queensland Somerset top end exploration

[Binder]

Well my holidays are almost over and I had not done the one thing I wanted to do, try out the new ramp at the top of somerset dam.

So earlier this week I consulted the Bom site, and the temperature was supposed to be a bit cooler today, so plans were made.

Being a good little vegemite, I timed my arrival to just before 6am, the allowed start time. When I got there the gate was open and two empty trailers already in the parking lot.

So I lost no time in launching, the main aim of the day was to explore and see if my research and plotting on the GPS would allow me to follow the old river bed all the way up to the Stanley.

I decided to drag some lures on the way up, then fish anything that looked fishy or anything of interest spotted on the sounder on the way back.

Most of the standing trees were in 3m of water or less, not ideal bass conditions, probably more suited to yella's or cod, so have that filed away for another day. The main channel ran about 12m deep all the way to the bridge, so I traveled just off to the side of my plot of the channel, looking to keep my lures in around 6 to 8m of water (running deep divers). Most of the flats were under 2m, towards the bridge, under 1m, with lots of very shallow areas (pelicans standing 50m from the nearest visible land!) so certainly you do need to know where the channel is towards to the top.

No sign of any fish, either on the lures or the sounder apart from what felt like a spangled perch bite near the ramp.

Conditions were pretty glassy most of the morning, with the breeze getting up a little as I was heading back down towards the ramp.

First up my track with the current satellite info.

How did I go following the channel? Apart from my getting myself turned around a few times direction wise (going in the wrong direction to what the GPS was indicating), I'll let you judge, this is today's track plotted on the 2008 image of the dam. (On the way back I diverting to likely looking trees etc for a looksee, and to see if the sounder showed anything of interest around them.)

When I got to the bridge, I found I need a couple of other fat bastards in the boat to let me get under it, my two motors were about 4 inches to high to get under it! Could have beached the boat and adjusted the motor heights (Back motor actually has no adjustment, it comes off completely and you put it back on in a new position, so not something you do anywhere but on dry land!) , but that was as far as I wanted to go anyway.

Turns out it is a 5k trip to the bridge from the ramp following the channel, probably only be 3 or so across country if you were paddling a yak. But I'd follow the channel once within a k or so of the bridge!

Found the old wooden bridge on the sounder just downstream of the new bridge in 7m of water and fished it for half an hour before turning back, was sure it would be good for a yella or two, but not even a nibble.

When loading my boat, the trailer wheels were only on the concrete ramp by a couple of feet, so when the dam starts to drop it will be a dirt launch, but it felt pretty good under foot.

[alaskanaturally]

Sounds like a great day even though it was fishless. Not always about catchin'.

[ellicat]

Have heard the cod are biting like bream on the other side of that bridge. :whistle: Shame you couldn't get there

Jokes of course.

[Dinodadog]

When I went to the new ramp I had a yella in the first few metres and thought it was going to be a great day but that was it.

Dino

[samsteele115]

pretty good plotting! Shame about the no fish