dean

Not sure why the fishings been poor this year. There was plenty of rain early in the season, the fish ladders are working and there's plenty of flow from the environmental releases for the bass to make it up river. There's always next season. Love exploring new systems, seem to get better fish and you don't have to travel that far from Sydney. Good luck with the clubs, they can be a good source of local info.

Hi mate, like others have said, the fish will spread throughout the system in summer. I fish in the camden area and it has been a slow year, fish in the high 30s are big for the area, the average would be around the 300 mark. At this time of year the fish should be feeding up for the run down river, fishing will be tough but there should be some bigger fish about. There are a couple of small clubs in the area, Bass Sydney and the Wollondilly bass club, both are kayak based and both run socials on the river through the warmer months, well worth a look into.

It's starting to get late in the season now and the river hasn't fished that well all year, so you might find it tough at the moment. You can launch at any of the bridges, some will be harder than others. Belgenny probably provides the easiest launch site. There's a local bass club in the area, might be worth looking into. Good luck.

No mate, side console.

Hi mate, I've got a 475 topender with a 60hp high thrust yammie on the back. Pretty sure it's the same hull, I don't consider it underpowered and can carry 3 adults and 2 kids no problem. Load it up with 5 big blokes and gear, you'll feel it, but then it's probably overloaded. Top speed is about 50km.

Great vid Bassboy, the gorge looks awesome. Always wanted to fish it just haven't got around to it yet. Some quality fish, 8 over 4 days, is that normal or was the fishing slow? I'm headed up to the Nymboida in just over a week, hopefully I come back with similar results. Cheers, Dean

Roberts, I didn't notice any other kayaks that weekend, it was a couple of weeks ago. Hope Michelle does well, I know a few others that headed up for the GF. Should be a good weekend.

Nice Bass Stimo, always enjoy fishing Glenbawn. Your right about the wind, I've lost a few tents up there over the years.

Nice fish Poddy, sound like the family had a good time with all the whiting and trevally. Never had much luck with the NW, maybe it was the colour I was using.

Spent the weekend up at St Clair. It was hot and windy when I arrived Saturday afternoon, paddling out into the north easterly didn't appeal to me so I delayed launching in the hope the wind would drop. It didn't and I really wanted to fish, if I reached the western shoreline there would be some protection from the wind and at least make the fishing bearable. The trip over was interesting, the yak wasn't very dry in the chop and I was soaked by the time I reached the opposite bank. Over the next 4hrs I tried plastics, jackalls and surface for only four fish. The fishing was tough, the wind did eventually drop as the sun set and I had high hopes for the following morning. Strong wind were again forecast for the Sunday, the plan was to head of early and be back before the winds hit. The conditions were perfect as we launched at 5 and by 5.30 I was at my chosen bank. It's always a good sign when your lure gets smashed first cast and when another fish jumps on two cast later you know your in for a good morning. It turned out to be one off my best dam surface sessions and I lost count of the number of fish landed before the sun rose and the bite slowed. Most fish were in the 37-39fl bracket, 3 over 400 and a few little ones joined in the fun. When the surface bite stopped I switched to jackalls and was reward with another few fish before I made my way back to camp, just beating the wind. Cheers, Dean

Bassboy, looks like the local bass are starting to wake up. There's been a few good report over the last couple of weeks, we could be in for a good summer.

Thanks for all the replies. Roostersone, not sure what's happening with the local at the moment. I'm starting to hear a few good reports but it's not happening for me at the moment. Scratchie, It's the far south. The Clyde, Deua, Tuross and Bega/Brogo rivers are the main systems down that way. Lots of good water and plenty of bass. I'm hoping to visit all of them over the summer.

It's been a very slow start to the bass season for me. I fished my local every weekend in September for only a few fish so I jumped at the chance to spend a few days down south over the long weekend. Being early in the season the water was still clear and cool, and the fishing slow. I persisted with buzzbaits (without a doubt my favourite surface lure) and it eventually paid off with 6 fish landed the first morning. This included a 49FL PB. Fished up river the following morning, it was hard going and I only had one hit that morning. I had a bit of time before I needed to head back, so I decided to move and fish lower down in the system. The water looked great, lots of snags, overhangs and sunken timber. It was mid morning by this stage and I didn't expect much but when the lure was gently taken off the top and the rod buckled over I knew this was a solid fish. When it finally popped up next to the yak I remember thinking I needed a bigger net. Finally cracked the 500 mark and a new PB, 510FL! The following morning I was back on the new stretch hoping to explore further up the creek in search of a few fish. I wasn't disappointed. Not long after launching I was working some sunken timber spotted the previous morning, on the second cast the water erupted in front of me and I was connected to another solid fish. This time the fight was different and the fish surfaced early, it wasn't a bass but a big EP. There were a few tense moments before I finally netted the fish, this thing was prehistoric and by far my biggest EP at 510FL. I fished for a few more hours and landed another couple of bass including a 44FL but the EP was definitely the highlight of the trip. My local bass are still playing hard to get, it won't be long before I head south again. Cheers, Dean

Great result Bassboy, nothing like a bit of friendly competition between father and son. I'll be up at st Clair in a few weeks, if I do half as good as you guys I'd be happy. Nice looking boat, bet that rides a little better than the tinny.

Spent yesterday on the Fish. A usually productive stretch of river was very quite, we did eventually find some fish but not many. Couldn't find them in the runs only deep pools and there was no sign of any rainbows. Not the start to the season I was looking for. Hopefully things will improve over the next few months. The fish we did catch were healthy browns and it was a nice day on the river, so still worth the trip. Cheers, Dean

Nice mixed bag out of Lyell Neil. I never seem to have much luck there but it's a nice place to camp especially when the dams almost full.

Great read Stu, some nice fish there.You're really making the most of the surface bite. My last couple of sessions have been a little slow, hopefully It's been better for you. Look forward to the April report.

Good advice from Hodgey, love slow rolling spinner baits. Big surface lures at dawn or dusk can also work. The bidgee is fishing well this year, plenty of good access and lots of fish. Worth considering if your not having much luck in the lakes.

Great report Bassboy. Good to see some quality fish coming out of the Nepean, even better when there hitting the surface. The rivers starting to clear now, you should still get a few good months in before they start to shut down.

There are a few makers in Australia, but I usually buy mine online, I'll pm you the details.

For the past week I've been trying to dodge the rain and get a bit of fishing in. The original plan was for a week long fishing and family holiday in the Coffs, northern rivers area. With the weather report not looking good and lots of rain predicted a change of plans was in order. NE Vic is an area I've always wanted to fish, the weather report looked good and I could hear the cod calling. All I needed to do was throw a few cod and trout lures in and we were away. The plan was to start at Wangaratta and fish our way over to the upper Murray. It was pretty easy to find places to camp on good water and I fished for 4 days before the rain eventually caught up with us. Morning surface sessions were the most productive but the bite shut down quickly and it was tough going with spinnerbaits. The afternoon sessions were tougher again and the fish showed no interest. We moved camp a few times and that gave me the opportunity to fish a fresh section of river each morning, locals had told me the area coped a lot of pressure this summer and moving around would improve my chances. Because I'm a surface addict lure choice was easy, I bought a couple of big buzzbait and hadn't had an opportunity to use them yet, this trip would be the perfect testing ground. I really didn't know if they were going to work when I tied one on the first morning but after only 15 minutes a small cod showed some interest and that was the start of some great fishing. 14 cod were landed over the 4 days, 10 Murray and 4 trout cod, another 8 fish missed the hooks on the strike. All but one were taken off the surface. I dropped a good fish on the 3rd day which was a little disappointing but made up for it on the 4th day with a fish just under 80cm. The surface strikes were huge, and it' the one thing that keeps me coming back for more. I did target trout on a few occasions and on one river I fished for cod in the deeper pools and then trout in the rapids, only landed a few but when the cod are biting it's hard to fish for anything else. The upper Murray part of the trip was a bit of a wipe out. Over a 100mm of rain in two days flooded the rivers and even the trout didn't want to play. A trip for another time. Cheers, Dean

Thanks for the comments. There's lots of development in the Camden area at the moment and it's taking the river longer than usual to clear. The upper reaches around menangle and dougo seem to clear faster, but I'm not sure if they will be clear by the weekend.

Spent the last week in Vic and haven't heard of any reports yet but if the dam has spilled the trout will be there. If you can get up into the warragamba river it will increase your chances of getting a few.

Great report hodgey, good to see you catching a few fish down in vic. Love the colour of those cod. Just spent 4 days chasing cod in the clear water of the ovens. Is the loddon a clear river or does the water stay fairly dirty. Congrats to Rob on his first cod, I'm sure it will be the first of many.

Quick report, the Nepean is finally starting to clear. I had a couple of quick morning sessions this week. Still finding the fishing a little slow, the little fish seem to be in hiding but I did land a few in the mid 30's mostly on the surface. Cheers, Dean