Imagery: Esri, Vantor, Earthstar Geographics

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Lake Borumba

Stillwater

4.28 km²

Water area

A Seqwater dam in the Mary River catchment, a short run from Gympie, where saratoga and Australian bass can be worked on the surface along lily pad and bottlebrush edges.

Lake Borumba is a dam in the Mary River catchment of South East Queensland, about 40 km south-west of Gympie, and it is worth the drive for one reason: you can cast a surface fly at saratoga and bass in a setting where both will eat it.

The dam is one body of water, formed in the mid-1960s by a wall across Little Yabba Creek, and it is owned by Seqwater. Think of it as a drowned creek valley with weedy margins rather than a bare bowl. The fish that matter to a fly angler live along those margins, and that is where you should spend your time.

Your first trip is the simple one. Walk or paddle the edges where lily pads meet bottlebrush trees. FlyLife’s writers name those edges as productive saratoga and bass water, and the picture is easy to read: pads for cover, overhanging branches for shade and dropped insects. Cast a popper tight to the edge, give it a few strips, and then let it sit. Bass are said to hit it hard. Sometimes a bass comes up while you are looking for a saratoga, which is no complaint.

Your second trip is the one for a boat or a kayak, if you have the option. Look at the Seqwater site before you go, because it carries current facilities, fishing vessel requirements and dam alerts.

Know the rule before you go. Borumba Dam is a stocked impoundment, and in practice that means you must hold a Queensland stocked impoundment permit to line fish it. Mary River cod are stocked here too, and they are no-take at this dam, so a cod on your fly goes straight back into the water.

Do not expect a river-style day. This is lake fishing: you pick an edge, cover it patiently, and move on. Come with that in mind and a half day on the margins is enough to learn what the place is about.

Pick one edge near the ramp, start with the popper, and work outward from there.

No live gauge

No gauge readings are available for this water.

Season

Driving directions

Water and habitat

Borumba is a dam on Yabba Creek in the Mary River catchment. A sealed road runs all the way to the launching area, where there is a concrete boat ramp of reasonable standard, so reaching the water is easy.

The habitat that counts is the shoreline. Lily pad beds lined with bottlebrush trees give saratoga and bass what they want: cover, shade and an ambush edge. When you scan the lake, look for that combination first, and treat open bare banks as secondary.

Fish and forage

Saratoga and Australian bass are the two to plan around. FlyLife’s writers describe saratoga as a formidable sportfish, and say the lake holds southern saratoga stocked well outside the species’ natural range. Bass are caught here too, at times by accident while you are working for saratoga.

The state stocks Australian bass, golden perch, Mary River cod and silver perch into the dam. Golden perch and silver perch are stocked too, but we would not build a fly day around them.

For flies, think surface first: a popper that pushes water and can sit still. Add a streamer that you can fish through weed edges without hanging it on every cast. The pattern matters less than whether you can place it right against the cover.

When to fish it

We do not have a reliable month-by-month read for Borumba, so we will not pretend to give you one. The edge fishing described above is the method to try whenever you visit. Early and late in the day are the usual times to look for fish working the edges of a still lake, so a first-and-last-light session is a sound plan.

Check the current dam alerts on the Seqwater site before a trip, because conditions and access can change.

THE YEAR ON THIS WATER

Surface popper for bass and saratoga

Fly · Jan–Dec

In our experience a popper cast tight to a bottlebrush or lily pad edge is the fly to start with, worked with a few short strips and a pause. A medium-sized popper is a good bet; how hard the fish respond will change from day to day.

Weed-edge streamer

Fly · Jan–Dec

When nothing comes up to the surface, a streamer worked along the same edges and over the outside of the weed is a sensible second string. Pick a pattern you can keep out of the lily stems.

How to fish it

Cast to the edge, not to open water. Land the popper within a rod length of a bottlebrush trunk or the outer line of the pads, give it a couple of short strips, then pause and wait. FlyLife’s writers describe the take on a bass as explosive. Be ready for it and do not strike on the first splash.

A stout leader and a rod with real backbone make sense here. Fish that eat in cover will run back into it, and you will want to turn them quickly.

If the surface is quiet, switch to a streamer and cover the same edges, working it near the outside of the weed.

Access and safety

Borumba Dam sits on Yabba Creek Road, Lake Borumba, with a sealed road all the way to the launching area and a concrete boat ramp. FlyLife’s writers say it is within two hours of Brisbane, so a day trip is realistic.

Seqwater owns the dam and its site is where to check current facilities, fishing vessel requirements and dam alerts before you leave home. As on any dam, if you fish from a boat or a kayak, check the vessel rules first, wear a lifejacket and watch the weather.

Regulations

Borumba Dam is a Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme water. You need a Queensland stocked impoundment permit before you line fish it. Mary River cod are listed as no-take at this dam, so any you hook must go back.

No other water-specific rule was found. Check the current Queensland fishing rules published by Fisheries Queensland before you fish, and the Seqwater site for vessel requirements.