{{+1}}Cania Dam{{-1}}

Cania Dam has been on my bucket list now for a couple of years and consequently I have been undertaking quite a lot of research so that when I do get up there hopefully this year I have enough information to make a reasonable job of that fishing trip. This is what I have found so far.

Lake Cania is a man-made lake which was constructed in the early 1980’s. The construction of the lake resulted in the old gold mining township of Cania being covered.

There are some tombstones that were saved from the Old Cania Township cemetery and these can be viewed at the Cania Dam lookout. Story Boards are located inside the lookout building and these explain the construction and specifications of the lake.

The water collected in this reservoir is primarily for the use of primary producers and during times of low rainfall water is released from the lake to refill aquifers and allow further irrigation of crops.

As well as being a year-round fishing venue Cania Dam is popular other sports enthusiasts during the warmer months.

Cania Dam (Lake Cania) is named after the nearby Cania Gorge National Park.

How to get there

From the south follow the Burnett Highway in a northerly direction 37 kilometers until you come to the sign showing Cania Gorge 14 Kilometers and Cania Dam 24 kilometers.

Coming from the North the turnoff referred to above is 77km south of Biloela.

Open season

Cania Dam is open all year. No licences are required.

Services & facilities available

There are no boating restrictions at Cania Dam. The Dam is serviced by a dual lane concrete boat ramp which is great when the Dam is at mid levels or better. When the water level drops below the end of the ramp, which more often than not seems to be the case, most anglers prefer to launch from the bank near the dam wall which is easily accessed by a dirt track.

The dam is well suited to smaller boats and kayaks as it is well protected from the elements because of the shear granite cliffs and hills surrounding the dam and the relatively narrow nature of the various arms of the dam. The water is generally very clear and quite deep and a sounder is a useful tool if your targeting schooled up bass.

Stocking

Cania Dam Fish Stocking Association do a great job particularly keeping Saratoga and Bass populations up at levels making it relatively easy for most anglers get fish. For the Bass Cania Dam is regarded as a put and take fishery but most thinking anglers return the majority if not all of their catch these days. Whilst a fantastic sports fish to catch Saratoga are a shocking table fish so it’s best to release them to live to fight another day.

The Cania Dam Fish Stocking Association also host the annual Lake Cania Freshwater Fishing Classic.

Lake Cania Fishing Classic

Food chain

The dam has a bio-diverse food chain dominated by small fish, gudgeons, shrimp, red-claw, frogs and tadpoles which is complemented by nymphs and in warmer months terrestrials that find their way onto the water including hoppers, cicadas, beetles, ants and of course any mice or other small mammals, birds or reptiles that find their way into the water.

Target species

The main species that are targeted on fly are large populations of Bass up to 3kg, Saratoga which are one of Cania Dam’s main draw cards, Silver Perch and Golden Perch (AKA Golden Perch, White Perch or Callop). Other species that you may get as by catch include eel -tailed catfish, spangled perch, eel and snub-nosed garfish.

Whilst Bass, Saratoga, Golden perch and Silver Perch are all great target species, my preference when fishing is to targeting just one species and treat others as a by catch. By doing this l definitely get more out of my fishing day than when I take a generalist prospecting approach.

Bass would without any doubt have to be one of my favourite fresh water impoundment fish in Australia and undoubtedly the fish I prefer to target in a mixed fishery. They hit hard and pound for pound are probably our best sporting fish. As a surface fish they are in a class all of their own with takes being sudden, hard and very fast and the ensuing action being nothing less that an ultimate dash for cover followed by a dogged fight right until that are boated.

The Saratoga in Cania Dam are the southern species of Fitzroy River Saratoga (scleropages leichardi whereas the northern species you would expect to find in the Northern Territory and other tropical climes is (saratoga Jardini). Saratoga are ancient fish that are well suited to surface feeding with their eyes located on the top of their heads and almost flat back with no dorsal fin and consequently a great target on surface or close to the surface flies.

Hot spots

With any lake that your not experienced in it’s easy not to know where to start so. This is the logic I apply.

Approach target areas with stealth and where possible present your fly or flies with long accurate casts into or toward selected structure. Strip strikes are best as often if a hit is missed the fish will come back for a second go.

In summer and to a lesser extent in spring and autumn the best parts of the lake to fish are any shaded shores, bays that have plenty of standing timber and lily pads, any area where a creek or soak comes in and bays that are protected from any prevailing winds.

The hour before and after dusk and dawn are definitely the best times to fish. At those times you can expect fish to be actively feeding close to weed and lily beds and structure, such as the drowned timber and rocky points, and looking up and quite receptive to dry flies. Having said that depending on cloud cover whilst fishing will generally taper off the closer you get to the middle of the day fish will still be at their ambush stations.

In winter still focus on bays that have plenty of standing timber and lily pads, any area where a creek or soak comes in and bays that are protected from any prevailing winds but stay away from shaded water and look for areas with better sun exposure. Just one degree warmer can make a world of difference to your catch rate.

I like to fish away from other anglers when possible and generally seek out areas that I have all to myself.

A tendency of many anglers that fish Cania Dam is to head straight up to the back of the lake and to fish up the back of the dam. That takes them straight past some great bays with drowned standing timber adjacent to deep water.

Fish Behaviour

Saratoga

Late spring and summer are regarded as the prime time to target Saratoga.

When the water is warmer they move around more freely and are more susceptible to surface and sub surface flies. Being opportunistic feeders as the season progresses you will find fish will be out searching to supplement their diets with terrestrials, frogs, small rodents like mice and even small birds finding their way onto the water so definitely watch what is happening around you and where possible "match the hatch".

If you see a swirl or rise from a Saratoga you should assume that the fish will still be in the area ... particularly early in the season they don't stray far from their ambush post unless seriously spooked. Work a larger area around that sighting and if you don't get a strike let the area rest for an hour or so and then come back and work the area of the earlier sighting over again.

As the water gets colder Saratoga become less active and retreat to structure and are less likely to be under lily pads and more likely to stay closer to home which may be a snag, next to a trunk of a standing drowned tree, undercuts in the bank or overhanging vegetation only venturing out for short forays in their immediate area and around the shallow edges and lily pads. From there they are ambush predators and stern defenders against other saratoga of their territory. They are solitary fish so if you do catch one its worth moving on to another snag etc.

I also like to put repetitive long casts to where I think Saratoga are holding as they don't spook as easily as some fish and often finally succumb to the repetitive presentations of a fly close enough to where they are holding.

Most of the year I think that by on large you will catch more toga fishing sub surface or deeper so if I only had one rod I that would be loaded with an intermediate line between November and May and a faster sinking line at other times.

Having said that I do like to fish for toga deeper as the day heats up and have been fortunate enough at Lake Borumba which is another Saratoga dam to take them quite deep.

Bass

Bass behave in much the same way as Saratoga in Spring and Summer and on warmer days when there is plenty of terrestrials around and on the water they are fantastic targets for a surface fly. As water temperatures fall they tend to move closer into structure and to school up becoming quite easy to locate with the help of a good sounder.

Golden Perch

In the warmer summer months Perch become more active mooching along just out of polaroiding sight, searching out food in water with plenty of structure, and rocky shores. Golden and Silver Perch also school up as the water gets cooler but whereas Bass tend to favour deeper water the Perch stay in the warmer shallow water and school up close to drowned timber often as little as half a meter deep.

Silver Perch

Silver Perch are not as prolific as Yellowbelly but are a welcome catch. They behave much the same as the Yellowbelly and readily accept a fly.

Techniques

Once you have selected the area your going to fish and your target species take a micro approach and methodically fish individual structure which in Cania consists of drowned and standing timber, rocky shores and points and of course the weed banks and the lily pads.

If your prospecting put say 5 long casts into 2 or 3 meter area around any likely looking structure where you think a saratoga may be holding. Put particular emphasis on both standing and drowned timber in water over 3 meters.

My preferred set up in either case is a 14lb Sun FC Rock leader with a a bait fly on the point and an attractor fly on a 20cm dropper 1.2 meters up from the point. By varying the time between casting and starting the retrieve I can effectively fish the range of depths that for that time of the year I expect fish to be predominately holding and cruising. Don't forget that toga are upward looking fish so even if you can't get down to where they are holding there is a chance toga will see your bait or more likely you attractor fly and at least come up to have a look.

I like to have two rods set up. From late November to May I would expect to see more surface activity and consequently would set my second rod up with a floating line and a single fly that sits well into the first centimeter or so and as close as possible matches generally available food sources or what you think the toga are feeding on. I avoid true surface flies for saratoga because saratoga miss them on the strike more often than not.
For all other times I would have a fast sink line on one rod and an intermediate on the other giving me access to a greater range of depths.

I fish #8 weight outfits for toga and bass as it’s very easy to get “weeded” or taken into vegetation in Lake Cania I use 14lb Sun FC Rock fluorocarbon that has a 0.285 diameter.

Fly lines

These are my favourite fly lines for Central Queensland.

I tie one of my nail knot loops of Maxima Ultragreen monofiliment on the end of all of my fly lines. I like that loop to be around 20mm to 30mm long and about 2/3 the average thickness of the tips of my fly lines in a particular #weight class. For my #8 weight fly lines at about 30lb.

I use these monofiliment loops as they are:

Stronger than the manufactured loops that come on fly lines.
Are less visible than braided loops or manufactured loops.
Allow neat leader to line connections without introducing any hinging effect.
Importantly the loop on the line is big enough to allow loop to loop connection to my leader.

This last advantage of my 20-30mm monofiliment loop is critical to me because it means that I can swap between pre tied leaders already loaded with a fly or flies if a quick change of terminal tackle is required or quickly change leaders if one becomes damaged. Using this system if your fishing for example to bass using a popper on a floating line and a schools of bass shows up on the sounder sitting at say 15 feet deep it only takes around 2 minutes to take the one fly leader of and put a dedicated two fly leader on.

Leaders

This very much a matter of personal choice by for me for these species but keep in mind that its a compromise between your fly or flies presenting better on thinner leaders and avoiding break offs with thicker leader. My default tippet material for toga in Cania is Sun FC Rock 14lb fluorocarbon. My leaders are long as my fly rod and connected to the fly line with a back to back loop. The loop knot I use at the business end of the on 30-40mm long and is my 2 turn loop knot.

When I fish 2 flies the dropper for that second fly is tied in with a surgeons knot, with the bottom 20cm tag end as the dropper and is tied in 1.2 meters from the point fly. When extended this leaves me initially with 1.0 meter between my two flies which I reckon is just about ideal. As you fish and change flies you will gradually close the gap between your two flies, so I keep and eye on that, and generally swap over to a new leader as my confidence in the gap or length of leader overall wains. Too much closer than one meter I believe that the flies spook fish but too much further than 1 meter apart then the team of flies become harder to cast and when you do go to land a fish the bob fly is precariously close, or hooks up to, the top runner.

I tie 20-30mm mono loops to the end of all my #8 weight fly lines.

Loop to loop connection between the fly line and the leader.

60-70mm loop on end of leader.

Fly suggestions

Surface flies

Fish these on either a floating line or as I prefer an intermediate line that has been greased up to delay it penetrating the surface film on the water. With either line cast these flies as close as possible or just past structure and let them sit for 5 seconds. Follow that up with your retrieve which can vary from a start stop twitchy action to a constant retrieve creating a wake.

Wet flies - choice of fly line density, added weight in the fly and retrieve speed will determine depth

These are flies that I generally fish on the point either alone if there is a lot of snags or in open water in a team of two flies. For sub surface presentations I generally fish these flies on an intermediate line and for deeper water I select the appropriate density sinking line.

Un-weighed or weighted destroyer variant

Attractor flies

When I am fishing a team of two flies to saratoga I generally have one of the following attractor flies on the top dropper which is 1.2 meters above the point fly. I think the attractor fly makes all the difference to the number of fish attracted.