Freshwater

Watching it all unfold

TOOWOOMBA Jason Ehrlich

fishability1@bigpond.com

It will be interesting to see how things unfold in freshwater locations this year. For the last 12 months, it has been up and down due to continuous rain events and resulting inflows that have made the fishing more difficult. The good news is the lakes and waterways are now topped up and set to produce some exceptional fishing over the coming years.

If it continues to rain, we will see more of what last year delivered. The biggest negative is some of the barra lakes are full and fish could escape over the summer months if spillways go over. If big rains hold off, expect some exceptional fishing this year.

Summer is a great time for trolling and topwater fishing. The warmer water in the lakes sees the fish scatter more to find comfortable levels in the water column to suspend in. This makes them easier targets for trolled offerings. When we think trolling, it doesn’t need to be based around convention hard bodied lures. Barra are suckers for trolled soft plastics, bass love a trolled tail spinner or Spectre Vibration Jig, and Murray cod love big spinnerbaits. If you are prepared to experiment, you will find you can troll a range of offerings and the more thought and effort you put in, the more you will be rewarded. Some presentations work best trolled from a rod holder while others perform better with a bit of rod work. Bass are very keen on drop backs so don’t be afraid to free spool to the bottom and then wind in some line before repeating this while the boat moves along slowly.

Topwater fishing seems to work in some locations better than others. Surface lures come into their own in low light periods and will be most effective when the fish are prepared to rise to the top. Early mornings until the sun rises and late afternoons once it sets are the prime times to try your luck. Bass fishers will find success in the rivers and creeks and on lakes like Hinze, Maroon, Borumba and Isis Balancing Storage. While it is closed season in the salt, our impoundment barra are keen on surface presentations too and given the right conditions they will eat off the top during the day as well. Kinchant and Teemburra are great surface lakes in the Mackay region. The southern lakes are a lot tougher on surface and this is most likely due to the abundant bait supply and such big fat healthy fish not needing to expend too much energy to chase a feed. Awoonga is probably the choice of them for surface luring and you will pick up the occasional barra on topwater early in the day, at night or on weedless plastics during the daylight hours. Murray cod will be feeling the heat and the window for surface fishing will be in the cooler morning hours between darkness and first light. In the creeks and

Topwater cod are great targets this month before the sun is high in the sky. Rivers will be best but you’ll get a short window at first light in the lakes.

rivers this bite will extend and you can use shade lines and structure to your advantage and stretch out the morning and afternoon bite times.

It’s been flat out in my world. Between lure making, filling orders, setting up a new boat and work it’s hard to find a time to wet a line. I’m sure I’ll be making up for this very soon. Until next time, buckled rods from the Colonel.

MAROON

CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH,

RATHDOWNEY

Very early mornings and late afternoons into the night will be the times to try surface lures on the lake’s bass. These fish will be up feeding around the weed beds during the low light periods. Smaller topwater offerings from 55-75mm will get the bites. The best spots to try are usually out of the wind where the fish can hone in on the subtle movements of the lure. If there is surface wind disturbance, you can let then fish know your lure is there with a slightly noisier, splashier retrieve.

Most of the weedy edges should hold fish. The better numbers will be found on raised humps and points just outside the weed during the day. These fish will be keen on reaction style lures. Spinnerbaits and Spectre Vibration Jigs are perfect at this time of year. When fishing into the weed earlier in the day, I’d also consider using a beetle spin rigged soft plastic. My choice is a 3” Slider Grub on a 3/8oz jighead and beetle spin frame with a small silver blade. These lures are great for ripping out of weed beds and triggering strikes as they pull free. • 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.

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND

CRESSBROOK

CLOSEST TOWN:

CROWS NEST

The Cressbrook bass have been very hard to find and tempt. The warmer water temperature should see them move out into more open water and suspend. These fish may hold around the lake’s edges in 5-9m of water or venture out into deeper areas in the middle of the dam and find a comfortable spot to hold up. Either way, trolling will be a good option to cover heaps of water and try to find a hungry fish. Medium to deep diving hardbodies are perfect for Cressbrook fish and you will need to mix it up to find where they are sitting and what they prefer.

Lure casters should be able to tempt a few fish by casting spinnerbaits and Spectre Vibration Jigs around the lake’s edges. These lures can be used to explore a lot of water when you keep moving along the shoreline on the electric motor. The best depth to present these in will be 4-8m of water. Any schooling fish in deeper water can be fooled with a spoon or a soft plastic presentation. Golden perch numbers have been surprisingly good. You will score a few of these while targeting bass but some anglers have chosen to work ZX40 blades vertically for them with good success. The main lake points and up the backs of the creeks are always good spots to try your luck when chasing goldens. Redclaw crayfish numbers should be pretty good for those wanting Somerset has started to produce some quality bass around Pelican Point flats. The Spectre Vibration Jig in 5/8oz and darker colours seem to perform best.

a feed. Traps dropped in 6-10m of water should draw them in. • Fish’n’Bits in Toowoomba has all the gear and tips on how to chase the Cressy

Gary’s Marine Centre

3201 6232

fish. They are an excellent store specialising in all freshwater lures and tackle. The access gates to the ramp and day use area will be open from 6am to 8pm. SOMERSET

CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY

Somerset Dam has started to return to its old self. A gap in heavy rain has allowed the water to clear up enough for the fish to move out into schools on the flats. These numbers will only increase with the extra heat pushing them off of the edges. The quality of these fish has been exceptional with plenty of big 50cm long models mixed in with the smaller ones.

The Pelican Point area has been one of the main fish holding locations with bunches of fish moving around on the southern side. You will also find scattering of fish around the Kirkleigh flats and wide of Queen Street on the flats and humps.

Last month, the fish were still a bit fussy about lure presentations. Spectre vibration jigs seem to work best on most days. The fish are often close to the bottom and these lures can be fished to suit by casting, wind drifting or trolling. If they lift off the bottom or suspend out in deeper water, trolling hard bodies and tail spinners will sort them out. Spoons were still accounting for a few last month but they might get a bit tougher on them as it heats up more. It’s hard to be sure though as conditions are not the same as they were over the previous drier years from which I gauge my assumption. There’s only one real way to tell and that’s to give it a go.

DARLING DOWNS AND GRANITE BELT

COOBY

CLOSEST TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS,

TOOWOOMBA

It’s a great time to chase Cooby Dam’s golden perch. The fish step it up a level in the middle of summer and chase all kinds of lures. You can jig them up vertically with small blades’ which is a technique that works for most of the year. It is a good time to play around though as they will eat an assortment of offerings.

Lipless crankbaits, like the ever popular TN60 Jackall, are great for trolling and casting around the weed bed edges. Don’t be afraid to let them sink all the way to the bottom in the spots with less weed present. If you spot numbers of fish on your sounder, pull up and have a few casts. Slow winding lipless crankbaits and dropping them back to bottom is a good way to get drilled. Golden perch strikes are quite violent followed by a series of thumping head shakes. They can be poor sport over the cooler parts of the year but put on a show in the warmer months. Another method worth trying is jerkbaits and small hardbodies fished off of the weed edges on just before dark. You only need lures that dive to a metre or two to give this a go. Boat positioning is critical and you will need to pick your location well before it is time to start. Clear water over the edges of the weed bed should be present so you can rip the lure down and then slowly work it back almost tickling the tops of the weed. LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK Leslie Dam golden Golden perch are out in numbers around most of the lakes. They get a lot more active and willing to pounce on all lures over the hot months.

perch have really fired up for lure fishers over the past month. Jigging ZX40 and ZX45 blades was doing a lot of the damage last month but you can expect to catch them trolling and casting as well. The fish seem to be favouring the edges of the old creek bed and deeper water. Let your sounder help you pick the lure to target them. If they are only a few metres deep, you will get away with a shallow diver or lipless crankbaits. When they are deeper, pick a hardbody lure to suit. It pays to have 3-8m divers in your box when visiting this lake to ensure you have all bases covered.

Cod fishers might find a few cruising shallow on the flats at first light but they will quickly retreat to deeper water as the sunrises.

To target them during the day try trolling 1oz spinnerbaits along drop offs to the old creek bed or over structure. If you find areas where the creek bed comes out onto 4-5m deep flats, you’ll be in with a good shot. • 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.

CAPRICORN REGION AWOONGA

CLOSEST TOWNS: BENARABY, GLADSTONE

Awoonga Dam has been a bit tougher lately. The weed beds look sensational and conditions seem right but the barra are playing hard to get. It is the late afternoon into night sessions that seem to produce for most anglers. Perching yourself on a likely windblown point and waiting for the fish to arrive works time and time again. This can be the difficult part. The dam is seeing a lot more action and finding a spot for yourself is hard work unless you are prepared to head out early and stake one out and wait for the fish to arrive. While the main basin points between the ramp and Dingo Island see most of the action, there are plenty of other areas worth investigating that see way less boat traffic. Not all will hold fish but if you develop a run of these you can hop between them and check them for fish every so often.

Soft plastics rigged on jigheads or ready to go swimbaits will both be effective. The Molix Shad 140 is good for deeper areas where you want the lure to run over 3m deep. If they are holding a bit shallower, you could try the new Molix 120 or the old faithful 5.5” Zerek Live Mullet. Paddletail plastics are just as effective but you need to rig them yourself with jig head weights and treble stingers to suit the areas you are fishing. • Gladstone Fly and Sportfishing (0429 223 550) and Lake Awoonga Barra Charters (0404 151 844) run guided trips on the lake. Both cater to the needs of the angler and can do fly or conventional tackle trips to target the lake’s barramundi. It is hard to beat time on the water and a guided trip is a great way to learn more about this lake and its fish. • 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) 49750033. CALLIDE CLOSEST

TOWN: BILOELA

It has been a lot slower at Callide this year but some quality barra over 1m are still being caught. The action seems hot and cold based on the weather and as a result unseasonal cooler water temperatures. Even at the beginning of December water temperature were struggling to stay above 26ºC. Surely the core temperature will have risen enough over this summer period to produce more consistent results by now.

Barra have been pretty easy to find around the edges of the lake. The level has remained quite constant over the last year and some weed beds have formed around most parts of the lake. This weed is quite thick and comes out near the surface before it drops away in a solid wall. The barra can be easily seen outside this weed edge on either side image or live sonar. Best results seem to be coming from wind-blown banks and points. This is unlike the Callide barra in years past when they were very unpredictable beasts. They may return to their open water, wandering habits if the water temperature lifts enough to push them deeper and away from the lake’s edge. Standout lures over the last month have been dark ale and ayu coloured 5.5” Zerek Live Mullets. Stick with these this month and add trolling them to the book of tricks if the barra push out into the open water Nighttime barra sessions will produce well on Lake Awoonga.

and suspend. • You can stay close to the dam at Lake Callide Retreat. The park has basic camping, powered sites for camping and vans and also selfcontained 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.

AWOONGA GATEWAY LODGE

“Right on Awoonga’s doorstep. All set up for fishos, with tranquil surroundings.“

• Minimum 3 night stay • BBQ areas • Saltwater pool

Catch a pink tagged Barra to win $2000!