Reel Life | It’s up to you to know your cod

A trout cod is all cod in genes and appearance. In fact, a trout cod, which is sometimes called a bluenose cod, is so much like a cod that it is often mistaken for a cod despite some obvious differences.

A cod is greener, whereas a trout cod is bluish with a distinctive black line through the eye and a different shape to its jawline. Trout cod are totally protected, while the size and bag limit protect cod.

The good news is that total protection has seen trout cod numbers increase, and they are beginning to spread into waters where once they were in good numbers.

Make sure you are able to identify both species; they are listed in the Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide, but if you are in doubt as to what you have caught, give the fish a kiss and release it back into the water to live and grow.

You will find trout cod in Polly McQuinns near Strathbogie, where fishing is banned in any case. They also turn up in the Goulburn in and around Shepparton and the Murray River around Cobram.

In recent years, their range has started to spread, and it is up to you as an angler to be able to pick the difference. If you are in doubt, let it go.

Trout cod have joined Macquarie perch on the protected list of freshwater fish that have been protected, and with luck, they can be saved from extinction; we have a sorry history of sending our flora and fauna into oblivion, but nowadays, we should do better.

Hundreds of thousands of cod fingerlings have been released into waterways, and their predation on small carp has been responsible in some areas for tipping the balance back in favour of the cod.

To fishing in our region. Conditions have been great. The weather, apart from a couple of windy days, has been fine and sunny — what I call broad-bream hat days; or is it brim? Well, you know what I mean.

Conditions in the rivers have been just right, with the level perfect and clear — ideal for lures and bait. Hot spots are from Nagambie to Murchison and from Toolamba all the way to the Murray.

Most fish caught have been juvenile cod, but there have been enough keepers to keep anglers keen.

I spoke to one angler who landed 11 fish in six hours, from early morning to just before lunchtime. While I have a good idea of the whereabouts of the stretch of river he was fishing, he did divulge the bait, mainly live shrimp, and while he was waiting to catch the shrimp, he baited up with cheese. He said it did not matter which bait he used; the fish took it all equally.

Cods are also biting at Lake Eildon, mostly in the river arms with surface lures, mainly late in the day; they are also being caught in the deep water, near the wall, by anglers using large deep-diving lures.

Another advantage of fishing at Eildon is there are other species, such as trout, in the winter, and redfin; if you fish the tree lines until you find a school of fish, you can fill in the days until it is time to chase cod at dusk.

More locally, the Waranga Basin has been fishing well for redfin when the winds have allowed boats to go out on the water. When it is windy, the basin can chop up and become dangerous. But by far, the best redfin fishing has been at Lake Hume; in fact, the Hume has been a consistent producer of quality redfin fishing for a number of years.

Time to head south to Queenscliff. Rod Lawn from Adamas Fishing Charters reported filling bags of pinky snapper while fishing the reefs off Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads. He said professional fishermen were also catching gummy sharks around the dive sites.

There were also whiting among the grass beds inside the heads from Swan Bay to St Leonards and again at Point Nepean and off the old quarantine station; it was best to cast to the sandy patches among the grass.

Quality salmon are being caught on the run-out tide in the rip. Just look for where the birds are diving.

The reports from Western Port Bay are similar: plenty of pinky snapper off Hastings and the steelworks, while the whiting are also plentiful on the shallow grass beds. In the deep water off San Remo and Phillip Island, it has been worth fishing for gummy sharks and salmon.

John Liddell at Eden, north of the border, said the crew at Freedom Charters were catching snapper and morwong on the inshore reefs from Boyd’s Lookout to Green Cape near the Victorian border.

Further up the coast at Narooma, Graham Cowley had similar results. The flathead fishing around Montague Island was excellent, with plenty of good-sized fish.

Speaking of flathead, James Luddington at Lady Barron on Flinders Island is hosting a crew of eight local anglers and has been bagging good flathead, gummy sharks and King George whiting.

Meanwhile, a couple of juvenile brown snakes were detected in Kialla, so keep an eye out for them around your house and gardens, just in case.

Tight lines and good fishing.