Page 79 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing mag

Winter gold makes the effort worthwhile
Sunny, calm days tend to yield better results on cold water golden than windy days, so study- ing the weather forecast when planning will help
The other end of the spectrum is this well-coloured fish from Lake Coolmunda, yet another victim of the ever-reliable 80mm Boomerang.
This chunky golden that fell to an 80mm Boomerang exhibited the typical colouration of winter fish from deep water.
* from P78
Thrashing the water
species – golden perch. During warmer months these fish, especially the larger models, tend to focus on crustaceans as their
In Queensland’s west- ern lakes, fish prefer- ence tends to lean to- wards bright colours with yellow and fluoro green being reliable on most days.
your success rate.
Dust off those
to a foam with uncount- able casts in several of my most productive spots around the lake yielded one big barra for me about fifteen minutes into the trip, right before the weather turned nasty – but no other joy.
primary food source. In winter, with crayfish and shrimp being in short supply, the fish are forced to switch to other protein supplies and will actively seek out concentrations of
freshwater lures, don the beanie and jacket, and see if you too can strike gold.
Well into the night on our last evening, I com- mented to Kev that the shallows on the upper reaches of the lake may be holding some tem- perature due to solar warming during clear days, so we opted to go exploring.
baitfish.
Those baitfish will of-
Lakes on the eastern side of the range, into which golden have been translocated, can yield good results on darker lures especially during colder months.
Once again, the sounder told the story with a couple of de- grees higher surface temperature on the shallow flats.
In recent weeks we’ve been experiencing good results by trolling where thosethermoclinescome close to the lakebed.
Being cold-blooded, golden perch won’t be as active in low water temperatures, therefore don’t need to feed as often as they do in sum- mer.
Strikes were forth- coming almost imme- diately, and though the air temperature had us donning raincoats and wrapping rags around our hands to stave off hypothermia, Kev did land his forty-plus barramundi well after midnight in about two metres of snag strewn water.
That isn’t always along the shoreline, with sunken mid-lake hilltops and ridges being hotspots in some lakes.
This means a smaller bite window is normal, often during late morn- ing, and may only last for a few hours.
ten be found in aggre- gations on thermoclines in deepwater lakes and naturally, hungry gold- ens will follow.
Black with a silver scale pattern and all purple have both earned a place on the top tray of my tackle box for this time of year.
Anglers can take advantage of the gregarious nature of golden perch, which show them holding and feeding in groups.
DAM LEVELS
CURRENT AS OF 15/6/2020
DAMS PERCENTAGE
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
Atkinson 66555
Awoonga Bjelke-Petersen * Boondooma *
Borumba *
Burdekin Falls *
Callide *
Cania *
Coolmunda *
Dyer/Bill Gunn *
Eungella *
Fairbairn *
Glenlyon *
Hinze
Julius
Kinchant *
Leslie *
Macdonald
Maroon * Monduran/Fred Haigh * Moogerah *
North Pine/Samsonvale * Peter Faust/Proserpine * Somerset *
Teemburra *
Tinaroo*
Toonumbar
Wivenhoe *
Wuruma *
Wyaralong
68 70 69 66 66
21 25
23 20 18 37 36 35 99 97 96 98 94 95 32 30 30 53 52 50 31 29 29
34 38 101 100 103 106
32 33 56 56 30 33
9 4 86 90 17 18
3 3 3 89 88 88 16 14 13 14 5 13 99 96 95 96 92 91 82 85 86 14 13 13
9 14 100 101 100 100
59 77
12 14 103 104 61 61 62 63 38 39 67 69 68 72 78 83 89 98 67 72 62 69 51 53 64 63 101 99
101 100 100 60 58 57 61 60 59 36 32 30 62 64 62 70 68 68 80 79 78 99 99 99 74 73 72 69 66 66 52 50 49 62 61 60 98 96 96
For updates on dams, visit sunwater.com.au or seqwater.com.au
*This symbol indicates that a Stocked Impoundment Permit is required to sh these dams.
If I ever get around to writing a book of angling memoirs, that epic outing is worthy of a chapter on its own.
By marking the precise location of a hook-up, thoroughly covering the immediate area by either casting or trolling will often result in more fish being encountered.
I digress however... from those paragraphs a few key points can be noted.
We tend to find winter golden in depths ranging from 5m right down to 9m or so, depending on the depth of the thermocline.
Shallow water warms more quickly in winter. If breezes are gen- tle, the sun-warmed surface water will be blown to the downwind
One could get into numerous debates about lure colour for any species and golden perch are no exception.
side of the lake.
During winter, water
Most of us tend to have a few favourite patterns and after half a century of throwing lures into Queensland freshwater, I have those I clip on from habit sometimes differing by location.
that is warmer by a few degrees will concen- trate bait and predatory fish, so is worth seek- ing out.
Back to our target
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, July 2020 – Page 79
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