THOSE good folk who run the Lake MacDonald Freshwater Fishing Association have injected another big load of Australian bass into the lake. The current plan is to stock this waterway with 30,000 bass fingerlings every year, along with small introductions of silver and golden perch. Also on the agenda is saratoga, of which there is already a breeding population in the dam. If our friends at DPI find it in their hearts to grant approval, we’ll be putting some more toga in. Hopefully this will boost the population to levels not seen in other southern waterways.

On the fishing scene the resident bass have been responding well to lures presented along the weed beds. The average size has been quite small, although there have been a few good specimens close to 50cm landed. There have also been a few surprised anglers comprehensively smoked by very powerful fish that buried themselves in the weed and around other structure. I suppose the idea is to fish heavier than you would expect to need, and hang on tight.

The gun spots have been in the East Leg, around and in Gazebo Bay, Rio’s Run (which is around the point of the runway) and Billy’s Place, which has recently been decorated with a new jetty. This area has been named after a well loved old fisho who left this earth a few months back. Bill Cox was a true fishing icon in the Sunshine Coast area, having fished the Noosa River since 1928. Bill was born on his grandfather’s original selection near Yandina, and while his amazing life took him far and wide he always returned to his favourite part of the world. I was hoping to run a story on Bill’s escapades in the area but the old bugger has gone fishing elsewhere instead. Rest in peace Bill.

Borumba Dam has delivered varied results, but I can see things improving dramatically as we move into summer. Catches through October and into November were mixed to say the least, with some anglers having a field day on bass with a few saratoga to boot, while others found it very tough indeed.

One key to success up there is to fish a windless, warm day. (Good luck – I haven’t come across many of those yet either!) Troll your way to the sticks with extra deep minnows and then cast the heavily timbered areas with spinnerbaits or beetlespins dressed with a soft plastic. Once you’re well up into any of the three arms worth fishing, small minnow lures in green, gold, pink, yellow or even black should continue to be productive. The smaller varieties of the bladed jobs are better tools once the water shallows out and the structure becomes heavier.

1) A typical Borumba bass of around 40cm. The lure is a Micro Mullet.