SITUATED
18 kilometers from Emerald and almost on top of the tropic of
Capricorn line, Lake Maraboon is Queensland's second largest
lake.
It is 265 km west of Rockampton and 900km from Brisbane. At
a massive 15000 hectares surface area when full and holding
1.3 million megalitres of water, the Fairbairn Dam was constructed
in 1972 across the Nagoa River "Gap" creating Lake
Maraboon (Aboriginal for "where the black ducks fly")
The Nogoa's sister rivers include the Dawson, Comet, Don, Isaac,
Connors and Mackenzie Rivers that form the Fitzroy River system
of Central Queensland.
Built primarily to service the Emerald Irrigation Scheme, which
produces some 25% of Queensland's cotton as well as large areas
of citrus. The lake is dominated by masses of standing timber,
steep rocky banks and broad areas of submerged flat country
from the main basin right to the headwaters. This makes for
ideal fish habitat but requires a firm hand on the tiller when
navigating at anything more than a troll in some areas.
History
The first European to explore the region was German born Ludwig
Leichardt whom travel from Brisbane to the Cobourg Peninsula
in the Northern Territory passing just west of the Nogoa and
Claude Rivers which feed Lake Maraboon. While passing just to
the west Leichardt noted a comet in the sky (Haley's) and named
the Comet River after it. He described the area as having rich
black soil similar to the Darling Downs region.
After Leichhardt's glowing reports on the fertility of the region,
land was taken up and in 1860 one of the local properties was
named 'Emerald Downs' by the area's first settler P. F. MacDonald
who was impressed with the lush greenness of the district after
rain.
Facilities
Accommodation is available at the Lake Maraboon Holiday Village
that enjoys a great view over the lake with close access to
boat launching and picnic areas. Powered and unpowered sites
for camping and caravans are provided and there are several
modern self contained, air-conditioned cabins for those who
prefer a bit of comfort.
A large camp kitchen is there for guests to use with gas bar-b-ques.
A swimming pool and top class restaurant make this an ideal
location for an extended holiday or a short stop over on long
trips. Native wildlife pops up everywhere with wallabies and
possums coming into the camp ground at night to feed on grass
and the odd scrap of food they may find. Food, fuel, bait, tackle,
ice are all available along with some friendly advice.
Alternate hotel & motel style accomodation is available
nearby in Emerald. See the Accommodation
page for details.
Adjacent to the holiday village is a large picnic area with
wood bar-b-ques, shady trees, tables and swings.
It is popular among Emerald locals on weekends. Immediately
below is the concrete launching ramp with plenty of parking
available there and along the bank. It can become quite busy
at times with skiing being a popular past time in the area.
The bank along side the launching is quite firm with many boaties
simply put in here & leave their cars and trailers on the
edge of the water.
Fishing
Lake Maraboon was first stocked in the late 1980's. Uniquely,
this is virtually the only location where Murray Cod were stocked
on a large scale on Queensland's east coast. (81 000 from 1989
- 1992)
It is widely held that they have established a breeding population
in the Nogoa River upstream of the lake and while no cod have
been stocked since 1992 the occasional fish is still caught
here. When water levels have been high for an extended period,
cod captures along rocky backs in the main basin increase as
the fish move out of the river into better feeding and ambush
locations. With recent changes in Fisheries Dept thinking, the
stocking of Murray cod would no longer be permitted.
While
saratoga should have been present in the Nogoa River prior to
the dam being constructed, 100 of them were stocked and continue
to breed. While not to optimal numbers the saratoga have a preference
for structure; plenty of that here.
Fitzroy
strain yellowbelly were present prior to the dam being constructed
and continue to breed. These form the backbone of Maraboon angling
scene. Significant numbers are taken in the upper reaches, mainly
by locals in the know and are willing to travel up to 40 and
50 kilometers upstream in search of them.
Just
over 200 000 silver perch were stocked up to 1994. While captures
of smaller fish were common for several years they are a rare
capture now. Their close cousin the leathery grunter are here
in numbers. While never growing to anything that is going to
pull drag, they are a great source of entertainment for kids
fishing from the bank with a handline and a packet of worms
or prawns. Showing up on sounders by the million it is these
fish that could be a major food source for future barramundi
stocking.
Barramundi
stocking has been very poor here to date. Only 9000 fish being
stocked (at time of writting) in such a large body of water
makes crossing paths with one a rare occurrence.
By
far the most popular target here is the redclaw crayfish. At
any given time there are folks here from far and wide just to
go crayfishing; very few are disappointed.
Future
With the local fish stocking group being daunted by stocking
such a large water body with limited funds the option to concentrate
their efforts on weirs downstream has seen stocking into this
lake virtually cease.
With the inception of the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme
on various Queensland impoundments in recent years and the direct
inflow of funds for restocking from the SIP, Lake Maraboon could
be back on the road to being a good fishery if the decision
was made to put Maraboon on the scheme. Local councils should
take note at other successful barra lakes! Its got everything
else going for it; structure, food, space and is not as affected
by wind as some coastal lakes can be. It begs for some serious
fish stocking to turn this from a rarely heard of backwater,
into one of the best barra hotspots going, possibly rivaling
the likes of Awoonga, Tinaroo or even Peter Faust Dams.
