One of the countries foremost Murray cod thinkers, Matt Perdrau, Rapala Australia rep, shares with us his four-point plan to catching a metre beating Murray cod.
Apprenticeship – big cod don’t come easily.
Sure some anglers get lucky and strike a big cod early in their career, but it’s more likely than not they won’t get another one for a while. To consistently catch big cod you need to first consistently catch cod.
Read articles, talk to people in the know and be observant to pictures in magazines and social media. It’s also worth looking past the fish and angler – look for clues in the background like landforms or gear/lures laying on the boat deck.
Confidence – as in any sport, is a massive key.
You have to be confident in your spot, your gear, your lures and your technique. Any doubt in your game will affect your concentration and we’ve all had those moments when you miss a good strike through a lapse in concentration, whilst thinking ‘am I in the right spot’ or ‘maybe I should switch lures’.
To quote Dave ‘The Barefoot Fisherman’ Hodge – fish every cast like there is a 100 pounder following your lure! You can’t be more confident than that.
Oversized – Think BIG.
It’s no secret that big cod eat big lures. Over the last few years lure presentations have been getting bigger and bigger – 6″, 8″, 10″ and even 14″ Swimbaits, wakebaits and walkers are being tossed left right and centre, and with good results.
Where it’ll stop I’m not sure, but I have a feeling our ability to cast such massive lures will limit us long before the size of lure that will fit in a big cods gob does!
Decisions – limit them!
Literally, the fewer decisions you have to make the more focused you’ll be and the more time you’ll spend with a lure in the water. Have a game plan and stick to it. Your goal is a meter cod so pick your spot, chose one outfit, limit yourself to 4 confidence lures (I pack two surface and two sub-surface) and fish hard. Giving yourself too many options is limiting your ability to target that cod of a lifetime.