THE days are getting shorter and you can expect a burst of activity from the bass and goldens as they move off their shallow grounds and head out to their deep haunts for the winter; this, of course, depends on temperatures, water levels, etc. So far this season we haven’t had big flood waters which flow over the dams and take our fish with them, but the season is not over yet.
EXPERIMENTS
The permit system is supposed to come in around sometime in July and should see the start of some boom years in our freshwater impoundments. The stocking committees should have plenty of money to play around with exotics such as saratoga and maybe jacks. Heaven knows, we might be casting and trolling 6” minnows and ounce spinnerbaits on 30lb lines in a few years.
There are also experiments into breeding natives twice a year by artificially giving them two summers in the one year. Soon we will have bass, yellowbelly, silvers and cod hanging out of our ears.
It would be interesting to see fish such as saras in Maroon, where they are not native but can’t escape, and so they shouldn’t affect the river ecology. Would mangrove jacks be a proposition in Moogerah or Somerset, considering if they did escape they would only head down the river to where they came from?
Some interesting things could happen with a bit of extra cash, such as bonies and gar in places, such as Maroon, for food fish. And what about sooties somewhere they can’t escape from? We still have to get over the escaping fish scenario first. (Any suggestions?) Heady times for the Fresh MACs and QFMA, I suppose.
PERMITS
Some of the comments people are making about not fishing the dams once they have to pay are probably first reactions to change, but I think if they stand back and look at what we will have in a few years, attitudes will change. The thing that sticks out is the fact that a lot of people who have worked really hard for many years to get fish in the dams will have to pay. Maybe there should be free permits for stocking committee workers, or something similar, as a show of appreciation.
A GREAT MONTH
I reckon we’re in for a great month of fishing in our lakes in April because it seems like we may have an early winter, so the natives should be starting to school and feed. Early indications in Maroon are that the fish have already started to move off the weed beds. The best way to target these fish depends entirely on the day and the mood of the fish, but you'd better take all the options – plastics, jigs, spinnerbaits, tailspinners and fly – because it can mean the difference between a big catch and zilch.
Thirty legal bass in a couple of hours isn’t unusual in Maroon at the time of writing. I never thought I’d see the day when plastics would out fish all else, but it happens. There are days when a bass won’t even look at a buzzing blade or wobbling lure but will scoff a silent presentation.
In Moogerah, because of the dirty water, the last couple of months have been ordinary by its standards, but I think we may see some real action this month, especially if we don’t get big rains. Spinnerbaits, fly, plastics and trolling will all produce big bass and goldens. Another 30lb+ cod has been caught, reportedly from the gorge, photographed and released by Rory Bruce. Well done Rory!
In the Hinze there’s been some good catches on deep fly and spinnerbaits as well as shrimp. A few saratoga were caught up the top of the dam on surface fly. Most of the bass are in the 20 to 35cm size.
Interested in a fishing experience on the dams? I should have a new boat by the time you read this, a five-metre job all decked out with everything that opens and shuts – the fish won’t know me. The cod will still be on the chew in the ranges, so give me a call on (07) 5541 2996 or 0407 596 814, or email greenfish@ globalfreeway. com.au