Well if you are a freshwater fishing enthusiast then it is time to get very excited as the fishing in the dams, rivers and creeks is heating up.

SOMERSET DAM – Once again Somerset is most probably the pick of the impoundments at present with some thumping fish being taken throughout the dam. The area from Beams creek to Pelican point is still producing some good consistent catches for bait fishermen, trollers and lure fishermen. This area has been copping a lot of pressure over the past few months which has meant that the lure casters have found it increasingly difficult to catch fish. The key at the moment is to slow the retrieve right down to an absolute crawl and you will find that the hook up rate is more in your favour. Soft plastics have been working well in this area along with ice jigs. The trollers have been doing well in this area with catches of 30+ fish not being uncommon. Most people have fished this area in around 20 – 30 feet however fish a little deeper in 45 feet plus and the fish should be more condensed and active. Other areas that are housing strong concentrations of fish are Poly Point, The Spit, Out from Red Rock and Queen Street. All these locations are giving up good numbers of fish. The usual suspects will work on these fish such as blades, jigs, plastics, jackals and even spinner baits. Some very large specimens up to 59cm have been taken off Pelican Point in the last week and the concentration of fish along this flat has increased so this would be a great starting point. Most points in the dam are a good option especially if you do not have all the electronics to pinpoint schools exactly. Saratoga have been a regular catch for boys targeting yellas up in the timber. Lightly weighted spinnerbaits tossed into the shallows has been quite successful. I personally like using bright chartreuse colours when chasing toga as it seems to catch their eye.

BORUMBA DAM – Borumba has been hit and miss for a lot of anglers of late with some having a very productive day while others are catching only a few or none. The pleasing thing is that the weather in the area has been quite warm and humid which tends to fire up the fish and get them on the chew. There are a couple of areas that have been the got to spots in recent weeks depending on what species you are targeting. The junction of the creeks in the timber is still fishing well for bass and yellas with some thumping 55cm yellowbelly being caught quite regularly. Borumba creek has some concentrations of fish that can be targeted but they can be hard to locate at times in this area so take a look, throw a few lures around and then move on if you can’t locate any on your sounder. Head up into the Yabba or Kingham if you want some Toga as they are now starting to become active and more visible close to the surface in the shallows. They can be easy to spook as you are in such minimal water so try and keep away from the other boats to maximise your chances. Target the shallows where there is some cover such as timber, lilypads or weed and once again use lightly weighted spinner baits. If you can spot them close to the surface throw some surface lures around and have some great fun.

RIVERS AND CREEKS – One of the best options for freshwater fishermen at present is the rivers around the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. Massive numbers of bass are being caught along with plenty of yellas and some quality cod. During the week, 3 cod were caught in a 500m stretch of water in the Stanley River all reaching the 75cm mark. The bass in this system are generally on the smaller size but there are some better quality fish taken. All the yellow belly have been quality, reports are they are up and over the 50cm mark. Spinnerbaits have been the weapon of choice with darker colours being the most productive. The Mary River has been absolutely on fire with huge catches of bass being recorded and many of them over the 50cm mark. Cod are being caught fairly regularly and some huge yellowbelly up to 60cm. The reports are that it is uncommon to land any fish under the 40cm mark. The fish in the rivers at the moment are trying to get back to the fresh after spawning and they are waiting for a little more rain to assist them in getting there so they are sitting in the pools around structure just waiting. Get in there and enjoy yourselves, the fishing is red hot!

Hope this helps,

Brendan

SOMERSET DAM – The fishing at Somerset is still very good with some good catches of quality and quantity. There are 4 areas where there have been some consistent catches of fish. Firstly Poly Point has been productive using blades, soft plastics and ice jigs. The mouth of Beams creek and the northern bank that runs up to Pelican Point have been very productive as there is a large school of fish patrolling this area. They are in water from around 10 feet out to about 50 feet and they are responding well to soft plastics on 1/4oz and 3/8oz jigheads. What has worked in the last few weeks is punching out a long cast letting the plastic sink to the bottom then slowly rolling back to the boat and then about half way back open the bail arm and let it float back to the bottom. The fish have been smashing it on the drop. Blades, ice jigs and soft jackals have also been productive in this area. Another area of interest is the large 10m deep flat that runs out from the point of Kirkleagh. The fish here have begun to thin out however there are some small patches still being sounded in the area and ice jigs along with plastics have produced for the patient angler. A good way to fish this area is to troll a deep diving lure like a blitz baga or poltergeist as you will cover plenty of ground and increase your chances of locating fish. The last place that has been producing is the area near the power lines up in the timbered area of the dam. This time of year will see the schools begin to disperse and the fish start to head back up into sheltered areas such as the timber and rocky banks. We fished the powerline area last week hitting the slow sloping, timber and grassy banks using suspending lures such as jackal chubbys and squirrels. We cast to the bank gave the lure a few jerks to get it down in the water and then we would pause. After the pause we would give it a slight roll before pausing again. Most of the strikes happened after a pause.

BORUMBA DAM – Borumba’s fish are starting to head back up the creeks away from the main basin so it is time to think about starting in these areas. The key area at this point is the junction of the creeks in the timbered areas. There have been some good reports of fish being found, targeted and caught in this area using ice jigs and plastics (1/4oz & 3/8oz). As the weather warms up target the banks with spinner baits, jackals and plastics as the water is warmer in the shallows and the active fish are more likely to be in these areas eager to feed. Borumba is a great dam as it allows you to try many tactics and landscapes to get a capture. If the shallows are not working for you try hitting some of the steep rocky banks with plastics and suspending lures like chubbys, squirrles and 3B crankbaits as these have proven lethal at this time of year. Finally there have been reports of a few more Saratoga getting caught and seen lurking in the shallows. This is a great sign as the weather is only beginning to heat up which means as we head into summer the fishing should improve for these prehistoric fish.

LAKE MACDONALD – There have not been a lot of reports this fortnight from Macca’s but fish are still being caught in 2 key locations. The three ways have seen some nice bags being landed using soft jackals in a jigging motion close to the weed. The fish are starting to look for a bit of cover now so it is vital that the weed edges and pockets are targeted as this will provide you with the best opportunity to catch some fish. Bass point has also seen some fish being located and caught on blades mainly but plastics are a good option also in this area.

CREEKS/RIVERS – The Stanley River has been firing in the past few weeks with some massive hauls of fish being taken of multiple species. There are a few areas of this system that can be accessed by canoe or kayak. Near the Woodford bridge is one option and fish have been landed up from here and also near the Woodford jail is another good option. A friend recently put his kayak in at the jail and fished up from there. His haul for the day was near 40 bass, around 10 yellas and 1 Cod. The bass were on the smaller side but some reasonable fish were taken. The yellas were much larger with some cracking the 50cm mark. The Cod was only small but any Cod caught in a kayak on a lure is great fun.

Hope this helps,

Brendan

OFFSHORE – been a little quiet of late offshore but you tend to hear the odd fisho getting a good feed and others pulling up doughnuts. most people have had to move around somewhat to find a few fish here and there but make sure you burly up a bit on your spot to stir the fish up cause the bite period lately has been small. i seem to hear the guys heading out at night and putting the time in have been getting the best results. this week no doubt ive heard more fish being caught on the reefs. still the fish are spread out. the better snapper have been from the outer gneerings to murphys reefs. there has been snapper and sweetlip on the outer gneerings and at murphys reports of pearl perch, snapper and cobia. smaller snapper, pearlies and and sweetlip on the inner gneerings. snapper, pearl perch, cod and cobia on caloundra 12 mile.

ESTUARY – Some good tailor along kawana beach on low tide in the gutters on mac tuna fillets. along maroochy nth shore same thing but theres been dart aswell. good reports of whiting in the pumicestone passage and down the bottom end good bream, whiting and mud crabs. whiting, flathead and the odd trevally in currimundi lake. few bream off the rocks on the inside of mooloolah river. a couple of good jacks were caught at the mouth of petrie creek. trevally on the top of the tide from the mouth of maroochy to the motorway bridge. few flatties and jew near bli bli bridge. up in noosa river good trevally along the tewantin stretch and in the first ski run and diamond trevally in the woods bays.

dont forget we have 20% off all rods for the whole of october

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happy fishing…. ben

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SOMERSET DAM – Well this dam just continues to impress me with the way in which it can come back from adversity and once again produce some astonishing catches and amazing quality. Most freshwater fishermen were worried that the floods could have put a hault on their favourite pastime for a while longer as some dams have yet to recover from the natural disaster at the start of the year. Somerset has certainly recovered and the proof is in the pudding. In the last few weeks there have been a few large competitions on the dam where the ABT record books have been broken over and over again. In the last report I mentioned that the new ABT bass record is 3.53 kg, well this has been broken and now stands at an incredible 3.65kg. The quality in the dam is outstanding with fish up to and over 50cm becoming more the norm than the exception. On a family trip over the week we managed to bag some quality fish in the short periods we fished. In all we landed 5 fish over the 45cm mark with some just nudging the 50cm milestone and most of the other fish being between 40 and 45cm. There are 3 areas in the dam that are producing regular catches but 2 of these areas are not giving up the larger fish. The sticks in Queen Street are responding to ice jigs and blades that are being vertically jigged and the small island off Kirkleagh Point is firing with most fish being landed on blades and plastics. The trollers in this area are doing the better with more strikes and fish being landed than the cast and retrieve boys. The go to lure to troll is the RMG Poltergeist is purple diving to 8m. The fish here are in around 8-10m of water and are a bit patchy in their concentrations as this area has been hammered by bass pro’s, however there are still fish in this location.

By far the best place to target is the spit side of Pelican Point towards Beams creek. There is a huge school of fish here and the quality is unbelievable. They’re sitting right along this stretch of bank in anywhere between 7m to 13m of water. What we found was that in the morning we would start shallow and then slowly drift out into deeper water as the morning drew on. In the afternoon we would do the reverse with effective results in each session we had. The technique that was by far the best was to rig a smoke yellow core (Atomic) /Gary Glitter/Black Gold (Squidgy) or the Keitech plastics on a 1/8oz jighead and slowly let it sink to the bottom before gently winding the lure back with small twitches before a pause. It was just after the pause the fish were hitting it. The other technique and lure that was effective was vertically jigging and casting a River 2 Sea Glassie Vib. These lures are fairly in expensive and have a great action a good quality appearance and most importantly they do catch fish. Finally the redclaw are starting to become much easier to catch than they have been in the cooler months. Rockmelon and corn in about 4-5m of water was working beautifully.

BORUMBA DAM – Borumba has been fairly consistent of late with most fishermen catching some fish during their outing. Borumba has been experiencing some warmer days of late and the high pressure systems that we have had has meant that the fish are starting to head closer to the banks and begin to gather themselves on the edges near timber or in most cases near weed beds. They will also school up off rocky points in the rivers where they can be easily be targeted with spinnerbaits, plastics and also suspending minnows that will dive to around 2m and hold there. Cast to the edges with these lures let it sink a little, give it a few twitches then pause for a moment then slowly wind, then pause etc. You will often find after that pause the bass will smash it. Reports this week have the fish in close to the weed beds and the banks on the left hand side of the dam from the boat ramp. There are 2 nice schools out from the rocky wall and up closer to the first weed point of the dam. The depths range from 3m – 8m so use your sounder to find them. The quality in the dam has been good some 2.5kg models being landed with some consistency. As the weather continues to get warmer the Saratoga begin to become active in the shallows of the creeks of this dam and this is an exciting time as these fish are great fun to catch. If you don’t have them already get your hands on some surfaces lures such as Cultiva Zip’n’Ziggy’s, Maria MP 50’s, Mazy Poppers and some sub-surface lures like the Anthraxes.

LAKE MACDONALD – Macca’s has been firing lately with some big bags being recorded of some quality fish. The main areas to focus on are the 3 ways where TN 60’s ripped through the weeds and paused has been successful, the bubble trail jigging ice jigs and blades and runway point where there has been a school of fish that are hard against the weed in the area. Use plastics (1/8oz), blades (1/4oz) and TN 60’s up close or into the edge of the weed and give it a few tugs of the rod before slowly winding out with a little pause and then repeat the process.

BAROON POCKET – Baroon has been fishing OK with some solid 40cm fish being recorded. Concentrate on the edges around points using blades and you should have some success.

CREEKS/RIVERS – Now that the closed season is now open many of us are hitting our local waterways in search of some hungry post spawning fish and we are not being let down. The hinterland creeks have seen plenty of big bass being landed which is tremendous fun up in the sticks of these often overgrown rivers. The upper reaches of Coochin creek has seen some horse bass being landed and lost along with some favourite lures. Exciting Times!!!

I have attached a few pictures of some of the fish we landed up at Somerset.

Hope this helps,

Brendan

SOMERSET DAM – The fishing in this dam has become quite consistent with good sessions being recorded and some quality in that also. A recent trip there after the ABT event saw us land 3 fish all between 50 and 55cm and very healthy. There were plenty of other fish caught but these fish were the standouts. The go to spot at present is Kirkleagh Point not far from the bottom boat ramp. The fish are hanging around the flat that runs off this point and are responding well to ice jigs mainly. There is a heap of fish in this area but they may be patchy at times although you shouldn’t find it hard to locate a small school to target. Poly point and Queens Street have also been areas to frequent as these areas also have scattered fish throughout that are willing to play the game. As we enter the warmer period of the year you will find that these concentrations of fish will thin out, however the up side to this is that they do become much more aggressive and willing to feed as they have been in their breeding pattern for the last few months and have been reluctant to eat. At present you will find schools that will have some decent fish in them but a lot of the fish are on the smaller side. Target the edges of these schools with soft jackals and blades as more often than not the larger models are hanging on the outer of the concentration of fish. Also I find that if you fish the shallow side of the school closer to the bank that bigger fish are generally the result.

BORUMBA DAM – There have been few reports from this dam over the past few weeks as they have been experiencing some very windy days on the water. A trusted bass man in the area commented that the water from the dam was being thrown at him due to the strength of the wind. Fish have been found in the junction and at the 2 yellow marker buoys with ice jigs and blades being the go to lures. I always check across from the boat ramp at this time of year as there is often fish hanging off the edge of the sticks not far from the bank. Saratoga have started to show their heads as the water and the general weather gets warmer. These are fantastic fish to target and are a memorable fight every time so make sure you get out there as we head into summer. I like Anthrax, Sammy 65’s and maria surface lures for targeting these fish.

Lake MacDONALD – The fishing this year over the enter winter period has been really good and as the water heats up it would be expected that the fishing would become even better. A look around the bubble trail will see you in with a chance of a yellow belly as this area have seen some good catches of late. Bass bay, the 3 ways, botanical gardens and the main weed point have seen fish being taken with regular monotony. Blades, ice jigs and especially plastics are lures that work really well for me in this dam. I like to use the new keitech grubs on a 3/8oz jig head slow rolled through the schools or cast to the edge of the weed. When casting at the weed I will often downsize my jig head to let it flutter down the face of the weed rather that plummet to the bottom too fast for the fish to react to it. 50cm fish have been recorded of late which gives the indication that the dam is getting back to its former glory of a few years back when 45 – 55cm fish were more the norm rather than the exception. Lake MacDonald can also turn it on as a topwater fishery but we are a few weeks away from that. As the bugs start to come out don’t be afraid to whack on surface lure as it is great fun when they are firing on this technique.

Hope this helps,

Brendan

OFFSHORE – Some big cobia along with parrot and pearl perch on caloundra 12 mile reefs. outer gneerings theres been snapper and sweetlip. cobia, snapper, parrot and sweetlip on murphys reef. some tuna and small mackeral in the bay up to old woman island and some reports of surface action up off coolum too.

ESTUARY – Blackfish and bream along the boardwalk. some good reports of flathead and the odd school jew in the deeper holes of the passage. bream and whiting in currimundi lake. few trevally and bream off the rocks at point cartwright. some whiting off cotton tree point. trevally and tailor on the top of the tide between chambers island and the motorway bridge. few flatties and bream up petrie creek.

MASSIVE SALE FRIDAY THE 16TH AND SATURDAY THE 17TH OF SEPTEMBER

yes we are having our biggest sale of the year next weekend. we will be having tents out the front again and everything in the tent will be 50% off. our suppliers over the last 2 months have been clearing stock to make way for the new stock coming out over the next year so we can grab a bargain and pass the savings onto you. ive got all sorts of rods, reels, braid, line, heaps of lures and plastics, nets, gaffs, tackle bags, tackle boxes, plus lots of assorted items in there too. then in store we will have our specials prices on all our reels and everything else in the shop will be 20% off. excluding bait as usual.

this is our big one so dont miss it. ill be sending through another email over the next day or so letting you know some of the bargains ive got in the tent.

see you then…………. ben

SOMERSET DAM – Over the weekend Somerset hosted the last round of the ABT Bass Pro Qualifying events which saw around 120 anglers hit the water for 3 sessions of fishing over 2 days. It was a great event with many fish being landed with some absolute monsters hitting the scales. One of the anglers weighed in a fish that tipped the scales at 3.53 kg which makes it the largest fish landed in these events. The encouraging thing was that the dam fished well in a few different locations so the fish weren’t all being pressured in one area. The consistently bigger fish came from an area I have rarely fished, if ever, this was a small flat out from the first island when heading out from Kirkleagh in the main basin. This flat is in about 30 feet of water and ice jigs proved to be the killer lure along with the new keitech plastics rigged on heavier 3/8 jigheads. The big fish however came from Poly point where there has been some quality fish netted in the past few weeks. Once again it is around 30 feet and the fish are responding well to ice jigs and blades in this area. Another area that is still seeing fish landed but not to the same quality is Queen Street. In this area target the small number of trees close to the bank with jigs and blades. There is a solid school there but the fish are smaller. The last few areas where there are some fish are off Pelican point in about 6 m of water but they are difficult to tempt and also at the very start of the sticks.

BORUMBA DAM – This dam has seen some good catches over the past fortnight with some quality fish being caught. The 2 yellow marker buoys have fish around them but target the bank ide of these markers as this seems to hold a better concentration of active fish. Across from the boat ramp also has a small number of fish in little patches but some of these fish have been quite respectable even though there are not a great deal there. The best areas to target are at the junction of the creeks in the timber and more recently up in the Borumba arm of the dam. There are some bigger schools of fish in this area and they are much more responsive that fish in other parts of the dam. The use of your sounder is vital as schooled fish can be there one minute and gone the next. Use blades ice jigs and plastics and you should land a few of fish for your trip. The Yabba arm has produced the odd Saratoga of late in the afternoons once the water has warmed through the day. Walk the dog retrieves with lures such as Maria MP1’s and Cultiva Zip ‘n’ Ziggy’s have proven successful along with the more expensive Anthrax lures. Often you can spot the fish in amongst or close to structure such as weed beds, cast to them let it sit for a moment and then start the retrieve, this is an effective technique.

LAKE MACDONALD – This great little fishery has been firing of late with schools of fish being located is different areas throughout the dam. The bubble trail is the go to place of late with the fish schooling up between the bubbles and the bank of runway point. On some days you will find more than one school in this area and it is not uncommon to catch a fish every cast. The Botanical Gardens is also another area of interest where the fish have become more concentrated however these fish can often be undersized and you will have to plough through them to get to some more quality fish. Finally in bass bay at the edge of the weed there is another school there that is active and taking most offerings. The fish in MacDonald are hard fighters and there are some big fish in the dam and best of all it never seems to be busy.

RIVERS & CREEKS – The Bass season is open in the creeks and river systems and if we don’t have any more significant rain then we should be in for a fantastic season. Recently some smaller fish were taken in Bluegum creek near Beerwah on Ecogear sx 40’s and some bigger fish were taken up in the Stanley close to Peachester using spinnerbaits with yellow or brighter colours proving to be effective. The fish haven’t been huge but fun none the less.

Keep your eye out on this page for new products to filter through over the next 4-5 months.

heaps of new reels, rods, braid and lures all been ordered and waiting for delivery.

you can follow us on facebook too for daily updates on specials and new products

Just arrived the new 2012 shimano chronarch 50e and the 200E5

these reels have dropped in price thanks to shimano passing on some good aussie dollar buying.

we have the 200E5 5.5:1 ratio and we have ordered the E6 which is 6.5:1 and its not too far away.

drop in to check out these impressive reels

ben