing and have only fished the Murray on a few trips away with the Fishing Vic crew
I found trolling spinner baits easy enough - only have had one hit on them though no hook up
other than that I tied up to snags and bait fished again no Cod just Trout Cod and silver perch - this does take a bit of practice and care - i anchor in high tide flows a lot so I found to tie the kayak fairly easy
My kayak PBs
Gummy shark 128 Cm - Elephant fish 85 Cm - Snapper 91 Cm - KG Whiting 49 Cm - Flathead 55 Cm - Garfish 47 Cm - Silver Trevally 40 Cm - Long Tail Tuna 86 Cm - snook 64 Cm - Couta 71 Cm - Sth Calamari 44 Cm hood - Cobia 117 cm


Cheater

jedgpz

Re: First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by jedgpz » Thu Jan 03, 2019 1:42 pm

Was at Murchison yesterday after work and it was high and flowing a torrent!
I had trouble flicking lures in the tinny and Electric so I cant imagine with it would in like in a yak.
As Davo said it will be ok when it drops and slows :)
There has been some good cod caught in that area of late.

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Re: First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by Sebb » Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:34 pm

Thanks for the replies.
The obvious mistake was that i didn't consider water flow. I am assuming Murray and Oven rivers currently the same? Fast and high.

What about right above Goulburn weir or the Goulburn river in Nagambie? Or are they pretty much the same?
With current that strong, be hard even landbased, the lure wont even go down deep enough.

I did try to tie up on a sunken tree and it got awkward. I couldn't cast a lure because I was exactly vertical on top of the tree log. Then with the strong current, my kayak was moving around, wobbly, spinning, death roll, etc.

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Re: First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by davek » Thu Jan 03, 2019 4:48 pm

A lot easier above the weir, but at this time of year you have to contend with jet skis and speed boats, I'll pm you, cheers davo
It's an exhilarating feeling catching a fish
But it's an even better feeling releasing them

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Re: First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by davek » Thu Jan 03, 2019 5:19 pm

PM sent :thumbsup:
It's an exhilarating feeling catching a fish
But it's an even better feeling releasing them

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Re: First cod kayak trip epic fail - Goulburn river Murchison

Post by Sebb » Thu Jan 03, 2019 6:20 pm

Thanks Davo and all.
This is certainly challenging.
There are many times I wished I had a beer or two and just bait fish off a bank. But I found the natives hit a lure while rod on hand is the best.

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