The Edward is an inland New South Wales river with Murray cod in it, and that is the reason to make the drive: a big fly, a snag, and a fish that can pull you into it.
It is a single river that runs down to join the Wakool. You fish it at the points the access card lists, several of them boat ramps, so think of it as a series of short stretches, each within reach of where you park or launch. The gradient chart shows how it falls along its length.
That gives you two trips, and the easier one is golden perch from the bank.
Start at one of the bank access points on the card between late spring and early autumn, when in our experience golden perch are most willing. Fish the timber, the deep outside bends and any undercut bank with a dark streamer crawled slowly near the bottom. Your season, bag and size limits, and any closed water on the river, come from the current NSW guide and its closed-waters list, so read both before you go.
The second trip is Murray cod, and it is the one to plan properly. Launch from one of the ramps if you have a boat or kayak, because the cod water is timber you often reach best from the river side. Throw the biggest streamer you can cast accurately, let it sink beside the snag and bring it out slowly. Expect few takes and heavy ones. Carp can fill the quiet hours between.
Pick an access point from the card, check the live conditions against the typical range on the flow chart, and read the current NSW guide and closed-waters list before you leave home.
Water and habitat
What you can plan around is the river's own record. The flow chart shows how often the Edward runs high or low, and the temperature chart shows how warm it gets through the year. In our experience, on a river like this cod sit tight in the heaviest timber and in the deeper holes on the outside of bends, while golden perch roam a little more, moving up onto shallower edges to feed as the water warms.
The bank cover chart gives you a sense of how much shade and shelter the banks carry, and the survey chart shows how thoroughly the river's fish have been sampled. Glance at that before you read too much into any one species.
Fish and forage
Murray cod and golden perch are the fly fish. Silver perch have been recorded as well, and redfin have been reported. European carp and goldfish are present, and eastern gambusia have been recorded.
The small fish are the forage: Australian smelt, bony bream, flathead gudgeons, western carp gudgeons and unspecked hardyheads, with Murray River rainbowfish recorded too. That points your fly box at pale baitfish patterns in the size 4 to 8 range for golden perch, a much bigger streamer or a surface fly for cod, and a dark Woolly Bugger for murky water or a slow day.
When to fish it
In our experience the Edward fishes best once it has warmed, from late spring through summer and into early autumn. Early and late in the day are the times to fish the shallower edges; in the heat, go deeper and closer to the wood. Carp on the flats are a warm-weather game as well. As the water cools, slow right down and expect fewer fish. Any season is set by the state, not by the weather, so confirm it in the current NSW guide before you plan around cod. A steady, clearing river after a rise is usually a better bet than a flood.
How to fish it
For golden perch a six to eight weight with a floating line covers most of it, with a sinking-tip line for the deeper holes. For cod, step up to a nine or ten weight and an intermediate or sinking line that gets a large fly down beside the timber. Either way, use a short, strong leader, because a fish that reaches a snag is usually gone.
Work each snag slowly. Cast past it, let the fly sink, and bring it back in short strips with long pauses so it hangs in front of the wood. Golden perch often take on the drop. Cod tend to hit hard as the fly first moves away from cover, so keep the rod low and pointed at the fly and be ready to turn the fish's head straight away. If the water is clear enough to see carp tailing in the shallows, switch to a small weighted nymph and keep your shadow off the water.
Access and safety
The access card lists the ways in, boat ramps among them. Treat each as a place to reach the water, not as permission to cross private land; where a spot is on farmland, ask the owner first.
As on any inland river, banks can be steep and muddy after a rise, and snags you cast to from a boat are the same snags that can catch a hull or a paddle. Check the live conditions before you drive out, wear a lifejacket on the water, carry water, and tell someone where you are going.
Regulations
Before you fish, check the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recreational fishing guide for the season, bag and size limits for each species, and its closed-waters list for any part of the Edward where fishing is restricted.
