Lake Barambah in the South Burnett Region

If you’re looking for that relaxing destination that’s only a couple hours’ drive from the hustle and bustle of the city or the coast, look no further than Lake Barambah in the South Burnett.

by Matthew Langford •

Now is a great time of year to get out and explore what Queensland has to offer. As an angler, most of our travels revolve around new and exciting fishing destinations. For me, the cooler months really get me keen to hit the impoundments in search of our beloved freshwater species. Many impoundments come to mind, but I can’t help but continually go back to one of the great little gems that we have right on our doorstep.

Lake Barambah or BP Dam is just that place. If you’re not familiar with the dam, it’s located in the beautiful South Burnett Region. It’s a comfortable driving distance from the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, and holds some of the best freshwater fishing anywhere in the country.

HISTORY
Many who travel to the area are confused by the name of Lake Barambah – it is also known as Bjelke-Petersen Dam or BP. The lake itself is Lake Barambah, but the dam is called Bjelke-Petersen Dam after the late Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. The lake was named after an original property in the area called Barambah.

Lake Barambah is a reasonably shallow dam that has an abundance of shallow flats and a long-submerged creek bed (Barkers Creek) that runs from the back of the dam to the dam wall.

The dams’ construction was completed in 1988 and covers almost 2000ha and holds back 120,000ML of water that is delivered via a catchment area of 1600km, mainly running off into Barkers Creek from the Bunya Mountains. The great thing about BP is its abundance of shallow flats and seasonally warmer water. This encourages the growth of biomasses of bait species like, shrimps, red claw, bony bream, barred grunter and gudgeon. In a case where the bait is in abundance, the fish tend to gorge themselves on these flats.

Within the stocked populations of bass, yellowbelly and silver perch, a massive annual growth rate occurs. Fish that were released in 2013 now have the food and capacity to grow up to 50cm in 4 or 5 years. Recently Lake Barambah was sitting just above 23% water capacity, so it would be great to see some inflow in the next 12 months.

STOCKING
The BP Fish Management Committee is a local fish stocking group based out of Murgon that releases large amounts of fish into the dam annually, thanks to the funds generated by the SIP (Stocked Impoundment Permit) funds. The group releases roughly 50,000 Australian bass, 70,000 yellowbelly and 15,000 silver perch.

The fish are born and raised locally, thanks to the hard work of Hanwood Fish Hatchery. Every year the fish are transported from the hatchery to the timbered bays at the back of the dam and are released by the many volunteers that are part of the stocking group. As this in an annual event, there are thousands upon thousands of freshwater fish to catch and enjoy in this small, well-stocked impoundment.

Targeting the edges is a great way to catch yellowbelly at this time of year.
Releasing Australian bass into Lake Barambah.
A pair of nice fat winter fish from the edge of Lake Barambah.
Casting to the edges in winter is a productive way of extracting the bigger fish in the cooler months.
A group of anglers having a ball on the bass and yellowbelly.
There are a few great ways to get the bigger fish to bite in the colder weather.

FISHING
Fishing for our freshwater species in colder weather can change vastly to the techniques we use during the summer months. The lures, rod and reel setups and techniques used to target them will seasonally change. We start to look to the shallow water, edges and structure, as the fish are usually looking for bait and warmer water. During winter and spring, there are a few things that I like to do to get the bigger fish to bite. I look for edges that have a bit of structure like trees, rocks or weed. I’ll position the boat 30-40m from the bank and cast up as shallow as I can.

When doing this, I like to target them using lures like small blades, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits or lipless crankbaits. The bigger fish tend to go up shallow looking for an easy feed and these lures are always a standout to catch a few, because they can be worked slowly.

Once the cast has been made, slowly retrieve the lure back out into the deeper water, remembering that a slower retrieve will work best as the fish in spring tend to be a little more sluggish than in the summer months. Try several banks around the dam for this style of fishing until you get a bite or a fish, as you’ll usually get a couple in the same area.

Another option for those who don’t like casting too much is fishing deeper. In cold weather the fish also like to sit deep on the flats or along the main creek bed. They can be more sluggish and stubborn compared the fish up on the edge. Sometimes, these fish can be hard to get to bite – I like to target them if the fishing along the edge is slow. It’s recommended that you use a depth sounder to sound around the deeper sections of the dam, particularly up near the dam wall and along the submerged creek bed through the middle of the dam.

When a show of fish is located, position the boat on top of them and try vertical jigging. Jigging small blades and ice jigs is a great way to get those sluggish fish to bite. The key is being persistent in this scenario. As the deeper fish may take a while to fire up. Commonly, once you get that first bite the fish tend to wake up and actively feed.

Bait fishers have it a bit easier during spring as the fish respond well to a live bait, particularly along the edges of the dam. Shrimp and worms are always a great bait on BP. You can either anchor just out from any point or edge on the dam or out in the deep along the old creek bed. I can almost guarantee you’ll catch a couple fish if you persist long enough.

YALLAKOOL PARK AND FACILITIES
If you’re planning on staying at the dam for a few days, the Yallakool caravan and tourist park is available. You can go fishing along the lake shore or use one of the two boats ramps to launch your boat.

There is a public ramp adjacent to the park at the picnic area, and another just below the caravan park itself. Both ramps have the added bonus of fish cleaning stations.

Camping and accommodation options are great at BP as the caravan park is positioned right on the banks of the lake and has fully furnished cabins, ensuites, powered and non-powered sites available.

It has a large playground, tennis courts and a pool for extra entertainment as well as a well-maintained camp kitchen, toilet and shower blocks. If you’re looking at visiting BP Dam, give Corey and Nikki a call on (07) 4168 4746 to make a booking.

THE SOUTH BURNETT
The South Burnett offers plenty to see and do with a variety of destinations to explore and events to attend. You can start at the Bunya Mountains or go wine tasting at the plethora of wineries. You can explore the region on your push bike via the South Burnett Rail trail, attend the annual Lake Boondooma or newly revised Bjelke-Peterson Dam fishing competitions, get all the tastes from the region at the local Food and wine festival, visit Boondooma Homestead or have a punt at the Nanango races.

To top it off, the South Burnett has some of the prettiest and most productive farming country in Queensland and the peanuts are a testament to this as they are world-renowned. The icing on the cake is the other great fishing options you have all within a short distance of Kingaroy, Nanango, Wondai, Murgon and Blackbutt.

If you’re looking for that relaxing destination that’s only a couple hours’ drive from the hustle and bustle of the city or the coast, look no further than Lake Barambah in the South Burnett, you won’t be disappointed.