GLENLYON DAM TAG-A-LONG

Hosted by Southern Brisbane Sportfish Club

 Friday 25^th October to Friday 1^st November 2019

Trip captain:  Tom Wallbank – 0412 759 332

Glenlyon Dam is located 3.5 hours from Brisbane and is a great camping and fishing location, particularly for Murray Cod and Yellowbelly.  All ANSA QLD members are invited to tagalong on this social trip with Southern Brisbane SFC.

 

Accommodation at Glenlyon Dam Tourist Park

3 cabins have been booked which will hold 4 persons per cabin.  Each cabin is air conditioned with a small fridge, 2 burner hot plate, electric frypan, jug and toaster.  Shower and toilet block are a short walk away.

Cost will be approx. $25.00 per person per night.

 

What to bring

Bedding – blankets, sheets or sleeping bag and pillow

Utensils – Plates, cup, knives, forks and cooking utensils.

Food and drinks – bring enough to last your stay as the nearest supplies are approximately 70 km away.  The store at the park sell basic items as well as fuel, gas and ice.  They also stock a good selection of lures and selected fishing tackle.  For information on other items they stock ring (02) 6737 5266.

Portable fridge or esky – For your drinks as the fridge is only big enough for your food.  A freezer will be supplied by the Club for keeping of fish fillets only.

Gas BBQ – There is a wood fired BBQ available, but a small gas BBQ would be an advantage.

Chair – Somewhere to park at night while socialising around the fire.

Clothes – Storms are active at this time of year at Glenlyon so do not forget your wet weather gear.  The night can become cool, so a jacket will be handy and of course bring a towel and toiletries.

 

Fishing

Glenlyon dam is well stocked with Golden Perch, Silver Perch and Murray Cod and there is an endemic population of Eel tailed catfish and Spangled perch.  Glenlyon dam is rich in Boney bream and shrimp providing plenty of food for fish to grow rapidly.  All this makes Glenlyon a premier Golden perch and Murray cod fishery providing you with a good chance of tangling with a trophy Murray cod.

 

Bait fishing

Tie up to a tree (if you have a good sounder you can look for a tree that is holding fish) and drop your line down about 15 feet and bob your bait up and down.  Sometimes fish can be holding shallower or deeper so try different depths.  If you do not have a bite in 20 mins. move to another tree.  Early morning and late afternoon before sundown are usually the best times.

 

Bait

Live shrimp is best, so bring shrimp traps to set beside weed beds, rock points or gullies in about 8-10 foot of water.  Frozen prawns and saltwater yabbies as well as garden worms work. If you bring salt water yabbies they must be frozen.

 

Rods and reels

A 2-4 kg rod with a 1500-2500 reel spooled with 8-10 lb mono or braided line will suffice.  A 10-15 lb trace about 300 ml long with No. 2 or 4 wide gap hook and small running sinker will complete your rig.

 

 

 

Lure fishing-trolling

Look for rocky points, flats and timber that is close to creek beds.  Some of these locations may not be visible (sunken timber, rocky out crops, points at junctions of creeks) so keep a close eye on your sounder to find such locations.  As a rule of thumb, troll in about 15 ft, this usually keeps you outside the weed line.  Sometimes it pays to vary the depth as fish can be found in shallower or deeper water.  The best speed to troll is as slow as you can.  It doesn’t hurt to have your lure bang into structure occasionally as this may alert the fish.  Probably the best tip I can give you concerning trolling is to check trace and line regularly as fraying can occur from the line and trace dragging over structure.  If you see any damage no matter how slight, replace it, as large Cod will find any weakness in your rigging.

 

Casting

Similar locations as for trolling.  Cast to large standing trees in various depths.  If using spinnerbaits cast close to the shady side of the tree and let your bait drop to about 15 ft before slowly retrieving.  Make sure you engage the drag as Cod will often strike on the drop. Put in at least 6 casts before moving on to the next tree.  Most cases if a fish is there he will strike on the first or second cast.  Set your drag a little tighter than you would for trolling as you need to stop Cod from taking you into the timber.  Swim baits can be used the same way as spinnerbaits.  Diving hard bodied lures can also be used but cast past the tree so the lure is at the required depth as it passes.  Surface lures are effective during early morning and late afternoon, either side of sundown.  They have an advantage over other lures when targeting shallow water around weed beds.  Retrieve the lure over gaps and edges of the weed.

 

Rods reeds and lines

I usually have 2 rigs when fishing Glenlyon dam.  The first is a 2-5 kg baitcaster spooled with 10 lb braid with 6 ft of 20 lb fluro carbon leader which I use for trolling small lures for Golden perch.  The lighter line has less drag therefore giving the smaller lure more action.  Big Cod will take small lures.  This rig will handle large Cod as long as you are in reasonably clean country.  Otherwise if fishing heavy structure or using large lures, I will use 5-8 kg baitcaster spooled with 20 lb braid with 6 ft of 30 lb fluro carbon trace.  I also use this for casting spinnerbaits.  Spin outfits will do the job.  However a baitcaster will give accuracy when casting and when casting from a boat there will be no need for long casts.

 

Lures

Look in 10 anglers tackle boxes and each will have a different assortment of lures that catch fish, but as a starter lures like Oar Gee, Darts and Boomerangs or lures similar work well.  Generally lures with a tighter action are used for targeting Golden perch and a wider action for Cod.  However both actions can catch both species.

 

Length wise I use lures in the 55-110 mm range, mostly 75-80 mm as this provides an each way bet – not too big for Goldens and not too small for Cod.  However the saying ‘Big lures big fish’ applies to Cod as well.  Hard bodied lures up to 250 mm and spinnerbaits 2-2  oz are used, but you will need to up the rate of rod and line to use these.

 

Colour is a personal preference.  The general rule is dark colours early morning, late afternoon and coloured water and bright colours for clear water when the sun is high.  The popular colours are black, purple, red/black, greens, fluros, orange, yellow and pink, or combinations of above.

 

Tight lines and happy fishing