A day on the lake by Tom Slater

As the scorching heat of summer begins to relent, the native fish species in Queensland impoundments begin to move. This reality piece follows local bass angler, Tom Slater as he attempts to unlock the secrets of a new body of water in a day on the lake.
5:40am - A chill is in the air as I back my boat into Borumba Dam for the first time. The vista is thick with fog that blankets the entire dam. I'd left Brisbane at 3:30am, with good friend Andy Mckinstray, to be the first boat on the water. During the cool months, I'd expect to get a few early bites on a surface lure.
5:50am - I start my Yamaha and motor off down the dam. I'm looking for a likely spot to start my day that is close to deep water, with good shoreline vegetation in the form of weed beds or submerged grass.
5:57am - Andy and I pull up on a main lake point, it's a steep bank, on the side of a hill plunging straight into the dam. The edge is fringed with healthy green weed, and the small bays leading off the main point should be a good option for an early bite on surface.
5:59am - The first cast of the day is a long wind assisted cast to the edge of the weed. I throw a small topwater pencil lure, on spinning tackle for maximum distance. These still mornings call for maximum stealth, so I want to stay as far away from the shore as possible.
6:24am - I round the first small point on the way back into a cove off the main lake. My second cast on the point heralds a strike from a nice size saratoga. I hook-up, but it throws the lure with violent jumps and headshakes.
LOCATION
During this time of year, when the harshest heat of summer has ended, the fish tend to stay shallower longer. In the heat of summer, water temperatures on the edge can exceed 30°C in some impoundments, which is far too hot for species such as bass to remain all day long. So they tend to move deep, out into the main river channel and relax in the deeper, cooler water. That's not to say that they are never shallow in summer, it's just more of a morning or afternoon bite.
Now that we're into the cooler months, the water temperatures have started to fall and the bass will feel more comfortable in shallower water for a longer part of the day. Species like bass and yellowbelly use structure like weed beds to help acclimatise to new water temperatures. The weed bed acts as insulation, keeping water cooler in summer and warmer during winter. So targeting shoreline weed is a popular technique through autumn, winter and into spring.
6:33am - I change to a small wakebait, this is a crankbait that dives shallow. This lure works just beneath the surface and pushes a wake and bubble trail that's hard to ignore. They're great lures for covering water quickly. As I haven't fished this dam before, I need to cover some ground to maximise my chance of finding fish.
6:35am - The new lure immediately produces the goods, and a bass exposes itself from under a laydown tree among the weed on the shoreline. I reach for my rod rigged with a skirted jig. The jig is something I've only begun to experiment with in the last few years, but it works well when you know there's a fish in the area. You can fish it slowly along the bottom, to imitate a small crustacean like a yabby.
6:37am - I place a cast on the far side of the tree limb, it sinks and immediately I set the hook on a nice sized Borumba bass.
THE SWITCH-UP
The old adage of 'never leave fish to find fish' is true in this instance. I could have easily resigned to the fact that I'd missed that fish on its initial strike of my topwater, but I knew it didn't feel any hooks and so it was likely to bite again. Rather than throw the same lure back in there twice, I chose a different lure, one that I could fish much slower and I ended up catching the fish. This is why it's always a good idea to have a smaller profile lure, like a soft plastic or jig tied on that you can fish slowly around an area where you may have missed a bite or seen a fish. If you haven't spooked them, chances are they might still be around to catch later.
6:57am - I'd fished back into the small bay off the main lake for only one other small boil on my surface lure. By now several boats had driven past and the sun was creeping above the horizon and the surface bite was receding.
7:34am - With no other action to speak of after fishing another small point and adjoining cove, and with the sun now firmly beating down onto the once shady bank, I made the decision to put down the surface lures and fire up the Yamaha to look for some fish in a little deeper water.