Setting up for Winter Murray Cod

By Darren Weda

So with the cool weather approaching, a lot of anglers will be starting to think about rugging up, upsizing your gear and heading out to chase that trophy Murray cod. The cooler months are definitely the time to do it, with a greater chance of catching that bigger class of fish.

Now there is a few reasons to upsize your gear this season. Firstly, big cod can pull hard, especially in a river where there is current. So having some decently sized rods and reels will give you a greater chance of landing that trophy fish if you happen to tangle with one. They can head home for that timber very very quickly, and you need to have gear suited to the task.

 
The main reason to up size your gear for trophy Cod is to be able to cast those bigger baits. Big baits catch big fish, it isn’t really rocket science. And while you can cast around big lures on lighter outfits, it is generally very uncomfortable, and it’s definitely at the detriment of your gear. I had a 100 size baitcaster I used for casting some of my first ever big baits, thought it would be ok. Well it wasn’t, I ended up with line burn on my thumb, and the reel was never the same after a season of casting big heavy lures.

 
Now, for me I generally have 3-5 Rods rigged an ready to go in the boat when chasing cod, and generally each with a different presentation so I can grab the rod to suit the terrain I’m fishing. 2-3 are rigged specifically for bigger baits, which means a baitcast reel of 150 size or larger and a 19 Tatula swimbait rod. There is 3 big bait specific swimbait rods in the 19 Tatula range, and they will cover everything you will ever need for the larger Murray cod lures. My other 2 rods have traditional 100 size baitcaster reels on some lighter rods, obviously for lighter lures, like smaller spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, and smaller topwater lures. Don’t get me wrong plenty a big fish have been caught on these lighter combos, and they do the job great, but I’m finding that I’m definitely getting bigger fish more consistently on bigger lures.

 
All my reels regardless of size have 50lb J-braid Grand, with a 40-50lb J-thread fluorocarbon leader, joined with a FG knot. I have huge confidence in this setup, and confidence goes a very long way in this fishing game.

 
Here are a few suggestions of some heavier/stronger gear that will be really suitable for chasing that larger class of fish.

* Tatula 732HB - 100g cast weight
* Tatula 762XH-SB - 220g cast weight
* Tatula 792XXH-SB - 250g (8.8 ounces) cast weight

* Ryoga 1520
* Tatulion HD Custom
* Tatula 150
* Tatula 300