The big fish of the Macquarie River came out to play over the past week, with anglers reporting that some absolute thumpers made their presence known by snapping lines, popping leader knots and straightening treble hooks along numerous runs and pools in and around Dubbo district.
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A local angler phoned Dubbo Catches from the river bank whilst measuring and weighing a 9.2lb golden perch that couldn’t resist a Jackall TN 60 lipless crankbait cast along the edge of a weed bed.
Three casts later the angler came up with a 12lb specimen to go with his earlier effort.
Both fish were reported to be in excellent condition with rich gold colouring typical of Macquarie River yellowbelly at this time of year.
Both fish were released, as they were far too big and fatty to eat and are considered as prime breeding stock.
It is great to hear that many local anglers have been choosing to release large fish, as this will ensure that we continue to see fish of this calibre along the Macquarie in the future.
A large out of season murray cod, estimated to be just under 90cm, was also caught and released close to Dubbo over the weekend.
The fish again hit a lipless crank bait a split second after it was cast to the edge of a weed bed, and had 10lb braided line fished with 15lb leader smoking of the reel as soon as the bail arm was engaged.
Matt Campbell and Gordon Cowan ventured out to a reserve close to Dubbo in the hope of catching some big golden perch, and turned up a couple of trout cod which they immediately released due to the species being classified as endangered.
Gordon’s trouty was estimated to be around the 60cm mark with a weight of between 6 to 8lbs.
The trout cod reportedly left Gordon wondering if his arms had been stretched slightly longer, as it hit his spinnerbait at a million miles an hour and drove head first into heavy structure.
For Gordon’s report and great photo he picks up a Jaz Lures prize pack from Explore Outdoors including a selection of Holographic Bladed spinnerbaits and Syclone 70 lipless crank baits.
Burrendong Dam
The Crowley family reported that the fishing at Burrendong Dam has been nothing short of exceptional lately.
Harriet Crowley caught and released a beautifully coloured out of season 60cm murray cod while trolling over the long weekend.
Harriet first thought she hit a snag with her lure, but was delighted when the snag began to swim away!
The Crowley family also caught a handful of red fin, and pick up a Jaz Lures Prize pack from Explore Outdoors for their report and photos.
Many anglers reported that bobbing and casting Jackalls and Kokodas around structure in both the Macquarie and Cudgegong Arms produced plenty of yellowbelly and red fin over the weekend, with curl tail grubs in olive green and three inch berkely gulp shaky shads in pumpkinseed being the pick of the plastics for those working the timber.
Lake Glenbawn
Mick Coad, Neil Duncan, Brett Kleppe, Scott Watkinson and I fished Lake Glenbawn over the weekend.
After being very quiet during the day, the fishing well and truly fired up as the sun dipped below the hills in the evening, with Bass to just under 40cm hitting small lures close to the bank in heavy structure.
The renown pulling power of the Australian bass proved to
be challenge as they dived into dense snag piles after being hooked.
Jackall Chubbies, and Kokoda Wee Whops were the most effective lures on the bass, while Jackall TN 60 in gold and purple worked well on the goldens.
The final tally was 11 bass and 3 golden perch.
