“Sight fishing” is a phrase that will excite any angler. The thrill of sneaking up on a fish before it sees you, then specifically targeting it is something special… and what makes this whole experience even better? Crystal clear water.
There’s a special little spot called Bedford Weir up north. It’s a bit over a two-hour drive from Rockhampton on the road out to Emerald.
The scenery is beautiful: it’s calm, peaceful, and packed full of the prehistoric Saratoga. It’s a fish that is renowned as a surface feeder. They are biologically designed to eat anything that lands above them. Thanks to their large eyes, and how they are positioned, these awesome fish cruise around just under the surface of the water on the lookout for the next meal.
With this knowledge, any angler can target toga on surface, armed with a specific set of lures.
Weedless, surface lures should be a go-to. Many companies make good soft plastic “creature” baits that mimic frogs, crayfish, worms and even snakes. On this occasion, we used a Z-Man TurboCrawz rigged on a weedless, unweighted hook, to just slow roll back across the surface.
If you’re going toga fishing, a couple of spinner baits wouldn’t go astray. TT make an awesome variety in a multitude of weights. In saying this, you don’t want anything too heavy. The idea of a spinner bait is to make sure you get just under the surface, into a different feeding zone that something like the TurboCrawz couldn’t reach.
We would highly recommend giving toga fishing a crack. It’s mad fun, and trust us, if you persist, it will pay off.
Or, why not go with a guide who is the best in the business? We hooked up with John Haenke and didn’t regret it.
