Guest Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 We have just returned from another great week at Lake Glenbawn in the upper Hunter Valley near Aberdeen. We were buoyed by the fact that the dam level had risen over 10% from our previous expedition and our expectations were high as we made our way up the coast to our destination. The crews who joined Donna, myself and Outdoordan are as follows: Breambusters (Brad) and his wife Vicki, Bails (Richard) and his wife Natalie and their two young children and our good friends Dalucius (Lyn) and Geoff her ever faithful husband. We all arrived around 2pm on Sunday. The first view of the lake is always a fantastic feeling and the casting arm starts to twitch almost instantaniously. We quickly settled into our cabins and commenced rigging all the rods we had in tow. The first arvo was a good start with my first fish being a whopper Yellowbelly. Dan, Donna and myself started to catch bass almost immediately as the new covered banks had plenty of fish holding structure. The weather was very calm and the water temp was up around 24 degrees, which was a little bit warm but the fish were co-operating. We scored some nice fish from the start, but when we returned to the ramp some of our crew were not as fortunate. We had a Pow Wow and gave all our Fishraider friends some tips on where and what we were catching the fish on and hopefully their Glenbawn experience would leave a lasting impression on their minds forever as it had done for us !!!. The weather was very kind to us from the start and the fish were coming to our waiting arms with gusto. The snags and weed beds in 12 to 20 feet of water is where we got nearly all our fish. We zoomed in on any lanes between the trees that looked like an ambush spot for unsuspecting prey and our offerings were purple or brown spinnerbaits armed with sea wash stinger hooks. We had very well balanced tackle and had our drags screwed up to the max !!. We did have our monumental bust-offs and Dan was smoked by an amazing fish which swam back to the snags from 20 feet out on an almost locked drag of 10lb braid and distroyed his leader. I was also smashed off by an unseen adversary down in one of the backwaters and this very large fish didnt even give me the chance to turn the handle ZZZZZZZZZZZ whizzzzz BANGGGED. The weather was great every day with almost no wind to speak of all week, with only the Thursday and Friday having very large thunder storms in the afternoon. The Thursday afternoon looked good early on so Donna decided it was time to video Dan and myself in action on the fabled bass of the lake. We headed out into darkening skies and a bit of wind as the storm was approaching. We had been targeting a few bays in the morning and had scored more that 30 fish in that session so we had high hopes of replicating our achievments again. Even before Donna had the camera rolling I was onto a nice fish from a snag and it was time to see if we could produce on demand. Donna started rolling and almost straight away we were onto some good fish in the 40 cm range. Unreal as the fish played the game with us and Donna's steady hand got some great action and even some tutorials on what, where and how we targeted the fish. Then it started to get very dark and the skies started to growl with anger as the storm came even closer to us and it was agreed to make a hasty retreat to be on the safe side as we know what the dam can get like with heavy wind squalls. We were up on the plane in seconds and the run back was only 15 minutes to the ramp but as we neared our destination the wind increased to over 25 knots and it was blowing the Poly almost sideways. As we passed Geoff and Lyn at speed they were instantly aware that it was time to leave as well and followed us back which was a very good decision. We raced into the shore and I ran for the trailer as the rain and wind was starting to come down. We pulled the boat out and just got the covers on when it started to rain heavily and some of our team were still out there in the grip of the storm. When Vicki and Brad returned with some friends they were soaked to the bone and a little shaken and worse for wear after their long run back into the wind and rain from way up the back of the dam. Every evening we had a BBQ and a few beers to catch up on the days goings on and even had the playstation with us for some light hearted fun. We have already booked in again for next year and I would just like to thank Donna and Dan for the great company. Geoff, Lyn, Vicki, Brad and Richard and his family you all got onto some great fish and hopefully you will all return with us next year armed with the knowledge you have now for bigger and better results. We did meet up with two nice blokes we met last year as well and they had a good trip as too. Hope you see this report Fatty and Craig. We also met another local called Hobbit who was just getting started for the weekend and gave him some of our expertise and a few lures to get him onto a few fish as well. Thanks to Sandra and Dennis at the Lake Kiosk as well, these two lovely people had our papers and fresh bread ready every day and gave us some nice discounts on spinnerbaits and jackals. There are a lot more stories to tell and I will leave that up to the other crews to elaborate further. Best Regards the Swordies. Here are some of the fish we landed and many more that were released. More pictures for your enjoyment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robeebee Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 top report mate felt like i was there some great fish caught Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmoshe Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Great trip again guys. and didn't you boat some fish!! Looks like the ideal weather conditions (apart from the storms) and a good time had by all. The extra water sure made the difference this year I'm sure. Those yallowbellies are thumper fish too. Great report Stewy. Cheers, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Woohoo!! What a fantastic week!! Well done to all the fishos - glad to see Donna also getting into the action, too! Some of the fish look a terrific size! When are we going to see the video on UTube?? Should be fun to watch! Well done - almost felt like I was there with you! Cheerio Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris 55 Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 (edited) Looks like there were some good fish up there for everyone nice to hear the lake was being so productive How did Donna go with the new outfit - pics seem to show she did OK Chris Edited November 25, 2007 by Chris 55 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tam_hobbit Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 hobbit here thanks for the info you gave me on friday and the lure. Did as i said i would and joined up as soon as i got home. I didn't catch as many fish as you but i got some nice little ones making me want to go back asap to catch a big one Cheers Tam_hobbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 (edited) Hi Tam hobbit and to Fishraider!! Sounds like it was your lucky day, meeting up with Stewy, Donna & Dan & the others up there!! Glad to hear you got into some good fish. That is what we like to hear! Roberta I can see this becoming a not so mini 'non social' social next year!! I've got a few of those spinnerbait lures, just haven't used them yet ..... along with most of my other hb lures! Edited November 25, 2007 by Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveD Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 There's some phat bass there. Very nice stuff guys and gals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vipernut Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Great report swordies and some top photos It has always been one of the places i am keen to visit. It looks like i would have to buy alot more spinnerbaits,as i only have a few.By the photos it looks like the majority of the fish were caught on them. Well done again. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 What a week that was! Youse absolutely brained them up there at Glenbawn! Fishing with near full drag and having bust offs like that, it seems there must be a few monsters lurking around up there!! That last photo is a real classic! Stewy it looks like that fish jumped clean out of the water, went for the lure and grabbed hold of your thumb! What a brilliant picture that one is and all the others are professional quality photos as well!! It sounds as though everyone had a fantastic holiday up there, and some unforgetable fishing! Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalucius Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Great to see you had some luck Hobbit. We had a great time. Thanks to Stewy, Donna and Dan for sharing their fishing space with us. I hear it takes a couple of trips up there before you get fish like Swordfisherman and his crew. We would like to give a big thanks to Stewy for putting us onto the right gear and lures/spinnerbaits. Geoff managed to catch a nice selection of bass with his PB being the last fish of the trip 40cm. Hope you like the pictures below. Can't wait until next year! All fish were released and hopefully we can catch bigger ones next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalucius Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Here are a few pictures of the dam and storm fronts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Well done, Lyn & Geoff - some top fish there!!! That 40cm would have 'gone'! Love the wild life in the camp ground, too!! Geoff would have been stoked!! Cheerio Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Rock Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Looks like you had a fantastic time Donna and Stew - you guys must have Glenbawn almost totally wired by now. A week of fishing with good weatherm, good friends and a great location: sounds bloody hard to beat if you ask me! You definitely deserved the break. The lake looks spectacular in the photos - what wonderful looking water and snags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Strewth! Looks like you got an amazing haul of bass, folks. Glad to see Donna christened the Fireblood outfit. That is some magic scenery you get to fish in. Great photos and a top report as usual! Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snag Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Stewy lets hope more rain fall down on both Glenbawn and St Clair, oh yer love all the pics and good report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now