The Social Fishing Podcast

We're back on the river for our annual river drift – the trip we do every single year, three boats deep on the Murrumbidgee for three days chasing Murray Cod. This time the podcast looks a little different. We normally sit down around the campfire on the last night to record, but this year we ran out of time, so Dan and I recorded this one on the water instead, kicking off with our first cast on the third and final morning.

 

We talk through the whole float: the lowest we've ever fished the river, the stitch-up we pulled on the other four blokes to shift camp, and the lessons that came out of three days on the water. Dan tells the story of a big fish, and why hook sharpness made the difference on this trip. Then there's Alex's fish of the trip – a genuine 114cm river cod that had the whole group buzzing.

 

We also get into the stuff that helps your own fishing: the three time windows of a surface bite session and why the last fifteen minutes of light matters so much, the difference between a big-fish approach and a small-fish approach with your lure choice, and the boat control lesson that took one of our members from two fish to ten in a single session.

 

If you love chasing Murray Cod on rivers, especially through that prime autumn window, this is the episode for you.

 

In this episode:

0:30 – Kicking Off the Final Morning of Our Annual River Drift

1:30 – First Cast and the History of Our Yearly Float

3:30 – The Biggest Float We've Done as a Team

6:30 – The Stitch-Up on the Boys (and the Lowest Water We've Ever Fished)

9:30 – Day One Build-Up and Why River Floats Feel Different to Lakes

15:20 – Dan's Big Fish

23:00 – Planning a Float: How Far to Travel Each Day

27:10 – Alex's 114cm Cod – Fish of the Trip

32:30 – The Three Time Windows of a Surface Bite Session

38:10 – Camp Gear: Sleeping Mats and the Cooking Grill

42:20 – Big Fish Approach v Small Fish Approach for Lure Choice

47:40 – Behind the Scenes: Filming and the Chasing a Dream Film

48:20 – Boat Control: How Member Shiv Went from Two Fish to Ten

1:01:20 – Fishing Goals and Achieving One on a Lure He Was About to Retire

1:04:50 – Do Cod Live on One Log, or Move Around to Feed?

1:07:30 – Wrapping Up the Float

We hosted our third annual members event in March 2026. This year we went back to Burrinjuck Dam, and it was our biggest edition yet. New and improved clinics and games, over $16K worth of giveaways and more importantly a priceless opportunity for members to connect.

Enjoy this chat with Rhys, Dan and Nate as they discuss the event, the funny times and what it’s all about. It’s an event unlike no other and you don’t want to miss out next year!

 

In this episode:

1:00 – Introduction and the 2026 Burrinjuck Members Event

3:00 – Filming, Packing the Prize Haul and Travelling to Burrinjuck

6:00 – Arriving at Burrinjuck and First Impressions of the Lake

9:00 – Yellowbelly Fishing, the Cold Change and Preparing for the Event

14:00 – Fishing with Forward-Facing Sonar and Catching Two Cod Over a Metre

24:00 – Setting Up the Lowrance Treasure Hunt in the Storm

28:00 – Friday Clinics and What Makes the Members Event Unique

40:00 – Continuing the Event Recap with Dan Webber

45:00 – Saturday On-Water Clinics and Ken’s First Metre Murray Cod

54:00 – Hub Clinics, the Casting Competition and Major Prize Giveaways

68:00 – Member Stories, Community and Why the Event Is So Special

74:00 – The Future of the Members Event and Plans for 2027

Welcome to another member’s podcast! In this episode we are heading up to the Gladstone region chatting with local guide running Gladstone Fly & Sportfishing, Cory Gooch. Cory loves chasing freshwater Barramundi and spends a lot of time fishing and guiding on Awoonga Dam.

In this chat we talk all about impoundment Barramundi, the basics of catching Barramundi and casting to the weeds, along with plenty of chat on fishing Lake Awoonga.

We then move on to talk about Cory’s ABT win, how it all went down and the tactics he used to win the competition.

Book a guided trip with cory: Gladstone Fly & Sportfishing

 

In this Episode:

2:45 – Introduction to Cory and His Passion for Chasing Barramundi

24:20 – Fishing Lake Awoonga – Tips, Techniques and Fishing

38:48 – What’s a successful session and key lures for Awoonga?

46:35 – Chasing Awoonga Barra with Live Tech

51:35 – Cory’s ABT Win

THE 100TH PODCAST EPISODE! We made it to the 100th episode and this this one we wanted to do something special. Rhys looks back at where everything all began and chats with the crew who started Social Fishing. Stumpy, Tallis, Chris and Jack helped in the early days and Rhys sits down to have a chat with all four of these guys.

Talking about the past, but also about where they are now. What are they up to 10 years down the track. Many have moved away, built careers and families.

Enjoy this chat with the original SF crew!

 

In this episode:

0:31 - Introduction

7:50 – Chat with Stumpy

44:00 – Chat with Tallis

1:52:17 – Chat with Chris

2:28:32 – Chat with Jack

Fish kills are disappointing and heart breaking, no matter where we see them or how devastating they are. Recently Murray Cod have shown up dead at Burrinjuck Dam. Fishing this lake often we wanted to know why!

After witnessing a similar fish kill at Blowering back in 2019 we have already had some experience witnessing similar fish deaths with a similar pattern.

In this chat we dive deep into what a ‘roll over’ event is, how it happens and why we believe this is the cause of this fish kill. In this episode we discuss how the water behaves, stratifies and reacts to the environment around it. This also affects fish activity and can be a reason as to why fishing is so tough at times…

 

In this episode:

00:30 – Introduction to the Episode

10:00 – Theory – Fish Dying from Fighting and Bacteria

19:00 – Theory – Roll Over