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Lake Moogerah Caravan Park
  |  First Published: September 2015



Fringed by the Scenic Rim mountain range, and with Lake Moogerah’s clean waters extending north, south and west from the camp grounds, you have to ask yourself what’s not to like about this camping and caravan park. There’s plenty of level camping areas, ample shade for those warm spring days, friendly and helpful staff, with well set up facilities all round to complement a camping area that’s as pretty as a picture.

Lake Moogerah Caravan Park is conveniently located within a short driving distance of much of the main South East Queensland population centres. It’s only 8km east from the Cunningham Highway at Aratula, with signs pointing the way to the lake. Also, it’s only a short 20km drive from the town of Boonah, where there’s a prominent sign on the southern outskirts of town pointing the way to Moogerah Dam.

Boonah is well equipped to cater for travellers because there’s a supermarket, service station, and plenty of other retail outlets. Kalbar is also a very handy local town with plenty of retailers catering for busy travellers, while at nearby Aratula there’s also a baker and coffee shop, grocer and service stations.

At the turnoff to the Lake Moogerah Caravan Park from the adjacent main road there’s a longish entrance road with the lake and some well-shaded camping areas on the right. There are signs with directions for opening the camp’s boom gate if you arrive a bit early.

Robyn, Ben and Megan will arrange all bookings at the camp office, which carries a range of small goods, ice, gas refills, and other items such as fishing tackle. Boat and kayak hire can also be arranged there, along with stocked impoundment permits (a SIP is required to fish Moogerah).

Camp by the water

One of the most striking features of the expansive camping area is the amount of well-grassed and very level ground on which to set up a temporary home away from home, including plenty of areas right by the water. This means you can leave your boat in the water overnight, making it very handy for a crack at the fish at daylight. There are also plenty of fireplaces on hand so campers can enjoy a warm campfire at night. It’s advisable to bring your own wood.

This well maintained and easy to enjoy camping area has both powered and unpowered sites (there are many more unpowered than powered sites) as well as two boat ramps with plenty of parking next to them. There are fish cleaning tables near both ramps, and picnic tables dotted around the grounds with some close to the shore. The caravan park’s amenity blocks feature very clean and well-kept showers and toilets, as well as adjacent laundry facilities. The nearby camp kitchen has electric BBQs and a children’s playground, so while Mum and Dad cook up a feed the young ones can be kept busy enjoying themselves close by.

There’s also a cabin for hire with great views of Lake Moogerah. It’s air conditioned, and large enough to sleep six people comfortably. With a fully-equipped kitchen, TV and DVD player and a well set up outdoor area with private gas BBQ and campfire, there’s something for every one.

Other attractions

While enjoying a stay at Lake Moogerah Caravan Park there’s also some interesting access to nearby National Parks, whose attractions include bush walking, rock climbing, or simply taking in the scenery. Also, visiting the local towns to take in some of the charm of rural living and local produce are all part of the fun. Spicers Gap (accessed via the Moogerah/Aratula Road) and the popular Governor’s Chair lookout are also a big drawcard for 4WD owners as there’s some spectacular scenery throughout Fassifern Valley just a short walk from the Spicers Gap carpark. Interestingly, Spicers Gap was the original road forged in the 1850s for carrying goods between the Darling Downs and coastal areas.

Fishing prospects

Most people go to Lake Moogerah Caravan Park to camp and enjoy the fabulous bass fishing in the lake, so let’s take a look at what’s on offer.

This lake has always been a great producer of quality bass simply because of the huge biomass of bony bream that call the lake home. Fish up to 50cm are reasonably common these days, and bass of this calibre are very good fish on light tackle, certain to pull a bit of drag and cause some excitement during the first part of a fight.

It’s fair comment that this dam, like many others, went through a very lean time a few years back when water levels became disastrously low. However, significant rain events have changed this in spectacular style. These days the water level is very close to the top, with plenty of great areas to fish. Interestingly, the schools of bass (prevalent in spring) seem to move from one area to another on whatever whim drives them. One day the fish will be on the job in the main basin of the dam, the next they’ll be working bait in the timber to the south, which fortunately is fairly open and easy to fish.

The bait schools are always the key to success, and finding a school of bony bream on your sounder is the first step towards getting a bass on your line. When the bass are feeding on a school of bait, the bony bream often get forced to the surface where pelicans and cormorants give them a hard time, so the birds are a great pointer to fish activity.

Catching them

Moogerah bass are usually very cooperative in that they can respond to flies, blades, tail spinners, spinnerbaits and vibes quite readily. Or bait such as shrimps or yabbies, of course. Finding what the bass want on the day is always part of the fun, and the smart bass angler wanting to enjoy some fun with the fly rod should concentrate on using patterns that imitate bony bream – Deceivers, Clousers and the like – fished on a deep sinking fly line. Let it sink right down, then strip the fly back in short movements.

Lure anglers could start with an ice jig, blade or tail spinner. If your offering is ignored, try one of the various vibes, either soft or hard bodied. A few enticing hops and skips during a slow retrieve may well entice a fish to have a snap at it.

So these are some of the attractions of Lake Moogerah Caravan Park. Relaxing and just taking it easy is also something a lot of people enjoy. The Park is on Muller Park Road, Moogerah and you can contact the office on (07) 5463 0141 or at --e-mail address hidden-- .

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