Eungulla Dam's sooty grunter

Rick Huckstepp offers some tips on how to win in the ring with this freshwater fighter.

Eungulla Dam is found in northern Queensland, about 120km west of Mackay. Nestled at the top of the Clarke Ranges about 700m above sea level, it's a place that can feel more like central Victoria in winter thanks to the altitude. Clear, sunny days are generally cool to cold for most of the year, with the overnight temperatures dropping to freezing in the colder months.

Mountainous peaks surround this impoundment, with the dam wall at the northwest end and massive stands of dead timber at the southeast end. The broad expanse of water in between whips up into a nasty chop when the wind roars down the gullies in the hillsides.

Camping is allowed along the west bank among the trees, and an amenities block is provided with cold showers and toilets. An honesty box for camping fees is found at the amenities block, and there's plenty of wood lying around to stoke up a campfire at night. In the cooler months you will need it!

Although the water appears drinkable, dams in the area are subject to blue-green algae blooms, making the water unfit for human consumption during these outbreaks. It pays to take your own drinking water to any of the impoundments in this area of Queensland.

Campsites are where you make them, however much of the land close to the water slopes away quickly, so look further back from the water's edge to find flatter ground.

While a purpose built boat ramp exists near the caretaker's residence, it is a long way from the tree-covered camping area and amenities block which has a serviceable gravel launch area on a point nearby. It is possible to launch down the bank in many areas. After the dam has experienced a rapid drop in water capacity, using four-wheel drive is advisable when launching a boat.

The Mackay Area Fish Stocking Association has stocked barramundi, sooty grunter and sleepy cod fingerlings into this impoundment for many years, as well as into neighbouring Kinchant and Teemburra dams.

The barramundi tend to shut down during the winter, becoming more active again with the onset of the wet season build-up during summer. Due to this harsher climate, the fish of Eungulla Dam are somewhat stunted compared to those found in the low-lying impoundments like Peter Faust near Proserpine.

TIMBERLAND
Eungulla Dam is gaining a reputation among locals and visitors alike for the quality of the sooty grunter it produces. Plump, solid fish that tend to school up close to the timber provide plenty of action for the lure caster.

You can forget the light line when fishing around the timber for this species. It's tight drags and thumb-locked spools in the initial stages of the fight, or lose your fish, your lure and your pride!

Generally, most of the action seems to take place among the timber at the southeast end of the catchment. Lures that sink vertically are the most effective, and spinnerbaits 'helicoptered' down the sides of tree trunks work a treat. My best results during a mid-winter trip came on Kokoda Lumo spinnerbaits and on bibless minnows. These effective little spinnerbaits have luminous blades after being charged up in the sun. For continual fishing you need two of these set up on two rods, fishing with one while the other recharges. If you're fishing during the early morning before the sun rises over the tall hills, these blades could be charged up with torchlight.

Bibless minnows like Halco Tremblers dropped down next to the dead timber also work well. To be in the strike zone, the lure has to land tight against the tree trunk and be allowed to sink vertically. This requires some gentle freespooling to get the lure down without tension on the line pulling the lure away from cover. Watch for a change in tension in the slack line as the lure descends. When a twitch is seen in the line, clamp a thumb on the spool to set the hook and then get the reel into gear as quickly as possible. The idea is to pull the fish out into the open before you get 'stumped'. It's brutal, hand-to-hand combat with the outcome usually decided within the first minute of the fight.

SAFETY FIRST
Based on a few productive afternoon sessions, it seems that sooties like to congregate around the larger trees. Although these trees stand in more than 10 metres of water, their massive trunks protrude through the surface before branching out. Most of our fish were taken in the upper five metres of the water column.

Sooty strikes can pull your arms out of your sockets, and these freshwater brawlers will often brick you even on quite heavy tackle. Strong hooks and split rings are mandatory equipment.

Many of these trees still hold colonies of termites. How they survived all these years in one tree beats me ? after all, they can't swim from one to the other. Perhaps they enter the root systems deep below the dam floor.

In any case, it can be a bit dicey fishing among the timber. Take extra care and stay away from brittle-looking branches, especially on windy days. Also, don't go crashing your way around the timber in case one of the limbs decides to separate itself from the rest of the tree when you are directly below it.

TAKE YOUR PICK
Sooty grunter from this environment are great fun to catch and release. They spend a lot of their time below colonies of roosting cormorants, and no doubt bird excrement forms some part of their diet. Consequently the quality of their flesh is well below par. Better to return sooty grunter to the water to wait for the next angler.

Kinchant Dam, about 35km from Mackay, is also worth targeting for sooties. It has very little structure in the water, and its main feature is a water race on the opposite side to the boat ramp. When the water level in the dam is high, the sooties swim up this race and can be caught where the water exits large pipes draining a nearby canal.

Teemburra Dam is another sooty hotspot, and lies about 56km from Mackay. It produces some good-sized barramundi in the warmer months and smaller fish can be found in the backblocks deep in the timber during winter. The sooties here may be caught all year round, but as with most sub-tropical species, they are hot-to-trot when the thermometer is high.

So dust off your spinnerbaits, jigs and bibless lures, grab a couple of sturdy outfits and prepare to do battle with Queensland's backwater brawlers. Just remember to hang on!