The secret life of cod

New research has shed a light on the behaviour of High Country's Murray cod like never before. Nineteen cod, of the 5.5 million fingerlings stocked in Lake Eildon since the '90s, were chosen for the recent study. The fish averaged 93cm in length and were tagged and released in the Jamieson arm and Upper Goulburn River where 16 acoustic receivers placed along 32km of waterway tracked their movements resulting in 1.5 million data records captured over a two-year period. Coupled with environmental data, it revealed fascinating results that were unveiled by Dr Corey Green at Murray 'Codference' 2025. Dr Green, a lead fishery scientist with Victorian Fisheries Authority, addressed the Codference explaining it was his love of fishing that pushed him towards science and his desire to catch cod that inspired the study. "As a young kid I wanted to learn more and more about how to catch fish and that led me to science," he said. "It hasn't really worked, I know a bit about the science but it hasn't helped me catch fish. "People go out there wanting to catch big cod but how do you catch them? "You read books, you go on the internet, youtube and social media and you think, 'yeah, I've got it sorted - I know how to catch one.' "Then you go out there and you know that they're there but you just can't catch them. "Anglers are funny people, we blame it on the season, the temperature, the air pressure, the moon phase is wrong..." Perhaps now, thanks to Dr Green's findings, anglers will be able to stop playing the blame game and start catching the big Murray cod that the region has become renowned for.

The secret life of cod

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