soft-on

You might remember that weekend a few weeks ago where we got some of the wildest winds we have had in a while, well I cherish my weekends too much to go and waste it sitting on the couch doing nothing so I packed the rod and lures and headed for a Bass spot I have not fished for a good 18months. I did try and use some brains to nail down a few spots that I knew would be at least a little protected from the Gail force winds which hammered us on the day. So we headed south to a well known spot near Nowra. The river we were fishing sits neatly packed into a valley where on the day except for the odd gust down the mountain the wind blew straight over us. We were blessed with not much wind but it was patchy rain. Apart from being overcast and windy the humidity hovered nicely at about 70%. We geared up and started the fish/hike up river. The stream that we were fishing on the day isn't the best for a kayak or canoe as the flow isn't all that great and maximum depth is about 3m with an average of about half a meter. I had been experimenting with the bass around my area whilst they have been fussy lately to actually hold on to any lure and 2 hookups out of 5 strikes had become a regular occurrence in the past month or so. I decided that a not so much more naturally looking lure might work but the feel and texture of the lure could entice a solid chew. You might call me crazy as bass will willingly smash any lure and headphone plugs (as I have experienced before as I leant over a bank and plunk! Gulp!) I actually tried making some natural feeling lures but just couldn't beat the craftsmanship of a good old koolabung lure which looks like a carve out of Reg Reagan's thong. We flicked all day with my mate Andy using a buggi pop crawler and myself the soft cicada fizzer. With not much room to move we took turns at casting at spots on the banks which looked like fish holders and taking turns at catching fish. We used a fair amount of stealth as most of the spots we were above the water rather than level with it. We hiked a good 3kms up river hooking up, busting off and landing some really good healthy bass. We reached this spot in the river where it turned to deep to wade or cross and we estimated this 8m wide part of the river was at least 3m deep. It narrowed up wards from there where we scored a few fish out of the one pool and that continued. I was wading this one pool and Andy decided he would walk the bank ahead of me and being a smart ass cast his lure towards me and it bounced and went under this Rooty and muddy bank and shluurp! He pulled a fish from at my feet It became slowly apparent that all the walking we had done upstream meant we cold only have one thing left to do….Walk back down stream so we toddled our hungry stomach 3kms back down stream having the odd flick where we had miss fired some bass on the way up.

Hey Fellas, Top Report. Theres some quality snapper there and ocean conditions look perfect. Good to see you actualy getting out of the office Ev and getting stuck into some fishing! Greg that 80cm fish is a stonker!! Whoa! Good one fellas. Cheers Cam

I organized this morning to have a fish with raider mate Rizzo this afternoon. I am working in Sydney at the moment, which is close to Rizzo's house. The weather didn't look or feel to crash hot it was coming down in buckets and the wind was chilly and strong but our confidence wasn't blackened by the unfavorable weather. The Georges River Weir is only minutes from my work so we organized a meet up point and then made our way to the weir. Upon arrival we fished the lower weir but with only a few interested fish we moved to the top of the weir. At the top there is a old unused bridge that crosses the Georges river and there is a few logs backed up against the concrete pylons. We started firing blades and spinner baits all around the snag until Rizzo finally hooks and fights a small Bass on spinner bait which he said deserved the lip grippers Stoked to see the fish were in the area it wasn't long before there was a chaos of line flying here and there trying to hook up again. Next fish wasn't mine either but Rizzo was on again on his favorite surface crawler. A better fish in great condition was landed a quick snap and released. After that I blamed Rizzo that his last fish had told his friends and they had all taken off. I changed lure to a Glow bugger chug and shot a cast at the log and a few bloops and sluurrp!! I was on too. Once again a medium size fish in great condition. It was a mixed weather afternoon but we were even happier we left with a few under our belt. Thanks for the afternoon and great company Rizzo Cheers Cam

Oh my im Gealous!! What a top report Roberta, i read it last night and it made me want to go fishing Some really good photos too. Shame i didnt know you were driving back up because we could have caught up for that bass fish we have been talking about. Thankyou i really enjoyed it was a great read. Cheers Cam

A quick flick and extract the fish.....sounds good to me. That Lizards in good nick mate. Better luck on the whiting next time. Cam

Congratulations Skip!! Cheers Cam

awesome shots there Pete! Ahhh they are just marvelous creatures arnt they!

Hodgey when you mention your struggling down there....is that you struggling at 7am with your eyes still half shut?? Well done on the surface fishing fellas, great report too. Good to see the whiting smashing those poppers again. Mate that bloody cybershot about time you changed cameras i remember that was giving you grief when we went out Good photos though. Cheers Cam

Headed for a spin up to Tallowa Dam this afternoon to have a peek at how the new fish lift is coming along, i couldn't resist having a quick flick so i darted down the dam wall took a few snaps of the constructions. I couldn't believe that 12 months ago the pond where i used to extract some of my bass was now road and rock! I trekked down to the second pond where the water had been diverted and first cast using a little river to sea buggi pop a carp comes out of the water and smashed the lure, never had i seen a carp do such strange things the little mud sucker even breached out of the water mid fight . The fight lasted a good ten minutes because i was only using 6lb leader so i played him tired. Awesome day out there today nice a warm which helped sweat off last nights . I was on a tight schedule so no time for a bass but im sure there is plenty of time for that especially when things start firing again. Cheers Cam

Top stuff andrew! It's going to be a great summer on the basin! Cheers cam

Hey Fellas, Great Report there Hodgey, great to see the action is hot down your way and the blades have worked their way into your arsenal. Dene thats a mega fish your holding there! Good on you guys top stuff Cant wait to fish again hopefully soon. Cheers Cam

Hi Raiders, Sorry i haven't posted here in a while i have been working up the Northern Territory and got back the other day. I have a few days free before i start my new job so i had the opportunity to go for a quick session down my local bass spots this afternoon. Just tied my 6lb fluro leader onto my 6lb braid first cast with my Buggi Pop and it wasn't even in the water 5 seconds before an explosion erupted in front of me. From what i saw happened two big bass actually went to munch my lure at once! Then a short pause and the other one made a quick gap and nailed it BOOM! the drag starts peeling and as i fought the fish for a good couple of minutes watching it dart in and out of the banks and rocks with the other fish shadowing its every move until i landed it. Here's a couple of photos (excuse the mobile phone quality) and just like to say its glad to be back and i hope there's plenty more photos and stories to come. All the best Cam

Well Done Kael !!! Love those Bass, good to see the buggers are coming home again Cheers Soft-on

Thanks Guys, yeah it was awsome experience Greg- Yeah it was in the Bass Cat im not sure about the HP on the engine but going that fast for 10minutes hurts you face.....Those boats sit on the water so good regardless of the chop or wake from another boat. I had to hold my sunnies on my head when we were moving along and the hat automatically came off when we were moving from spot to spot. Poddy- The rods are secured as you see them by velcro straps connected to the floor(see last pic on the right of the boat with the SOL outfit). I did get a little worried about them taking off, not for the fact i would loose a outfit but the fact that i would get smashed in the face with a rod and reel There was one moment when there was a pelican we had to dodge and missed him by a hair!!! Also those boats get the ass out too around corners too. The Pro we were with was the distributor for Bass Cats in Australia. Top Bloke too. Cheers All Cam

Hey Raiders, I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks up in Queensland. I was up there for mainly business but i did get some fishing in. The friday we arrived, we were lucky enough to score a spot in the ABT pro/am which was held on the Tweed River. We caught numerous species but we lacked in the Bream department with only one legal fish to be weighed in. The boat we went in was the fastest there and the bloody ripper pulled an amazing 90mph!! Thats miles. It feels like you face is being ripped off We were excited to to have fished with some popular pro's like Ian miller,Steve morgan,Scott Towner and Chris Wright. We fished everywhere from Bribie Island and all around Moreton Bay. We did get alot of fish but it lacked the excitement of fishing at home, mainly because we didnt have a bloody clue what and where was good and what wasnt. Dissapointment didnt kill the sprits we did get our first Snapper on Blades and the soapie Jewies were a frequient catch but overall not much size in any of our fish. It was a great 2 weeks and we enjoyed the time off. Cheers Cam

Well done boys, some nice fish there

Hi there mate, im sure everyone is in the same boat when i say YES! If your new to blades and are still experimenting with their features and how to work them in the water then you will probably loose a few. They cast further than you think aswel so be careful, the main thing is when you cast and they land they sink very fast. With a plastic you can flick it out and let it sink for a while. With the blades i automatically start to retrieve as soon as it hits the water, then i can variate how far i want it to sink using the speed of my retrieve. In saying that though if you know its only a sand bottom and maybe your chasing lizards then bouncing blades off the bottom can be very productive. That flattie above swallowed that blade mid-water. I lost 3 blades before i got the hang of it so dont get depressed when you loose one..... Good luck buddy Cheers Soft-on

In the inlet buddy, where the sea grass meets the sand. Cheers

Hodgey, Its really shows how good your estuary system is when you call 13 fish a "tough day" Well done to both you and Dene for producing some really nice lizrds. I am rubbing my hands in excitement for some summer sessions with you fella's! Cheers Cam

Cheers Fellas Cam

Found it Ray thanks mate. Cocky Crinodus lophodon

Heres one for you guys, Checked all Wrasse and Grouper Species cant find it. Teeth like a drummer,No evident scales,head slopes significantly down to a small mouth eye section. It had a single taperd gill raker a bit like a golden perch. Caught off the rocks on Royal Red's. Last one is a rotten egg..... Cheers Cam

GregL has had sucess maybe ask him. Heres the vid of him with a jewfish in "LCR"! cheers cam

Im guessing "L" is for lake CR something? Where is it? Cheers Cam

Nice Session Mitch & Good Report too! Got to love the Blades