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Lake Callide Barramundi

By Jason Milne

Being predominantly a saltwater species angler I have only been mildly curious about impoundment fish and particularly barramundi. How quickly, after a couple of trips, that mild curiosity can turn into a full scale obsession in search of the next hook up and even bigger fish. A place called Lake Callide has me hooked!

With a small number of trips to other dams targeting barramundi, prior to this, I was inspired to find out as much information about these fish as I could to increase my hook up rate and maybe crack the metre mark. An invite to meet up with Dean Silvester at Lake Callide in December was the start of this slippery, addictive slope that I am thoroughly enjoying.

I did catch a few great fish and I did crack that metre mark after the second visit, however I could not have done it without the help of others that were prepared to share their experience. It's with that in mind that I wanted to share what I have learnt on those trips, so that maybe you too can be rewarded with that prize catch that is so sought after. A big shout out to Steve and Blake Hughs, who have both been so generous in sharing hours and hours of information gained through their experiences.

About Lake Callide.

Lake Callide is located about 6.5 hours north of Brisbane, seeing you drive past the turnoff to Lake Awoonga, and is within 15 minutes of the town of Biloela. Pack your tackle well as the closest tackle shop is in Gladstone (with some lures held at the Lake Callide Resort front office).

Although Lake Callide's primary purpose was originally designed to supply water to the nearby power plant, today it also supplies water to a large range of local agricultural needs. When needed, water is pumped in from Lake Awoonga some fifty kilometres to the east. On my two trips there the water level was no more than 23% capacity and at its deepest in the main basin it was 54' (16m). There is a link below from the Sunwater website in 'useful links' where you can see what the real time water level is.

Fish stocking program.

The stocking of this fishery is run through Callide Valley Native Fish Stocking Association (CVNFSA) and the species stocked since the club was formed in 1987 include barramundi, golden perch, Saratoga and silver perch. A total of 170, 768 barramundi, 320, 290 golden perch, 301 saratoga and 1, 268 sleepy cod have been stocked in Callide Dam from SIP permit sales (link for where to buy your SIP permit below in useful links).

Below are some of the numbers and species that have been stocked since 2014.

Given that it takes roughly four years for an impoundment barramundi to reach the magic metre mark, looking at those dates and quantities you can safely assume that you will find fish well over the metre mark right now and we did! The biggest fish landed by our crew during the two trips was 118cm, landed by Lake Callide Retreat Caretaker Steve while slow trolling in his Viking Kayak out in the main basin). Along with this beast there were two 110cm fish, a 115cm and several others between 96 and 98cm hitting the brag mat. The sounder also showed some big units cruising around.

Currently the biggest fish landed has been a 125cm fish landed by Jason Ehrlich and many others have measured in well over 120cm, which you can see on the Lake Callide Retreat Facebook page. Multiple reports, from very experienced barramundi anglers, losing bigger fish boat side due to straightened hooks and split rings suggests that there are bigger fish yet to be recorded.

TIP: Lake Callide Retreat Caretaker Steve has a very useful tip. Back off the drag a little and let them play out as they mostly have no timber to head for in this dam. There are some very heavy fish that will break your heart boat side if you don't play them out a little.

What are they feeding on?

I can attest to these fish being heavy, compared to same length fish I have seen landed in Lake Monduran. The lake Callide barra would be 10-15% fatter/heavier. I asked Steve if he felt this had something to do with the large aerator near the dam wall that comes from the power plant and is turned on intermittently, assumedly to make the water quality better for the plant. His answer was simply "they are just greedy and will eat everything"!

The food source is predominantly bony bream and banded grunter, however given the water is pumped from Awoonga there is no doubt that it would include many other food sources that have been stocked in the past by the CVNFSA.

Habitat/Structure and size of Lake Callide.

Lake Callide is a relatively small body of water (at roughly 10-12km long) compared to other impoundments like Monduran or Awoonga. This makes finding the fish easier and they can be found throughout the entire lake. As mentioned above there is little to no real structure in the main basin and edges, other than rocks and weedy bottom. Obviously a fish finder will help you to identify any hidden logs and other structure that does exist. The main basin and edges are where we found the majority of the bait and consequently the barramundi that were willing to take a lure on our trips. Steve's tip about letting them play out a little, if you feel you have a big one on, is a safe and very useful tip.

Further into the dam there is some light timber and rocky areas where you will need to play things a bit smarter, should you venture up that way. Golden perch and Saratoga can be found in and around these structure areas, along with plenty of red claw so bring the traps with you. Allow some time to map the lake with your sounder (this lake is not on Navionics charts) which won't take long given its size.

ANCHORING TIP: At night the wind can really get up at Lake Callide, so if you are running an electric motor make sure to bring a fully charged battery and a charger if staying multiple days as it will get a workout holding you in position. If you're not running an electric or you're in a kayak, bring an anchor or plan to just troll when it's windy. It gets proper windy I can tell. It comes on cue as predicted in the weather apps and does not go away until almost sun up.

When is it best to fish Lake Callide?

When your rod is in the water is a good time! After two trips myself, to build some firsthand experience, along with countless conversations with more knowledgeable anglers, it's safe to assume that if you're prepared to put in the time this lake will produce fish all year round. However, there are some simple principles to plan your first trip around, if you're not sure or are new to impoundment fishing and particularly one as small as Lake Callide.

Plan your trips around the full moon - leading up to and a couple of days after the full are all good times to fish for barramundi at Lake Callide. Fish around the Almanac bite times, but also spend time fishing the change of light period and pay attention to the surface noise. If you see bait stirring on the surface then you know the fish are feeding, so keep a hand on that rod ready to set the hook!

During my trip in December the fish seemed to really come on the bite in the evening, when the moon was high, noting that during that trip the outside temps were 38-42 degrees for a week. During my trip at the end of January the bite was more active in the early morning change of light period, with outside temps no higher than 36 degrees. So, two quite different trips. Keep an eye on the Lake Callide Retreat Facebook page for regular updates of fish being caught and do message them to ask what has been going on as both Steve and Kerry are more than happy to share the intel on what's happening. Steve is also fishing the dam every chance he gets.

Tackle and techniques that worked for me.

This is a very personal choice, so I will just report on what I used as it may help as a start point. Six inch paddle tail plastics (ZMan 6" SwimmerZ and TT Lures Jigheads) and 4" hard body jerkbaits (Bagley Rumble B) very slow trolled or cast and very slowly rolled were what worked for me on my trips. Looking at the other fish that were landed while there, it's a safe assumption that these are at least what you need to pack. I fished 40lb Platypus Bionic Braid to a 60lb Platypus Hard Armour Leader on an Okuma Citrix baitcast reel and Cerros 661H 5-12kg rod.

This dam does not appear to have a topwater bite in the main areas where the barra fed, so the main focus should be to find what depth the fish are sitting at and work your lures in that zone. If you are not running a sounder, then a safe way to work the lures is to slow retrieve them as close to the bottom weed as possible. Our most productive technique for the January trip was to very slow troll at first light, while other anglers had it dialled in, landing multiple fish on the cast and retrieve at night in the shallows.

Accommodation, access and other things of note.

Where to stay - Lake Callide Retreat (LCR) is located right on the edge of the dam and is my first suggestion. They have both powered and non-powered sites as well as a select number of cabins. If you're going in summer book a cabin so you can relax in the air conditioning between bite times. I will be taking my family of five next trip as it's a great place to chill out and the accommodations is fantastic. Biloela has accommodation options as a backup if you can't get into the LCR.

Lake access - All watercraft are welcome, without restriction, on this dam and it has a couple of easy boat ramp options, noting that with the water levels low you will likely end up just launching off the banks near enough to where the ramps are located. If you're kayaking, then your access points are many and with a 4WD you can launch pretty much anywhere.

Do you need a license to fish? - A Stocked Impoundment Permit (SIP) is required to fish. Permits are available from Fisheries Queensland and they set out the conditions under which you can fish at Queensland dams.

Food and fuel - Biloela is 15 minutes away and has all you will need in terms of supermarket, fuel and takeaways.

Fishing Guide option - Currently there is no advertised fishing guides for Lake Callide, however there is a very handy resource at the front office of Lake Callide Retreat. Steve and Kerry are awesome people who are only too willing to help you get onto one of these amazing fish.

Cheers, Jason

www.lakecallideretreat.com
www.sunwater.com.au/dams/callide-dam/
www.daf.qld.gov.au/rsa/sips-dams-and-weirs/profile?dam=callide-dam
Article originally appeared at www.railblaza.com