- Its a whole new world when the water drops.
With the lowering of the Mildura weir pool anglers can expect some fairly tough fishing over the next few weeks. One thing that’s sure to upset the feeding habits of Murray cod and Golden perch are sudden rises or drops in river heights. An oncoming rise is generally good and can often trigger Murray cod to feed before its arrival, but sudden drops like the one we are experiencing at the moment tend to have the opposite effect shutting the fish down. One thing the draw down will do is reveal snags mid river or on seemingly featureless banks that anglers are simply not aware of. These submerged snags are nothing short of hidden treasures in angling terms and when the river returns to normal they will hold good fish in golden perch and Murray cod.
Single snags in pockets of deep water, while hard to find are one of the hottest pieces of prime real estate for big cod. You can lay even money that any lone deep-water snag will generally house at least one large resident fish if not many, especially during the summer months. Smaller fish cruising the river use these snags as stopover points and predatory fish are all too aware. The location was chosen for this very reason; it’s a prime feeding spot. These snags can turn up anywhere, from mud flats where timber has settled during times of flood, to sharp bends where large trees have succumbed to the relentless force of the river. Even the most featureless stretch of water has the potential to hold a hot snag. While the occupying fish have moved back into the deeper holes with the falling water they will once again return when it refills.
The falling water has also had the effect to draw plenty of silt from the banks. This has made the water quite dirty. For those intending to fish with lures use a selection in black, purple or bright fleuro patterns. When casting lures put plenty of casts into each spot before moving on as this will give any interested fish time to hone in on the lures vibrations. Same applies when trolling; work the same area back and forth several times bouncing the lures off and amongst the timber. Dirty water often fishes well with bait so it might be worth drowning a few worms or grubs on the edges of back water. And remember with the water down, hidden snags are everywhere so take your time when travelling by boat. Other sections of river too are experiencing poor water clarity and with a good flow coming down from upstream we can expect to see this dirty water hang around for a while yet. When it comes to fishing. even when you don’t raise a scale you generally manage to take something away from the experience. In the Mildura pool water at present it’s the chance to find a heap of hidden treasures that will pin point plenty of big fish for years to come.
