Harro’s Report January 2012
Welcome to the 2012 Lake and Fishing report.
This will be a monthly feature that will appear here mid-month. That time slot offers the best of both worlds: catches and happenings for the first two weeks and forecasts and predictions that will help those planning to wet a line.
The year just passed was a tough one for fishing. First there was the rain event from last summer which saw many fish go over the spillway…but not as many as some pundits reckon. A recent electro-fish survey confirmed that plenty stayed behind. Sonar returns from the deep water confirm that data. Barra produce a strong and easily recognised signal. Sonar travels through most mediums but not so well through air or vacuum; a Barra swim bladder contains both.
And since January 2011, some 200,000 barra fingerlings have been released with a massive 500,000 infusion planned for this year.
The enlarged Lake basin changed the heat dynamic.Awoonga filled for the first time, an event taking fisherfolk into uncharted waters, so to speak. The activity levels of lake living barramundi are irrevocably linked with water temperatures.
Up until the Christmas just passed, temps in the main basin were still hovering around 25c.
The good news is that they have shot up since then. The rise through 28c has seen fish come on the chew. These include goodly numbers of 50-70cm juveniles. A legal length of 60cms applies to Barramundi which reach the magic metre mark in four years. Apart from being the most scenic of Queensland’s Barra belt lakes, Awoonga is the most food rich. Besides thousand’s of Barra, the bony bream and other bait-fish bio-masses feed incalculable number of cormorants and pelicans.
My most recent charter, on Friday the 13th , by the way was with two Brisbane brothers staying at the park. Surnames escape me but it was pretty hard to forget christian names of Tom and George. They had at least 15 strikes flicking Berkley Hollow Belly soft plastics (available at the Kiosk along with a full range of quality Barra gear priced to sell)
The best fishing is currently in sheltered bays but that will soon spread to the main basin where trolling is so productive.
Predictions / patterns ? Barring a major rain event between now and Easter, we could see, fishing-wise, an Indian Summer. The river between the spillway and highway is firing. In anticipation of another fill, the dam is currently discharging heavily. The Barra are responding to the flow and have moved upstream. The Boyne River would be a good place at present for that trophy fish, but for the closed season. It will be lifted Feb 1st. The act of removing a fish from the water is ample to get one booked for “possession”.
More news when we catch up next month.
Meantime, stay safe. HARRO.
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