A day on Burrinjuck

[Hodgey]

G’day Raiders

I thought I would report on my first visit to Burrinjuck Dam. We arrived at approx. 4:30 Friday afternoon, unhooked the tinny at our cabin, and went for a recce. The boat ramp was a short drive from our accommodation, and we discovered a nice stretch of bank that afforded us the opportunity for a land-based flick before dark, so we wandered back to the cabin, rigged up a rod each and headed back to ‘The Oval’.

Casting spinner baits and surface lures at sunset was our first opportunity to catch our breath after the 4.5 hour drive and to soak up our surrounds. Burrinjuck Dam offers some amazing scenery, from broad expanses of water to towering cliff faces and cavernous ravines. Clay banks, rocky ledges, standing and submerged timber, overhanging willows … this place offered it all. Our initial foray was unsuccessful, but we returned to our cabin eager to explore the next day.

I had heard that a high percentage of Burrinjuck Dam fish fall to either trolled lures or bait, and this fact was confirmed to us by the proprietors of the resort’s convenience store. Neither of these activities is particularly appealing to me, but I received some encouraging information prior to our departure from Fishraider member iMick that suggested my preferred style of fishing (cast-and-retrieve) was a viable option. Mick’s suggestions regarding lure choice and locations proved invaluable.

Saturday morning saw us launching at the very respectable hour of 7:15. Conditions were overcast with no real threat of rain but there was the chance ‘it might get a bit blowy’. We had previously decided to adopt Mick’s suggestion of having a quick look at Carroll Creek but an abundance of trolling boats and anchored bait fishos put an end to that pretty quickly. We sped across the basin and explored around Wade Island. The trees standing in the water here were lush and green, suggesting that they were surrounded by new water provided by the floods.

I suggested to my nephew that we head back out into the main waterway and explore the ‘Bidgee. We motored out from the lee of the island and were greeted with some bumpy swell. A quick trip found us entering the river mouth and we started to search for a sheltered bay to commence fishing in earnest. The first bay we tried had a couple of dead trees standing off a very deep dropoff. Conditions were still pretty tough so we set off again.

The next little ‘bay’ proved to be ideal. It developed into a narrow tributary that meandered behind a steep rocky spur which offered complete shelter from the wind. Aged timber standing in deep water, undercut banks and rocky shallows … this is what I had been looking for. We drifted through the timber, searching with spinner baits and blades. I cast at the head of a dead tree, which had created a deep hole in front of a rocky bar. Two turns of the abu’s handle and the purple spinner bait is hammered. After a brief but lively tussle, 44cm of Burrinjuck yella slid into the net. The monkey was off our back!

The rest of the morning was relatively uneventful, apart from hoards of little redfin molesting spinner baits. We decided to call it quits for the morning and headed back to camp for a bite to eat. The water had begun to really chop up after lunch, but once again the water following the shoreline was relatively calm so we utilised this to head back up to our little slice of paradise.

A half a dozen casts later and the tip of the Daiwa Advantage is bouncing erratically as a reddie roughly 25cm swims to the surface, with the purple spinner bait firmly lodged in his mouth ... accompanied by more than a dozen of his mates! Mark drops his vibe behind them and he’s on as well. A short time later I hear: “ Cod … Cod…COD!” Mark had coaxed a very nice cod from the base of a sunken log with his vibe, and the cheeky b@stard had followed it all the way back to the boat. No matter what Mark did he couldn’t convince the cod the strike, and with almost contemptible disinterest the cod turned tail and disappeared into the murky depths. No amount of follow-up casts or colourful language could coax that fish back again!

The most entertaining part of the weekend came a short time later. Mark’s vibe had fallen foul of some sunken timber and was resisting all attempts to free it. I have a length of broom handle I keep on board to push lures off snags, so I lie on my guts in the tinny, bash bejejus outta this underwater structure trying to free the vibe. The boat’s bashing the log, I’m cursing 25lb line that won’t break; it’s pandemonium. Amongst all the noise and thrashing water, a HUGE yella materialises from under the log within 2 feet of my head! Mark cries “Holy sh!t” and swipes at the inquisitive fish with his landing net, narrowly missing my head, the fish and the log. My ribs are still tender from laughing so bloody hard!

We spent the next couple of hours cruising around the bay and searching of our elusive Murray Cod but it was not to be this time. I did find an Oar-Gee floating beside the bank though! By now the wind was howling and it was time to make a very wet trip back to the boat ramp. Sadly, the winds were even worse Sunday morning, and the sight of 5-6m boats getting pounded on the basin was enough to dissuade us from even launching. Our trip was indeed over.

Weather aside, I had a fantastic time. I saw some great scenery, caught a couple of fish and had a lot of laughs with Mark. I have no doubt our trip would have been more productive if the weather had been kinder. We’re already planning our return trip in winter. My thanks to Mick for his advice, and to Mark for a memorable weekend!

Cheers

Hodgey

[Ray R]

Great story Hodgey, mate sounds like you had a great time away even if the fish were a bit on the slow side, some nice pics too.

Maybe next time that bloody wind will be missing...

Onya buddy..

[Tim Mc]

good post mate burrinjuck is a nice place

[arpie]

Hi Ian

Great post!!! Shame no-one had a video going when Mark too that swipe at the fish/head!!! Amazing that the fish weren't scared by all the initial racket!!! Mind you, they say that about the bream in the leases - being used to the noise of oyster punts & work in the leases ..... and expecting 'dinner' floating down to them when the leases are knocked - maybe the same thing happens in the lakes with boats (and lure retrievers) hitting trees??

Well done on the yella & reddie! Yella will go for SPs too - I had one chasing a funny long legged lizard thingo once at Boondooma ...... scared the living daylights out of me, when I was retrieving it quickly (after a couple of jerks) thinking that nothing would be interested in such a weird looking SP - as the SP left the water, a huge yella launched itself out of the water after the SP!!! I nearly fell out of the boat!

Bet you go back again, soon!!!

Cheerio

Roberta

[paul.kenny]

Great report Hodgey, pity about the weather, although I reckon you will need your winter woolies come winter .

[james7]

Top report Skip!

Fantastic photos too. Great scenery. Looks like some very "fishy" looking water there.

Would have loved to have actually seen the "huge yella" incident! Brilliant!

Despite the weather, at least you scored a few fish and had a great time.

Maybe the cod will be there for you next year.

Cheers

Peter

[iMick]

Good stuff mate, Burrinjuck sure is a nice get away.

Mick.

[mark brown]

skip

nice write up im glade you enoyed your self it was a great trip except for the weather and the lack of fish hopefully next time we will get that meter plus cod.

mark

[cheder]

hey hodgey,

great read, ive lost plenty of oar gee in that system, should have put my name on them hehe, ive heard reports that it has been firing of late

cheers

[brendong]

NIce report mate....still hard pressed to beat a road trip with some great company, sometimes fish are just a bonus....all the best...