Plenty of fish are still being caught and released at Lake Lenthall even with the Lake being at 61% capacity and the water temp is approximately 25 degrees celcius.
Casting hardbody lures and soft plastics have been successful around the lillies with the odd fish still taking spinnerbaits down deep in various places around the Lake. Landbased fisherfolk using earth worms & some secret baits have recorded good catches of Eel tailed Catfish / Freshwater Jewfish, with fish up to 480 mm being taken in shallow water. Other notable landbased catches include a 670 mm Barra off the boat ramp by an 11 year old boy ( his very first Barra ) and Bass ranging from 280 mm to 460 mm from the foreshore around the recreational grounds. Paul Dolan from Fraser Coast Sport Fishing is having great success with clients taking both Bass & Barra on lure and fly. An ecstatic South Australian took a rare & very spectacular 590mm Saratoga on fly near the wall.
Easter weekend saw good numbers of boats on the water ( 38 vessels on Easter Sunday ) with most fisherfolk recording good catches of Bass. It is great to see so many people practicing catch and release, and with this we will see the Barra reach that elusive metre mark next summer. The unofficial Lake record stands at 940 mm by a Japanese client on a Fraser Coast Sport Fishing Charter. Other visitors to Lake have boasted of catching and releasing fish up to 910 mm, surely next summer we will see Lake Lenthall Barramundi reach the sportfish target 1 metre mark.
Ill take this opportunity to remind everybody that access to the Lake is only permitted through the access gates, you can not access the water from any other point. Camping in any form at Lake Lenthall is not permitted. Construction & clearing works are still underway.
Currently we have a commercial Eel trapper working the Lake and to date ( 30 days ) he has trapped over 2000 kgs of Live Long finned Eel. They are exported live to China where they are a highly sort after delicacy. The Eels are believed to heavily target our Barramundi and Bass fingerlings.
The Fraser Coast Fish Stocking Association will be releasing 4000 Barramundi fingerlings into the Lake in the near future.
Cheers
James Matts – Ranger Lake Lenthall