This is a preview summary trip report with details on what we found during the trip, including tips, info and key spots. There is also a feature article, video and SF Maps (coming soon) from this trip available inside the SF Membership. These will include more info about our entire trip, the story and the lessons we learnt fishing Copeton.
Visiting Copeton Dam to collect content for the maps has been on my list for some time.
Fishing Copeton Dam is on the bucket list of many anglers, and after visiting the dam, I can see why.
I finally managed to book in a date where the weather lined up. We didn’t fish the entire time as the plan was to collect content for the maps.
We dedicated the start of the trip to mapping (with some fishing in the low light periods) and spent the last couple of days searching for a few fish.
A perfect early winter morning session on Copeton Dam.
This Trip Report Includes:
Trip Summary | Fishing Update | Areas We Fished | Water Temperature & Clarity | Water Level | Lessons from the Trip | Tips for the Rest of Winter & Spring
Fishing at Copeton Dam
We arrived on Tuesday 6th and left on the Sunday 18th after one last morning session. We fished and mapped during the days and fished early on the morning sessions. We didn’t do any big night sessions as we had heaps of footage to download each day. We also spent every day out on the water and fished during the day (obviously this isn’t a key fishing period and I’ll talk about this later).
Overall, we fished four morning sessions starting between 5-5:30am. We fished three afternoon sessions (until an hour after dark) and we spent two full days fishing during high sun (plus Dan fished on two of the mapping days). Ideally fishing more into the night would have given us more chance at catching cod.
During the trip we managed to get onto some quality cod (in tough conditions) and found large concentrations of them in specific pockets around the dam (pins and info further below). The Golden Perch were also active with the rising water and Dan managed to get into a few of these fish during the high sun periods.
Fishing Update – Cod & Yellas
Murray Cod
The fishing is tough at the moment in Copeton, due to this rising water. The tips we cover in this article will help in any situation where the water is rising or in tough conditions. We managed to land two quality cod measuring 97cm and 106cm. I caught the first fish about half an hour after first light on Thursday morning on a line thru rigged Cod Fury, in 4m of water on a shallow flat feeding point in…
Rhys landed this cracker 97cm cod early on the first morning working a shallow point in 4m of water.
The feeling after landing this fish was incredible! Dan with a proper Copeton Cod that measure 106cm and took a slow rolled Gantia.
The rest of this trip report includes:
1. Fishing Update – Cod & Yellas
Full detail on what we caught our fish on, depth, area, structure and key zones.
2. Areas We Fished
This includes photos and detailed info on the key areas we fished, where we caught fish and also other productive areas that are worth fishing if you’re looking to visit Copeton Dam.
3. Water Temperature and Clarity
This section includes detailed info about the water clarity and temperature throughout the entire dam, plus predictions for how this will affect the fishing for the rest of winter and into spring.
4. Water Level Rising Quickly
Update on the rising water level and how the fish are reacting to this change. Plus predictions for the fishing in spring.
5. Four Key Lessons from out Week Away
Four key lessons that helped us find fish during the trip.
6. Tips and Summary for the rest of Winter and into Spring
I’ve detailed every part of our trip and everything we did to catch fish. This is just one of many Trip Reports we write on a regular basis and its all available inside the SF Membership!
If you’re a member all you have to do is login and visit the Trip Reports section...
Not a member but keen to join… CLICK the blue button below!
0 comments