{"id":227281,"date":"2019-01-30T21:13:35","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T11:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=227281"},"modified":"2020-07-24T19:07:29","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T09:07:29","slug":"summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Fishing In The South Burnett"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Matthew Langford with a Monster Bass from Lake Boondooma caught on a spoon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

January 30, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Matthew Langford<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Christmas and New Year crowds have dispersed but the fishing has remained consistent and despite the low water levels, both South Burnett dams are fishing well.<\/p>\n

Boondooma is producing some big quality Bass and Golden Perch, while BP Dam is producing large numbers of fish of varying species.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re thinking of coming for a fish, it\u2019s hard to go wrong if you follow the report below.<\/p>\n

The South Burnett is the place to be for some fantastic freshwater fishing!<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lake Boondooma<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The dam is beautiful early in the morning and there\u2019s plenty of wildlife to enjoy. <\/strong><\/p>\n

With the summer bite patterns continuing, it makes for some exciting fishing on Lake Boondooma, particularly later in the day as the water temperatures really warm up.<\/p>\n

Lately the trend has been to fish the timbers of the Boyne or Stuart arm early with 5\/8 Bassman spinnerbaits or lipless cranks in the morning.<\/p>\n

During the afternoon, target the deeper sections of the dam up near the dam wall and rocky edges with 1\/2 ounce rigged Eco gear power shads or Norries Wasabi Spoons or Spinnerbaits.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m fishing Boondooma during the summer months, I\u2019ll start in the timber early in the morning as the fish are in amongst the trees looking for an easy meal from passing Bonies.<\/p>\n

In the arms, the fish are holding very close to structure and you\u2019ll need to get your lures in as close as you can to get a bite.<\/p>\n

Look for spindly timber – but trust me, there\u2019s a lot of it!<\/p>\n

Lures of choice for this scenario are 5\/8 or 3\/8 Bassman Spinner baits and any sinking lipless Crank bait.<\/p>\n

Give your lure up to 5 seconds to sink down to 10\u201315 feet and start a slow wind.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to make sure that you have a lure retriever with you as you’ll get snagged on the trees occasionally – but if you\u2019re getting snagged you know you\u2019re in the thick of it.<\/p>\n

Keep moving from tree to tree or structure to structure and persist as your lure will be eaten eventually by a hungry fish.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Bill Hall with the rewards of a great session in the deep water at Boondooma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the afternoon, the fish tend to bite better in the open water when it heats up. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found the fish move deeper into the timber as the day progresses, so finding the fish in the deeper water is easier to target.<\/p>\n

To find fish in deep water, I\u2019ll use my sounder to sound the fish sitting in that optimal depth of 15 to 25 feet.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m happy I\u2019ve found a good concentration of fish, I will pull up and begin casting 3\u201d to 4\u201d soft plastics rigged with a 1\/2 ounce head or 18 Gram Norries Wasabi Spoons.<\/p>\n

With a big long cast over the areas where I\u2019ve found the fish, I will let the jig head or spoon, sink 7 to 10 seconds and begin a slow retrieve back to the boat with a couple of twitches mixed in.<\/p>\n

Continue this technique until you start to feel a few taps on the plastic or spoon.<\/p>\n

When you feel a tap it’s important to keep that slow wind going (without striking) until you feel weight on the line, then slowly lift the rod tip until you feel the weight of the fish.<\/p>\n

At this point the fish will know its hooked and will make some great runs back down into the deeper water.<\/p>\n

Keep your drag fairly loose so that the hook doesn\u2019t pull on the way back to the boat<\/p>\n

Trollers are picking up some great Bass and Yellow Belly trolling around the deeper sections of the dam, targeting those suspended fish.<\/p>\n

Make sure to have plenty of deep divers handy, lures that dive 15 to 20 feet will be the ones that get you onto consistent fish.<\/p>\n

Bait fisherman are consistently getting amongst a mixed bag of fish up in the timbered arms of the dam using worms and fresh shrimp.<\/p>\n

It may even pay to move to the main basin and let your bait suspend under the boat in that 15 to 25 foot range.<\/p>\n

Drifting with the wind is a great way to cover water with your bait under the boat.<\/p>\n

Eventually it will cross paths with a hungry fish or two.<\/p>\n

Red claw numbers are also starting to pick up with some real big ones amongst them, so make sure your pack the opera houses if you\u2019re coming out for a day or two.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
This nice Bass came unstuck when we were fishing in open water<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lake Barambah<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

If you’re keen on trolling then I can suggest trolling lightly weighted spinnerbaits, 3\/8 blades or any deep diving hard body from boat ramp to boat ramp. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Early in the day, I\u2019ve been casting soft plastics with a lot of success out in the open water of the dam.<\/p>\n

The bait is thick and high in the water column, so the Bass are sitting below them and coming up to feed.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll use a 1\/2 ounce jig head with a 3\u201d soft plastic and cast over the open water.<\/p>\n

Let it sink for 3 seconds, then begin a reasonably fast wind.<\/p>\n

The Bass will tap at the lure so it’s important to remain patient and not strike until the fish has a firm grasp on the lure.<\/p>\n

This has been our most successful method of fishing of late.<\/p>\n

When the sun’s higher in the sky I\u2019ve found that the Bass move out onto the deeper flats so you should, too.<\/p>\n

Long casts, letting the plastic sink to the bottom and using a burn and kill retrieve is the key to getting the fish to hit the lure hard.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Members of the Bjelke-Petersen Dam Fish Stocking Associastion and some eager young helpers release Yellowbelly fingerlings into Lake Barambah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fish Stocking<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The fish stocking for both dams is still very much alive and well with another massive stock of Yellowbelly put into Bjelke-Petersen dam over the Australia Day weekend.<\/strong><\/p>\n

56,000 Yellowbelly were released into the dam, a great boost for fishing in the South Burnett.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s wonderful to see our fish stocking associations working hard to make this happen, because without them we wouldn\u2019t get to catch the fish we really love chasing.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fishing Charters<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t forget that you can book a fishing charter with me on BP and Boondooma dams and many other dams in Queensland. <\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like a great day out and all the info and knowledge to catch Bass, Yellow Belly or Saratoga in our great dams, make sure you give me a call on 0408-658-592 and I\u2019ll be happy to take you out for a great day’s fishing.<\/p>\n

You can also check out our website on www.australianfreshwaterfishing.com<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Until next month, tight lines and bent rods!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Footnote:<\/strong> southburnett.com.au would like to congratulate our fishing columnist Matthew Langford for being nominated as Senior Sportsperson Of The Year in the South Burnett’s 2018 Australia Day Awards.<\/p>\n

[Photos: Matthew Langford]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Christmas and New Year crowds have dispersed but the fishing has remained consistent and despite the low water levels, both South Burnett dams are fishing well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":227284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[421,3,6],"tags":[1153],"yoast_head":"\nSummer Fishing In The South Burnett - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Christmas and New Year crowds have dispersed but the fishing has remained consistent and despite the low water levels, both South Burnett dams are fishing well.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Summer Fishing In The South Burnett - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Christmas and New Year crowds have dispersed but the fishing has remained consistent and despite the low water levels, both South Burnett dams are fishing well.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-30T11:13:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-24T09:07:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/20190130fishing1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew Langford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthew Langford\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/\",\"name\":\"Summer Fishing In The South Burnett - southburnett.com.au\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-30T11:13:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-24T09:07:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1a55b1ed52d7896a4b4c0c89af8edf\"},\"description\":\"The Christmas and New Year crowds have dispersed but the fishing has remained consistent and despite the low water levels, both South Burnett dams are fishing well.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/\",\"name\":\"southburnett.com.au\",\"description\":\"Kingaroy and South Burnett News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1a55b1ed52d7896a4b4c0c89af8edf\",\"name\":\"Matthew Langford\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/matthew-langford\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Summer Fishing In The South Burnett - southburnett.com.au","description":"The Christmas and New Year crowds have dispersed but the fishing has remained consistent and despite the low water levels, both South Burnett dams are fishing well.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Summer Fishing In The South Burnett - southburnett.com.au","og_description":"The Christmas and New Year crowds have dispersed but the fishing has remained consistent and despite the low water levels, both South Burnett dams are fishing well.","og_url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/","og_site_name":"southburnett.com.au","article_published_time":"2019-01-30T11:13:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-24T09:07:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":385,"url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/20190130fishing1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Matthew Langford","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matthew Langford","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/","name":"Summer Fishing In The South Burnett - southburnett.com.au","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-01-30T11:13:35+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-24T09:07:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1a55b1ed52d7896a4b4c0c89af8edf"},"description":"The Christmas and New Year crowds have dispersed but the fishing has remained consistent and despite the low water levels, both South Burnett dams are fishing well.","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/01\/30\/summer-fishing-in-the-south-burnett\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/","name":"southburnett.com.au","description":"Kingaroy and South Burnett News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/2c1a55b1ed52d7896a4b4c0c89af8edf","name":"Matthew Langford","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/matthew-langford\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227281"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227281"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267042,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227281\/revisions\/267042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}