Gary’s Marine Centre

6am to 8pm.

CLOSEST TOWNS: ESK, KILCOY Somerset has fished reasonably well over the past month. In typical Somerset fashion, the fish are in the mood some days and really tough to entice on others. Smaller bass have been quite common, and the bigger fish are harder to locate and fool. The southern side of Pelican Point has been one of the most reliable areas for better quality fish over 45cm long. The northern ledge at Pelican has also held big numbers of fish at times. There can also be a number of other fishy banks and points within sight of these two areas, as the fish move around quite a bit.

When searching for fish, the clutter on the sounder (which is most likely algae or daphnia) has been really thick in places. At times, it almost blacks out the bottom on the main fish-holding areas, and this either forces the fish away from the area or into shallower or deeper water. Usually you will find them above the clutter line, with smaller fish suspending and quality ones sitting tight to the bottom. This sounder clutter will start to fade off and will eventually disappear as we move into the colder months.

When you stumble across suspended bass, there is a good chance they will take spoons, blades and tail spinners. They are also pretty keen on Spectre Vibration Jigs, provided you fish them up high enough off the bottom.

The better quality bass, which are likely to be in 6-7 metres of water and close to the bottom, are fussier about lure presentation. Spectre Vibration jigs in darker colours or deep diving crankbaits will be the best choices for lure casting.

When the boat is stationary, the fish can be too smart and refuse to bite. I love the windy days where the boat drifts quickly over them and the drift can be used to help drag the lures through fish while winding the reel and dropping back to bottom. On the still days, you can use your electric motor to move the boat along while winding and dropping back the lures.

Another option, which works well with crankbaits and chatterbaits, is to long line. When you spot the start of a school, cast the lure over them and then just keep driving until you run out of line or the school stops. When you pull the lure back in over this distance, you can fool the fish into biting. Bear in mind that with so much line out, the vibration of lures transmitting back to the rod and reel is reduced, so it will feel a little different.

MAROON

CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, RATHDOWNEY

The shallow water and topwater bite has been a bit quiet over the last couple of months. With shorter days starting to creep back in, the bite should improve, especially if water surface temperatures drop a bit. Surface lures at first and last light should pull bass of mixed size. Try to fish areas which are protected from the wind. The more affected the water, the noisier/splashier the presentation can be.

The edges of the lake will produce bass and the occasional golden perch when using jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, beetle spins and chatterbaits. The edge bite can slow down through the brighter parts of the day, and you will need to move out deeper and work lures through the schooling bass. These fish go crazy for small bladed chatterbaits or the clear bladed Spectre. Casting and trolling are both effective, and hard bodies can also work well when trolled. The bite should continue for the rest of the month before a transition time begins where the fish will prefer less noisy and flashy offerings.

MOOGERAH

CLOSEST TOWNS: BOONAH, ARATULA

Moogerah has given a taste of the great fishing on offer over the past month. Schools of bass and the occasional golden perch have been chewing well, provided you can find them. The bass have been holding in big schools at times in deeper water. These fish have been very mobile and can take some finding. They will usually sit wide on the major points in 7-10 metres of water. There have been at least a couple of these big schools, and when they bunch up there are hundreds of fish together.

There have also been smaller schools, which are less mobile. These fish are also holding around points but in shallower water. Make sure you look in 4-6 metres of water for these fish as at times they can be better quality than the suspending fish out deeper.

Despite there being several schools about, you can still dedicate hours to sounding and finding them. Time spent looking will be rewarded with plenty of numbers boated once they are found. I was amazed at how well the schooling fish could be monitored using live sonar to follow their movements and deliver lures to the best numbers.

The bass have responded well to a mix of lures, but they do seem to have specific bite times. When they are ready to chew they will take spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, crankbaits and blades. Other lures are getting the bites as well, but they aren’t receiving the same amount of interest.

• 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 that camping be booked at least a couple of weeks in advance. You can contact Lake Moogerah Caravan Park on (07) 5540 5600.

The golden perch action has continued at Cooby Dam. Live shrimp are the most successful, but quite a few fish are falling to lures. A lot of the action has been in 6-9 metres of water where the fish spend most of the time close to the bottom.

There have been different areas around the dam where the fish lift up higher, and these are the areas where trolling is most successful. Lure trollers have done well on deep diving lures which can track close to the bottom in 6-9 metres. The Cooby Cobba is a favourite with the locals. At times the fish will lift higher and be positioned midwater where they are suckers for trolled TN60 Jackalls.

When trolled lures fail, it is likely the fish are tight

AWOONGA CLOSEST TOWNS:

BENARABY, GLADSTONE

Awoonga barra have been tough to tempt over the summer months. The fish are hard to find, and I can only guess they are hiding in the weed beds and scattered out in deep water. The nighttime has seen the barra more actively cruising outside the weed beds, and anglers are able to choses a spot and just keep casting. It’s recommended to spend time looking at the weedy points and for weed corridors for the fish to move through. The area around Dingo Island has been quite productive.

When the fish are tough to find, it is a good time to try a different approach and to the bottom. There is still quite a bit of submerged structure in the dam from when it rose and covered the grass and bushes last year. The goldens love this dead vegetation and hide down in it. Vertically jigging or short casts followed by hops along the bottom around the boat with ZX40 blades will get these fish to bite. If you keep your braided main line over 8lb and fish 12-14lb leader, lure losses will be minimal as you can tear them out or break off the dead vegetation.

The fish are still spread out through the whole dam, with some areas holding better numbers. You can catch fish close to the boat ramp out in front of the sailing club or be more adventurous if you have the muscles to paddle or the battery power to electric further afield.

Cooby is open to paddle and electric motor powered craft. The gates are open go searching for them by fishing a lot of likely areas.

Punching boats through the weed to find open pockets, or finding weed beds just below the surface with deeper pockets, puts you in the ideal ambush zone. This weed requires a weedless hook setup to fish it effectively.

In deeper areas you can run weighted worm hooks in paddle tail plastics and fish them down through the tips of the weed. Where the weed is almost to the surface you may need to go to a weedless rigged soft plastic frog with little or no weight. Probing the weed beds with these setups can be effective during the day.

Where you find broken weed edges, a jighead rigged plastic can be used. It is best to go searching for from 6am-8pm until April. Shrimp can be gathered at the dam around the edges near the car park closest to the pontoon, and walking

Golden perch may slow down a bit on trolled lures this month. They will still be keen on hopped and jigged offerings. tracks to the rock wall. Frozen yabbies are also a good bait and can be purchased at Fish’n’Bits in Toowoomba.

LESLIE CLOSEST

TOWN: WARWICK these areas when the sun is overhead offering the best visibility. A lighter jighead rigged soft plastic around 1/4oz can be fished through these areas without fouling too much. It doesn’t hurt to hop or rip the lure out of the weed as it can trigger a bite. A suspending hard body twitched through the same weed breaks may also get a bite.

Your sounder may also find submerged weed beds which are 2-3 metres below the surface. These locations are perfect for heavier swimbaits. Molix 120 and 140 and Zerek 5.5” Live Mullet are ideal for burning over the tops of the weed. Use long casts and fish the lure fast enough to keep it just above the weed tops. If slow retrieves don’t work, increase the lure weight and wind faster. This will cover more water and hopefully trigger a reaction bite from fish waiting to ambush prey.

• 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, self-contained cabins each with its own veranda. To

It will be another good month for chasing golden book in a stay give Mark or Lyn a call on (07) 49750033. CALLIDE CLOSEST TOWN: BILOELA perch at Leslie. The fish will start to slow down a little on trolled offerings, but hopped blades and vibes will continue to produce. The mouth of Sandy Creek has been one of the most fished spots, but reports are coming from all around the dam with plenty of double figure tallies.

The barra fishing at Callide is still hard work. There have been fish caught but big numbers in a session are very rare. Most have been in the 100-110cm size bracket. More fish have moved to the middle of the dam where they roam around and are harder to find and keep track of. The area around Pelican Point has been producing most of the fish. Make sure you sound around in the trees lining the creek edges, and if fish are there work them with hardbodies like Jackall Squirrels and Samiki Redics.

There is a good chance of finding deeper fish out in the middle of the creek.

Murray cod numbers are low at the moment, with only the occasional one being caught. Bait fishers using worms have been scoring silver perch around the shoreline, and also stand a chance of hooking a golden perch.

Frozen saltwater yabbies are a good bait for the boat and kayak fishers to drop straight over the side and fish on a tighter line.

• 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.

When they are higher (0-3m) in the water column they are more active and likely to take trolled and cast plastics. Trolling diving lures to suit the depth of the fish can also pay off. Again, the shallower fish are more active but if there are none up high you have no choice but to send lures right down to them in the hope of fooling one.

• 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.