As we were in the works of putting together Mickey Finn’s first article “Big Ole’ Goodoo” Trophy Murray Cod Caught on Fly – Tips to Catch Them, Mickey went out and caught an even bigger one. To be exact the biggest ever recorded, 127 cm, weighing somewhere between 90-100 pounds. Check out the full story of what went into landing this trophy below.
So after the first fish, I was home sick for a week with the flu. I’d pushed it pretty hard to catch the first one which went 105cm, which was my personal best, but not the biggest caught on the fly. Josh (@aussieflyfisher) had caught a 122cm when we filmed Goodoo.
However I wasn’t setting out to break any records, I just wanted to get a trophy cod on the fly.
But, I also wanted my mate Will (@willcurtin_) to catch one on the fly so we went out again. We were fishing at the same lake (It’s a mega trophy producing lake but tough as hell) and it had gotten to about 11 O’clock without a single bite. We pushed up into a bay and I made a cast hard against the edge, it probably would only have been two meters of water, and I got absolutely nailed.
I strip-struck harder than I ever had in my life and came tight to what was obviously another beast. Will and I both knew it was big, when you hook a meter fish it’s pretty obvious, it’s like hooking a tractor. When we saw it swim back out of the bay between the boat and the bank, we both instantly knew it was a ridiculous fish.
Fighting Cod is like a tug of war, you run 40lb leader and do not give them an inch, I had my 9wt bent to the cork but luckily this guy moved off the bank to open water so we had a good shot at landing him. Unfortunately, our net, the largest on the market designed for big Goodoo and Barramundi, was clearly too small by about two shaka lengths. We were both freaking out trying to land this beast. As we had limited time because big cod will eventually wear through leaders because of their sandpaper like rows of micro teeth.
At the end between sticking, my hand into the teeth trap and sorta flipping its tail around we got it in the net comfortably and both collapsed on the deck laughing. We knew it went over 120 cm before measuring it (which is a huge deal, like a 35-inch trout) and when it went 127cm I again couldn’t stop laughing. I don’t care about records but it is the longest and heaviest Goodoo ever landed on fly.
To give you an idea on weight the first fish would have been a solid 30-35kilo, so anywhere between 60-80lb, but when you add length to these fish the weight goes up massively. So the big dog would have weighed in at more like 40-45kilo, so 90-100lbs!!
A 127cm this Goodoo could have easily been older than me and I’m 28. Essentially it’s the raddest thing ever and I don’t know if I’ll ever top it when it comes to fishing. The cool thing is though because of all the hard work of Australian fisheries, volunteers and fisherman, more and more of these dreamtime giants are out there.
To book a trip with Mickey check out the Aussie Fly Fisher website here. And be sure to follow Mickey on Instagram @mickey.finn.
“Big Ole’ Goodoo” Trophy Murray Cod Caught on Fly – Tips to Catch Them
