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Sandy Straits & Lenthalls Dam - Spring

By Paul Chew

With the last of the westerlies hopefully past, and the water super clear, the arrival of spring heralds my favourite fishing time of the year. The indicator of the arrival of spring for me isn't the first day of September, instead spring announces its arrival by the first of the strong, warm northerly winds. Generally we get just a day or two of the first warmth of spring, followed shortly after by spells that often last a few days. The effects of the northerlies are twofold, both warming the water and also the strong winds help oxygenate the smaller dams, lakes and across the flats. In the ocean it serves to dirty up the gin clear water, stirring up sediment, ripping seaweed off the sea floor and depositing it onto the beach, all providing more cover for fish and bait in the shallows. Generally we will also get a little rain that will kick start the small prawns in the creeks and kick the cycle off again.

What's on offer in the Sandy Straits

The variety of species in the straits in spring is enormous, however I generally chase the elusive barramundi in both the salt and also out in the local dams. Threadfin and blue salmon will be schooling and pushing up into the tops of the rivers and creeks, while the last run of sand whiting will be pushing out to spawn on the beaches of Fraser Island, making an easy target on the bigger tides.

Grunter will still be about, however as the weather warms the lower creeks in the straits are a little less pleasant to fish with the onset of the mosquitoes and sandflies. I tend not to fish the deeper parts of the river too much as I have difficulty getting the bigger threadfin to release in healthy condition, so I try and target them in only around three or four metres of water. My favourite by far though is still finding them on the shallow drains and rock bars.

Tracking Down the Elusive Barramundi

Generally, the barramundi will school up and head upstream in the rivers, hanging in the deeper holes in large schools, where they feed on the mullet and herring that have pushed up as the clean salt water pushes toward the headwaters. Early in spring the bite period is likely to be short, with the last of the out and first of the run in tide being the most consistent for me.

Where I can I will cast hard bodies at laydown timber, or use a prawn imitation lightly weighted and cast deep into the same trees, or along any likely looking rocky edges. Vibes, like the TT Lures Switchblade, are useful in the deeper water, targeting more active schooled fish.

I fish a maximum of 50lb leader these days, fishing either a 4-8kg or 5-12kg Okuma Cerros Baitcast rod and Cerros Baitcast reel, with 20 or 30lb mainline with a simple double uni leader knot. For the prawn imitations I use a 3-6kg Cerros Spin rod, coupled with either an Okuma Helios HSX-30 or Epixor EPXT-30 Spin reel, 20lb Platypus P8 braid and 30lb Hard Armour Leader.

As a starting kit for barramundi I'll have an outfit rigged with a small hardbody, one with a vibe and one with a prawn imitation. I'll tie on a Bagley Deep Diving Shad 07 or Rumble B, rigged to suspend, a 1/2oz TT Lures Switchblade in Green Slimy colour and a ZMan 3" Scented Shrimpz in Holographic colour on a 1/4oz 3/0 TT Lures SnakelockZ weedless jighead, as it has been a prolific fish catcher the last couple of seasons. The ZMan 3" Scented ShrimpZ has produced both the numbers and better quality fish. I like to fish the smaller tides early in spring, with a low around 10am, letting the sun warm the water a little and with anything above 22 degrees Celsius making extracting a bite a little easier for me.

In the dams it's an easier option, putting in the time in the afternoons with the northerly blowing, throwing a slow rolled soft plastic like the ZMan 5" DieZel MinnowZ, before switching to a ZMan 4" Hard Leg FrogZ on a 6/0 TT Lures ChinlockZ jighead after about 3pm. As the wind drops off, toward dark, a twitch, twitch, pause retrieve with my favourite Lenthalls Dam surface lure, the Bagley Rattlin' Finger Mullet, will give you a great chance and get the heartbeat going. There are some videos around the place of me fishing these lures at Lenthalls.

I am no gun fisho and am out there to just enjoy myself and share some good company these days, however fishing this way will yield results if you put in the hours. Fishing the shallower bays and points, that the wind is blowing into, is a proven way to find a few fish. It is definitely worth waiting until we have prime conditions before heading out early in September, with a couple of days of warm northerly winds being the most productive for me. Howling sou'easters make the fishing pretty tough and you are probably better off looking at other options in my humble opinion.

The Wrap

Looking into my crystal ball, I imagine the way this year has gone that we will experience howling northerlies, come the first or second of September, coinciding with the full moon. They will probably end up blowing until the end of October, so, while it gets the fish moving, it also provides some challenging conditions to fish in. Look for the good weather windows, with lighter northerlies and a low tide around 9am for the barra and salmon. Fish the last of the out for the salmon and the first of the run in for the barra.

If you are chasing bread and butter species in the Sandy Straits, still look for the bigger tides, with a bit of run to get the fish moving. One species that I haven't touched on is flathead, and while I chase them a bit, I just want to mention that the big tides in September are when I have seen the big, roe laden species push onto the flats, from the deep water on the western side of Fraser Island, to spawn. I try and leave them alone over this time and even though the opportunity of a 'trophy' photo beckons, I don't want to disrupt their cycle.

Carefully walking the flats though you can rack up cricket scores of smaller fish, pushing up to interact with the females. Just look for any decent drain pushing up onto the flats and you are on a winner. There are plenty of articles about on flatties, however I do like the ZMan 5" StreakZ on a 1/4oz 4/0 TT Lures HeadlockZ jighead.

If a feed of sand whiting are your thing, then check Shell Gutter out from River Heads, or any of the decent drains around and out from River Heads. Fish in the afternoons, on the big new or full moon tides and follow the fish up the drains and onto the mangrove edges. Just remember not to exceed your bag limit. Yabbies and worms will be the best bait. Shrimp and prawn patterns fished slowly, along with suspending hard bodies for the barra and you are set. Get amongst 'em.

Tight Lines,
Chewy