‘Matching the hatch’ a key to hooking good numbers
BOONDOOMA DAM
WITH the water temperature starting to come down the best fishing seems to be up on the edges as this is where the warmer water is and most of the bait sources can be found.
Matching the hatch is the famous saying meaning picking a bait or lure that the fish are eating and as the new weed beds form around the edges at Boondooma they are holding a lot of small bait fish and shrimp in the weeds.
For the lure angler, fishing small suspending hard bodies to the edges has worked really well.
Letting the lure pause while suspended a couple feet under the surface and using small twitching motions has seen a really good bite and a fun way to catch both bass and yellowbelly while for the bait angler live shrimp has been the best bait.
Other than the weed banks there has also been some good fishing up in the timber of both the Boyne and Stuart arms.
COOBY DAM
COOBY stays consistent with most anglers bagging a few nice yellowbelly each day.
There’s been no cricket scores but the average catch is four or five legal yellowbelly.
Most anglers are finding that saltwater yabbies are the best bet while the ZX Blades and live shrimp have also been said to have landed some good fish fishing out from the main weedy points on the north and eastern banks.
CRESSBROOK DAM
CRESSBROOK has been producing some good fish.
Anglers who regularly fish the lake have been rewarded with big bass and good numbers on all sorts of baits and lures.
Both edge and school fishing have been productive.
Casting small dark blades and spoons has worked well with both deep and shallow water fishing while the bait anglers have stuck with live shrimp and the landed-based anglers are using worms to catch a few catfish.
LAKE DYER
THIS is a very small lake with very low water levels but it can really produce some good fish.
Both bass and yellowbelly can be caught by land-based anglers and kayak fisherman.
You won’t get a boat in. The lake is very shallow apart from a big hole that is around 20ft.
This is the best place to target the fish jigging blades and using live shrimp is the best technique.
LESLIE DAM
THERE seems to be a certain year class of fingerlings that had a huge survival rate at Leslie and those fish are all around 28 centimetres.
The amount of small yellowbelly being landed is really good.
It’s showing a good future for Leslie, although most anglers are disappointed they are not landing the bigger fish.
It’s not because they aren’t there but the smaller fish are too aggressive to give the larger fish a chance.
Again saltwater yabbies have been the best bait along with live shrimp and
ZX Blades.
SALTWATER FISHING
THIS week lead me to the saltwater again with plenty of quality table fish getting around a lot of different areas from Moreton Bay, the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads.
There have been plenty of good snapper and jew being landed both inshore and offshore on shallow reefs and some off the main rock walls.
The beach fishos have started to see a few tailor coming through also and it’s only a matter of days before it gets a lot better with the offshore anglers finding tons of bait fish just off the coast.