We all have one of those unexpected, but truly memorable Murray cod stories. Having your rod near ripped from your grasp as the bait sits idle while you adjust the Minn Kota, grab a mouthful of coffee or tinker with your head torch.
These tales have become even more familiar as more anglers throw big, buoyant swimbaits in our local waters.
Now, we all know them. The tried and tested motley crew of retrieves we employ for Murray cod. Whether you are using a spinnerbait, lipless crankbait, soft plastic or hardbody. You can:
- Slowly roll them back to the rod tip
- Hop and Drop them off the bottom
- Burn and Kill them to the boat
- Impart an erratic action with a series of rod lifts and quick sporadic turns of the handle
When it comes to swimbaits, all the above retrieves WILL catch you fish. Similarly, slow trolling weighted swimbaits behind a boat or canoe can be extremely effective.
However, the true beauty of these baits is not the many ways they can be retrieved, but their unique ability to sit parallel in the water and subtly linger in their own space, goading a goodoo into action.
Unlike their predecessors, using the baits buoyancy and lifelike lingering action as it swims, turns, flashes and doubles back on itself. This offers a rare chance to hang the bait in the strike zone for longer than a fish can handle.
Our favourite techniques that capitalise on this includes using the rod tip to impart action on the bait in a walk the dog style fashion.
We then add painfully long pauses every few seconds. Stikes often occur the instant you impart action on the bait following one of the pauses, as the bait hovers in the face of a stalking fish.
Our second ‘go to’ favourite is dead simple. We simply deadstick the rod at 45 degrees and use a series of short, sharp half and quarter burns of the reel to move the bait side-to-side. You can gauge how the bait is moving by watching your slack line dance hypnotically left to right, side to side.
I like to challenge myself to bounce the line all the way left and then right, while at no stage taking the tension up in my line for any period of time. Warning, this takes a little bit of practice.
As with the previous retrieve, and most importantly, I always let the bait sit idle for extended periods of time, with only very subtle movements in the hope to draw in a stalking fish.
The best way to get to know your baits and how it moves is to start with bright baits in clear water.
This helps you train your brain to know how your rod angle, reel gear ratios, leader type and length along with a number of other factors all change the route your bait takes back to the rod tip or into a cod’s gob.
So, next time you’re flinging a swimbait pack a chill pill and take the speed out of your retrieve and let the bait, like bees to honey, draw the big boppers in.
