Page 81 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing mag

Cindy Schloss happy with the nice bass she caught Megan with a beautifully coloured yellowbelly from Lake Boondooma. in Bjelke-Petersen Dam.
SConsistent catches in South Burnett dams
INCE the lifting ent rocky areas while The technique to use of restrictions, the casting until you find a here is to let the lure standout dam has productive bank, you’ll sink for about 10 sec-
Freshwater Impoundments
by MATTHEW LANGFORD
been Lake Boondooma. usually catch more than onds, so it gets down
I have the luxury of guiding on most dams in southeast Queens- land, and Lake Boon- dooma has been turn- ing up good numbers of Australian bass and consistent catches of yellowbelly.
to targeting fish in both Bjelke-Petersen Dam and Boondooma.
Lake Boondooma
vibe or spinnerbait. Earlier I stated that bonies and red claw were the predominant bait in the dam and these presentations rep-
one once you get the first bite.
into the thermocline before you start your retrieve.
* continued P82
We are into early summer and water tem- perature is above 20C, so we have seen a ther- mocline develop in 6m throughout the dam.
If you’re into trolling, now is the time to dust off the deep divers and troll among the fish hanging in the thermo- cline.
resent them well.
If you spend time
As the water warms, it’s a good idea to move to deeper water around the dam wall and start casting 20g silver spoons and 1/2oz jig head rigged soft plas- tics.
Remember, a steady wind is necessary be- cause you want the bait to stay in the thermo- cline if possible, as this is where the fish are.
DAM LEVELS
CURRENT AS OF 9/11/2020
DAMS PERCENTAGE
JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV
Atkinson Awoonga Bjelke-Petersen * Boondooma * Borumba * Burdekin Falls * Callide *
Cania *
Coolmunda *
Dyer/Bill Gunn *
Eungella *
Fairbairn *
Glenlyon *
Hinze*
Julius
Kinchant *
Leslie *
Macdonald*
Maroon * Monduran/Fred Haigh * Moogerah *
North Pine/Samsonvale * Peter Faust/Proserpine * Somerset *
Teemburra *
Tinaroo*
Toonumbar
Wivenhoe *
Wuruma *
Wyaralong*
For updates on dams, visit sunwater.com.au or seqwater.com.au
5 13 5 5 5
65 64 17 16 34 34 93 92 92 90 28 27 58 50 28 29
63 61 61 14 12 12 32 31 30 82 84 82 84 79 73 25 24 24 49 45 43 32 29 29
3 3 87 87 12 11 14 14 93 93 88 87 85 84 13 13
3 3 3 86 85 83 10 10 9 15 15 14 91 89 87 85 82 80 80 76 71 13 12 12
102 102
56 56
58 57
27 26
60 59
67 66
78 78
99 99
71 69
67 68
48 46
60 58
95 95 949393
*This symbol indicates that a Stocked Impoundment Permit is required to sh these dams.
101 94 94 54 51 42 55 54 52 24 21 20 57 54 53 65 63 61 77 76 75 98 97 95 65 61 57 67 63 61 45 43 42 57 53 50
This area is holding good schools of bony bream.
The best hard-bodies are those that have a large bib and will dive anywhere from 4.5-6m.
Red claw numbers also explode in late spring and early sum- mer.
The areas I would fo- cus on are the steep rock walls in the main basin of the dam, and any- where that has a depth of over 9m through the middle of the dam.
After harbouring their eggs under their tails, they have now dropped them, and a lot of the smaller red claw have become a regular for- age for resident bass and yellowbelly.
The fish are spread out and have not con- centrated in one area yet, so it will pay to cover water slowly while trolling.
Bonies certainly aren’t the only forage species in the lake, and red claw appear to be number one on the menu at present.
When you do get a bite or a catch, it pays to troll around the area because you may find a concentration of fish that stay a while and keep biting.
The great thing about the bait scenario is that we have a few fishing options when it comes www.bnbfishing.com.au
For the casters, I would start the day fishing the rocky out- crops and points of the dam with a skirted jig,
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, December 2020 – Page 81
moving between differ-