Just when we thought we couldn't get much more rain, the weather proves us all wrong.
Looking at the long-term forecast we should start to see the weather clear and get an opportunity to head out for a fish this week. With not a whole lot of action on the coast over the weekend I spent some time out west at Copeton Dam.
Copeton Dam is just over four hours' drive north-west of Port Macquarie and the nearest town is Inverell which is around a 30-minute drive from the dam. The dam's extensive foreshore area is home to a recently upgraded holiday park with some great facilities for families and fishos.
The main purpose of the dam is to supply irrigation, stock and household needs in the Gwydir Valley, and environmental flows to the Gwydir Wetlands. Copeton Dam is a top freshwater fishing spot with stocked Murray cod, golden perch, silver perch and redfin. Copeton Dam is well known for its trophy monster-sized Murray cod with most success on extra-large top water lures.
There are no boating restrictions in Copeton Dam, and it can be fished during the closed fishing seasons. With all the recent rain the dam level is sitting around ninety-eight percent and during the drought the water level dropped below ten percent.
Over the weekend I attended the AYC Cod Classic fishing competition. The competition hosted some of the best Murray cod fishing teams in the country. The major prize of the competition is the team who catches the largest Murray cods in a 36-hour fishing session. With over 60 of the best freshwater fisho teams from the state I sponsored a local team made up of Troy Boese, Harriet Crowley and Mitch Lowe. The high-water levels and extreme rain made it a difficult weekend to fish.
With one of them suffering a campfire injury on Saturday chopping the top of their finger off with an axe, my team certainly put in a lot of effort fishing from the early hours of the morning until late at night. Unfortunately, they missed some great-sized Murray cod on the surface and didn't land a fish for the competition.
After the competition finished on Sunday morning and the sun finally came out, we decided to camp another night and spend Sunday afternoon fishing the dam. The team took me out for a fish, and we ended up fishing at the end of a creek that was flowing into Copeton Dam.
I flicked out a small spinner bait a few times and hooked a fish. With a great fight I landed my first ever golden perch or most fishos call them yellowbelly. After a few quick photos I released the fish back into the water.
After a great weekend I definitely keen to spend some more time out at Copeton Dam and hopefully land that monster Murray cod. If you want to know more about freshwater fishing and Copeton Dam drop into your local fishing tackle store and chat with the knowledgeable staff.
