OLD
Golden perch and barramundi are waking up TOOWOOMBA
Jason Ehrlich fishability1@bigpond.com
It’s not your usual start to the spring months. I never thought I’d whinge about rain but it has made the impoundment fishing ridiculously tough this year. The bass should be schooled up and firing but
it isn’t the case on most lakes. Edge fishing has played a big role this year as dirtier water has kept the fish shallower. The golden perch and barra will start to wake up with the longer and warmer days, and this gives us something to look forward to. It has been sad to see the loss of fish over the winter months. Bass have escaped
SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND CRESSBROOK CLOSEST TOWN: CROWS NEST The fish have been hard to find at Cressbrook but this is the time of year to have a crack at them. They should be schooled together, and if you can find these wellhidden schools you are in for some fun. With so much more water to explore, the fish are a lot harder to track down this year. Often they would be out in deep water but this year the slightly coloured water should keep them a bit shallower. Try your luck in around 7-11m. The flats out in front of the shallow boat ramp and across to the buoyline are a hot spot at all dam levels. The major points will be your next port of call. Be sure to explore them well and search different depths on each one. Cressy fish are sometimes very fussy about the depth they favour. If you are a metre out in depth, you could miss them. Bigger bass are likely to sit a little shallower than the smaller fish, which will even suspend in deeper water at times. If you are lucky enough to find these fish, it will be hard to beat the Raptor Jig or Gang Banger spoon. Mix it up by working the lures with hops and winds. The bass will let you know which lure size they prefer. If schools are too hard to find, you will need to settle for a
different approach just to produce a fish or two. Working the edges of the dam with lures should get a few bites, but they are often few and far between. Lure choices would include blade baits, silent TN60 Jackalls or other similarly weight lipless crankbaits, standard crankbaits and Spectre Vibration Jigs. If you are on the water early, a suspending jerkbait might get a look in. • Fish’n’Bits in Toowoomba has all the gear and tips on how to chase the Cressy
our lakes, and barra have died due to the severe cold snaps. It really makes you appreciate the tireless work of our stocking groups who keep at it regardless of the setbacks. Without them, we wouldn’t have our magnificent fisheries so support them where you can. Until next month, buckled rods from the Colonel. fish. They are an excellent store specialising in all freshwater lures and tackle. The dam is on longer hours for the rest of the year so the gates will be open from 6am to 8pm. SOMERSET CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY Somerset has been fishing quite well. It’s not your usual double-figure days or cricket scores coming out of the lake, but there’s enough to keep it interesting. The deep water schooling bass just haven’t happened this year.
3201 6232
217 Pine Mountain Road, BRASSALL OCTOBER 2022
Constant rain and inflows have kept the dam dirty. At the time of writing, the dam has about 70cm visibility at The Spit,
Niki Sticklen loves catching Somerset’s big bass. This year has been very different, with most fish coming from the lake’s edges. This one ate a TN60 Jackall.
Gary’s Marine Centre
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Blade baits have been effective in the dirtier water. They pump out heaps of vibration and flash, and fool plenty of bass and golden perch.
40cm at Pelican Point and about 60cm at the start of the Kirkleagh 6-knot zone in the timber. The coloured water may be what is keeping the fish away from their usual habitat. Schooling fish in 8-15m of water are the norm for this time of year but I can only imagine the dirty water is preventing sufficient light from penetrating to these depths. The fish have remained quite scattered throughout the dam. A lot are patrolling the lake’s edges, with only a few scattered fish out deeper on the flats
or suspending in the middle. This means that anyone willing to have a crack at them stands a chance. Even without prior knowledge of the lake you are in with a good shot due to the bass being so spread out from one end to the other. There are still some more productive spots which take a bit of finding, but they all seem to have some key features in common. Water weed, timber laydowns, rocks and a medium taper to the bank have all been present when I have caught multiple fish from an area. Last month lipless crankbaits (like the TN60), 3/8oz blades (Little Max), suspending jerkbaits (Halco TB55 and Jackall Squirrel 67) and 3m diving crankbaits accounted for most of the fish. I would expect these lures to keep producing, but you may need to fish a little deeper if the water clears up more. Morning and afternoon sessions will see the fish up shallower, but as it heats up they will move deeper. Keep an eye on the sounder because once they retreat from the edges they will be easier to see. Once they push out to deeper water, casting spinnerbaits and Spectre Vibration Jigs will get the bites. Trolling 3-5m diving lures around the shoreline will also be a good option. If you are working this zone, expect bass but also quite a few golden perch, as they will be starting to fire up with the warming water. If the rain and inflows stop for long enough I imagine the schools will reform in places like Pelican Point, Queen Street Flats and Kirkleagh Flats. Schools can be targeted with blade baits, 20g spoons and tail spinners. Redclaw crayfish will be on the move and in good numbers this season. Opera house pots baited with
rockmelon, part boiled potato or cat food will lure them in. Be sure to mark your pots and floats as per the Fisheries standards. Working different depths and frequent moves will help you locate the best areas for redclaw. They are not a fast-moving creature, so move the pots to them and check every few hours. MAROON CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, RATHDOWNEY I have a feeling Marron will be a red hot spot this month. The bass were schooling really well through winter but remained tight lipped for the majority of the time. They were in excellent numbers and the water looks clean and healthy. Weed beds had died back a bit but the warming weather and longer days will see them reform quickly. The healthy weed edges will hold good numbers of fish, especially early and late in the day. This would be the time to throw some surface lures and suspending jerkbaits. As the sun brightens, fish a bit deeper with beetle spins, small spinnerbaits and Spectre vibration jigs. The deeper weed edges may still hold fish but some will move out into deeper water until the weed really thickens up. Bait fishers using live shrimp can have a lot of fun on the schooling bass. Take the time to find the fish on the sounder and you will have a ball. The most productive depth to find them will be around the 5-7m range. • The lads at Charltons Fishing at Redbank are all over the fish activity at Maroon and Moogerah. Call in and grab your supplies and hit them up for tips on where the fish are biting.
