Borumba Dam, Imbil....The Toga King at his finest
Eric with a 70cm plus Toga
Borumba
Dam lies about thirteen kilometres from the small town of Imbil, a
scenic drive through forestry and Hoop Pine plantations where its not
unusual to see red deer by the road side and late afternoon while
kayaking you may spot one drinking at waters edge. I'm fortunate to live
close by and find myself fishing the lake two or three times a week in
Toga season. It's a beautiful lake with large tree covered hills, lots
of under cover that grows right down to the water, steep banks where
lilly pads sit below over hanging trees, beautiful red bottle brush that
seem to grow right out of the water, its under these bottle brush that
some of my best Saratoga have been tempted.
An easy paddle of around three and a half kilometres from ramp is the junction of two creeks Yabba and Kingham both have their own beauty and hold some large Toga. Fishing the edge of weed beds before sun up then moving closer to the bank as the sun gets high, picking the shady trees and around lily pads is my favorite way to fish for Saratoga. If you ask ten fishermen you will get ten different answers, I find Saratoga will take most surface lures fly and some soft plastics if conditions are right. I consider it more important to have a feel for where Toga would lay rather then decide what expensive lure to buy.With breeding season over and hot weather the larger fish are out and hungry. So an early session was in order, launching at four thirty in the morning, wind was but a breath, the water was warm to touch and a humid weedy smell hung over the dam. Perfect conditions for Toga I thought, it was after daylight when I reached my first location starting with surface lures and getting some big hits I changed to a soft plastic in red and had instant hook up a beautiful Saratoga around seventy four centimetres. Satisfied with my first fish of the day. I stopped for a nice cup of tea and time to reflect on how fortunate I was. There were three other spots I planned to fish today, also to try out a fly that i made using bits from my wife's sewing basket as I often raid it when she is not in the room.So back on the water...when moving into a new spot I like to sit quiet for a while watching the surface for any sign, and there it was, in the shade of a large bottle brush. I chose a popper again, I like poppers with a heavy bum that way when I pop them a short spurt they drop back in the same spot almost and I can keep my lure in the shade longer. After several good hits and some lure changes I decided to try my large fly ....the "Lantana Frog"The beauty of kayak fishing is just how close you can get to your target area. I'm able to put fly on a light braid and with the help of a short heavy leader I can cast the small distance to my target. In this case a mere five metres, it hit the surface and had a follow and a nudge. The next cast I saw my fly quietly taken without a splash, then this mighty freshwater fighter put on quiet a show, dancing on water trying to shake my hook. After a strong fight he kindly allowed me to land another beautiful Saratoga this being a little smaller at seventy centimetres.The morning session saw two fine Saratoga landed and a third one less then forty centimetres and a by catch of two small bass that fell in love with my popper. I rarely target Bass while on Borumba Dam instead concentrating only on the Toga.
Another successful morning on my local dam catching an Aussie legend.
This report submitted by Eric Dunshea aka Lantana....
An easy paddle of around three and a half kilometres from ramp is the junction of two creeks Yabba and Kingham both have their own beauty and hold some large Toga. Fishing the edge of weed beds before sun up then moving closer to the bank as the sun gets high, picking the shady trees and around lily pads is my favorite way to fish for Saratoga. If you ask ten fishermen you will get ten different answers, I find Saratoga will take most surface lures fly and some soft plastics if conditions are right. I consider it more important to have a feel for where Toga would lay rather then decide what expensive lure to buy.With breeding season over and hot weather the larger fish are out and hungry. So an early session was in order, launching at four thirty in the morning, wind was but a breath, the water was warm to touch and a humid weedy smell hung over the dam. Perfect conditions for Toga I thought, it was after daylight when I reached my first location starting with surface lures and getting some big hits I changed to a soft plastic in red and had instant hook up a beautiful Saratoga around seventy four centimetres. Satisfied with my first fish of the day. I stopped for a nice cup of tea and time to reflect on how fortunate I was. There were three other spots I planned to fish today, also to try out a fly that i made using bits from my wife's sewing basket as I often raid it when she is not in the room.So back on the water...when moving into a new spot I like to sit quiet for a while watching the surface for any sign, and there it was, in the shade of a large bottle brush. I chose a popper again, I like poppers with a heavy bum that way when I pop them a short spurt they drop back in the same spot almost and I can keep my lure in the shade longer. After several good hits and some lure changes I decided to try my large fly ....the "Lantana Frog"The beauty of kayak fishing is just how close you can get to your target area. I'm able to put fly on a light braid and with the help of a short heavy leader I can cast the small distance to my target. In this case a mere five metres, it hit the surface and had a follow and a nudge. The next cast I saw my fly quietly taken without a splash, then this mighty freshwater fighter put on quiet a show, dancing on water trying to shake my hook. After a strong fight he kindly allowed me to land another beautiful Saratoga this being a little smaller at seventy centimetres.The morning session saw two fine Saratoga landed and a third one less then forty centimetres and a by catch of two small bass that fell in love with my popper. I rarely target Bass while on Borumba Dam instead concentrating only on the Toga.
Another successful morning on my local dam catching an Aussie legend.
This report submitted by Eric Dunshea aka Lantana....
