Freshwater

End the year with some Christmas fishy fun

TOOWOOMBA Jason Ehrlich

fishability1@bigpond.com

As another year draws to an end, we can look back on what was a tough situation for a lot of our fellow anglers. Queenslanders were spared from the worst of the lockdowns and this meant fishing was still a goer. I feel for my southern mates who weren’t so lucky and can only hope next year we can all get out and enjoy what we love to do. For some, fishing and the outdoors will be more appreciated than ever and the perfect way to de-stress.

Despite what unfolds in Golden perch (aka yellowbelly) fire right up in the summer months. They will chase down faster moving lures when they are in this mood. our world, the fish are none the wiser. To them, it’s just another day and we should take every chance we can to go and catch them. The fishing at this time of year is pretty full on. Hundreds of boats barra fishing the lakes, bass fishers sharing the waterways with speedcrazed thrill seekers in ski boats and on jet skis and holiday makers and campers all over the place. It can be a busy time and a bit harder to catch a fish due to this. Keep that in mind and try to get out on the quieter days or to the less pressured areas. All the lakes are fishing quite well so you can avoid crowds by going to the spots which seem to fly under the radar. Locations like Ewen Maddock, Baroon Pocket, Lake MacDonald, Lenthalls, Isis Balancing Storage, Wuruma and Connelly are some of the closer lakes within easy reach for a weekend away. Lakes aren’t the only option. Camping reserves on the rivers might see a bit of action but if you are lucky enough to know a quiet or private spot on the rivers and creeks you’ll soon forget we are coming in to that crazy time of year around Christmas.

That’s right - Christmas! It’s almost here so get your orders in with Santa if you want some nice new lures or fishing gear. You’ll enjoy unwrapping that a hell of a lot more than socks and jocks. Until next year, buckled rods from The Colonel.

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND

CRESSBROOK

CLOSEST TOWN:

CROWS NEST

Bass will be a bit more spread out. Strong thermoclines seem to encourage fish to suspend out in the open water and not just in tightly packed schools ear the bottom. This is ideal for lure trollers as they are able to cover a lot of water and with fish being all over the place, you are in with a chance of catching at any trolling the deep, try to pull your lures across the tips of points and cross the drop offs to the old creek beds. The changes in depth are often all it takes for the fish to concentrate. Once you work out where they are holding, you can work that area more or switch over to casting. Lure casters will still be able to catch fish but you will need to spend a lot of time searching for the right ones. They are If you want an early or late session, don’t forget the longer open hours are to 6am to 8pm. SOMERSET

CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY

December is the start of the good bass and golden perch trolling months at Somerset. Deep diving lures capable of reaching 10m will get the bites in the middle reaches of the dam. Here you will be fishing the open water flats adjacent to the deep drop offs across spots like

Tail spinners are one of the author’s favourite lures to pull through suspended bass. They work well cast and trolled, and seem easier than other lure presentations to keep in front of the fish.

point. The deeper areas will be most productive. Try trolling medium divers early then switch to deeper offering capable of reaching 10m deep as the sun rises. Directly out in front of the boat ramp and up the middle in both directions is ideal. If you head through the no fishing buoy line past the pump tower, the deep water up the other arm is also worth a shot. When usually found in small areas so lures like soft plastics, blades and spoons will get them to bite. If you were lucky enough to find a spreadout bunch of fish over a 100m or more, a Spectre Vibration Jig would be hard to beat. • Fish’n’Bits in Toowoomba has all the gear and tips on how to chase the Cressy fish. They are an excellent store specialising in all freshwater lures and tackle. Pelican Point, Bay 13 and Queen Street. Further up the lake around Kirkleigh the fish hold shallower and can be targeted with 7-8m divers. It is still a similar scenario and the fish won’t be too far from a drop off ledge. Trolling seems to work right through the day. Mornings and arvos can be better but they will still chew even around the middle of the day.

Casting at this time Reaction style lures like chatterbaits and spinnerbaits will perform well on the Somerset bass over the summer months.

of year is hard. The fish tend to focus on particular types of presentations and lose interest in soft plastics and spoons. You can still bang a few early or late fish on these lure types but if you want to catch all day you’ll need to fish deep spinnerbaits and chatterbaits or long line deep cranks. The Spectre Vibration Jig was built to suit these fussy Somerset fish. These clear bladed chatterbaits are deadly on them and the assist hooks hiding in the skirt seem more effective than the standard big single hook. It is best to wind drift or slow troll them moving at least 1.5km/h. This covers heaps of water and also stops the fish following and holding below your boat. The Spectre bite should kick off well this month and last until March so if you haven’t had a go, don’t miss out this year. Double figure sessions when fishing these or trolled hardbody lures will not be uncommon. • Somerset Fishing has their store based at the area above the day use boat ramp. The store is open over holidays and otherwise from Thursday to Sunday. Orders can also be made online via the website www. somersetfishing.com.au. They have an excellent range of gear suited to fishing for bass and golden perch.

BURNETT REGION

BOONDOOMA

CLOSEST TOWNS: PROSTON, KINGAROY

Stronger thermoclines will have developed and the bass will be holding out in the deeper water around them.

Watching the sounder closely will pay off as the fish can be anywhere from the wall down to The Junction. With fish out in the open water and spread out, it is a good time to troll hard bodies. I’d love to name a few but until you are on the water and seeing what depth the fish are holding, you can’t make that call. I’d be prepared and have a range of divers to cover depths from 3-10m.

Lure casters should find good concentrations around the dam. When the fish favour the deeper water, a prominent point nearby can be all it takes to have them bunched up. Soft plastics are one of my favourites on these fish. Spoons work well but I struggle fishing them as effectively to suspended fish. Tail spinners are one of my go to lures if the fish are suspended as I seem to have better control over their depth.

COOBY

CLOSEST TOWNS:

HIGHFIELDS,

TOOWOOMBA

Cooby is closed at the time of writing. I could have guessed it was coming as the warmer months bring on the algae blooms and the council is quick to close the lake down. Unfortunately, the colour the blooms introduce and the warmer weather would produce the best golden perch fishing of the year. If algae levels drop to what is deemed to be a safe level, the lake will reopen to boating. • Cooby is an electric-only lake and being small is well suited to kayaks. Keep an eye on the Toowoomba City Council website or Fish’n’Bits Facebook page to see if the lake has reopened. LESLIE CLOSEST

TOWN: WARWICK

Leslie has been fishing steady but the warmth of summer should see things step up a notch.

CAPRICORN REGION AWOONGA

CLOSEST TOWNS: BENARABY, GLADSTONE

The dam has really turned it on this year but there are still plenty of anglers struggling. I have mainly fished late afternoons and into the night and we have found some reliable spots holding good numbers of fish. Without giving away all the secrets, I’d suggest finding a likely looking weed point close to deep water.

By deep water I mean the main rivers and creeks, which feed into the dam with at least 10m of depth. Having this deep water nearby has really paid off with more fish filtering past your spot once it gets dark. The weed is healthy at the moment and the submerged beds, which haven’t hit the surface yet have been producing well. With more warmth in the water, the fish may drop a bit deeper at times and will also be found patrolling the edges of the weed where it meets a clearer weedless bottom. For deeper areas will also work effectively.

Plenty of daytime fish were caught last month. This should also be the case over summer months with a mix of fish from the deeper, submerged weed beds and others well out in the open water where they will be suspending.

Around the weed, casting soft plastics (both weedless and jighead rigged) will fool the fish. Locating them is the hard part as there are a lot of fishless areas between the good ones. Certain areas will hold and it is a matter of fishing heaps of water to find them. When they are hiding in the weed, sounders aren’t as useful as they are in open water. If you find fish outside the weed, there is a good chance there will be more hiding in the weed nearby.

The deeper fish will hold around drop-offs to the old creek and riverbeds. Often they make their way to the deepest parts of the lake out from the dam wall. The mouth of Iveragh Creek and up towards Gold Mine Point will be worth exploring. Trolling diving hardbodies that run • Justin Nye from Gladstone Fly and Sportfishing runs fishing charters on the lake. He caters to the needs of the angler and can do fly or conventional tackle trips to target the lake’s barramundi. He successfully guides clients onto fish right through the year and has a good understanding of fish movements. It is hard to beat time on the water and this is a great way to learn more about this lake and its fish. You can contact him on 0429 223 550 or visit the website gladstoneflyandsportfishing. com.au. • Mark from Awoonga Gateway Lodge always has a few productive secret spots to share. The Gateway lodge is on the way in to the dam after turning off at Benaraby. The accommodation is great with plenty of boat parking space right beside the comfortable air conditioned, self-contained cabins each with its own veranda. To book in a stay give Mark or Lyn a call on (07) 4975 0033. CALLIDE CLOSEST

TOWN: BILOELA

Callide has been a bit tougher this year with less

Awoonga will continue to produce barra after dark. Weed points near deep water have been productive over the last few months.

the Molix Shad 140 will be a standout. If working shallower or on top of the weeds try swimbaits, like the 5.5” Zerek Live Mullet or Barambah Bony Shad. Soft plastics paddle tails in the 5-7” range rigged on barra strong 1/2oz jigheads 3-10m deep is a good way to explore and search for fish. At trolling speed, you can still keep an eye on your side image and spot anything in the area. When numbers of fish are located together, casting or trolling plastics will get more bites. barra caught. The fish on offer are big and the chance of barra to 120cm is pretty high with the average size around a metre long. The morning trolling bite should be in full swing.

Trolling soft plastics or Zerek 5.5” Live Mullets through the deep water within The golden perch love the warm water and go into feeding mode and will happily chase down faster moving presentations. Trolling lures, both bibbed and lipless, will produce good numbers of goldens in the mornings and afternoons. The day time boating activity could get a bit hectic so that’s another good reason to stick to the early and late sessions.

Cod will also be worth targeting. Up the size of your lures and try big swimbaits across shallow flats early in the morning. These fish will likely retreat to deeper water of around 4-5m by mid-morning and hold on structure or ledges. Casting and trolling spinnerbaits close to the bottom is a good way to increase your chances when the cod are deeper. You can mix it up and run a cod lure while chasing goldens. • The local blokes at Warwick Outdoor and Sport in Palmerin Street can point in you in the right direction and hook you up with the good gear and bait to catch the fish at Leslie.

Ian Ryan had never landed a barra over a metre long until this trip to Callide. He boated a 109, 119 and 120cm fish. This dam has some very impressive fish.

a few 100m of the buoy line will see you in with a good chance. Using an electric motor, pull the lures at around 2.5-3.2 km/h and work the upper part of the water column. The deeper fish can also be targeted with heavier offerings but are less likely to bite. Trolling seems to lift some of these deeper fish as the boat passes over and as you move away they are left higher in the water column where they feed better. For this reason, when they are sitting deep, it still pays to run a shallower offering.

Late afternoons and night sessions can be tough. Sounding around and locating numbers of barra is the trick to catching them and if you find good numbers expect to hook more. Look around the bays and points in the main basin as these fish seem to bite better than those out deep and suspended. Wind can be a driving factor to fish movements so check the windy side of the dam first. Out deeper in the middle, fish can still be caught but unless they are present in good numbers the bites are few and far between. These deepwater fish are good at disappearing too. I have never seen the Humminbird 360 Mega transducer in action but maybe it could help you keep track of their movements.

Up near Pelican Point, the treelines marking the edge of the main channel always holds reasonable numbers of fish. They can be hard to get a bite out of but when you are lucky enough to strike a bite time, expect multiple bites. Lures like Samaki Redic DS, Jackall Squirrels and Super Squirrels all perform well here. Callide trees are hungry and love to eat lures so make sure you have a pole retriever at hand to bash them free. With multiple light limbs, the submerged trees are harder to extract fish from than most other barra lakes. Go hard when you can to try and take some puff out of the fish. The free-spooling approach can pay off but the sunken mess of branches means fish are likely to find something to wrap you around. All you can do is try and keep them on a short leash and lead them to open water. • You can stay close to the dam at Lake Callide Retreat. The park has basic camping, powered sites for camping and vans and also self-contained cabins. There is a well-equipped camp kitchen and toilets and showers up in the main part of the park near the office. Make sure you bring all of your fishing tackle. The kiosk has a limited amount of fishing gear but it is well suited to the lake.

Gary’s Marine Centre