Open Trip to Mulwala

Just a quick report to keep up before a solid weekend of work and fishing!! Gotta love the season opening back up.

With a limited number of weeks before the 2012/13 Murray Cod season opened I picked up a new Mantra Noa kayak to replace the one I lost in the shed fire.

The new kayak up at Pindari Dam

Wednesday leading up to the opening I threw the canopy on the back of the Falcon and kayak on the roof racks to then spend the next two days driving to Lake Mulwala for the Cod Classic, via Lake Hume where I hoped to chase down some Redfin and a European Carp on a lure.

All packed up and ready to go..

Making it to Lake Hume with an hour or so left to dark, a kayak session was definitely in order. The lure-hungry carp weren’t anywhere to be seen but half-a-dozen little Redfin were managed on 40mm Gladiator Shiver Vibes.

Gladiator Shiver Vibe

Gladiator Shiver Vibe

As the sun was setting we watched as the winds and storms pushed along in front of us, we took this opportunity to plan out how to fish the morning before finishing the trip across to Mulwala.

The next morning was clear with very little wind, great for kayaking. The fish weren’t very active, apart from one Redfin earlier on (the biggest for the time there @ 27cm). The morning was passing by, I was sighting many carp but none would do anything more than follow the lure in to the kayak.

However as we began our drift back to pack it in, I noticed a few carp sucking off the surface. Keeping my distance, I stood up on my kayak for a better view with my polarized glasses and flicked a lure past the visible fish. Not allowing the lure to sink I quickly retrieved only a couple of inches below the surface, it only took one pass and I watched as the tiny lure was chased down and sucked in.

These fish certainly do go, and only using an ultra-light 2-6lb rod with 3lb line I certainly did have a fight on my hands. The fish made many runs, down deep and beneath the surface. As well as getting right amongst some rocks and trees. However with the advantage of steering the fish from the kayak I managed to land the hard-fighting 62cm mud-sucker.

Gladiator Shiver Vibe

Satisfied with reaching my goal I made my way back, however with only about 50 metres of paddling left I decided to try the deeper water. I opted to chuck a heavier Viva Mazzy Vib on the touch heavier 2-4kg, 2.1meter rod to allow for a long cast with a quick sink. I only had a limited number of casts before time ran out, but I did manage another two small Redfin.

Viva Mazzy Vib

Viva Mazzy Vib

From here it was to Mulwala. Even on arrival, mid afternoon before the Classic, the wind was a little off-putting but bearable. We threw around some smaller lures and sussed out some possible areas to fish the next day. Before heading to gain extra supplies and go to the briefing.

After getting back from the briefing, catch up and dinner the kayaks were set-up before heading to the swag for a good night’s rest. However the relaxed night was far too much to ask for with 4am seeing some very strong winds and heavy rain, meaning I had to dart around un-packing the kayaks and keeping them on the bank beside our camp.

The rain had cleared by the start of the morning’s fishing luckily. But the wind was not friendly. The fishing began slow, with one fish hitting me a couple of times before being caught by another kayak angler. The wind and boat traffic was very painful so I started using my head and taking advantage of being in a kayak. I pushed right up close to the edges of the lake sliding over logs and fished right amongst every possible Cod hiding place. Eventually as the wind calmed momentarily I stood up on my kayak and flicked a large Severn Chances into a snag filled triangle which is entirely un-accessible by boats.

The snags the fish came from..

I watched as a cod appeared from under a log in only 40cm of water and attacked the lure. A tight battle amongst the snags seen an undersized fish in the kayak, a passing boat was kind enough to take a quick photo for me.

Hydrobug Severn Chances

After this fish the wind came up extremely strong, meaning I spent over an hour of non-stop paddling to get back to my camp for a quick lunch and grab some more supplies. After I had my fill I headed back out to try the same tactic over again. The fish continued to be very tough, however I did have one very nice fish of anywhere between 65cm-75cm grab my lure beside the kayak before fighting out underneath some logs below the kayak and throwing the hooks.

The rest of the afternoon seen only a limited number of hits from fish, quite a shame.

The following day, I missed my alarm which meant fishing started late and did not last very long at all. The wind was now stronger and from an even more difficult angle making for tougher conditions to be out kayaking. This then seen the end of my opening trip and the beginning of a long trip home.

 

The gear used:

Kayak: Mantra Noa

Combos: Banax Vanessa 2-6lb, 6′ w/ Banax Snake Skin Spin 800
Banax Vanessa 10-14lb  , 6’6″ w/ Banax SyrenGladiator Cape Yorker 8-10kg, 1.2m w/ Banax Avalon
Gladiator Snake Skin Spin 2-4kg, 2.1m w/ Banax Snake Skin Spin 800

Lures: Gladiator 40mm Shiver VibeViva Mazzy Vib
Hydrobug Severn Chances