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Author Topic: Lake Borumba Bass  (Read 8481 times)

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Lake Borumba Bass
« on: May 22, 2014, 08:14:54 PM »
Any Advice,
Spent 5 hours yesterday on Borumba Dam and tried most of my lures and went up the left side fork at top of main dam, only managed one small Bass on an olive coloured spinner bait up in a wooded area, tried Burn and kill / slow role and the Bass I landed look a juvenile (only about 9 inches long), the weather was overcast and I used my watersnake to sneak into my casting spots, Can't figure out what I was doing wrong, thought about finding a local guide but not sure if they would be interested in only half day and only one person, Any advice on better techniques would be greatly appreciated.
regards,
Bluey55. 



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Re: Lake Borumba Bass
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2014, 01:30:24 AM »
Try rotating a variety of lure types; suspender, sinking or floating minnow/divers, spinnerbaits, blades, plastics etc, then try various sizes & then colors. Then vary the retrieve; fast slow stall pause burn dead-stick.
There's no hard & fast rules, & if there were rules, bass can't read anyway.

The fun (and the learning) part is how to read the water, learning to think like a fish. Take note of the water, weather and what's going on about the place like birds, insects & even cattle, Kangaroos etc Are they active or resting?
Note water temp, water color & clarity, prevailing wind (check the week before you go as it can often make a massive difference), is there inflows? (rising water) Is water being released? (falling water) Moon phase, rise & set times.

Know the waterway. This means learn the foodweb in that particular lake. How? Get a scoop net & find what local species are there & note the sizes. Check the fish cleaning tables after the meatos have attracted the flies to see what's in the gut contents of fish.

Match the hatch. Different times of year the baitfish will be bigger than other seasons. Try fishing for a "feeding bite" by imitating the most common bait in size & color.

Got a fish finder? Does it have side imaging? Better technology = better info to you = informed decisions can be make. What depth are the fish holding at? Are there thermoclines showing? What bait is showing?

If you think the fish are spooky, shut off that water snake as they still make a racket under water (try sticking your head under water & listen to them), watch where you cast shadows on the water, cut out other sounds in the boat (tinnies are much noisier than plastic or glass boats), get rid of any rattly anchor chains etc, go to a longer & lighter leader, wash your hands and put scent on your lures.....

Then when you think you've worked out a pattern, the fish can switch off without warning. Sometimes a pattern will work for days, even weeks, other times you might only get a 20 minute feed window. Then the fish will move to another area (usually triggered by local environmental conditions) or change their feed patterns.

If you're keen get a notebook & start making your own log book or use your wall in your profile here to store your notes & then look for long term patterns until it becomes second nature to you.

That's why we call it fishing, not catching.


Cheers,

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Lake Borumba Bass
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2014, 07:17:46 AM »
Fitz, you are a learned genius mate! You have just explained why 10% of fishermen catch 90% of the fish. Take the time to read your surroundings and think like a fish, then half the battle is won. The other half depends on what the fish feel like on the day.
When the bite is slow, I see that as a good opportunity to try and work out why using much of the reasoning Fitz has described above. Makes the outing not a total loss.

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Re: Lake Borumba Bass
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2014, 08:47:15 AM »
Thanks for the advice, I did try to vary lures and it seemed that the spinner baits were hit a bit more often than my plastic grubs and the spinner baits seemed a bit more tolerant to snagging, I was time limited and it was only the fact that I put on a stinger hook I think that I got a fish at all, I most probably spent a bit more time stargazing at the beautiful surrounds of such a lovely lake than concentrating on what I was there for, so thanks again for your advice and I'll do a bit of reading before heading down there again,
regards,
Bluey55.
 

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Re: Lake Borumba Bass
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2014, 05:41:54 PM »
Were  any fish marking on your sounder?

At any depth ?

What was the thermocline at?

Has there been any comps there of late?

You said you alternated your speed of retrieve but what about the depth? Do you count down?

And did you just work the edge? How far off were you holding if you were?


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Re: Lake Borumba Bass
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2014, 09:30:40 PM »
Hi StevenM,
Yeh mate I did see lots of activity on my sounder but it was set to fish ID, I switched that off and sure enough arches were showing on the finder, I'm new to sounders and not real sure how to interpret what I am actual seeing and I'm not sure what thermocline is, I was up in the left arm near what looked like a feeder drain and I used Poppers, squidgies and spinner baits, I went up a bit further and could see tree stumps and over hanging bushes, I didn't have enough sense to target just the shaded areas but when I was using the spinner baits I varied the retrieve from kill and burn to a slow roll just enough so as I could feel the lure vibrating, the depths varied from 6 metres to about 2 or less metres, I'm not sure if they have comps there but I have taken the advice of the Administrator and started to read up on the habits of Australian Bass and I now realise that the Bass that I have caught at Monduran were pure luck but I must say the little fella that I caught jumped clear out of the water and put up a fight like a Barra, I am going down there again next week and this time I will be staying there for a few days and practice my casting and defiantly fish the shade, I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you but I bet more experience Bass fisherman would be able to help, I know this much though "It's one of the nicest lakes I've seen,
Regards,
Bluey55. 

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Re: Lake Borumba Bass
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2014, 10:58:57 PM »
Just returned from spending two days re-fishing Borumba Dam, On both days there were only 3 or 4 boats on the lake and I was lucky enough to talk to most of them about their efforts and methods, No one had much luck using an assortment of lures and colours, however an elderly couple were reasonably successful using live shrimp, I only managed 2 fish in 2 full days but did find a spot in shallow water right up the end of the lake after navigating through a heavy timbered area where the depth was around 1.6 metres, at this spot I saw many fish rising to take dragonflies and my sounder showed plenty of arches, I was only able to take one fish using a berkley Hot Dog surface popper, I believe this spot would have been perfect for a fly fisher man, The shallow water was a more muddy colour and the water temp was 21,1 deg, this spot is up at the end of the left arm of the dam and for those who intend visiting the lake I would advise fishing there at around 2pm when the area is almost fully shaded, I hope this info is helpful to anyone heading there for a days fishing.

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Re: Lake Borumba Bass
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2014, 01:33:48 AM »
Just a further note to the previous, after reading more on thermocline readings on the sonar and given that in water of depths have the ability of (turning over), that is when the bottom layer below the thermocline is either warmer or on occasions colder and also that during seasonal temperature changes of water temperatures affect and of course other influences such as wind and precipitation change when this phenomena happens, it would suggest that fishing in shallower depths as I mentioned in the previous post offer a more reliable prospect in winter, Of Corse presentation plays a big part of a successful catch and so does the many other factors like time of day, seasonal feeding habit changes and also lure choice and the actions we impart on them, I believe fish species can and do recognized what is real food and I'm not completely convinced of the reaction bite theory, in other words fish don't bite with a full belly, Of cores what I suggest here is a collage of plagiarized inserts of my readings and it's not what I know but rather a collection of readings, but it stands to reason that if I only catch a few on Poppers when fish are literally jumping out of the water and even hitting the side of my boat that the place and depth of only 1.6 metres is a better prospect for fly fishermen given that the fish were eating dragonfly, that in my opinion defines the match the hatch method.
Kind regards,
Bluey55             

 

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