Gary’s Marine Centre

The dam has fished reasonably well for this time of year. As expected, the fish have been responding to a mixed bag of tricks. Spoons have been taking their share of fish but once they wise up to your presence they can be hard to fool. Constantly moving and rotating areas is the key to keeping the bites flowing. Spectre Vibration Jigs worked very well last month but the action on these should start to slow down considerably. Still it would be worth a drift or long line over any good schools. The 5/8oz model in darker colours will get the bites. Deep cranks, such as the Rapala DT20 and Imakatsu IK800 can also be used with extra-long casts or long lining. Unlike diving lures which are trolled, these deep divers can be cranked down to the bottom and fished in a stop/start motion back to the boat. It is the mixture of the ploughing action into the bottom and the pauses between them that triggers bites from stubborn fish. Both the Spectres and deep cranks will be effective on the large model bass, which seem to like holding a little shallower and close to the bottom.

There is a good chance bass schools will move about in winter. Schools will be common around the Pelican Point area this month but as it gets colder and the water becomes isothermic they will have free range to explore the water column and move into new areas. I don’t think I’d bother venturing too far from the area between

Beams Creek and Bay 13 when searching this month. Smack bang in the middle, both North and South Pelican Point have been very reliable.

MAROON

CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, RATHDOWNEY

The cooler water temperatures in Maroon will create change in bass habits. They will be more responsive to jerkbaits, soft plastics and spoons. Chatterbaits and topwater, which usually perform so well, will slow down as the fish get used to the cooling temperature.

There were some good catches by anglers thinking a little differently last month. Quality bass were taken from the deeper trees on suspending jerkbaits. Deeper lures like the OSP Power Dunk SP 57 work well in this environment. On the edges, fish numbers will increase and an assortment of jerkbaits can be used. Jackall Squirrel 67, Halco TB55, Samaki Redic DS60 and Rapala Jack Deep 7cm are some of the trusted and readily available offerings.

Schools can still be found and these fish can be caught on soft plastics and smaller sized spoons and metal jigs. The area directly opposite the boat ramp, the points on the right as you head to the timber and just off the edges at the start of the timber will all be places worth searching for schooling fish.

MOOGERAH

CLOSEST TOWNS:

BOONAH, ARATULA

Moogerah is shaping up to be one of Queensland’s best bass lakes. Excellent numbers of fish are spread throughout the dam. The timbered area from the Moogerah Lake Houses Point to the Old Caravan Bay has held good numbers of fish. These bass have ranged from undersized to 50cm with plenty of mid 40s amongst them. It seems they are quite willing to take a range of lures. In the shallower water (3-7m), vibes, blades, crankbaits, chatterbaits and spoons have all scored fish. Out in around 10m, spoons and metal jigs standout when the fish form up into suspended schools.

I had a red hot session and boated 60 bass for the morning and at one point had gone 40 bass in 42 casts. The gun lure that day was a 30g Raptor Slow Fall Jig hopped high off the bottom.

More bass can be found up in the southern timber of Reynold Creek arm. Most of these bass are well out of the creek itself holding just after the 6 knot zone in deeper water (6-8m). Holding around the trees, the fish can be caught on suspending jerkbaits, vibes, lipless crankbaits, blades and spoons. The cooler water should also see them respond well to soft plastic paddle tails. There are still some big fish mixed in with these bass but most are 40cm or under.

Suspending jerkbaits should come into their own over the winter months. Bass will be found close to the timbered areas in both shallow and deep water. I am keen to have a crack at targeting them using live sonar when good weather conditions make lining them up easier.

• 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. It is recommended camping be booked at least a couple of weeks in advance and you can also organise your day use barcode for the gate with Lake Moogerah Caravan Park (07) 5540 5600.

I have a feeling the golden perch fishing will be okay this winter. The goldens seem quite comfortable living in 7-8m of water. At this depth they will be less influenced by sudden temperature drops and should cope well. The coldest periods may be tough but when the weather is most comfortable for us, the goldens should be willing to chew.

Fish can be found all over the dam with the northern arm, in front of the sailing club and between the pontoon and rock wall being some of the most

• 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. Frozen yabbies, lures and tackle can be purchased at Fish’n’Bits in Toowoomba.

LESLIE CLOSEST TOWN: WARWICK

The ridiculous golden perch fishing will slow down over winter. It seems the dam is full of smaller fish around 30-35cm long. These fish love the rocky structure but can also be found elsewhere. While it is colder, the fish may move a bit shallower and concentrate even more around rocky formations. A hot tip is to get on Google Maps and check out the

It hungry. The period through the middle of the day will be tougher as they tend to retreat to deeper water or hang closer to structure and ledges. Live sonar is being used on this lake by a select few but I think we’ll see a lot more cod fall victim to this technology over this winter period.

• 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.

COOLMUNDA

They should be up on the timbered flats and moving around. The dirty water makes it hard to get a bite but if you persist they are catchable. Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits give off a bit of extra flash and vibrations and are well suited to the coloured water. If winter helps the lake clean up, big swimbaits will be an option.

The last few months have produced plenty of smaller cod and a few good runs of golden perch. Now, it is time to focus on the big fish. Murray cod will be feeding up prior to spawning and moving about as they check out potential breeding sites.

From the hours of darkness to mid-morning, the big cod will roam around holding quite shallow in the water column.

June is still early in the season and most fish won’t be shy of boats and lures. It’s therefore a great topwater month. Snakes, lizards, budgies and walkers are the right style of big noisy surface lures to be throwing. Big swimbaits that move plenty of water would be next on my list of lures to try. It will be a different game to previous years with almost triple the surface area and many more kilometres of shoreline to explore.

productive areas. Fishing with frozen saltwater yabbies and live shrimp is the only way to go if you are a bait soaker. Lure fishers will struggle unless they fish with small blades. The assist hooks on the ZX40 blades are perfect and seem to attract and convert more bites.

GLADSTONE

A little further north than the other lakes I’ve covered this month, Awoonga will be still holding its core water temperature due to the warmer days. When the weather blesses us with warmth the barra will be willing to bite. Cold snaps will see the action die down especially in the early mornings. This is a good time of year to sleep in and head to the dam after lunch and fish into the first few hours of darkness.

The tall weed edges will make it tougher to sound up fish this winter. While a few will be wandering the open water where they can be targeted with soft plastics, many will be upper half of the dam. The satellite image shows the lake very low and you can easily spot all the bigger rocks. The action may be slower but bait fishing with shrimp and frozen saltwater yabbies or jigging blades and small vibes will keep them biting even over the coldest months.

Leslie Dam will produce some quality Murray cod this winter. Anglers will be able to venture shallower in their search and throw big swimbaits onto the flats or around the rocky outcrops. Cod should be out searching for a feed early in the morning and this is the ideal time to find them active and back up in the weed. Inside the weed, will be pockets of warmer water to attract the fish. Exploring the weed formations to find slightly deeper pockets in the weed where warmth will be trapped could be the key to finding fish. It really is a matter of exploring heaps of water when you can’t sound them up and you need to do this with stealth.

The dirty water of Coolmunda has produced a few fish on lures. The golden perch are tough but some fish are being caught by lure fishers up in the cleaner waters of the MacIntyre Brook. Hardbodies did the trick last month but you may need to switch to blades and vibes fished vertically to get the winter bites.

The barra can be very spooky over winter. At times they will be very shallow and exposed as they soak up the sun’s rays. Any banging noises in the boat, electric motors or even the splashdown of a lure can spook them. Once fish are aware of your presence you may as well forget it and try again later. Long casts and stealth are the key. Weedless or lightly weighted plastics are a good winter option. A suspending hardbody can also do the trick if fish are spotted in more open areas. Longer pauses get the bites.

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

Murray cod are worth a crack and can be caught in 2-5m of water over winter.