We don’t want to make outrageous statements BUT Nagambie is fishing as good as it ever has with most fishos coming away with a cod or two in the bag…and decent cod at that. Here’s the lay of the land for you.

Here are the top spots for the last two weeks fishing the Goulburn River in and around Nagambie.

MITCHELLSTOWN

A lot of Murray Cod between 50 to 65cm are coming in from between Chinamans Bridge and Mitchellstown Bridge. Flick surface lures or spinnerbaits into the lagoons around the lily pads.

LAKE NAGAMBIE

Reports coming in that the Mitchellstown side of the lake is doing all the damage at the moment. Chris Galea getting a 92 model of the top with Stump Jumper.

Off the boardwalk, you’re in with a decent chance of Reddies, Yellowbelly and smaller cod in town. Stick to worms and small yabbies.

KIRWANS BRIDGE

Kirwans Bridge Yellas have a big appetite at the moment particularly around the reed beds and overhanging willow trees..plenty of yellowbelly schools hiding out waiting.

MURCHISON

Below the weir, Murchison East through to Arcadia is fishing really well. The river is looking reasonably clear, nice height and isn’t flowing too quickly. Casting spinnerbaits in around the timber is producing the good. These trees are holding big numbers of shrimp, so the cod are hanging around too.

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOU, YOUR CAREER AND YOUR RECENT SUCCESS ON THE BASSMASTER STAGE IN THE US?

Growing up on the banks of the Balonne River in St George, Queensland, freshwater fishing runs deep in my veins. Fishing to me is more than the hook up, it’s about the experience. It’s the adventure, the thrill of the catch, camping in the outdoors, telling stories around the campfire and knowing that I’m right where I belong. It is a feeling of absolute freedom. Through my work as a Freshwater Fishing Guide, and Professional Tournament Angler, I want to help others experience the same love for fishing and the great Australian outdoors as I do.

I started competitive fishing in 2015 and quickly grew into a huge passion, I won Co-Angler of the year in 2015, Rookie of the year in 2017, Pro Angler of the year in 2018. I represented Australia in South Korea in May 2019 with a 6th place finish and also represented Australia at the BASS Nation Championship in the USA in 2019 taking out an 8th place finish amongst 120 of the world’s best anglers. To compete at an international level and almost take out the win was a major highlight.

MY DEFINING FISHING MOMENT IS

Every time I fish, I love the challenge of figuring out how the fish are responding and to get them to bite a lure I’m casting. Every fish you catch on a lure is a little win.

I KNOW IM ON TO A GOOD FISH WHEN

You feel that thump and the line starts peeling off that reel at a million miles an hour

THE THREE BITS OF GEAR I COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT ARE

My GARMIN sounders, my Boat and my Millerods!

MY LURE OF CHOICE IS

A Bassman Spinnerbait for anything freshwater

MY CAREER HIGHLIGHT IS

Competing in America at the BASS Nation Championship on Lake Hartwell in America and making Championship Sunday

YOU FISHED GOFISH NAGAMBIE IN 2019, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR BIGGEST ADVICE FOR THOSE TACKLING IT IN 2020

Slowing right down and fishing every snag that you see, there could be a big cod anywhere

MY LURE OF CHOICE FOR GOFISH NAGAMBIE IS

A 3/8-ounce Bassman Twin spin Spinnerbait in Red and Black

I’M MOST EXCITED FOR GOFISH NAGAMBIE BECAUSE

There’s a ton of entertainment, things to do and see and so many like-minded people

IF I COULD GO FISHING WITH ANYONE IN THE WORLD IT WOULD BE

Kevin Van Dam an American bass pro

We all know the big prize at Nagambie is for the biggest cod… but its not the only prize! There is cash to be won for carp and prizes (yet to be announced) that you could win and best of all you can win them with a Carp.

In this edition of GoFishing with Rhys I’m going to share my tips that will help you to catch that winning Carp.

CARP TACTICS FOR NAGAMBIE

Like all freshwater waterways, Nagambie is loaded with the invasive species. This competition is a great opportunity to remove a few from the water, but even better, a great chance to win some prizes. Carp are a relatively easy species to catch, as they love searching for any food to suck up off the bottom. They are primarily a bottom feeder and will suck around in the mud and silt looking for food.

Best Baits for Carp

Using bait is the only way to go. You can catch them on lures, but it is rare and if you want to give yourself the best chance… use bait. The best baits to use are bread, corn and worms. The reason these three all work well is because they have a strong smell which attract the Carp from a long way, the scent the carp can smell in the bread and corn is sugar, they love anything sweet.

Tip: when using bread, make sure you only use white bread. Firstly, because it is the easiest to mould onto the hook and it stays on for longer, but more importantly is has the highest concentration of sugar. Whereas wholemeal or grain has little sugar and you’ll reduce your catch rate significantly.

Baiting up your Hook

Once you have your chosen bait (I’d go with bread and worms) you need to bait it correctly. With the bread just take a piece off and mould it into a flat ball shape or like a flat long disc. Then pin the hook through the bread and make sure your hook point is exposed (never hide your hook point or you’ll miss fish). If you’re using worms make sure you load up the hook with as many as you can.

Best Rig to Use

I like to run a running sinker rig with a paternoster setup. It’s simple; first cut a 40cm length of line off your mainline (if you’re using monofilament, if your using braid you’ll need some leader material) get a light ball sinker (size 2) and run it up your line, and then tie on a swivel. Then tie on the length of line you cut off to the other end of the swivel (or your leader material). Tie a hook onto the end of the line, this is your first hook. Then you want to make a paternoster loop halfway between your swivel and hook and once this is done, loop on another hook. This way you have two hooks and can use two different baits.

Areas to Fish

Now the most important part is to pick where to fish. The areas you want to find are shallow muddy sections, close to weed. I would avoid chasing Carp in the main river channel. Look for the backwaters and shallow sections in the lake. The key part is to find reedy area, this are places they will feed and search for food.

Final Tip

This could almost be the winning ingredient which will make a massive difference come comp day. Carp are a schooling fish and your goal is to catch as many Carp as you can. You can make this a whole lot easier if you can draw in entire schools of Carp to the area.

You can do this by using burly! Want you want to do is get a bucket and packet of breadcrumbs, find some sand or dirt and even buy a can of creamed corn. Get the sand and mix it with the breadcrumbs, you’ll also want to grab a few slices of bread and try to break them up into tiny pieces. What I like to do is break a piece of and rub it in my hand with the sand to mix it together. Then add your creamed corn to the bucket, this acts as like a glue (don’t make it too wet).

You should now have this fine mixture and what you want to do is grab a handful and throw it in a circular motion out where you are fishing, so it fans out in the area. You don’t need much, its basically something for them to smell and be attracted to, but you don’t want them to spend all their time eating your burly and not your bait.

Do this every 20 mins or so to keep the Carp in the area.