Gary’s Marine Centre

If you are prepared to fish bait or small blades you’ll be able to keep catch Cooby golden perch over the cold months. The warmer periods and nicer days will fish better than any cold, windy snaps of weather so try to time your trip.

Most action is likely to continue in deeper water around 6-9m deep. Sounding in this depth you’ll find a lot of drowned sticky bushes and the golden perch love to hang around this. Frozen saltwater yabbies and live shrimp are the best baits and should be fished directly below the boat on an almost tight line to help with bite detection. When luring, the ZX40 blade is hard to beat. Small casts or vertical presentations around the boat will see the best results. I like to run at least 12lb leader and 8lb main line to ensure I can break the lure free of the sticky vegetation. Move often when luring as the fish seem to wise up to the presentation quickly. A small move to fresh fish is all that

AWOONGA

CLOSEST TOWNS:

BENARABY, GLADSTONE

I have a feeling it is going to be a pretty good month for a barra session or two at Awoonga. The cooling weather should see the action fire up as the fish sense winter coming on.

The shallow weed and lilies will produce fish on topwater offering like surface lures and soft plastic frogs. These fish take some finding so be prepared to put in the time and explore different sections of the lake.

Out on the weed edges and in deeper weed pockets, the fish will feed late in the afternoon and through the night. Weed patrolling barra may increase in numbers as more open water fish return to the weed edges as water temperatures cool. Paddle tail soft plastics rigged on suitable jigheads or swimbaits, like the Molix Shad, Barambah Bony Shad and Zerek Live Mullet are all worth swimming. It pays to mix it up with different lure weights to see where the barra are feeding best.

• 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 is needed once bites stop. • Cooby is open to paddle and electric motor powered craft. The gates winter hours are back in. They are open from 7am-6pm until September. Shrimp can be gathered at the dam around the edges near the car park closest to the pontoon and walking tracks to the rock wall but will be a bit harder to come by now it is cold. Frozen yabbies are also a good bait and can be purchased at Fish’n’Bits in Toowoomba.

TOWN: WARWICK

Golden perch have been thick at Leslie so far this year. A lot of these fish are smaller and just over the legal size of 30cm but there are some quality ones mixed in. Trolled lures will slow down as the water continues to cool. Blades, live shrimp and saltwater yabbies will be more productive. Look for fish around structure in 5-7m of water. Big schools of goldens will hold around the bigger submerged rocks. A quick look on Google Maps will soon reveal where some of the best areas are as the satellite images were taken 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. when the lake was very low.

• 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, selfcontained cabins each with its own veranda. To book in a stay give Mark or Lyn a call on (07) 49750033.

When golden schools are found, you can park the boat right on top of them. The ZX40 blade has been a standout lure. Hopping these under the boat or using shorter casts will keep the lure in the zone and help prevent snagging.

Murray cod numbers should increase as the fish start to make their way into shallower water. The rocky shorelines will be good fish holding areas but the bigger fish will cruise around on the nearby open flats as well. Water clarity is quite good. This means big swimbaits will give you a chance of hooking one of the lakes quality cod. During the day, the cod are likely to fall back into deeper water around structure. Faster sinking lures like spinnerbaits and chatterbaits are more suitable here. Trolling on electric motors with spinnerbaits or hard bodies may get a few bites if the cod aren’t too easily spooked.

• 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.

INGLEWOOD

It is great to hear a few positive reports starting to filter through from Coolmunda Dam. Murray cod and golden perch were caught over the last couple of months on lures. If the rain and runoff stays away the dam should really clear up more over the cold winter months.

Cod will be the main target as the goldens get hard to tempt unless you use live shrimp and saltwater yabbies. Murray cod will be found around the timbered areas of the lake where they spend most of their time on the shallower flats. Look for water 2-4m deep with plenty of standing or hidden fallen timber. While the water is still coloured, it will be hard to go past big bladed spinnerbaits. Lures with 5/8 to 1oz of weight are best in this depth provided they are fished on heavier tackle (30-50lb braid) to keep them tracking at a good depth.