Borumba Dam - Mary Valley Fishing Classic

[slinkymalinky]

Sorry for the report with not too many fish photos, since the camera stayed in the box for most of the weekend.

Jewhunter invited me to fish the Borumba fishing comp over the weekend just gone. The fishing wasn't great but it was steady and the weekend was a whole lot of fun.

The Mary Valley Fishing Classic is put on by the Mary Valley and Gympie Lions Clubs each year. This year we got up there on Friday afternoon in time to have a 'pre-fish' (makes it sound like a serious tournament but it's not... its just a casual, fun, family event). There were over 90 competitors who made the trip and who mostly ended up camped below the dam wall... us included.

Jewhunter and I packed light... just a swag, a small tent, lots of beer and nibbles and the fishing gear. Tackle for the weekend was light spin and baitcast gear and a whole lot of spinnerbaits.

We headed out onto the dam at around 4pm to check some likely spots. Jewhunter knows Borumba very well and sure enough the first spot... a timbered shore with a heavy weedbed... immediately produced fish. I landed a couple of bass including a nice one a touch over 40cm while JH managed to hook a horse of a Saratoga within 10 minutes of starting fishing. He fired a cast into a pocket between a group of trees and as soon as his 'Toga Special' spinnerbait landed, the water exploded. A golden, pink slab of a Toga, easily an 80cm+ fish, erupted from the water only to throw the hooks as so many of them do. We ended up with half a dozen fish in a short session.

Unfortunately for us, those fish were the biggest we encountered for the weekend. Jewhunter's Toga would have won the comp with only 1 fairly small one landed that we're aware of for the whole weekend. We celebrated back at camp with some adult soft drinks and some dinner, which included dagwood dogs from the Lions Club. What exactly possessed me to shout us both one of those salmonella sticks, I don't know... but I do know that when combined with a complete lack of coffee in the mornings I had to put up with Jewhunter grumping and grumbling a lot. And I had to put up with fishing for a lot of the weekend surrounded by a cloud of toxic gas drifting back from the bow of the boat. Aaaaaarrrrgh.

Anyway, the comp proper started on Saturday morning and after the briefing we got out on the water a little later than we'd have liked. At this point, Jewhunter decided he needed a new spinnerbait for his Bass outfit. His eyes lit on a particular purple spinnerbait in my lure bag and he snaffled it immediately. He'll probably tell you he asked and I agreed but I think some kind of psychological manipulation was involved. Turns out the fish of Borumba were particularly attracted to that spinnerbait... the only one I had. I only ask one question... would you trust this man??

We managed half a dozen bass in the first 20 minutes but only 11 for the whole day (of which only 3 were mine... damn that purple spinnerbait).The fish were pretty small with a few in the mid 30's but lots of 'micro-Bass'. As soon as the sun was on the dam, the water temperature started to climb rapidly and the fish just shut down... even in shady pockets and shores. The water temp in some parts of the dam got up to just under 30 degrees by lunchtime!!

Even so, Borumba is a beautiful dam to fish. Varied, very fishing territory with lots of timber, weedbeds, deep rocky edges, shallow weedy shores and always something to cast at and see. Its small enough to get around easily without burning a bunch of fuel but big enough so that even with 90 competitors on the water it didn't feel too crowded. We even had a QLD Lungfish surface for a mouthful of air right in front of the boat... now that was special!

Eventually the heat and hard fishing got the better of us and we headed back to camp for some medicinal beverages. Jewhunter had underestimated the effect of the heat the previous evening so most of the fluids had already been consumed so we headed into the Imbil pub for more. JH is a devout Tooheys Blue drinker so he wasn't impressed by accidentally being served a schooner of Great Northern... but his sweet talk and smouldering good looks managed to ensure he didn't pay for it as Bec the barmaid had a few laughs with us.

Restocked, we had a great night back at camp. JH managed to win a couple of lures from the Lucky Dip during the casting contest. I'm still not quite sure how either of us could even see the targets we were supposed to hit, let alone with a strage baitcaster loaded with mooring rope, in the dark, well under the influence of medicinal beverages. I know that it isn't easy to pick out a birds nest in torch-light while wearing wobbly boots!

The second morning was another beautiful start to the day.

We had a pretty good start with 11 fish in the first hour including a couple of 40+cm Goldens for Jewhunter, my own first Silver on lure and a bunch of bass including a few 'measurers'. With fish in both live wells we left a very productive shore full of downed timber to get the fish to the official measuring boat while they were still healthy (its an entirely catch & release comp). By the time we got back to our spot the sun was on the water again and just like the previous day the fishing shut down. By chasing some shady spots, JH managed to keep finding the odd fish with us boating 15 or so for what ended up a short morning session. We were off the water at around 10am.

A great weekend on the water that we both needed. Thanks for the invite, mate. I'll be back next year although with some nose plugs and a strict 'NO DAGWOODS' rule.

Cheers, Slinky

[Guest]

Nice report Tony and shame that the togas weren't about

[Jewhunter]

Nice write up mate.

It's about time I got you away from work for a fish.

I think you actually won the biggest Silver perch prize & I came 2nd for the biggest Yellowbelly.

Not a bad result for a couple of 1st timers in the comp.

I have to say that I REALLY enjoyed the trip. I haven't seen you so relaxed for a while & as usual the

banter & sledging was probably more fun than the fishing! All only 2 hrs from your place.

I can't belive that you failed to mention me breaking your Berkley Venom rod & you having to cope with

a dodgy batch of braid that not only cost you many spinnerbaits but also the fish of the trip.

We'll have to get Stewy up there. The Toga are so much fun when on the chew.

It's also the variety. Bass, silver & golen perch all in best saratoga dam in the country.

Here is a pic of my P.B 'Toga caught during the Sept school holidays, as well as my young fellas

1st all by himself. JJ also got his pb yella that trip.

Mine was an absolute horse I nailed on a 1-3 kg stick & 4lb braid on a spinnerbait deep in the timber.

This is why I love the place sooo much!

[Guest]

Saddle that big boy up

[Lizardboy]

Great report

It's a beautiful dam I had a chance to fish it for 1/2 a day on the way back from Lake Misery/Monduran in April and was very impressed, (variety of fish, so much structure to cast at) despite the disappointment of losing my first Toga at the boat!

Cheers,

Gus

[slinkymalinky]

Don't be too stressed about the toga. A lot more get hooked than are landed... they've got a hard mouth and with their crazy acrobatics and fight, they spit hooks like nothing else.