First Time at Prossy Dam

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Ando1001
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First Time at Prossy Dam

Post by Ando1001 »

G'Day Guys,
After leaving Darwin at the end of last year, I thought that my Barra fishing days were all but over. I knew that they would still be around Townsville, but my favourite type of fishing in the NT was sneaking around the freshwater billabongs with my electric. From what info I could find, the only way to fish lagoons and billabong around here is land based.
I had gone on a handful of trips to the local rivers with a couple of mates and we had caught a few fish but all rats, the biggest so far going a just legal 58. So, with a week off over Easter, we hatched a plan to head south to Proserpine and spend a couple of days fishing the dam.
Armed with beefed up barra outfits, a little bit of info found on a couple of web sites and very high expectations of multiple monster barra, we put the boat in just after dark on Easter Monday. We knew that the best place to troll was near the dam wall. We also knew that recently there had been a float line put up about 300m out from the dam wall to prevent boats trolling it. Being dark and not knowing the dam at all, our first night involved trolling deep divers one of the edges trying to keep them just off the bottom. We didn’t get any hits doing this, but being just after a full moon; we got a bit of a look around and ended up in some snaggy areas for a flick. There were some boofs around, but no hits or fish by the time we pulled stumps at around 1am.
On the water again just before dawn on Tuesday, and the plan was to head to some weed beds and try some surface lures. Dan had a hit from a big fish early on, then a couple of casts later, another hit from a smaller barra. Neither hooked up though.
By this time I had switched from a fizzer, to a weedless soft plastic and finally to something that had always worked in Hardies, Corrobberee etc.. A little lucifer. The other boys were questioning my lure choice but no one had a fish yet so I figured I might as well try something different. The area we were fishing was very similar to that of a NT billabong, with sporadic lily pads above scattered weed beds, so I was just casting out and trying to work the lure between the weeds and lilies.
When I hooked up, the other guys thought I was full of poop. I knew that it wasn't going to get me over my PB (which was one of the reasons I wanted to go in the first place), but it still felt decent as it dragged me through the weeds. I had it in after a few minutes and it went a decent 78cm. I was happy to have a fish in the boat but I still wanted a big one. It went back after a couple of photos
The next fish in was a 54cm Sooty Grunter, pulled out of a snaggy little bay off the side of the dam. Dan, the guy who caught it, was stoked as he was actually keener to target sooties than barra anyway. Ha had talked about knocking a slab off the side of a sooty for lunch if he caught one, but given this one’s size, it also went back in the dam.
And that was it for fish. We kept fishing until after lunch, then decided to go back for a rest prior to the nights effort, but when we launched again at 4:30pm, the wind was up and it stayed windy all night and right through until we left at 9am on Wednesday. Over that time we might have got a further 2 or 3 hits, but not even a hook up.
If I went back, it would have to be either with someone who has fished it successfully before, or I'd shell out for a guide. I know that the fish are in there, but without being able to spend enough time there to really suss it out, I don't know how many trip you would have to do before it started paying off. It was a pretty big mission for only two fish in the boat, especially since we didn't score a big barra that places like these are known for. The trip definitely made me miss Darwin fishing though.
Cheers
Ando
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Bowser
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Re: First Time at Prossy Dam

Post by Bowser »

have just moved down from darwin as well. fished the dam a fair bit through november december and jan for reasonable results. first fish wsa with a guide as i was waiting to get my boat from darwin. All my fish have been caught trolling the main basin in front of the wall and boat ramp all the ay over to where the trees start on the western side. all caught on big judges or poltergeists trolled at 4 odd (guide tolled just above idle) knots. Biggest so 102 with smallest of 82 lots in the 90's with a few bigger models dropped on first jump. This was to do with time of year with the fish being in the basin from what the guide told me. They seemed to be there from nov through jan but stopped aft this. Giude did take me up the old river line. here they flick in to the trees on the ol river line but would need marks or get marks of old googleearth with lower water levels or follow a guide and record track. Guide had been getting fish thi way but was having better results in the basin at the time. Shallow points and weed beds were other places he recomended. He didnt bother trolling edges when fish were in the basin. I did pick up a fair few fish on wind lines in the basin as well but could be coincidence. Have been told you can jig them in the basin when they are there as well on plastics and vibes have tried with no luck.

Have fished a few times since, mainly casting weed beds and a few times in the sticks for little success. Western side bays were 2 degress warmer at least compared with ramp side with wind blowing on them last time i was there but not even a sign of a fish.

Spending most time around islands at the moment and not giving the dam much time.
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Ando1001
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Re: First Time at Prossy Dam

Post by Ando1001 »

Hi Bowser.

I'll let you know when i'm coming down next. You might be able to tell me where they have been getting caught :naughty:

We did the trolling run from the ramp, following the edge to the rope line and across to the trees, but didn't get a bump. We were using Barra Baits, 150 Scorpions (as per Buckaneer 2s posts), big Yo Zuri lures, the new Lance Butler "2 Deep" and a whole bunch of others.

From all that I have read on the place, November is the best time, but hopefully I can get down a couple of time before then to try and work it out, although I'm guessing the fishing wouldn't be very good over the upcoming colder months.

Cheers for you tips and info.

Ando
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