Colby Lesko's first season behind a Samaki Zing in 2026 came back to him in two stages. The first stage was a Murray cod about as wide as a forearm, surfed up the current off a Lake Mulwala rock wall on a topwater Balista Tremor. The second was a 120 cm donk that nearly took the rod with it.
The video, posted three months ago and now on roughly 14,000 views, tracks Lesko's late season opener after a broken leg cost him the early weeks. The first session - a brief window of footage filmed with mate Tim - put a small cod on the deck on a topwater bite that Lesko described as more relief than triumph.
"Well, there we go. That's the first cod of the season for me," he said as the fish came up. "Been a late start with the broken leg, but awesome to get out, get a hit off the top. He's a beautiful green looking fish, too. Only small, but nice and fat."
The big fish came on the next outing and the swap of weapon was instructive. Lesko ditched topwater for a 12-inch Dark Side Fly jig fished with a stinger hook on the trailer, paired with an old-model Samaki Zing 7-foot 12 to 20 lb rod, a Zing 200 baitcaster, 30 lb XBraid main line and a 40 lb XBraid Slim and Strong leader. Lighter than he would normally fish for cod, but the big fly jig is hard work to cast on a heavier outfit.
"He's coming. He's coming. Big fish, bro. Big fish," Lesko said as the fish loaded the rod. "Looks massive on the screen. Feels massive, too."
The fight ran along the boat with the cod refusing to turn and Lesko's stinger hook holding the only point of connection. The fish came over the side at 123 cm on the brag mat - a clean buck-twenty in his money.
"That is a big big fish," he said on landing. "Just had him with the little stinger hook just in the corner of the jaw there. That's that little stinger on the Dark Side Fly just in the corner of his jaw."
The second-half of the session is the part Lesko pitches at anglers who write off the middle of the day. Lake Mulwala in the heat at this time of year shuts down for cod, and the fallback is sight-casting carp on the reed banks with a Samaki Full Prawn on a 7-foot 2-piece light spin stick, a Zing 2500 reel, 16 lb XBraid stepped down to 10 lb fluorocarbon.
"Big mud marlin on the little Samaki Full Prawn. Awesome fun sight casting," Lesko said after the first carp ran into a snag and out again. "They go pretty hard on the light gear and something to do throughout the day while it's too hot to cod fish. Doesn't matter if you use compound bow, fly rod, light rod, whatever. I reckon it's heaps of fun and worthwhile doing."
The carp came in succession, and the boat's lithium-powered dual Garmin Livescope arrays got a workout dropping the angler in tight on cruisers in the shallows.
The gear list at the end of the video is the practical core. For the 120 cm cod: old model Samaki Zing 7-foot 12-20 lb, Zing 200 baitcaster, 30 lb XBraid main, 40 lb leader, 12-inch Dark Side Fly jig with stinger. For the early topwater cod: Samaki Zing Extreme V3 7'6" with a Zing 300 baitcaster fishing the Balista Tremor surface lure. For the carp: Samaki Zing Gen 4 722SXL, Zing 2500 reel, 16 lb XBraid down to 10 lb fluorocarbon, Samaki Full Prawn.
The theme of the video, behind the metery, is rehab. Lesko fishes the entire session with a healing leg and the take-home note is the encouragement to anglers in similar shape - a Lake Mulwala cod opener does not require running shoes, and a 12-inch fly jig will do the rest of the work.