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The layout of the lake is interesting in itself and basically forms a cross. On the north east axis you have the dam wall and main lake and opposite that you have the Yabba Creek arm. The Borumba Creek arm is to the south east arm of the lake and the Kingaham Creek Arm is to the north west. The lake is framed by high hills / mountains that offer a lot of protection from the wind and consequently you can generally find a protected area to fish. If you take advantage of the different levels of protection provided in the four main areas of the lake and fish with a sheet drogue you will find that more often than not you can set up some really good drifts over prime water. I fish my drogue in conjunction with my electric and that good control over the drift of the boat and generally plenty of time to methodically fish the water around the boat.

Water flows into Lake Borumba from:

• Yabba Creek
• Kingdom Creek
• Borumba Creek
• Other small soaks and gutters servicing extensive native bush and rural catchments in the surrounding ranges

Safety first:

Being such a big lake and often deceptively glassy and inviting it's always worth remembering that with such long reaches that when winds come up they often whip up swells that are very dangerous so do keep an eye on weather forecasts.

• Keep an eye on the weather and always know where your going to retreat to.
• Let others know where your going to be fishing and your timetable.
• Always wear a life jacket. I recommend wearing a comfortable "yolk" style life vest any time your on the water..
• Never wear thigh waders in the boat particularly if your fishing by yourself.
• Take plenty of spare warm clothes and wet weather gear.
• Mobile phone reception is limited so don't think that it will work all the time.
• Only fish Borumba Dam in suitable craft. This is not a venue for little dinghies with low sides.
• Always be on the lookout for submerges rocks, trees and fences and in times of rising weather also keep an eye out for floating timber.
• Don't think for a moment that you know the lake. Water levels are changing all the time and consequently where obstructions were below your propeller yesterday they can be right in your path today.

Open season

Whilst Borumba Dam is open all year keep in mind that the feeder creeks are subject to a closed from the end of April until the long weekend in October. This gives the fish some respite during their breading season.

Borumba Dam comes under the Stocked Impoundments Permit Scheme. You can purchase your permit online at www.smartservice.qld.gov.au and the cost is $7.45 per week. You should also check out licensing requirements and bag limits.

Facilities

All forms of boating are permitted on Lake Borumba but as there is extensive drowned timber I would suggest that other than in the area from the ramp to the line of yellow bouys that are marked as the end of the area that is generally cleard of standing trees away from the shore it's not suitable for sailing, water skiing or jet skies. Whatever type of water craft you use proceed with caution and always remember that the drowned timber is every where.

Whilst camping is not permitted around the lake it's only a two minute drive from the boat launching ramp to a camping and caravan park located just below the dam wall.

Other than very basic supplies available at the camping and caravan park the nearest shop and hotel / motel style accommodation is at Imbil which is only 11 kilometres away.

Boat launching is not a problem as there is a double lane concrete boat ramp next to the dam wall. Do however keep in mind that the area between the ramp and the dam wall is a no go zone.

Food chain

Those dominant food sources for Saratoga is Bony Bream, Gudgeons frogs and shrimp and that staple diet is complemented by nymphs and in warmer months terrestrials that find their way onto the water including including hoppers, cherry nose cicada, beetles, ants and of course any mice or other small mammals, birds or reptiles that find their way into the water. The dominant food source for Bass is Red Claw, Gudgeons, Shrimp and Worms and .

Target species

Whilst Saratoga and Bass the normal target species in Borumba Dam I have taken the approach that I am targeting only Saratoga there and treat any bass or other resident species such as Mary River Cod, Golden Perch to 60+ cm and Silver Perch to occasionally as by-catches.

The Saratoga in Borumba 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. You can catch toga throughout the open season but the best action appears to be in Autumn when the average size is between 60 and 80 cm with a few much bigger toga also turning up.

Bass would without any doubt would have to be one of my favourite fresh water impoundment fish in Australia. 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 or banked.

In winter yellowbelly (AKA Golden Perch, White Perch or Callop) school up close to drowned timber in warmer shallow water as little as half a meter deep and in the warmer summer months become more active mooching along the margins of the lake, just out of polaroiding sight, searching out food.

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

Mary River Cod are can be up to 60 pounds in weight and problematic at best on an #8 weight outfit. In any case they area fully protected species and all fish must be released unharmed.

Techniques

With any lake that your not experienced in it’s easy not to know where to start.

Approach target areas with stealth and where possible present your fly or flies with longer 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.

From a macro perspective the best parts of the lake to fish are any shaded shores, bays that have plenty of standing timber and lily pads and are protected from the stronger prevailing winds that are in the arms of the lake where the various creeks come in.

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

I haven't had the pleasure of fishing Borumba at prime times when the toga are reported to move around freely and are more susceptible to sub surface lures. Early in the season which is the only time I have fished Borumba fish do move around but not as much as when there are terrestrials, frogs, small rodents like mice and even small birds finding their way onto the water. At this lesser parts of the year it seems to me that when there is not much of that type of activity and the toga are less likely to be under lily pads and more likely to stay closer to home which may be a snag, next to a the 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 fish for saratoga using the same techniques that I employ when fly fishing for barramundi. For both I think the secret is putting repetitive long casts to where you think are holding.

If your prospecting put say 10 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.

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 and employ the prospecting technique above on any structure near the earlier sighting.

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 either an intermediate line between November to May and a faster sinking line at other times. 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 centimetre 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 as it’s very easy to get “weeded” or taken into vegetation in Lake Borumba I use 14lb Sun FC Rock fluorocarbon that has a 0.285 diameter.

The best fishing can be had an hour or so either side of dawn and dusk. 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.

Depending on cloud cover fishing will generally taper off the closer you get to the middle of the day but the fish will still be at their ambush stations.

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 of between 70mm and 80mm 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 70-80mm 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 barra leader of and put a dedicated two fly tarpon 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 Borumba 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.

With this type of leader set up you can pull your point fly up close to the rod tip and swap lines via the loop to "locked loop" connection which at that stage will be half way down the rod. I am a strong advocate of using a lefty's loop knot I connect dry flies to my tippet because that knot allows the fly to swing or swim freely and because it's dam strong when tied carefully.

If this leader set up is not quite right for you I suggest you experiment and come up with a leader compromise that suites your casting ability and style and of course the weather conditions.

Fly suggestions

Wet point flies for bass and toga

For wet flies its best to either find the fish on a sounder or have an educated guess where the fish are and then repeatedly dredge the fly through that zone at various speeds and depths – if your not hooking up to structure occasionally your not in the hunt. I like to fish a team of two flies and have confidence in the selection below as point / bait flies

My bead chain eyed variant of a destroyer

Little ripper - in vampire, all black and black and red colours

Black and red bead chain eyed dirty harry flies

Floating red claw

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 and a hot spot on the point fly makes all the difference

long coral blob

Flash Harry in red and black or orange and black

Olive/orange or Black/red MKII buggers

Little ripper - in red and black or orange and black colours

Top water flies

These are flies that I generally fish on the point in a team of two flies in the surface meter or so of water generally using an intermediate line:

Unweighed destroyer variant

Wiggle frog

Red and black propeller fly

Bead chain eyed dirty harry

Sarratoga surface flies

I have not yet encountered a real opportunity of fishing surface flies to saratoga. When I do come across surface feeding togo its my intention to match what I think is on the saratoga menu at the time from the following selection of flies:

Black gartside gurgler

Wiggle frog

Chattos foam mouse

Deer hair cicada

Hot spots

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 Borumba Dam is to head straight up to the back of the lake and to fish up the back of the Yabba Creek or Kingdom Creek arms in the shallow. That takes them straight past some great water particularly the drowned timber just to the sides and between where Yabba Creek and Kingdom Creek enter the wider body of the lake.

The southern side of the main reach of the dam itself do not get a lot of attention and several of the smaller bays including the short Borumba Creek arm are very good options particularly if you looking for water that has not had a lot of attention.

• Aspects of Lake Craft

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