Episode 590: Lake Moogerah Bass with Barry Oxford

Barry’s Lake Moogerah Fishing Tips

• Tournaments are an amazing way to improve your skills and get the benefit of shared knowledge from other skilled anglers.
• Bass regularly return to the same areas around the same time each year. Be aware that water levels change between years, so look for the same depth of water as you found them at the same time last year.
• It is super valuable to keep a dairy of your catches so that you can review your techniques and results over the years and finds patterns. Barry records weather, water temps, lures, conditions and so on, plus he tags the fish.
• Be prepared to change lures until you find what they want. Sometimes their preferences will change 3-4 times in a day. If the fish go quiet but you can still see them on the electronics that’s a good sign it’s time to change lures.
• Social media is your friend. A few social media posts by a few people will cause the masses to crowd out the spot. Barry heads to places other than where the social media pundits are posting and usually finds he has the location and the fish to himself.
• Barry also points out that plenty of misdirection occurs on social media. He personally doesn’t post photos until some weeks or months after they’re caught, to throw people off the scent!
• Bass can be particularly hard during the winter months. At these times Barry finds it best to slow the retrieve down, use lures that make less vibration and downsize the lures. Also keep an eye on your sounder to whether your lures are driving the bass away – a good sign the lure you’re using creates too much vibration. Small blades, ice jigs and plastics are good.
• Moogerah has few shore-based options.
• During late summer it’s worth fishing the edges of the lake over the first hour using soft vibes like Jackalls or lipless crankbaits. Later in the year jerkbaits, blades and spinnerbaits are good.
• Later in the day it’s worth using your sounder to explore the old creek beds where bass love to hang out. Once you find a school the technique depends whether the fish are sitting on the bottom or midwater.
• Surface bites are quite rare in Lake Moogerah.
• Buy the best electronics that you can afford. It’s important to have a unit that can display the contour maps for the impoundments. Colour coding your contours can help when you know fish are at a particular depth and you’re looking for other areas on the lake to fish.

Barry’s Bass Fishing Tackle

• Barry uses both baitcast and spin gear for bass fishing. He’ll usually use baitcast gear when fishing the edges, except when he’s fishing jerkbaits.
• For the mainline, 10lb braid is sufficient. Leader sizes vary depending on the country you’re fishing. To get a lure deeper might require a switch to a lighter leader, whilst fishing in heavy timber requires a heavier leader, maybe 20lb. In pressured fisheris you may need to go down to 6lb leaders at times.
• Daiwa Certates for 1000-2500 size are perfect. 2500 gives longer casting, whilst 1000 size reels are great for slow retrieving.

Barry’s Tops Lures For Moogerah Bass

• Recently blades have been deadly on Moogerah. They can be hopped a couple of times and then slow rolled back for good success. If fish are suspended you can count the bade down to the correct depth and then slow roll it through the school.
• Jerkbaits are also very successful on Moogerah. These can be cast over shallow weed and worked with the rod tip high without driving them down. Once over the shallow weed they can be driven down and worked deeper. Allowing plenty of pauses in the retrieve is important – most bites happen on the pause. Mix it up though, in summer it can sometimes pay to have minimal pauses and in winter the pause might be 10 seconds or more.
• Spinnerbaits are great in the timbered areas of the dam. Barry is a Bassman fan and likes the Shorty Spinnerbaits. When fishing them through timber count them down to depth or allow them to drop back to bottom now and then to stay in touch with structure. In weeded areas, cast them over the shallow weed and burn them across the surface. Once you reach the edge of the weed, stop retrieving and let the lure sink down the face. Bite usually come when the retrieve recommences.
• Ecogear ZX35 Rip Blades are great in winter as the carbon fibre body gives them extra flutter. Gentle lifts and then allowing the lure to sink back to bottom works very well.