In search of the prehistoric saratoga

Some people call them crazy, others call them fishers. Joel and Alex drive through the night to chase Alex’s first saratoga on Borumba Dam.

Monday evening my phone lit up with a Facebook message from my good friend Alex, a proposition of an impromptu fishing trip away to escape from the wind that was predicted to blow through the Northern Rivers in the coming week. A quick phone call and a plan was set to cross the border into QLD in search of Alex’s first ever saratoga. We planned to leave the next day separately after each of us finished work on Tuesday night and meet at Borumba dam, ready to hit the water on Wednesday morning.

Alex arrived at around 11 pm followed by myself at around 1 am. First light on Wednesday morning and we had the boat sliding off the trailer with the anticipation growing. Alex, having only seen pictures of these prehistoric creatures before, was shaking with excitement. A quick run across the main basin of the dam and into one of its arms just as there was enough light to see where we were heading. Much of Borumba is littered with sunken trees from the dam’s creation so it’s important to be careful when navigating between fishing spots.

We both began throwing topwater lures and immediately began sighting fish feeding near the surface. After about 15 minutes of casting, Alex had his surface walker engulfed by his first-ever saratoga. A few nice runs and multiple leaps out of the water before the fish of 56cm reached the net. It was humbling to see Alex land his first saratoga and ticking off the main goal for the trip took a lot of pressure off. A smug remark from Alex “watch this I’ll catch another one from the same spot” and sure enough he hooked up again although this time the joy was short-lived and the fish managed to shake the hooks.

We continued casting our lures and sighting fish moving on the calm water surface but struggled to entice a bite so I decided to switch tactics. I tied on a Rapala shadow rap deep diver, a lure that has brought me great success targeting toga at Borumba dam in the past. Surely enough, this tried and tested lure brought me some luck and I hooked up to my first fish of the trip which unfortunately was able to quickly shake the hooks free.

The next two hours of fishing became increasingly frustrating seeing fish breaking the surface everywhere but being unable to get another bite. With no wind, the day had become extremely hot and the surface activity seemed to slow. We relocated closer to the main basin to some deeper water where we assumed the fish would be taking refuge from the heat. I began throwing a chatter bait and Alex started trying his luck with a football jig. The jig seemed to be working with a few hits but no hook-ups. My chatter hadn’t had a touch and the combination of lack of sleep and the heat of the day was starting to wear me down, then bang! my second hook up for the trip. This fish stayed deep and finally revealed itself under the boat as a nice sized yellowbelly. Alex, having never caught a yellow belly, expressed his envy while I was feeling a little more energised.

Another move saw us working some deep rocky banks up another arm of the dam both using football jigs with gulp crabby soft plastics attached to the hooks to better our chances of a bite. Alex landed his first Australian bass of the trip after another few missed hits which gave him a bit of an energy boost. The next 50 meter stretch of the bank saw Alex land another 4 bass, all in fantastic condition. We had almost finished working the bank when I finally got my first hook-up, a few tense moments and surprised shrieks and I landed my first toga for the trip and my first one ever on a football jig, something I haven’t really heard of people doing before. By this stage, the sun was getting too hot to bare fishing any longer so we retreated back to the campground to cool off and take a much-needed nap before the afternoon bite.

The day began to cool and we made our way back down to the boat ramp for the afternoon session. Two casts in and Alex hooked up using the football jig again and much to our surprise landed a second toga on the jig, this one being a little smaller than his first. We continued fishing and changing lures, trying everything we had in our boxes. In the end, we headed back to the ramp, tired and sweaty from our day’s efforts. Back to camp for a feed and an early night ready to be on the water at dawn the next day.

The next morning was another early start, on the water for first light again. We decided to head to the same spot we started the day before because of all the fish we saw moving around. We were again greeted by more fish moving around near the surface. I started throwing a surface walker while Alex started with a foam popper fly using his fly rod. It didn’t take long before I got my first hit on the topwater but typical of these bony mouthed fish the hooks didn’t stick. In the next 15 minutes I had another two missed hits and Alex had no luck so he decided to pack the fly gear away.

After two hours with no more hits, we decided to switch our focus and try to score Alex his first yellowbelly. I took us to a deep bend in one of the arms of the dam where I had caught them on some of my past trips to Borumba. We both tied on vibes and started throwing them around dead trees that remained from the days before the dam’s creation. It didn’t take long before Alex hooked up and landed his first yellowbelly.

Our tackle for the trip consisted of 6-7ft spinning and baitcast combos in the 4-7kg range loaded with 15lb braided line and a leader between 12-20lb to allow us to wrestle fish away from the maze of snags throughout the dam. Between the two of us, we ended up trying a massive list of lures comprised of various hard bodies, vibes, soft plastics, spinner baits and chatter baits.

The fishing over our two-day trip was slower than usual but it was an awesome excuse to get away with a mate to a beautiful part of the world and tick off a few firsts. I’m always reminded about how important it is for us fishers to look after these special places. One of the highlights was having a rare lungfish come up next to the boat and swim around us for a few minutes. I’m always taken back by the beauty of this place and the diversity of life both in and out of the water.