Gunbower Creek is a native fish water with a purpose behind it. Victoria's environmental water holder describes it as important habitat and a refuge for Murray cod, golden perch and freshwater catfish, and uses water for the environment in the creek to improve habitat for native fish, especially cod. That is the reason to fish it.
It is a single creek that ends where it runs into the Murray River. The one fixed way in on the access card is a boat ramp, so think of it as creek water within reach of where you launch, and plan a boat or kayak day rather than a long bank walk.
That gives you two trips, and the easier one is golden perch.
Launch at the ramp between late spring and early autumn, when in our experience golden perch are most willing, and work the timber and undercut banks close to it with a dark streamer crawled near the bottom. No water-specific rule was found for the creek, and it falls under both New South Wales and Victorian authority, so check the current guide from each state for season, bag and size limits before you go.
The second trip is Murray cod, and it is the one to plan properly. Go on warm, settled days and give yourself time on the water, because in our experience cod sit in heavy timber you reach best from the water. 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. Trout cod have been recorded here too, so learn to tell them from Murray cod before you go and check the current NSW and Victorian guides for how they are treated.
Look at the ramp on the access card, check the live conditions, and read both state guides before you leave home.
Water and habitat
The creek matters to fish managers as a refuge: the environmental water holder says it provides a source of fish to recolonise surrounding waterways. For you that means a creek managed with native fish in mind.
In our experience, on water 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 survey chart shows how thoroughly the creek's fish have been sampled; glance at it before you read too much into any one species.
Fish and forage
Murray cod and golden perch are the fly fish. Silver perch and trout cod have been recorded as well, and so have redfin. European carp, goldfish, eastern gambusia and oriental weatherloach are present too.
The small fish are the forage: Australian smelt, bony bream, flathead and dwarf flathead gudgeons, unspecked hardyheads, and Murray River rainbowfish. 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 creek 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 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 states, not by the weather, so confirm it in both guides before you plan around cod.
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 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 shows a boat ramp. Treat it as a place to reach the water, not as permission to cross private land; where a bank is on farmland, ask the owner first.
As on any inland creek, banks can be steep and muddy after a rise, and the snags you cast to from a boat can catch a hull or a paddle. Check the live conditions before you drive out, wear a lifejacket on the water, carry drinking water, and tell someone where you are going.
Regulations
No water-specific rule was found for Gunbower Creek. Before you fish, check the current NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recreational fishing guide and the current Victorian Fisheries Authority recreational fishing guide for season, bag and size limits for each species, and for any closed waters.
