Monsters over one metre mark at Lake Monduran

Plenty of fish have been caught on Lake Monduran throughout the first part of this year.

While most fish were between 45-65cm, a few over the 1m mark have been caught by more experienced anglers.

Now that we’re through the hottest months of the year, and with the weather being nice and consistent over the past month, it’s time to get out and target some big Monduran barramundi.

April usually sees an increase in fish activity at Lake Monduran because barramundi begin to feed up before the cooler weather sets in.

With the water temperature dropping, fish will tend to group up in more concentrated numbers and can therefore be found consistently through the same areas of the lake.

As always with any fish species, it’s important to be employing the right techniques in order to get the most out of your time on the water.

John Butler took a 101cm on a 7” Castaic Jerky J swimbait.

Areas to search

As the water temperature drops so does the thermocline, going deeper into the water column.

In this circumstance, the fish have a larger depth range to sit in.

However, it also means they don’t have to move as far to find comfortable water.

You can almost guarantee that there will be large numbers of fish on points and banks close to deep water through autumn.

The depth at which these fish will sit depends on how consistent the weather is.

The general rule is the more stable and warm the weather, the shallower the fish will sit – generally 1-4m.

On a cold change, you will most likely find the fish a little deeper, between about 3-7m for the most part.

Mathew Schwart scored a 101cm Monduran barramundi on a Jackall Squirrel 79.

Lures to use

Jerk baits and soft plastics will be your best option still.

The most important thing is that you are presenting your lure at a depth as close to the fish as possible.

Soft plastics are my preferred option in autumn because I can easily alter the depth I’m fishing by changing the jig head weight and allowing my lures to sink when necessary.

Heavier weighted plastics, such as the Molix Shad 140, are very versatile for this situation – they are heavy enough to get deeper in the water column but can also be fished quite shallow when necessary.

If you’re using jerk baits such as Jackall Squirrels, it’s important to make sure your lure is being presented naturally.

These lures are designed to suspend in the saltwater, though quite often sink in the fresh.

Changing treble and split ring sizes is an effective way to get the lures to suspend better and entice more bites.

Though a lot of the fish in the lake are small currently, there are just as many big fish getting around as before.

This being said, it’s very important to ensure your terminal tackle is strong enough to handle fish well over the 1m mark.

More than likely, these fish will start being caught in larger numbers over the next few months and you don’t want to be at the mercy of weak lures, rings hooks and line.