Yarra recon and cod

happyfriggincamper
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Yarra recon and cod

Post by happyfriggincamper » Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:02 pm

Hi all - with the short break from work between xmas and new years, i decided to spend a few days walking the yarra. I really havent fished it (or much in general) over the last 2 years - a lot due to not having time to put in finding spots + frustration by not having many spots to fish.

There are a lot of reports ive been seeing about cod, and the yarra really seems to be producing and growing strong as a cod fishery - i wanted in on the action. I figured with the time off, instead of rehammering the already hammered spots - it would be worth my while diligently investigating the water less than 45m from home for cod to have up my sleeve for free Saturdays or Sundays in the coming months (especially given i get little opportunity to dedicate a weekend away up north near shep and surrounding cod country water).

Over a few non consecutive days I walked ALOT and covered a good stretch of the yarra and had some seldom fishing at a couple of spots (probably 80/20 time spent walking/fishing) with varied success. Most of the time i had my baitcaster and some lures, casting at likely spots. If i had completed my recon for the day and there was enough time left + intended return spot wasnt too far, i walked back to the car, got the bait rods and headed back.

There are definitely some good finds (and stunning water/scenery) to go back to and put some proper time with baits in the water, but for the kms covered the spots are definitely few and majority of the fishable spots have significant compromises associated with them such as high banks, tight standing and casting room, heavily snaggy etc. From a lure casting perspective, its definitely looks better fished via kayak - there are some good landbased spots but they are very few and far between with a fair amount of effort to get to them in the first place. Plenty of drowned trees that couldnt be casted at from land but would be easily fished from the water.

On the baitcaster, i missed 2 boofs, dropped 2 on spinnerbaits and caught 1 on a chatterbait. 1 of the boofs happened right at my feet, saw it all and would roughly estimate the cod to have been 50cm+, unfortunately couldnt tempt another boof from it. The cod i landed was no bigger than 35cm, again was another take right at the feet after pestering a drowned tree trunk with about 20 casts - changed from a dark spinnerbait to a bright chatterbait after about 15 casts and making sure to work it slowly, close to the trunk and along the bottom got the cod.
IMG_20181230_213400582.jpg
First cod on lure from the yarra
IMG_20181230_213242007.jpg
Taken at the feet, tempted out from under this log
IMG_20181230_213317626.jpg
$3 chatterbait setup from ali express did the job
On the bait rods (not much time spent on the bait) - fishing 1x chicken + 1x cheese, there were no shortage of hits on either - but couldnt get any successful hook ups. I stopped by compleat angler one of the recon days and upgraded from *blunt* budget circle hooks to better quality sharp circles and saw success with a small cod landed sub 30cm that day. Dropped 2 others with the new hooks, but glad to finally get one in.
DSC_1357.jpg
Cod on cheese
IMG_20181230_213959411.jpg
Caught here - good spot, but high banked and tight space
Back at work next week so all the fishing aka walking is done for the end of year break. Glad i put in the effort to do the recon and hope it will pay off with later trips and some bigger cod!

Cheers, Chris

Lightningx
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Re: Yarra recon and cod

Post by Lightningx » Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:06 am

Great report and pics!
Enjoyed the read.
Cheers :thumbsup:

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ChrisD
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Re: Yarra recon and cod

Post by ChrisD » Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:39 am

Nice report Chris
Access along the Yarra is always painful, but when you find the right spots can be worth the walking and scouting.

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Re: Yarra recon and cod

Post by April Fool » Mon Dec 31, 2018 9:28 am

Great reward for putting in the effort!
cheers
Jim

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Re: Yarra recon and cod

Post by Boonanza » Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:10 am

Great work mate :thumbsup:
A smart person knows what to say. A wise person knows whether to say it.

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Re: Yarra recon and cod

Post by laneends » Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:12 pm

Even with a kayak access can be painful due to the numerous rapids in this middle section. The best areas are hard to get at, which is probably why the cod survive. There are some deep holes up to 9m, and some areas you could wade acros, and you wouldn't know where without taking a kayak there fitted with a sounder.

happyfriggincamper
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Re: Yarra recon and cod

Post by happyfriggincamper » Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:38 pm

Thanks for the replies - thought the holiday fishing was over, but the missus announced she was going to the beach today, which freed me up for one last innings over the break.

Headed out to another new area, after a few hours of recon, got the bait rods and went back to a spot that looked alright.

Was very quiet for the first 2 hours, but started moving baits around and eventually found a hot spot - the hits started with some frequency, a few missed takes and 2 cod was the end result for the day - both sizable upgrades on the prior 2 ive snagged. Gee whiz they also take the bait hard, both rods flung from rod holders down the bank with me scrambling after them, missed 2 because of this.

No exact measurements as i try to get to releasing as quick as possible, but from a rough measure of how they sat against the net - the bigger about 55cm, and 45cm for the smaller.
IMG_20190101_180758901.jpg
55cm ish cod - tried to avoid the dirt as much as possible landing on my own
IMG_20190101_180952654.jpg
Smaller cod - 45cm ish
DSC_1379.jpg
Wish my phone camera balanced the light better

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Re: Yarra recon and cod

Post by ThomoT » Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:10 pm

Nice action and reports. Roughly where are you scouting? upstream of Fitzsimons lane?

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Re: Yarra recon and cod

Post by Lightningx » Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:24 pm

happyfriggincamper wrote:Thanks for the replies - thought the holiday fishing was over, but the missus announced she was going to the beach today, which freed me up for one last innings over the break.

Headed out to another new area, after a few hours of recon, got the bait rods and went back to a spot that looked alright.

Was very quiet for the first 2 hours, but started moving baits around and eventually found a hot spot - the hits started with some frequency, a few missed takes and 2 cod was the end result for the day - both sizable upgrades on the prior 2 ive snagged. Gee whiz they also take the bait hard, both rods flung from rod holders down the bank with me scrambling after them, missed 2 because of this.

No exact measurements as i try to get to releasing as quick as possible, but from a rough measure of how they sat against the net - the bigger about 55cm, and 45cm for the smaller.
IMG_20190101_180758901.jpg
IMG_20190101_180952654.jpg
DSC_1379.jpg
A couple of beauties! Nice :thumbsup:

happyfriggincamper
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Re: Yarra recon and cod

Post by happyfriggincamper » Thu Jan 03, 2019 7:59 am

ThomoT wrote:Nice action and reports. Roughly where are you scouting? upstream of Fitzsimons lane?
I did a lot of walking over a pretty wide breadth of the extremities where i have heard cod reported, Heidelberg to yarra glen.

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