Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
It has been a tumultuous start to the barramundi season on Lake Monduran, with inconsistent weather through spring making the fishing quite tough generally.
Now, in the midst of the hottest months of the year, the barra start to spread out through deeper areas of the dam.
For the average angler, this can make them very hard to find.
Like any wild animal, barramundi are heavily influenced by the environment they live in.
Being a northern species, they are accustomed to a warmer temperature.
However, the landlocked nature of a lake enables the water temperature to get higher than that of a tidal waterway they have adapted to live in.
As the water temperature surpasses that of what they are comfortable with, they will naturally seek out a cooler and more stable alternative.
This in a way is the same reason you will often find barramundi sitting very close to the bottom, particularly as the surface water temperature rises and falls quickly.
Barramundi are always seeking stability and the deeper in the water column they go, the more stable the temperature.
The following areas are great places to start looking throughout summer, particularly as the water temperature surpasses about 29C in the morning.
Treetops
Any treetop in deep water can be a great place to start looking, particularly early morning in summer. Generally, I’ve had luck fishing trees in the 6-12m range on the edge of creek beds.
You can use any crank bait or soft plastic for this scenario, but the key is to ensure your lure is getting down to the depth of the fish. A good fish finder – such as the Humminbird Helix 12, which I use – is essential to knowing where and how deep these fish are sitting.
Shallow flats close to deep water
Though a bit harder to find now that the lake is over 100 percent capacity, these spots allow fish to move in quickly to feed and then retreat easily back to deeper water. A good place to start looking for these areas is on the edge of the old creeks.
