Borumba Saratoga

[slinkymalinky]

Wow! It's been a looooong time since I posted. What with a range of other commitments and a complete lack of fishing, I've barely been in the forums for a while.

I finally got to wet a line and run my boat (after at least a 3 month lay off). I took the family up to Borumba Dam, inland from the Sunshine Coast and only about 2 1/2 hours drive from my place, for a couple of days. It was my first look at the dam but after hearing reports from Jewhunter I really wanted to get there. We stayed at Borumba Deer Park... a great little caravan park about 3km from the dam. Plenty for the kids to do with swimming holes, playground, roasting marshmallows over the campfire (and the deer of course).

Borumba is a relatively small dam. The run from the dam wall (where the boat ramp is) up to the very upper reaches is only about 7km. The bottom end is open with steep banks and deeper water and was holding a few showings of Bass which school up in the main basin during winter. But we were after Saratoga... my wife in particular wanted to catch one as she's seen me get a few in North Queensland.

With Toga in mind we spent our time in the upper reaches of the dam which are full of dead trees and have a lot of weedy, lilly fringed banks. Just the kind of place to find Saratoga.

On the first afternoon we only had a couple of hours but after a couple of bumps and half-hearted takes, the eldest Slinky daughter managed a beautiful Saratoga on a gold spinnerbait. Her first and she was over the moon... even more so because now she had also caught one in front of Mrs Slinky.

That was our only fish for the session so it was back to base camp. The next day we ended up having a 'family fishing day' (which means we didn't get on the water until 11am and only fished until 2pm). Now Borumba is surrounded by a lot of steep hills so shady pockets can be found a lot later than on most waters, but with the sun straight overhead, I wasn't surprised that we didn't get a touch. We did get to see at least a dozen Toga swimming along the weed fringes but even using the fly rod wouldn't tempt them to eat in the bright light. Oh well.

On the last morning, Mrs Slinky was still keen and because we had to be out of the cabin by 10 anyway, I managed to round up the troops and be on the water by a more sensible (for fishing) 9am. We did the run straight up to the top end of the Yabba Creek arm and started fishing the pockets among the lily pads along shady banks.

Mrs Slinky was first to hook up with a good Toga snaffling her black and red spinnerbait. It immediately got acrobatic and spat the hooks (Saratoga have very hard bony mouths so razor sharp hooks and good reflexes to jam the hooks home on the strike are pretty well mandatory if you want consistent success). A couple of minutes later and I hooked in solidly and after a brief fight, Mrs Slinky netted a pretty 60cm Toga for me.

We could only fish for a short while and again, that was our only landed fish for our hour session, but I jumped off a baby and we had a couple more hits that failed to hook up.

I can't wait to get back up there during summer when the surface action turns on!! Mrs Slinky is a little disappointed she didn't get her Toga but seeing a couple caught has just got her keen to get a bit more serious next time.

Cheers, Slinky

[outdoordan]

Thanks for ruining my day! its bad enough that i am stuck in the dessert, a thousand kilometers from any fishy looking water. Not to mention I'm working on a public holiday, and now i have to read about you and family getting amounst the beautiful togas in some magnificent looking water. Thanks..

Seriously though, Well Done Slinkies.... Particularly to little miss Slinky. That is an awesome toga and you should be very proud.

Sounds like a great trip. I am frothing to get up that way myself in the near future. Particularly to target them on surface or even fly

Dan

[slinkymalinky]

Definitely bring your fly rod. The top end of Borumba is just made for it. Mine is sitting ready to go once the weather gets a little warmer and I can chase them on the surface.

Cheers, Slinky

[Catchin Jack]

Well done mate, we have missed you

[james7]

Enjoyed reading the report Slinky. Good to see you back on the water.

Sounds like a great family trip.

I would like the chance one day to catch a Saratoga. Weird, but beautiful looking fish. Congratulations to young Miss Slinky on her fine catch.

However, I was a bit worried when I read this ... (and I quote)

"Plenty for the kids to do with swimming holes, playground, roasting marshmallows over the campfire (and the deer of course).

Roasting marshallows ... and THE DEER of course! Surely you're not allowed to roast a deer!! I'm shocked Slinky that you'd let your kids do that!

.

.

.

.

So, just out of interest, what did "Bambi and marshmallow" taste like?

Cheers

Peter

[slinkymalinky]

It was OK, Peter but they sure put up a fuss when we tried to put them on the sticks!!

Cheers, Slinky

[ddaniel]

nice work slink, never been to borumba spoke about it just never got their, last toga i got was in your local the hinze, done very well with fizzers. we never fished befor 10, unless we were going for bass, we worked out as the bass went deeper we would get in and hit the edges for the togs.

[pmak]

Wow! Those are great looking Saratoga. Well done on your eldest daughter for getting the first fish. Pity your wife did not manage to land one.

We had a Saratoga in a tank when I was younger (and overseas) and my fishing career started when I was tasked with catching bait fish to feed it! Occasionally, it would get fed a cockroach unlucky enough to be caught by me or for a special treat, it would get a house gecko! The thing I remember is how it would react to a struggling insect / gecko on the surface, arch its body and strike the hapless target in seconds!

Gee it would be good to catch one someday ...