HAVING scoffed down a few kilos of Christmas joy the urge to pop out and wet a line was exchanged for a nap in the chair under the air conditioner.
While I slept off Christmas lunch, other anglers were slogging it out on the river wetting a line in the hopes of catching a few cod.
Mildura artist Corey Nott was one such fisho who exchanged his brushes for a rod and hit the river.
Nott’s love of fishing and the environment was evident in a recent exhibition of his paintings at Gallery F in Mildura.
Not only is Nott a talented artist but an accomplished angler as not long into the session his rod loaded to the cork.
Nott was casting a StumpJumper lure along the weed line towards the bank working every gap as though it held a large cod.
Numerous casts returned unscathed before the familiar bone shattering strike had him fighting what seemed a good sized fish.
His thoughts were correct as a 115cm Murray cod popped to the surface before being led to the net.
What a great Christmas gift and another moment that might possibly inspire another great painting of our iconic fish.
Similar catches have been reported at many locations along the Murray as the cod seemed to have come on the chew for Christmas.
In the Murray River at Swan Hill several reports of Murray cod to 96cm have rolled in the past few days.
I have heard of at least six fish over 90cm caught on bait and lures.
Chicken is working well as is cheese and grubs.
Best lures have been StumpJumpers and spinnerbaits.
A few cod have also been landed this week on surface lures.
Boundary bend has cod to 86cm on cheese, yabbies and lures.
A few good sized perch to 49cm have also been caught on cocktailed baits of shrimp and worms.
Downstream along the Murray to Wemen several good sized cod to 90cm have been reported on bardie grubs fished tight to the timber in the flow.
The Murray River both above and below Mildura has fished well the past few weeks and into the Christmas break with several nice sized Murray cod landed by anglers trolling lures.
The biggest reported to me was a 107cm.
Several other fish over the metre mark have been in the mix and this is great news for these waters and the local economy.
As word leaks out and the catches continue, there will be plenty of keen cod anglers making the trek to the Mildura area to chance their luck.
What a great start to the season with some very good fish landed.
