[PB Bream in the harbour]

Wow what a fantastic bream, it must have given a good account for itself. Good onya for releasing the golden oldie.

[Lake Borumba]

The time that you're going is prime time for Toga. The warmer it is the more active they get & for surface action that would be the time to go. They happily smash spinnerbaits as well.

I reckon it would fish better around the dark moon as they would be more active during the day. From what we heard the toga were everywhere 2 weeks ago. My theory is they are more active at night on the full moon. Just a theory but it makes sense to me.

I love the place & can't wait to get back. The bass in there get up to 2.5kg's & the toga up to 10kgs. It's alot of fun & you have to give it a go if you're passing through.

Cheers,

Grant.

You have convinced me....I will just have to look at the moon cycle for either the drive north or the drive south to give myself the best chance. Can I assume you are using your Bass gear for the Togas or should I use the lighter Barra gear?

Cheers PK

[Danjera day trip]

No better way to relax that to hook-up to some of those little bronze battlers...and that scenery is just fantastic.

[Lake Borumba]

What a great report Grant and thanks for sharing the experience....felt like I was there with you . Great to see young JJ work so hard and be rewarded for the effort. I reckon you and JJ have many more early mornings and great fishing adventures ahead of you.

Bad luck for Dan on that big Toga, it is one fish I am yet to catch and I would love to give them a crack. How do the Togas fish during Dec and Jan? I am driving from Sydney to Mackay for another Bass to Barra trip and might drop into Lake Borumba for a quick session.

[Bass fishing mentor required]

Stan - You should be trying this weekend....I have found the surface bite fires up during a fullmoon period.

[Blowering Dam]

what an awesome cod......would have been great fun on yella gear.

[After work bass session]

Healthy looking Bass....love them on the surface bite and great to see the Bass thriving in the Sydney Basin.

[Glenbawn Lake Report 28-30 Oct]

Looks like an outstanding trip away and great to see the Bass on the chew. Did you get any interest on surface lures at dawn or dusk?

[Jervis Bay on Sunday]

Great Croc mate, especially on a popper in such clean water......it must have been exciting to watch that Croc engulf your popper

[Wild Bass]

If I had the option of an early knock-off I would have certainly taken the Bass option, unfortunately I didn't even get a chance to take a break and watch the race

Those Bass in the Nepean don't stand a chance when you are on the water and great to see such a healthy population in the Sydney Basin.......it proves the Fisheries conservation policies are sound.

[Nepean river]

Cracker Bass there sokratis .....I reckon the aggressive surface take of a large Bass at night is one of the most exciting fishing experiences in our Rivers and Estuaries

[Croc encounter in Sydney!]

Great report and great fish Luke. That croc certainly challenged your fishing skills and good onya for letting the big girl go to live for another day

[Hot Bass Bite]

Looked like a fun session there Mick and a pity you had to leave a hot bite. I can feel the humidity building this evening, I might have to go toss some surface lures in my local creek.

[quick flick in kogarah bay]

Nice one and I hope you enjoyed fishing with your B'Day pressie

[Success at Lake Mead USA]

WOW nice report.... Take me with you next time.. Congrats....

I just recently came back from Las Vegas BUT the miss didnt allow me to fish

Thanks Joco it was a great session.

I had to bribe the missus by agreeing to accompany her on two days of shopping and seeing at least two shows then she had the check to catch a larger fish than me

cheers PK

[Port Hacking and Botany Bay]

Hi PMAK,

Looks like your father had a great weekend of fishing and good onya for getting him onto some quality trevally.

I love this time of year as we see such a variety of fish being caught by lure...just wish Minn Kota would hurry up and repair my motor.

[Skinny Water Bass]

Wow, what a cracker session in skinny water....those EPs would have been great fun on light gear.

[Chippo Lake]

Cracker Mullet Daniel and congratulations on the new FR record, although I sense you weren't that excited when the photo was taken.

[Jewies at George River]

Love your work Joco , it is amazing the range of fish that have been routinely caught at Chippo Lakes. What stage of the tide were you fishing?

[Success at Lake Mead USA]

Great report as always mate, and congrats on the new records

That Bay Ranger looks like an ideal craft for lure work and wouldn't look out of place on Monduran or the like. Terrific to see your wife get onto a few fish as well, particularly after learning to 'walk the dog' so quickly! Now I've seen some photos of fish that I'd only previously seen as animations in my bass fishing games That Grand Canyon trip would have been a beauty too.

Cheers

Hodgey

Thanks Hodgey. The boat was an excellent lure fishing platform and I wish you could buy them in Australia for the same price they are available in the US.

The helo trip into the Grand Canyon was excellent and it was also special for my wife as it was her first flight in a helicopter and we sat in the front with the pilot as we flew over Lake Mead and into the Grand Canyon.

cheers PK

[Success at Lake Mead USA]

Great report there Basscatcher. Always fascinating reading reports of fishing at other destinations. That's a smick boat you're fishing from and it's great that your wife got into some serious action as well. This begs the question though - will she be accompanying you more often in your future fishing trips ?

There was a method to my madness, she is now keen to accompany me on at least one session chasing Australian Bass or Barra, but only if it is short session and the fish are biting

[Success at Lake Mead USA]

Awesome report Basscatcher

Money well spent, better than throwing your money away at the casino. Awesome pictures and fish, and on top of all that they were caught on the surface.

Thanks Heath - it was awesome experience, made even more special due to the hot surface bite.

[Bigger bass came out to play]

Wow 44 Bass in a single sesh , maybe you should be called Basscatcher .

[Woronora surface action]

Nice wild river Bass and EP there mate......there is nothing like a bit of surface action to remind us that summer is on the way

Did you get them on a stick bait or a popper?

[Success at Lake Mead USA]

Hi Raiders,

Thought I would share a recent fishing adventure during my holiday in Las Vegas with my wife. During our planning for the holiday it was agreed that the bulk of the holiday would be spent shopping at the outlets, exploring the Casinos along the strip (including more shopping), playing the pokies and see shows. We also agreed that since we had travelled all the way to Nevada we should also visit the Grand Canyon. I was able to win a couple of concessions from the wife: I was allowed to go shopping at Bass Pro (helps they have a great selection of well priced ladies adventure clothing ) and spend a morning (and she would accompany me) on a guided fishing expedition on Lake Mead to catch my first Stripper Bass and Large Mouth Bass……I am a lucky man.

The guide we booked was Captain Kevin Durham of FishFinders Guide Service, who used a Ranger 2300 Bay Ranger and purely focused on lure fishing for Striped Bass and Large Mouth Bass……a perfect arrangement for me and my wife , as she doesnt like handling smelly bait and I was lucky that she even agreed to come out on the boat. The day started with a very early start due to the need to drive a hire car out to the meeting point (none of the guides do pick-ups from your hotel in the strip) at 6am. This early start was a challenge due to our over zealous celebrations the night before .

We meet Captain Kevin near the boat ramp at Lake Mead right on dawn and I immediately noticed that it was a bit cooler than the previous morning (we had an early start the previous morning for the helicopter visit to the Grand Canyon).

Kevin didnt mess around powering up the 225hp 4 stroke to rocket us into the first fishing location. We noticed a number of local boats were following Kevin in order to fish similar locations. On arrival the signs looked good with warm water in the relatively shallow bays, birds searching for the bait schools and aggressive surface takes by small Stripers. Kevin immediately had my wife casting 110mm SP paddle tails (or swim bait if youre an American) at the congregations of bait whilst I used a 100mm surface lure (walk the dog style). As this was my wifes first serious lure fishing session Kevin spent some time showing her how to cast and retrieve the SP.

Unfortunately there was not a lot of action and after 15 minutes of casting Kevin decided to move to a more promising location. The next location yielded similar results despite clear signs of large fish on the sounder and plenty of bait being chased in close proximity of the boat…..this pattern continued for the first two hours of the charter.

By this stage Kevin was worried that the cooler night might have turned the fish off and he indicated that he will have to move around a bit more to try to find actively feeding fish, but first he went to a floating toilet in the Lake to allow us to use the rest room……I was amazed to find this amenity floating in the middle of the Lake, Botany Bay could certainly do with some of these.

After the toilet break Kevin had us roaring across the bays looking for birds feeding on bait fish being pushed to the surface by actively feeding Stripers, similar to the methods of finding tuna and mackerel. We had success at the first location, unfortunately it was Kevin who caught the first fish (a 34cm Striper) as he cast a surface lure out to show us where to cast amongst the bait……like all good guides he apologized profusely and put his rod back into the rack to allow us to target the fish and teach my wife how to use a walk the dog lure. Kevin and I were both amazed at how quickly she learnt how to use the walk the dog lure (by her second retrieve she had the lure working like a professional). We had a couple of half hearted strikes at this location but no luck as the fish went off the bite and disappeared.

We moved to another location where there was an underground spring feeding the lake and this move brought immediate success. My first cast of the surface lure resulted in a spectacular surface strike and a solid hookup to my first Striped Bass……a fine 49cm fish.

Two casts later my wife hooked a large Striper. This Striper had three strikes at her surface lure, including one that knocked the lure 30cm into the air, before the Striper completely engulfed her lure.

After this large Striper this location went quiet so Captain Kevin took us to a new location that included flooded brush to try to catch some Large Mouth Bass. We then experienced a hot surface bite with both Striped Bass and Large Mouth Bass actively competing for our surface lures. This was the activity our guide Kevin had been looking for. My first two fish from this location were Large Mouth Bass, including this nice 40cm specimen.

During this active 40 minute bite period we caught 6 x Striped Bass and 6 x Large Mouth Bass and lost another four other fish. It was a hot bite that was incredibly visual…..the smile on my wife's face was priceless.

This ended our charter with Captain Kevin and our final tally was 14 fish (8 x Striped Bass and 6 x Large Mouth Bass). Both my wife and I really enjoyed the experience and I was pleasantly surprised to be informed by my wife on the flight home to Australia that she rated the fishing charter as her second most enjoyable experience of our Las Vegas holiday (helps she caught the largest fish!!!).

If you are travelling to Las Vegas and can afford a half day of fishing I would strongly recommend using the FishFinders Guide Service pm me for details.