Protecting the species
With just weeks left until the close of the Murray Cod season, fishers have been braving the cold mornings and frosty nights in search of a quality catch before its time to change target species for a three month period.
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Annually, the closed season for Murray Cod begins on September 1, and runs through until December 1.
This is to allow the species time to choose a spawning partner and nest up in preparation to lay up to 100,000 eggs.
Unfortunately, some fishers still think its fine catch and release the species during the closed season, however this has huge impact on the breeding cycle of Murray Cod and results in the female miscarrying or re absorbing thousands of eggs, and ultimately less fish in the future.
If a male Murray Cod is caught whilst guarding the nest, the eggs are left unattended and predators such as other fish move in to feast, ruining the nest and again crashing future fish stocks. Sometimes a stressed fish may not even return to guard the nest at all after being captured.
Fishers are encouraged to hit the dams during the Murray Cod closed season, and target stocked impoundment species such as the big Golden Perch that Lake Burrendong is famous for.
Traditionally, September October and November can produce some incredible catches of Yellowbelly, with 60cm plus fish and days where double scores are achieved not un common.
About Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii)
Murray cod populations have declined severely since European colonisation of Australia due to a number of causes, including severe overfishing, river regulation, and habitat degradation and are now a listed threatened species.
A long-lived fish, adult Murray cod are carnivorous and mainly eat other fish.
The species exhibits a high degree of parental care for their eggs, which are spawned in the spring and are generally laid in hollow logs or on other hard surfaces.
NSW Dam Levels:
- Burrendong 86 per cent,
- Windamere 49 per cent,
- Glenbawn 87 per cent,
- Glennie’s Creek 83 per cent,
- Lostock 100 per cent,
- Dartmouth 79 per cent,
- Hume 80 per cent,
- Blowering 79 per cent,
- Burrinjuck 55 per cent,
- Carcoar 91 per cent,
- Wyangala 88 per cent,
- Glenlyon 74 per cent,
- Pindari 100 per cent,
- Chaffey 94 per cent,
- Keepit 68 per cent,
- Splitrock 30 per cent.