queensland Borumba! Bloody Beautiful! Bloody Barings!

[Drop Bear]

I haven't ever caught a Saratoga... For that matter I have not even seen one out of a tank, not seen one caught by anyone else, not seen one chilling out under a lily pad and not even seen a swirl from something I suspected to be one. This is a real bucket list fish for me.But not only do I need to catch one it has to be caught on top water...

@Luke Landrunner offered to show me around Borumba Dam on Thursday so I was Champing at the bit! This was my chance. This would be the day. 

Borumba is known as Toga Party central. Sara is the host to these parties can be wild! I wanted to have a chat with this mystery lady and decided to crash the party without an invitation. 

http://www.seqwater.com.au/water-supply/dam-operations/borumba-dam

I was lucky enough to win the Report Comp for March April. Thanks so much to @Zim man. With a discount code in my inbox, I raced to the https://masterangler.com.au/ website and ordered some top water Saratoga lollies to smash me the big one. 

I ended up getting a stack of things and spent a lot more than the generous $100 gift voucher but my 2 Toga tantalizers were the Damiki MTB Buzzbait

 

and Fish Arrow Air Bag Frog 2

Zim Man was very kind and let me come and pick up the order which was great as he gave me a lesson on how to rig the Fish Arrows up with weedless hook. He even threw in an extra pack of hooks for me. Legend!!!

I lost my Sharpshooter a few weeks ago so had to change things up. I have an old Live Fiber rod and a great Nordic Stage Favourite. 

The alarm went off at 3.30 and I tiptoed the boat through the Junior Drop Bears parking lot for the 2 hour trip north. An uneventful trip at first but as I left the highway north of Eumundi it started to get very foggy which slowed things down a bit. About 8km away from the dam the trailer brakes came on slowing the car down very noticeably. I got out to check and the breaks were on full! The cables extremely tight. I tried to adjust them but the adjustment screw bit was all seized up with rust... annoying after only 5 months since purchasing new especially considering It has been washed after each trip and sprayed with inox lots of times. 

I had no real choice but to cut the break cable so I could carry on.  I had some side cutters and after a fair bit of mucking around they popped with a bang. I quickly tied them up and carried on only to get about 1km before the trailer was heavy again and making a nasty sound...

Stop again inspect a bit better in the dark with the phone as a torch and bugger.... broken left leaf spring...

7km from Toga heaven... Luke waiting for me at the ramp... Sun starting to lighten the sky...

I pulled the axle forward as best as I could with some ropes and, probably a dumb decision, carried on to the lake...

With black smoke pouring off the tyre that was rubbing on the wheel arch I made it to the lake. 

We decided that there was little we could do until mechanics etc. opened and decided to go for a for a fish anyhow. The finish time was set for lunch time to give us plenty of time to drive into town and grab what ever we could get and perhaps limp the boat home or at least to the local mechanic. 

Wow. Borumba is so beautiful.

 

Dark eerie forest of eucalyptus with large rain forest patches in many of the valleys line this deep and pristine lake.

 

 

The waters, dark from tea tree stain due to late summer rain, added to the mystery and enhanced reflections in the windless glassy tributary. Birds surrounding us from all angles were carrying on like pork chops. The dawn chorus buffeting eardrums nearly overwhelming. 

 

We headed up to the timber area and decided to try the left/southern arm first. Electric motor casually drifting us amongst the standing timber, fog hiding distant hills and forested shorelines. The birds were the biggest critics, laughing at any feeble cast that failed to reach distant snags and weed beds. 

The Buzzbait was my first choice. It is a sinking lure but when quickly engaged after it hits the water and adjusting the speed of retrieval it buzzes across the water in what I hoped was an irresistible manner. I am not too familiar with spinner baits so was loving playing with this new toy. 

20180503_072125.mp4

Luke remarked that there were virtually no boils from morning Bass. The fish were very quiet. Water temp was 22⁰. We cruised around on the motor guide and were a bit frustrated by its inability to pick up the GPS but made it work. Casting up little inlets and under overhanging trees. I swapped to the frog and loved how it effortlessly slipped over the weeds and lilies. It really looks like a swimming frog. I tried everything. Fast retrieves and slow. Stopping for ages and little twitches. But sadly nothing brought any attention.

Luke persisted with the jitterbug for many hours and changed to a traditional spinner bait... still nothing. We used blades over fantastic shows of fish on the sounder but didn't even get a bump.

Luke made us a delicious bacon and egg roll with home made bbq sauce. This guy is a pro decky... I need to lift my game... don't tell Tugger (see he is not tagged )

North arm was the same. We chatted to other boats (some really flash) and the lure anglers were all saying the same thing. Not today my friend. But what a stunning day. Cool and windless. A few clouds but not too many. 

Gratuitous product shot below. Do I get sponsored @Angus? Look at how well the dragon fly matches the logo! Has to be some extra points in that?

A few more spots checked near the boat ramp where Luke had been successful in the yak but nothing but a few weeds came back on our hooks. 

12pm came quickly so we made it back to the ramp where we tied up the boat to work on the trailer. scratching our heads a bit a fantastic bloke, who had been test driving his stunning home made timber boat in the dam, (wish I got a photo but I was a bit frazzled) stopped and brought over a life saving block of wood. We put this under the trailer and over the axel and used some Duct tape to hold it in place then lashed it down with some good ropes I had. I lashed the axel from going backwards or forwards and it looked pretty solid for a dodgy bush mechanic job. 

We put the boat on and Luke followed me to the highway. No problems at all. I stopped a few times to have a look but all seemed good and I made it all the way to Burpengarry where I left it for repairs.

So over all a tough days boating and fishing but #worthit. So glad I did it. What a stunning place.

Thanks @Luke Landrunner for the introduction to the party. The lunch was awesome but I didn't like the donut. 

I will be back for you Sara!!

 

 

[Drop Bear]

oh by the way the bearings ref in the title was for alliteration purposes only... 

[ellicat]

Sounds like you might have used up your fishing luck on the luck with the trailer safely to Burpengary.

Beaut report anyway. Love the pics in the fog.

[Drop Bear]

50 minutes ago, ellicat said:

Sounds like you might have used up your fishing luck on the luck with the trailer safely to Burpengary.

Beaut report anyway. Love the pics in the fog.

Yep sounds about right

 

[aussie123]

Borumba is a beautiful lake and I need to get back there sometime myself.

Shame about the fishing but from now on it does get tough up there for the Toga although the best Toga fishing I ever had was in the dead of winter.

You want to make sure your trailer is all fixed under warranty as well.

[Old Scaley]

A lesser man would have given up at the first sign of trailer trouble but not you Robbie. That is pretty ordinary for a new trailer. What brand is it?

[Drop Bear]

19 hours ago, aussie123 said:

Borumba is a beautiful lake and I need to get back there sometime myself.

Shame about the fishing but from now on it does get tough up there for the Toga although the best Toga fishing I ever had was in the dead of winter.

You want to make sure your trailer is all fixed under warranty as well.

Thanks mate. It is at the shop that I bought it from. They are fixing it up on warranty and said they will move the winch stem back 2 inches to lighten it up as it is way too heavy at the front. 

Hey @aussie123 do you do jockey wheels? I am broke at the moment but would like to upgrade mine when I get some cash. This one is really hard to wind up. 

[Drop Bear]

19 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

A lesser man would have given up at the first sign of trailer trouble but not you Robbie. That is pretty ordinary for a new trailer. What brand is it?

haha lesser or perhaps cleverer. It is the trailer that came with the Stessco and is branded stessco. Yep I was pretty disappointed. It was pointed out to me that they are all from China and the parts are hit and miss. I have not broken a leaf spring before. I guess I have not had a single leaf spring suspension before...

[Leroy]

Hinze dam has togas to  but that's a beautiful dam       Good trailer work   Get the other leaf replace to that's not right 

[rayke1938]

Those parabolic springs are normally ok

How much gear do you have in the boat? May pay to upgrade to a higher rated spring or just bad luck hitting a big  pothole.

You will also probably find that you need a new tyre if not already fitted get light truck tyres

Cheers

Ray

[Drop Bear]

22 minutes ago, Leroy said:

Hinze dam has togas to  but that's a beautiful dam       Good trailer work   Get the other leaf replace to that's not right 

Good call. Thanks

[Drop Bear]

19 minutes ago, rayke1938 said:

Those parabolic springs are normally ok

How much gear do you have in the boat? May pay to upgrade to a higher rated spring or just bad luck hitting a big  pothole.

You will also probably find that you need a new tyre if not already fitted get light truck tyres

Cheers

Ray

I had no gear in the boat. I don't remember hitting a pot hole but might have. 

Is it ok to have one light truck and one normal tyre?

[rayke1938]

I wouldd prefer that the tyres were alike. A light truck tyre will have a higherload rating than a normal radial.

The problem with a lot of boat.motor,trailer packages is that to get the sale the dealers put the bare minimum trailer under a hull so you end up with cheap chinese tyres and less than optimum springs. The springs should have their load rating painted on them. It could just be bad luck that the spring broke but checking it now could prevent future pain.

It is amazing how many dealers fail to correctly fit up a hull to the trailer especially when they have the hide to charge you for it.

Cheers

Ray

 

[Luke Landrunner]

It was my pleasure to introduce you to the majestic Lake Borumba @Drop Bear.

The natural beauty did lessen the pain of trailer issues and the no show of Sara, her friend Billy the Bass and his mate Yella.

This is the best no fish caught report ever. 

Six pack of donuts for you at the end of the month.......

Thanks again and can you ghost write my reports please 

[Drop Bear]

41 minutes ago, Luke Landrunner said:

It was my pleasure to introduce you to the majestic Lake Borumba @Drop Bear.

The natural beauty did lessen the pain of trailer issues and the no show of Sara, her friend Billy the Bass and his mate Yella.

This is the best no fish caught report ever. 

Six pack of donuts for you at the end of the month.......

Thanks again and can you ghost write my reports please 

haha thanks mate. Mate I am a gun for hire. tell me how much you gonna pay? 

[Luvit]

Fine photos and report again Robbie.

[kmcrosby78]

Agree @Luke Landrunner - even when he catches nothing his reports are awesome ......... Great report Rob!!

[Drop Bear]

6 hours ago, Luvit said:

Fine photos and report again Robbie.

Thanks mate. I haven't seen your trip report yet. cant wait

[Drop Bear]

1 hour ago, kmcrosby78 said:

Agree @Luke Landrunner - even when he catches nothing his reports are awesome ......... Great report Rob!!

Thanks mate I had a great day even with all the stuff that went wrong. Such a stunning spot

[Zim man]

great report mate, bad luck about the fishing though, there is always next time

[Drop Bear]

14 hours ago, Zim man said:

great report mate, bad luck about the fishing though, there is always next time

Thanks @Zim man I loved the lures. Thanks again!!!!!! 

[Luvit]

What happened Robbie?

All fixed under warranty?

[Drop Bear]

49 minutes ago, Luvit said:

What happened Robbie?

All fixed under warranty?

I find out for sure tomorrow but yes it seems that way. Motorsport Marine have sent it back to Stessco. They have had to replace the spring, wheel arch, wheel arch bracket, Tyre and ubolt. They said it is all on warranty so it should be fine. I need it back for Friday as we are doing sea floor surveys then. Every one who can make it is welcome to come along. 

[Luvit]

Good they came to the party at no cost to you.

5 minutes ago, Drop Bear said:

I find out for sure tomorrow but yes it seems that way. Motorsport Marine have sent it back to Stessco. They have had to replace the spring, wheel arch, wheel arch bracket, Tyre and ubolt. They said it is all on warranty so it should be fine. I need it back for Friday as we are doing sea floor surveys then. Every one who can make it is welcome to come along. 

Not sure when I'll have mine back on the water just yet.

[Drop Bear]

2 minutes ago, Luvit said:

Good they came to the party at no cost to you.

Not sure when I'll have mine back on the water just yet.

Gee that report from @Luke Landrunner was a cracker................ 

[Luvit]

I’ll have to do one myself. Not tonight have tennis.