Mudgee Region Report - April 08

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▲TopA Great Young Fisherman

Rod Tmupey sent me this great story of his Grandson’s great sportsmanship: “G, Day Bluey. I thought you might be interested in a true story about a fairdinkem fisherman and sportsman. My son-in-law (Shane Davies) and I entered in the Dubbo Bait and Tackle fishing comp at Burrendong Dam on the 1st & 2nd of March.

After the comp finished my 6 year old grandson (Brendan Davies) was busting to get in the boat with his Dad and show us what we should have done to win the competition. So we had a bit of a chuckle and off they went for an hour or so and I watched them coming back in and I could see a grin on Brendan’s face from 800 yds away. Brendan proudly opened the live well lid and showed us a nice plate size redfin and a 500 ml cod that he caught himself and the only assistance he got from his Dad was to use the environment.

Brendan had intensions of getting his Mum Charmaine to cook them up and feed his Mum, Dad and his Sisters with his fantastic catch.

Shane had a talk to Brendan and explained that if they release the half meter long cod while he is still healthy it could grow much bigger and breed more cod for us to catch later and we can take a photo of the Cod for him to keep. I watched as Brendan’s bright face turned to a puzzled frown as he was taking in his dad’s lesson in sportsmanship and then as he could see the benefits to all of us as fishermen; his face lit up again and he said “ Yep, we’d better let him go straight away then.”

That great sportsmanship earns Brendan the Fish of the Month for March. Brendan can pick up his free Mud Spin Lure from Mudgee Camping World.

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Nathan Innes’s Long Wekeend: “On Friday the 21st of March my father and I decided to fish the Cudgegong River it was an overcast day and a bit cold as it had been raining earlier.

First we went downstream of Lawson Park. We spent an hour fishing, we saw several large carp and the occasional Redfin however we caught nothing. We drove home for dinner before going out again. It was dark now and the moon was hidden by the clouds fairly often so it made casting difficult. I had been casting in one particular spot which had produced many fish for me in the past after a while I had caught nothing so I decided to move across a bit from where I was. Dad took this opportunity to cast his black-green Mudspin Spinnerbait at a group of ducks that had just landed on the area that I had just been casting to. All of a sudden Dads line has gone tight and he has hooked up on a small Murray cod. The moon had gone behind a cloud again so it made difficult to see where the trees were and he got his line caught on one of the logs protruding from the water. The fish was stuck near the surface on the log but was going nowhere. After about twenty minutes we finally jagged dads Spinnerbait and the Cod which was still attached with my Spinnerbait and rod(we didn’t jag the fish but jagged the Spinnerbait.). We then cut Dad’s line while keeping tension on my line and Dad wound in the Cod on my line. The fish was released straight after and probably measured abut 45cm but took 20minutes to capture. The problem is we are now debating who gets the credit for the fish?

The next day Saturday the 22nd of March we went upstream of Lawson Park to Riverlea dad started by fishing the first little hole but caught nothing so moved further downstream while I dawdled behind in the same hole where I was getting hits by small trout. After a while I moved on and caught a small trout around 15cm followed by a small Redfin similar in size in the same hole on a small size 0 Blackberry color Mudspin. I fished that hole for a bit longer but got nothing so I moved on to the next hole I wasn’t very hopeful because the water was very shallow and very fast flowing I had a cast anyway and as the lure got stuck in the rapids I lowered the rod tip to keep the lure in the water when I caught sight of a nice sized trout following the lure I let the lure spin in the rapids for a couple of seconds when a smaller trout hit the lure. I wound it in it was a measly 15cm much smaller than the one that I had seen only seconds before. After catching this fish dad came around a bend in the river. Dad had a fairly productive trip catching three trout and two Redfin the first trout was about 35-40 cm as was the second with the last being about 10cm.

On Sunday 23rd of March was a pretty quiet day which we used to do some lure making with some new products we had received for our Spinnerbaits. We manufactured about 50 lures. (I woke up at and got out of bed at about one o'clock and the football was on that arvo so that meant no fishing today. Life as a teenager is pretty rough! )

Monday the 24th of March went to Windermere Dam and everything looked god weather wise but the water near the boat ramp area was quite dirty. We fished this area for about half an hour with no luck and decided to head up towards the dam wall in search of better water. When we finally got to a likely spot with plenty of fish on the sounder and we started to tie on our favorite lures. While dad was tightening his knot with his teeth (don’t try this at home folks) the knot slipped pinning the trebles into his lips (both top and bottom lips). Now a lot of funny things came to mind to say at this point in time but Dad promptly mumbled out that he didn’t have his sense of humor with him at this point in time. I heeded his advice and cut the treble from the lure leaving dad with remaining two hooks stuck in his lips. He removed the top treble from his upper lip giving back the gift of speech (they were not nice words). The remaining hook was buried below the hook barb so it wasn’t going to come out easy. We had to cut the fishing trip short to head back to the Hospital for some help. We didn’t make it to the hospital as dad ripped it out by himself with the use of the mirror in the car. Dad said he now knows why he never got any piercings.”

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St Matts Fishing Day Over the weekend St Mathews School P and F held a fishing day at the under canvass camping site at Windamere Dam. Only 2 families braved the cold night but were rewarded with some good captures on the first night including a thumping big catfish and a good sized yellowbelly. On the Sunday there were a lot more fisherman however the fish had learnt their lesson and weren’t so eager to bite. However a BBQ lunch and casting competition kept everyone entertained and all the kids left with a prize. Kudos to Crackers McConnell for organising and running the day.

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Dam Slow The fishing at the dam has slowed up some what I have found with the cold snap of weather. I’ve bee finding it hard to get onto consistent fish. Dave Papwroth nailed a good yella at 54cm but that’s the biggest I have heard of late. Baities are still getting good numbers of catties. The trout in the river have been feeding well of late but mainly on nymphs and a few surface insects. Lures are being passed up in favor of these smaller delicacies.

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Gulgong Wins by Default Gulgong Fishing Club again takes home the Pub and Club Challenge Trophy after no one showed up to challenge their 35 strong team at Burrendong this weekend. The boys did manage to do some drinking, er I mean fishing and caught over 12 good sized Yellowbelly. The star angler was Michelle Wilson who caught 4 yella’s and even out fished her partner Joel, even in his new boat. The boys from Gulgong have offered that anyone from Lue who needs them, next competiton they will supply maps to the location and circle the dates on a calendar for them. The next Pub and Club challenge will be held the first weekend in September at Windamere Dam.

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Bike Muster Clinics The fishing clinics at the bike muster were a great success over the weekend. 42 new Silver Perch all around the 1kg mark were recently discovered in the dam and made for some exciting fishing. Anyone visiting the Field Days this year will have the chance to fish for these fish and if successful win some great prizes.

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School Holiday Clinic A great time was had by all at the school holiday camp last Wednesday / Thursday. Patientice proved to be the key to success and after all the boys had lost interest in the fishing and turned to other things, Lizze Cope (the only girl on camp) hooked and pulled in a monstrous catfish that has taken the lead for longest catfish of the year. Well done Lizzie and thanks to all the kids who attended.

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Pappy’s Cod The good work of the Gulgong Fishing Club over the past years is really starting to pay off for its members. G.F.C member Dave Papworth recently caught his P.B Murray Cod from a local waterway which the club stocked. The fish measured 110cm and was quickly released. We’ll keep its location quiet but it’s good to see some big fish still swimming around, let’s hope she breeds lots of baby cod!

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Wise Fisherman A father and son went fishing one day. While they were out in the boat, the boy suddenly became curious about the world around him. He asked his father, "How does this boat float?

The father replied, "Don't rightly know son." A little later, the boy looked at his father and asked, "How do fish breath underwater?"

Once again the father replied, "Don't rightly know son." A little later the boy asked his father, "Why is the sky blue?"

Again, the father repied. "Don't rightly know son." Finally, the boy asked his father, "Dad, do you mind my asking you all of these questions?"

The father replied, "Of course not, you don't ask questions, you never learn nothin'."