A little road trip (destination advice)

[NAGG]

Hey All

I've got some time off over Christmas during our shutdown period & I'm looking to plan a little road trip . In recent times my young bloke & 've have headed to the Whitsundays during this period but he has just moved over to WA for work.

Anyhow I'm starting to hatch a plan & the first part of the trip is pretty well set .

The plan is to tow the Hornet up to Brissy - pick up a mate & head to Lake Monduran (Gin Gin) for a few days barra fishing ( first time back in around 10 years)

Unfortunately my mate only has a few days off before we have to head back to Brisbane . that leaves me with around 9 days .

I'm thinking of heading west from Brisbane & cheking out the dams as I make my way back home . I dont particularly want to do the bass dams though

So far I can think of

Glenlyon , Copeton & Split rock

Any others ?

Or are there any rivers that would be worth fishing ( Hornet friendly)

Camping options ?

Anyhow appreciate any guidance

Chris

[chris69]

Chase some toga at cainia or borumba dams fun on fly or light spin .

[NAGG]

Chase some toga at cainia or borumba dams fun on fly or light spin .

Love both Cania & Borumba ...... except they are in the wrong direction

West & Sou West is the direction

Funnily Cania was my first thought till I got my bearings

Chris

[disorderly]

That would be a great trip and a smart way to head back towards Sydney...

My family owns land with 5-6 kms of river frontage to the Gwydir River downstream of Copeton..

My Uncle said he was going down in the arvo and bringing home good sized Cod most days before the closure and I've heard that the Yellowbelly have been on the chew in the dam lately which I found surprising as all those dams are spilling over with all the rain...I have actually never seen Copeton totally full before...

That system has improved incredibly over the past 40 years ..back then we used to catch so many Carp and turtles now thanks to all the restocking and fencing off some areas of riverbank it has bounced back to become a wonderful fishery..

There is also Pindari Dam between Copeton and Glenlyon..

[NAGG]

That would be a great trip and a smart way to head back towards Sydney...

My family owns land with 5-6 kms of river frontage to the Gwydir River downstream of Copeton..

My Uncle said he was going down in the arvo and bringing home good sized Cod most days before the closure and I've heard that the Yellowbelly have been on the chew in the dam lately which I found surprising as all those dams are spilling over with all the rain...I have actually never seen Copeton totally full before...

That system has improved incredibly over the past 40 years ..back then we used to catch so many Carp and turtles now thanks to all the restocking and fencing off some areas of riverbank it has bounced back to become a wonderful fishery..

There is also Pindari Dam between Copeton and Glenlyon..

Appreciated

With the exception of 1 overnighter at Copeton ..... just for a look - I've never been to any of these places so with the right boat for the job - why not check them out . I've watched a couple of videos on Glenlyon & Split rock ...... they both look pretty good .

Chris

[tunaticer]

Are you separating from your mate at Monduran or back in Brissie??
There is Fairburn dam, Callide Dam, Wuruma Dam and Claude Wharton Weir all stocked with Barra if your mate is separating at Monduran...
Glenlyon is an obvious selection heading SW from Brisbane....although at near 100% capacity it will be hard to locate the cod there.
Expect a lot of storms falling in the Pike Creek catchment of that dam in the next 5 weeks or so....I expect it will spill before Christmas again.

[NAGG]

Are you separating from your mate at Monduran or back in Brissie??
There is Fairburn dam, Callide Dam, Wuruma Dam and Claude Wharton Weir all stocked with Barra if your mate is separating at Monduran...
Glenlyon is an obvious selection heading SW from Brisbane....although at near 100% capacity it will be hard to locate the cod there.
Expect a lot of storms falling in the Pike Creek catchment of that dam in the next 5 weeks or so....I expect it will spill before Christmas again.

Unfortunately I will be heading back to Brisbane for the drop off - Hence West & Sou West from Brisbane

The logical first destination is Glenlyon ..... & start heading south from there.

Split rock looks interesting

The unfortunate thing is that all the dams are full ..... so it will be challenging at any destination

Chris

[gunna]

I found Glenlyon to be pretty ordinary. Zero structure - just bare banks. Nothing like Mondy, Borumba, Awoonga etc. No weed beds. Most people were just trolling. Haven’t seen Pindarii so can’t comment on it.

[NAGG]

I found Glenlyon to be pretty ordinary. Zero structure - just bare banks. Nothing like Mondy, Borumba, Awoonga etc. No weed beds. Most people were just trolling. Haven’t seen Pindarii so can’t comment on it.

Thanks Pete

From the videos I've seen - that seems to be the case - apparently the gullies with debris go alright

[disorderly]

Haven’t seen Pindarii so can’t comment on it.

My dad preferred it over Glenlyon and Copeton...I think he liked the remoteness of it too..

The dams will likely be busy over Xmas so you may not be annoyed quite so much by other watersport enthusiasts ...

[Shawn 66]

G’Day Chris
Dont know if it fits in to your plans.
Might be worth a look at Leslie Dam , 12 klms west of Warwick (QLD).
Yellowbelly, silvers and some bloody nice Cod.
Accomodation is right on the dam, with two places to choose from.
Disclaimer: One of our mates own one of the accomodation options.
Shawn

[tunaticer]

I found Glenlyon to be pretty ordinary. Zero structure - just bare banks. Nothing like Mondy, Borumba, Awoonga etc. No weed beds. Most people were just trolling. Haven’t seen Pindarii so can’t comment on it.

For the most part you are correct with Glenlyon, however there is at least 8 good rock outcrops or cave systems that go under with the dam levels.
I used to do pest control around the dam on two properties.....collected a lot of lures in the drought looking in these spots.

Have a look at Google Earth Pro currently, the rock outcrops are plainly visible and are now underwater. You can pull the GPS coordinates off Google Earth Pro.
North of the boat ramp a few km is some good territory, plus some flooded timber too.

[tunaticer]

It would be worthwhile investigating whether there is blackwater near the dams currently.....you might want to divert to the coast again.

[NAGG]

It would be worthwhile investigating whether there is blackwater near the dams currently.....you might want to divert to the coast again.

Blackwater ...... I'm guessing it's polluted runoff you are talking about - curious to know more .

Chris

[tunaticer]

Blackwater , oxygen depleted water from vegetation in the water during and post floods.
Lots of inland rivers have severe blackwater events on currently completely destroying all fish and crustaceans.