bassboy888

Well done on the kingy! Not only was it on light gear but in a yak aswell, perfect combo for some awesome fun I can imagine

Nice work Roberta, i love those pontoon 21 lures they have done very well in some tough conditions. Those bream are huge, they must have given you a good tow around

Top stuff. Fishing the yak in the racks has got to be good fun! I know I get towed enough fishing flats in the canoe I can only think about how much fun it would be in the racks.

I will second ice man on the green sammys.... but you didnt hear it from me. Stick baits have to be one of my favourite searching baits for bass this time of year, cast a mile and sits right in the bass' face on the pause

Well bass on surface, this is one of my favorite topics. Much like grant I like black lures, but I have found that when tey hit top water colour isn't so much of an issue. My favorite topwater are: Tiemco soft shell cicada Megabass pop x jnr Lucky craft Sammy 65mm They are a bit pricey so of you aren't too keen on the price tag, the river2sea 55mm popper is a great little lure an works a treat with a single/double pop and 5-10second pause. Just make sure you use mono leader otherwise the fluorocarbon leader will drag it under. Cast to the shaded areas on the river

Nat, you're on fire mate! thats a cracker jew and lovely EP. to top it off you even hit up some bass gotta love those results

Hadn't thought about Jungle Perch!! Aren't they more a NT fish? Tropical, almost? How big do they get, Bassboy!? I would Say they are a northern fish but they did extend down south at some stage (not sure how south) Some of those tropical streams in north QLD that run through the rainforests get quite cool so i would not be surprised if they could handle the climate on the Tweed either. In terms of size I have seen them around 40cm (and reports of going to 50cm) but if they are anything like jacks the further south they go the bigger they get

Well there you go Grant, dad beating me to the punch again, he cant give me any victory can he haha. You're right with a bit of friendly father/son competition being fun, it's unfortunate that he keeps beating me..... I swear he is tampering with my Lures when I hit the hay......

Hahahahahahahahahaha, top notch description of the southern lowland bass gorilla. I have never before seen such great photos of this rare beast, in its natural habitat as well. Some fine camera work and reporting there. Great spin (pun intended) on a typical bass trip!

Thanks for the replies already raiders! Poddy you know as well as me it's never too early for the surface haha! I just couldn't help my self, they were hitting it that hard even one bass went airborne! Scratchie, I would suggest just by using all the electronics properly and sound up the bass I the edges you can/ will increase the amount of fish that's for sure!

Looks to have been a good day on the water, well done mate!

I dont know how many bass will be that far up river this time of year, however with trout season now open there is a large possibility that the streams will be teaming with hungry post spawners!

Well done swordy! I know all too well of the redfin catches in Europe, was just a little saddened not too tick the pike off like you did. Congrats on the PB's now i hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday!

Well Raiders due to a busy few weeks I haven't quite had time to put up a report of the trip Basscatcher and I took up (with the new boat) to one of our personal favourite dams Lake St Clair, BUT finally I have pulled my finger out and here goes the report! The first day had us heading up to the dam on the Thursday with an early start to get to the dam for an early arvo first session. With a little bit of local knowledge from a few mates both Basscatcher and I rigged up a few rods with plastics, jerkbaits and surface lures and headed off to a point in the main basin where I had some previous success on my last trip up. It took a while to work our heads around a pattern but once we did, it didnt take long for me to get my first fish on board a FAT 39cm from the weed beds on plastic. A slow roll/shake to get it going through the weeds to be belted as it darted around. As we had the wind pushing us along the bank we continued on the drift and it wasnt long after the first that I got my second fish. An even bigger 41.5cm fish who absolutely SMASHED my plastic on the boat side of the weed allowing me to keep her clear of the weed and being busted off with the 6lb leader! Not even 10 minutes later I hook onto another big fish, this one however thinks it wants to go home, burying me in the weed but with some very good electrics work and skilful *COUGH lucky COUGH* I managed to pull out another 41cm beast on the 6lb leader Unfortunately It was from here I got a little cocky/overexcited/keen to land my next bass forgetting to retie my lure and leader resulting in 2 consecutive bust offs letting Basscatcher catch up to me with 2 quick mid 30's fish Luckily once my lure was back in the water I got back in the zone landing a smaller fish By this stage it was starting to get dark, so it was decided after some thirsty fishing work and hungry bellies we would give it 10 more minutes then back to camp for some cold ones, and luckily we did as 3 quick mid 30's came aboard giving smiles all around! Day 2 had a bit of a sour start with an interrupted sleep from high winds both of us were feeling a little stale so we had a delayed exit on the water. However not to waste any fishing time I decided to test" a few lures while we waited, this resulted in two missed surface strikes and me practically dragging Basscatcher out onto the water for the early morning surface bite (for those of you who don't know already IM AN ADDICT) Once we got to our first spot it didn't take Basscatcher long to secure first fish of the morning slow rolling the plastics over weed. it was a good conditioned 36cm fish. From this point it didn't take him long to regain his mojo and he landed 3 more bass (37cm, 34.5cm and a right on 40cm) in the next 30 minutes, ALL while I persisted on the surface getting miss strike after miss strike (thankfully there's at least a surface element in it). After this morning flurry we changed location (and I put away the surface ) this time it took us a little while to find some productive grounds but as soon as we did fish started coming aboard (and busted off....well I was) Basscatcher caught this lovely dark 40cm fish It didn't take me long from here to catch up from here though landing a Mid 30's fish and a nice fat and healthy yella (which apparently doesn't count, cheating Basscatcher) Unfortunately (for me) basscatcher extended his days lead with another mid 30's boat side, leaving me to catch up quickly before the end of session with 3 in the boat quickly! By this time it was about 1pm and time for some fresh bacon and eggs water side while we planned out the arvo session. From here it was decided we would head up another arm and have a live well competition to test out the new flow-rite timer system in the boat, with 2 longest fish winning! Once again Basscatcher was first of the bat with a lovely 38cm fish caught with in 5 minutes of us fishing once again rolling plastics along the weed. With the wind increasing a change of location was called looking for somewhere we could have the winds to our backs and set the electric motor to spot lock while we cast at weedy points, this plan worked with me getting 2 consecutive fish both going 38cm and caught either side of the boat while Basscatcher was re-rigging! Once the master was re-rigged however it didn't take him long to get back into the zone and ahead on the score board with another over 40's beauty! luckily I got to get in on some this action just not with the required size, even better was that this fish dug me deep into the weed and with some patients and hand lining skills i pulled her from the depths of the weed Stopping for a quick photo with my 2 best on our way to the next spot with some light still around, Basscatcher got a great shot! Was slow from here on with Basscatcher landing another fish and calling it a victory on his behalf. After a few beers and a quick leaf/twig fed fire we hit the swags this time to only be awoken by "cannon" loud lighting, which from Basscatcher's description tickled the tops of the surrounding mountains..... making me wish I wasn't so lazy and snuck out to watch. Saturday morning was to be our last session and another competition was in order to see if i could regain any bragging rights back and level the total sessions scores to 2 a piece. Heading back to a same location as the previous morning I stuck to surface while Basscatcher stayed in the comfortable soft plastics zone. Once again I had miss hit after miss hit so I changed to a smaller lure and immediately rewarded with a small 32cm bass. Only to be once again out done by the "champion" Basscatcher landing 2 quickies on plastic before we called it game over Cheers, Stu

I'm 50/50 about this idea, I'd love too see a successful stocking of mangrove jacks in the fresh water environment, unfortunately from previous record (lake monduran and peter faust) stocking jacks in the fresh seems foolish. I would love to see some extras put into the salt to improve its fishery. Roberta, Along with the Saratoga I have heard they have successfully started to breed Jungle perch in captivity and would love to see some of these beautiful fish released into a dam environment to become a legitimate dam species!

I would look at powerpro braid in the same weight and go for at least 8lb leader if its for flatties.

Well done on the bass. the 44cm one is a beauty! not a bad start to the season!

Good work poddy! Great PB in the yak, even better to hear you got onto a few!

Ahhhhhhh bass on surface I don't think there's anything more exhilarating than a BOOF in the dark of night and the wet pants that follow. How was it being towed back to the snags from a raging bass?

Well done tom! Always nice to get on the board. And early morning and late arvo, the fish WILL hit surface. I was up in the Macleay on opening and we caught over 20 bass on surface, getting them on surface in the dams and around a few local spots they will hit them.

WOW roberta WHAT A REPORT so good to hear some tales of you terrorising fosters fish population again. So glad to see you're back on the water and almost back to full strength. no stopping you for the summer surface bite now!

well done to all of you guys on what sounds like an amazing trip filled with great memories! Every fish would have been something special in a place like that, VERY envious of you all!

well done on the bass and the dirty catty! not long now untill the nepean should be going off!

Would have been an amazing time in the UK good to hear you're back! cant wait for the repaired shoulder reports!

enjoy the trip and take lots of plastics!