Freshwater

Through tough times

TOOWOOMBA Jason Ehrlich

fishability1@bigpond.com

I am finally getting more pumped about my freshwater fishing. In the last month, I have had some cracker sessions on the bass and barramundi. Weather depending, these fish will continue to chew and we can expect the golden perch and impoundment cod to join them.

It’s been the hardest year for freshwater fishing that I can remember. The continuous rain has made it tough to pick good locations in months where we are usually spoiled for choice. There was a brief reprieve, but the forecasters are saying there is more to come.

Planning ahead has been difficult with unknown future weather systems set to rain on you fishing parade. At the end of the day, rain can be good, and it can already be seen just how well the bait has thrived in the different systems. The influx of nutrients feeds the food chain from the bottom up and we will see good fish growth rates for years to come.

My biggest fear is barra hightailing it out of our lakes. The closer we get to summer the more likely they will be to follow their instincts and head downstream for the salt.

It has happened before and it has taken hard work from devoted stocking groups to build fish numbers back up over the last ten or so years.

The barra fishing is reaching an excellent status on the southern lakes. Monduran, Awoonga and Callide have again joined the northern impoundments as being unbelievable barra fisheries.

I sit here writing this in the car park at Monduran Dam boat ramp because I live for these fish. If you have never tried catching them you need to. These fisheries would have to be some of the best in the world. From someone who has tried a fair bit of what Australia has to offer, impoundment barramundi get me excited. Fingerscrossed, they are still here for us next year.

Until next month, buckled rods from the Colonel. Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits will become even more effective this month as water temperatures rise.

Somerset Dam has been fishing well on the edges and around shallower schooling fish. This one ate a blade watched live on the Simrad Active Target.

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND

CRESSBROOK

CLOSEST TOWN:

CROWS NEST

Cressbrook has been pretty slow over the last couple of months. The bass should scatter more and move to deeper water. Trolling will be a great way to get them to bite. Diving hard bodies that punch down to 10m are normally necessary.

This year the slightly coloured water might be sitting a bit shallower. Try a mix of lures that can dive 5-10m and watch the sounder closely to pinpoint the depth they prefer. Working the water out in front of the boat ramps and also up the middle of the Beams Creek arm should get a few suspended bass to bite. You can also try trolling around the edges of the lake. Golden perch numbers were on the rise a while ago. They were quiet over the winter months but expect to see a few more of these pretty coloured Cressbrook fish this month. • 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. 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 Dam has fished quite well over the last month or two. The fish seem to be getting accustomed to the stained water and now it has cleared a little they are pushing

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deeper. Fishing edges has worked well but as things heat up more, the shallows will only produce early in the mornings. I’d be tossing a crankbait, blade bait, Spectre Vibration Jig or TN60 Jackall. That has been the beauty of the coloured water. Somerset fish can be very fussy but they seem more willing to eat an assortment of offerings.

The bass will start to school more in open water. Don’t expect them to be as deep as usual. While the water still has some colour in it, they will stay in 4-8m where the light can still punch through the water column. What to throw will be the question. We are coming into the time of year when the Spectre Vibration Jig has dominated for the past couple of years. This year should be a bit different. With the bass schools sitting in shallower water with dirty colour in it, we will see spoons, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, soft vibes and chatterbaits all perform well. Mix it up though to see what they like the most.

Bass will be schooling on the flats either side of Kirkleigh, wide of Queen Street and at Pelican Point. Try to find flats around 5-8m which are close to the drop offs and the fish shouldn’t be too far away.

Golden perch numbers will be on the rise this month. They love a bit of warmer weather and will chase down all sorts of lures. Bass fishermen will encounter a few on the flats as bycatch. Trolling diving lures in 5-7m should also produce. There are some good ledges beside the riverbed in the Kirkleigh area for this. There are sections where trees and stumps are still on the bottom. If you locate these on your sounder, you can try hopping small blade baits for them. If you find a good one you can expect good numbers of goldens at this time of year. Some of the better quality fish have been close to 5kg. We may see a return of the giant goldens Somerset was known for some 20 years ago. MAROON

CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH,

RATHDOWNEY

It’s a great month to mix it up at Maroon and work on using a number of fishing styles. Early in the morning, the bass will be keen on surface lures. As it brightens up a switch to suspending jerkbaits can keep the action flowing. The edges for about a km to the right of the main boat ramp and directly opposite (below Pointro) are holding good numbers of fish.

With the warmer days this month, the fish will push out deeper onto flats outside the weedy edges.

This is the ideal location for Spectre Vibration Jigs. Maroon bass love them and they are hard to beat during the warmer months. If you don’t have any in your kit, you can try other chatterbaits, spinnerbaits and lipless cranks. • 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.

COOBY

CLOSEST TOWNS: HIGHFIELDS,

TOOWOOMBA

Cooby Dam should fish well this month. Lure fishermen will see a noticeable increase in golden perch activity when using lures. The warmer weather wakes them up and sees them more willing to chase down assorted offerings.

Trolling is a good way to get into a few fish and

AWOONGA

CLOSEST TOWNS: BENARABY,

GLADSTONE

Awoonga has been a tough lake to predict so far this year. Lower water temperatures and heaps of deeper weed growth made the fishing difficult in September and October. As both of these conditions change we will see it gradually improve.

The water temps will pick up and become more stable. This will push the barra a bit deeper. Sounding them up has been very hard due to the weed being so thick in water up to 5-6m deep. As the weed flourishes due to the warming conditions, it will grow fast to the surface in the shallower areas. This will give the barra less room to move and they will be enticed to the deeper weed flats and weed edges. We will see a lot more fish on the sounder this month and that’s a good thing. Good numbers of fish in an area will lead to more bites and it was very hard to pinpoint them when they were deep in the weed at the start of spring.

Soft plastics fished on the windblown points and the action should be okay all day long with the prime time late in the afternoon. As long as the water has a bit of colour in it, they will bite well throughout the day. Yellowbelly (golden perch) can be harder to see on the sounder than other species. A tip is to switch from regular sonar to down image if your unit has that capability. It shows the fish well and helps to separate them from the weed. When lure trolling try 4-6m of water and choose lures to suit the depth you are in.

Casters will have the best action on lipless crankbaits like the Jackall TN60 and small blades like the ZX40. The Jackalls are great for casting and using a slow stop start retrieve. Blades are better fished more vertically and hopped around in closer proximity to the boat.

Murray cod have been an occasional capture but the lower numbers make it hard to specifically target them. As goldens get more active we might see a few of the bigger cod getting excited around the fighting golden perch activity. There won’t be many but some big units should be seen over the next two months. LESLIE CLOSEST

TOWN: WARWICK

Golden perch activity will pick up this month along with a run of quality Murray cod. The goldens are pretty easy to come by with lures and bait producing in 4-6m of water. Trolling, casting lipless baits and jigging soft vibes and blades will all get bites. You may need to spend some time locating the better numbers and working out the most productive depth. Covering plenty of water is the key until you start to piece it all together.

Cod are best targeted early in the morning on swimbaits around the edges and flats. During the day, big spinnerbaits and chatterbaits can be worked around structure and drop offs. Both casting and trolling can get the bites. Cod fishing on this lake has become a lot more popular. The regulars produce fish over a metre long on occasions but put in plenty of time and even fishless sessions in their quest. • 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

dirty edges should get the bite right on dark. Around the full moon the bites might last a bit better into the night. It has been very hard to catch fish during the day. I have a feeling this may improve as the water colours up a bit more and the fish migrate to the deeper submerged weed flats.

I will be trying a bit of the old school fishing we did years ago. With the boat sitting close to the weed drop off, cast heavier soft plastics over the submerged weed which is about 2m deep. We can fish a bit faster at this time of year so lures like the Molix 140 are ideal for buzzing over the weed tops.

If you are hooking too much vegetation, switch to something lighter like the Zerek Live Mullet 5.5”. Black gold or other transparent and natural colours will have plenty of presence in the clear water. Keep the brighter colours for the dirty water edges or nighttime. • 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 Jason Wingett scored an afternoon barra at Awoonga just before sundown. This is the time to be staking out your spot and learning the best casting angles before dark.

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) 4975 0033. CALLIDE CLOSEST

TOWN: BILOELA

Good news came from Callide last month. The fish kill was a terrible event over winter but some barra were caught around the shallow edges as the dam started to warm to around 24ºC.

Those in the know put in the time and worked them out catching several fish each session when the right conditions prevailed. Things may get tougher as the water continues to heat up and the fish push out into deeper areas and follow their usual routine. With less fish to target they will be harder to find and keep track of in this big paddock. Over the past couple of years, they have been found anywhere in the deep water from the dam wall right up past Pelican Point. It is a lot of water to explore and just when you think you’ve found them they can move away.

Don’t let the tougher fishing put you off. There are plenty of big fish left and you are still a chance of catching a trophy. Some of the bigger fish found during the kill were over 130cm long so it’s likely there are some of similar calibre left. It may be hard to find them but fish of this size make Callide the home of the giants and well worth a visit.

Healthy weed beds formed and were still present in November. If these don’t die back, the barra may continue to patrol the weedy edges. If they do, it will make them easier to find and target. I had a quick look at the lake last month and liked what I saw. I’ll be back to tangle with the big brutes when I get a chance. • 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.

Gary’s Marine Centre

3201 6232