Murray Cod fishing guide.

Where the Murray Cod bite is on right now

Hero spots in our coverage where Murray Cod is in season for May. Click through for the live forecast.

Best bait

• Large live yabbies 8 cm+ on a 6/0 octopus hook (the gold-standard bait)
• Bardi grubs — the GOAT cod bait, pre-spawn September fish go feral for them
• Live carp 20–25 cm freelined under a balloon (metre-plus cod genuinely eat these)
• Large scrub worms in bunches for smaller cod and goldies bycatch
• Wood-grubs and yabby tails for fingerlings in stocked dams

Best lures

• SURFACE — Bassman Spinnerbait worked at dusk (the signature cod lure), AC Invader, Stuckey's Surface Paddler, Mudeye Lures
• Subsurface — Stumpjumper #1, Old Mate Deepie, Reidy's Big Bills 100, Strike Pro Cyber Vibe 55
• Spinnerbaits — Bassman Mumbler in pearl / chartreuse / black, 1/2 – 1 oz heads worked tight to timber
• Large 5–7" paddle-tail soft plastics (Z-Man HeroZ 8", Squidgy Slick Rig XL) on heavy 3/8–1 oz jig heads
• Glide baits and big swimbaits trolled deep along Copeton / Mulwala dam walls

Technique

Fish STRUCTURE — submerged trees, undercut banks, rock bars, lock walls, fallen timber. Cod ambush from cover, never in open water. Slow surface walk an AC Invader across glassy summer evening water around dusk; the strike will scare you. In dams (Copeton, Mulwala, Blowering, Windamere) troll deep-diving hardbodies along submerged timber and the dam wall — Reidy's Big Bills are the workhorse. Big-bait big-fish principle: a metre Murray cod swallows a half-pound jaw-full without thinking. 30–50 lb braid, 40–60 lb fluoro leader, lock the drag — they'll bury you in timber inside two seconds.

Tide windows that matter

River-flow timing is critical — pre-spawn September pulse moves cod shallow into feeding lanes, post-spawn December recovery feed, winter low-flow holds them deep in pools. After a flood pulse (which the Murray-Darling Basin Authority sometimes signals 7–14 days ahead), cod move into newly inundated edge structure — fish the freshly drowned timber and grass with surface walkers or spinnerbaits.

Moon & solunar

New moon dark nights are the CLASSIC big-cod time on rivers — kayak down a known stretch on a windless dark moon evening with a surface paddler. Surface bite peaks in the calm hour either side of dusk regardless of moon. Full moon brings barometric pre-storm bite windows, especially the 12 hours before a thunderstorm front when the pressure crashes.

Regulations

SEASON CLOSURE 1 September – 1 December in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, ACT (annual spawning protection — strict, well-enforced). Size limits 55 cm minimum across most jurisdictions. Bag limit usually 1 fish per day (max 2 in some states). Maximum size limits apply in some waters — e.g. VIC 55–75 cm slot in some impoundments. Always check Murray-Darling Basin Authority + state DPI/DEECA/PIRSA — cod regs change regularly and vary by river system.