Lake Ginninderra
Canberra, ACT
Good population of Murray Cod, especially in smaller sizes from 25-40cm. These smaller fish predominantly hold in the weed beds and on the dam wall. There is a class of fish from 60-90cm which are well and truly targetable with larger lures. Fish at and over a metre arenât common but they are in the lake. The biggest we know of was 110cm which we captured in a video when we visited.
Techniques for Murray Cod
Fishing in the warmer months, in low lights periods and around the weed is the key. The bottom end of the lake is more productive, due to the deeper/cooler water nearby. This area also holds larger fish on average.
- Both casting and trolling are productive.
- Fish above the weed with plastics, small weedless plastics, swimbaits and surface being good options (only in low light).
- Fishing parallel or outside of the weed, with almost any lure type. Using a large soft vibe on a spin rod around 100-120mm with a shaking retrieve is a good approach for both cod and yellas.
- Trolling hardbodyâs and spinnerbaits outside the weed.
- Surface works well, more so in summer for smaller fish and ideal for larger fish year-round. This is also a good option from the bank to avoid the weed.
- Bait fishing will work in the lake but can be difficult due to the weed. Off the bank is your best option but make sure you cast over the weed. From a boat youâre better off using lures.
There is a huge class of fish in the 25-35cm range, so downsizing to use tiny lures and a spin rod can increase your chances of landing these smaller cod.
The Golden Perch range from 30-50cm and are most common in the 35-40cm bracket. They donât seem to school much in the lake and catching them in numbers isnât common. They are best targeted on the rocky structure, man made concrete wall and also the dam wall, along with any other hump or rocky formation you can find. They are also in the weed but finding them isnât consistent.
Techniques for Golden Perch
- Vertically fish using your sounder over isolated structures like rock and man-made objects. You will find small schools of 3-4 yellas at times (not common).
- Shaking blades, plastics or soft vibes on the outside edge of the weed bed, searching for active fish (works for all species)
- Trolling small hardbodyâs on the edge of the weed and along the rock walls
- Actively using your sounder to locate the fish will be the biggest key to consistent catches of Golden Perch.
Only small averaging 15-25cm in the lake, they are a common catch and are scattered in most areas. Fun for kids if you can find them. They will hold in and around the weed and are best targeted with small lures on a spin rod. They do school up and they will also be caught on their own. The schools will usually sit just outside the weed.
Techniques for Redfin
- Using your sounder to find schools, fishing around fish is the key and your sounder will help locate the schools of fish. They will usually be off the side of weed beds but will sometimes venture into deeper water away from the weed.
- Small lures around the weed â using small blades, plastics or even spinners like a Celta work well on Redfin.
- Trolling small lures in the 30-50mm range out wide of the weed.
Like most waterways, Ginninderra has plenty of Carp. They are caught at all sizes with some bigger models getting up to 80cm in the lake.
Ginninderra has good patches of bait which are a mixture of juvenile Murray Cod, Golden Perch, Carp and Redfin. It also a food rich environment which offers plenty of food at the ground level (bacteria and microorganisms), which help sustain a healthy population of small bait. These will be found in groups, finding this bait is key. On our trip we noticed bait holding off the points which are key feed zones for larger natives.
Lake Ginninderra Map
Lake Ginninderra Map
Need some help?
Send us an email...
If you're having issues with your account, cannot access your tutorials or you just have a general enquiry, please send us an email. We will get back to you as soon as we can.