Lights, Camera... Action?

A double effort is sometimes required to make sure our Escape with E.T. fishing segments meet our standard. Even though we pick the best times, tides and guides, on a couple of occasions each series we come up short. For us, lost fishing days cost thousands of dollars, so we do our utmost to succeed first time.

TAKE ONE
A trip to Peter Faust Dam, west of Proserpine, in north Queensland, was one place to which we need to return to complete our show.

Our first trip in spring saw us fishing with Lindsey Dobe from Proserpine Bait and Tackle. Lindsey had fished in a tournament the previous week on the dam and had a lot of success in the shallow bays. Lindsey's plan was to take us to all the spots that worked so well the week before.

Our dawn start saw us casting shallow running minnows in amongst the timber. Boils came thick and fast and it wasn't long before we boated a 70cm barramundi and a sooty grunter.

Things were looking good, we already had enough for a half a show and it was only 7am!

Well, it just goes to show you shouldn't count your chickens. For the next 12 hours, from 7am till 7pm, we didn't catch another fish.

We must have cast a thousand lures all to no avail. We flew back to Sydney with only half a show shot. We couldn't put our finger on why they went off the bite, but it meant we would have to go back again.

TAKE TWO
Summer passed and autumn provided us with another opportunity to finish the show. Lindsey was determined to have every base covered and had been working on new strategies over the summer months.

It was a perfect morning, the type of day that had fishy tinglings running up my casting arm. The start to the day was a carbon copy of our previous trip. By 7am we had three barra to the boat between 60 and 70cm, the difference this time was that we were fishing out amongst the tall timbers in about 35ft of water and not up in the shallow bays.

There was timber in every direction as far as the eye could see. We followed the old creek bed, casting our shallow running lures at the base of the trees, trying to put action into the lures while they remained in the strike zone. Lindsey was the first to hook into a solid fish, which crashed through the smaller branches in an amazing show of strength.

His technique with his overhead rig was to fight the fish on maximum drag - at times needing to thumb the reel to control the fish around the snags. In the end the fish did everything right and at 93cm it was the start of an awesome afternoon. Continual hookups, lost fish and brutal fights saw us tangle with over 25 fish.

The average size of the fish we landed was over 90cm.

Being freshwater impoundment fish, these barra lacked the slender slimline build of a river fish.

They had thick, heavy, muscular bodies of incredible girth weighing over 12kg to be conservative.

GODZILLA REVEALED
We now had enough footage for two shows with some of the best aerial jumping shots you could imagine. We continued on in search of that elusive metre-long beast and found Godzilla hiding beside a massive stump. This barra was well over the magic metre mark. Its first jump propelled the fish clear of the water, showing off its full silver flanks and massive bulk. It sent shock waves through my arm as it jumped clear twice more then proceeded to dive, cleaning up a few submerged obstacles along the way. The great thing about this type of fishing is that the barra stand at least an even chance of winning the fight. It requires every angling trick in the book and even then when you think you have him licked the horrible feeling of slack line wipes the smile from your face. This is exactly what happened to me. When the lure came back to the boat, it was obvious that the straightened back trebles had simply fallen out. I was elated to have had the privilege of battling such a great fish and there is no doubt I will be better for the experience.

What a memorable day.

MUST STOP
The facilities at Peter Faust Dam make trailerboat fishing a breeze, with plenty of parking and a quality ramp to suit all craft. Like all impoundments check the weather before venturing out. Most impoundments, because of their open water, are prone to hazardous conditions if any sort of wind blows up.

Lindsey Dobe had the perfect boat to tackle the dam. His Quintrex 4.55m with 60hp four-stroke was fast and quiet, with two casting decks and a Minn Kota electric up front.

What was life like before Electric motors? In amongst all that timber, the 55lb Minn Kota with its autopilot function made fishing a snap.

You could easily plan a trip up the Queensland coast visiting a few of their impressive impoundments along the way. Peter Faust Dam is certainly a must stop and some handy advice from Lindsey Dobe would be well worth the stop at Proserpine Bait and Tackle.