HOME »
Freshwater »
Barramundi
» Toga Tactics
Toga Tactics
By Nickfish
Nicholas Thompson aka Nickfish takes us on an adventure targeting one of his dream fish… a dragon of the fresh water and a prehistoric sportfish often referred to by anglers as the ‘toga’.
Queensland’s north is known for its sportfish. In the ocean, we've got massive giant trevally, black marlin and Spanish mackerel, the rivers and estuaries have king salmon, barramundi, and mangrove jack, while in the freshwater we also have barramundi and there's another fish that rules freshwater environment, the saratoga.
This fish has been a dream fish of mine for a while and let me tell you, you should definitely look into targeting these fish. They look like dragons and like no other fish and yet they are perfectly designed in every detail. An upward facing mouth that is designed to snap up frogs and lizards that are daring enough to take the plunge across the lilies. Their snake-like bodies allow them to launch themselves at their prey and send themselves into the air, while forward facing eyes are perfectly placed to give them maximum vision while patrolling the lilies. To top of all of this, they have a mad goatee on their chin to finish them off.
Saratoga are found in both wild and impoundment environments. In the wild these fish will feed on predominantly frogs, bugs and fish that swim above them. If you're in a boat and looking for these fish in the wild, I tend to stay around the lilies because they will patrol these areas close to the surface. When you spot one, get your lure in there and hope it's ready to eat. Fish also like lilies because they provide shade and cooling from the heat of the Australian sun.
Another spot to look for these fish is around fallen trees because bugs, frogs and lizards will often come out onto the log and end up in the water. The saratoga will be there waiting to snatch them up. If fishing off the bank I like to fish in very similar locations, except I don't like to fish the lilies, simply because it can get very difficult to land the fish.
In the impoundments these fish are much harder to target because the water is a lot deeper, with the fish sometimes holder a lot lower in the water column than they would in the wild. The best place to target these fish is in the timbers, with prime bite times being early morning and late afternoon.
Saratoga are stocked in many different dams and lakes throughout Queensland. I have been having a lot of success catching saratoga in Cania Dam in Central Queensland, about 93 kilometres southwest of Gladstone. Not only does it have a stocking of saratoga, Cania also has a very good bass and yellowbelly population thanks to the local stocking group and the SIP (Stocked Impoundment Permit) system.
When looking for a rod for saratoga fishing I look for a rod that has a fairly light tip so that I can flick unweighted plastics decent distances. I find that a 7’ 2-4kg rod is the perfect size as it still has the capabilities to tackle larger fish such as sooty grunter if you are in the wild environment, along with a possible barramundi in certain environments. I am currently loving the Okuma Cerros rod as a good allround option.
A reel around the 30 / 3000 size will tackle any saratoga you come across. The Okuma Epixor XT ticks all the boxes with its 8kg max drag, and it sits perfectly on the Cerros rod, while casting unweighted ZMan FrogZ long distances. When fighting these fish, you need to be careful when playing with the drag because saratoga have very bony mouths and if you tighten the drag you can pull the hook out of the fish's mouth, while obviously not having it too loose or when the saratoga jumps (which it will do a lot of), the hook can fall straight out. I like to spool this combo up with a 15lb pound braid and 20lb to add to its versatility on bycatch and handle the saratoga’s needle like teeth.
During the early morning and late afternoon, there's no better way to target these fish than with surface presentations. Small floating stickbaits and poppers are excellent lures for saratoga, with the Fish Inc. 80mm Scrum Half Popper proving deadly. When you find a saratoga cruising the surface you need to place the perfect cast in line with where they are heading and then twitch it back until it's in line with the cruising path. As the toga approaches the lure, twitch a few times then pause. If it's not interested, then try again because when they switch on, they will race to the lure and smash it off the surface. Frog imitations are also very effective for saratoga, such as the ZMan 2.75” Finesse FrogZ. I'll do the same thing with frogs except I won't twitch as I like to let those legs do the work.
During the middle of the day the Tribe Spin Doctor spinnerbaits are effective, especially when the fish move into deeper water. Just a slow rolling (slow winding) retrieve will do the trick as the flashing blades and pulsing skirts attract the bite. One lure that I have had great success with is the ZMan 3” Baby GOAT. This versatile lure doubles as a sub-surface presentation and is an even better topwater presentation.
During the middle of the day, I like to rig the ZMan 3” Baby GOAT on a mushroom style jighead (TT NedlockZ) and this effectively imitates a cherabin or craw. When I'm rigging like this, I like to use a hopping retrieve action to imitate a fleeing shrimp or craw. The second way that I rig it is with a weedless worm hook (TT ChinlockZ) and just fish it with a slow rolling retrieve. On top of those two presentations, these lures are an epic surface presentation… just rig them up with weightless weedless jigheads and start buzzing them across the top.
Saratoga has an iconic fight that is very similar to a barramundi. They hit like a freight train and then they almost immediately take to the air. It will be at this moment that you will see the dragon like figure and then it'll click… you’re hooked up to the elusive saratoga. After this the fish will start to sit a bit deeper in the water column. Once you see the golden shine of this water dragon as it jumps a few more times attempting to spit out a hook, hopefully it’s perfectly pinned in the corner of the mouth. The fish will likely then take another dive and peel some more line of the spool. Once in the net it's important to keep dunking it in the water because these fish don’t like spending a long time out of the water.
Saratoga can be a very elusive fish that draws people to some wild locations to target them. There are so many ways to catch them, and I have covered just a few of the basics to catching one of Australia's most iconic freshwater species. Get out there and find some… you won’t regret it!
Cheers, Nickfish
Gearing Up:
Okuma Cerros Spin Rods - CER-S-701ML 7' 2-4kg
Okuma Epixor XT Spin Reels - EPXT-30
Platypus Braid - 15lb
Platypus Leader - 20lb
ZMan 3" Baby GOAT
ZMan 2.75" Finesse FrogZ
TT ChinlockZ Jigheads
TT NedlockZ Jigheads
Tribe Fishing Spin Doctor Spinnerbaits
Fish Inc. 80mm Fly Half Popper