WITH Murray cod season just around the corner, anglers are stocking up on bait in preparation for the opening.
While Murray cod are a veracious predator, they are also the river’s equivalent of the pedal bin.
Cod have been caught with all manner of things in their stomachs from natural prey items like fish, yabbies, shrimp and clams to the more unusual like golf balls, chop bones and in one case a plastic worm container.
Birds, reptiles and water rats are also regular cod snacks that are often regurgitated on capture.
While we have established that cod will dine on a variety of things including the unusual, they also have a favourite food item that tempts their taste buds like no other and it comes in the form of a large white grub.
Bardie grubs are the larval stage of what will eventually turn into large ghost moths that hatch around the autumn break.
Between now and then these grubs will hold up in their earthen chambers growing large and plump on a diet of fine tree roots. Knowing they are great bait for cod is one thing, getting them from their hiding spot and onto the hook is a whole other story.
I remember all too well my first grub digging expedition after some basic information at the local pub by a couple of ill-informed experts. Just dig away the topsoil under the trees they said. You will find their holes easily they said.
Once you find them just insert the cable, grab the grub and pull it out. I was shearing fit at the time and took to the Mallee scrub with shiny shovel removing enough topsoil to sew a good sized wheat crop.
My reward at sessions end other than blistered hands comprised of several large spiders, an assortment of irritated ant nests and one very ticked off centipede.
I could see a little more information was required.
An elderly fisho steered my shovel in the right direction when he suggested I try digging under river gums that stood above the high water mark.
He also suggested sandy ground held the biggest grubs and was also much easier to dig.
He was correct and next trip out I dug a few dozen fat grubs that turned into several very nice cod later that afternoon.
Nowadays, I keep a ready supply of grubs in the freezer after blanching them in milk to toughen them up so they stay on the hook longer.
While you can buy frozen grubs from stores, digging them yourself provides a rewarding challenge.
It is a common perception that fishos use angling as an excuse to sit back under a shady tree in order to scull down a few cold beers. While there may be an inkling of truth in this, I prefer to believe the consumption of a few cold beverages is generally a direct result of the bait gathering that went on a few short hours before. Either way, scratching out a few grubs for the coming cod season will see you fit and armed with the best bait there is.
