Trying For Bass On The Manning - Very Trying!

[arpie]

Hi guys

12 hours before I had to be out of bed for my 'Bass Adventure' with Adrian, I was on the phone to an ambo friend, virtually in tears, unable to walk, bend or move much at all!! I'd done something serious to my back, but the pain had become very localised & I even thought it could have been appendicitis!! At this point in time, there was no way I would be getting out of bed in the morning!! I was SOOOOO UPSET!!

The pain was unbearable & of course it was after the Drs had all closed & only emergency Dr numbers available (who would have suggested the ambos anyway ....) so Matt went thru all the questions & we eventually decided it was possibly an infection or muscle related! Took some panadol & had a good lie down (with difficulty ....) then dropped a couple of Voltaren after eating!

Couldn't believe it - the next morning (after virtually no sleep) I got up at 5.30am & felt a bit tender, but nowhere near as bad as the night before. Had some meuslie & another 2 Voltaren & got on with it!! :?

Arrived at Wingham & met up with Adrian & we headed to one of his favourite holes. The river level had dropped markedly in the last 2 weeks - which can be good and bad ...... we both put our yaks in & started fishing!

Talk about a cast of thousands!!!! It was my personal mission to try every lure I had in the yak & I think I almost Achieved that by the time we left at 3.30pm!!! Guess which one I had the most success with?? The Legendary Purple Raw Prawn!

Adrian got into a very nice fish on a green & orange hb in less than 1hr on the water .... didn't measure him but he looks about 40cm! Adrian loaned me a similar colour Ecogear lure, but it didn't coax any bass from their hidey holes!

I even used most of my spinner baits (thanks for the instructions on using them, Grant!) with no follows or hookups. Adrian got the smaller bass on a spinner later in the day tho.

I hadn't taken my 'No 1' rod & reel (that I use for bream etc in the lake) as I only had the one spool & didn't want to upgrade it from 6lb crystal to 20lb tufline! So I took one of my older reels on an even older rod - also took my baitcaster, but not being really good at baitcasters, stuck with the spinning most of the day! Adrian should give lessons on using the baitcaster - bullets being launched every 30 secs! Beautiful to watch!

Had a few 'follows' right up to the yak on the Purple Raw Prawn, but no takers at this point. Even tho the pond water was moving very slowly, I was already wishing I'd brought the hobie instead of the sit in! I worked my way up to the rapids & asked Adrian if he had ever caught up there - Not Yet, was his reply! Ah well, may as well give it a go! First cast, and I hooked onto a nice small, feisty little bass - on the purple Raw Prawn! Emphasis on the 'little'!! WIth a bit of luck, he would have gone 20cm ..... both hooks had pinned him, so as I released the first hook, he struggled & 'self released' the 2nd!! GORN!! No time for a photo! Bugger! At least it was a fish, tho!

I caught the little bass by tossing into the rapids & allowing it to flow with it, then retrieved it across the rapids back to me, in the quiet water. Adrian got got another small one, same time as me but further down!! If you look closely into the background of the photo, you'll see Adrian working his way up the rapids to the next pool .... he'd never been up there before! It was a bit tricky!

There were an amazing number of dragonflies around - vivid green & blue were the main colours! Also saw some really big freshwater shrimp!

We paddled both sides of the hole - we both had follows & were kept entertained by the big mullet that were jumping everywhere! By 2pm we were ready for lunch - Adrian's Corn cake breadrolls looked much more enviting than my meuslie bars ..... so he kindly donated one to me & I gave him 2 meuslie bars! Thanks for that Adrian! Yum! Must get your Mum's recipe ....

Back to the Cast of Thousands ..... I managed to snag my 'more expensive' lure & tried my snag remover for the first time! It worked!! Yipee!! Later on, I got a worse snag & used it again with success ..... however, my anchor had slid from the back of the yak & into the tangled tree branches & after retrieving the lure, I tried to pull up the anchor but it had caught in the branches & the line broke at the chain knot! Bugger!! Used my retriever later on to try & locate the anchor with no success! Should have used it immediately, as it was difficult to find the exact spot again! Adrian snagged up a short time later & I was able to get his lure back, too! So, altho I lost the anchor ($20) we had saved probably 3 times that value in lures!!

The mid afternoon was fast approaching, so we decided to head back to the vehicles by 3pm so we could be at the next spot before 4pm & fish into the early evening!! We did one last loop of the pool & I managed another hit in one of the spots I'd had a 'follow' previously! The Raw Prawn does it again!

We packed up & discussed which area to attack next .... My lack of sleep was finally catching up with me & Adrian was a bit tired as well, so as the brains were willing, but the bodies were tiring, we decided to check out the next spot, but not fish it!! Time for a rest!

There are some really lovely spots to fish in behind Wingham - I have yet to land a keeper ... given time, I reckon that will happen! Next time, I will rig up a better rod & reel, and I think my casting will improve ..... or at least practise the baitcaster a bit more too!

All up, a terrific day on the water - we both landed 2 fish (sort of almost landed my first one ...), altho mine didn't really compare to Adrian's!! Many thanks to Adrian for allowing me to share his backyard! As Arnie said ..... I'll Be Back!!!

Believe it or not, my back didn't really affect me too badly at all during the fishing (power of positive thinking, I think), but after I hit the sack last night, it came back on again with a vengence, but I'd forgotten to take the Voltaren! Will get it checked out if it persists!!!

Cheerio

Roberta

Edited March 17, 2008 by Roberta

[james7]

Great report Roberta. Good photos too. I felt I was actually there with you and Adrian.

It looks like a beautiful area.

Look after your back too.

Cheers

Peter

[arpie]

Thanks Peter - just hope the back comes good!! I am feeling a lot of sympathy for other folk that say they have bad backs just now .....

I am amazed the dragonfly photo was in focus - I had it on Macro & was in a moving yak at the time I took it!

Can't wait to get back & Try it again..... this time in the Hobie, for sure!! I reckon an evening fish would be a blast!

cheers

Roberta

Edited March 17, 2008 by Roberta

[gerg]

Nice work Roberta. Looks like some nice water there. Hope you crack the 50cm next time...

Cheers, Greg

[jewgaffer]

Hi Roberta.

Nice Pictures !! Looks the perfect place to take the kayaks and it's nice to see you both catching bass.

I hope your back comes good fairly quick. I can relate to forgetting about the aches and pains when you're concentrating in the anticipation of having some good hook ups.

I hope your back isn't too troublesome in a few days.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[Jewhunter]

Well done on getting a couple Roberta. You sure deserved them!

I'm so glad you could get there. You sounded devastated on Sat night. You must have slept well on Sunday!

I'm also glad the back problem isn't something too serious. I think you have yakback.

Cheers,

Grant.

[arpie]

Hi Grant - I was so tired, I was falling asleep, eating dinner!!! So much for hoping to fish the evening!! I would have been done for 'sleeping in charge' of a yak! Next time, i'll arrive after lunch & fish thru to dusk!

Many thanks for your advice & concern, I really didn't know if I would be able to get out of bed! Next time, when I use my better gear & try with the Hobie, I reckon I will have a much better chance!! May even back off with the braid to maybe 10lb. Just watching Adrian was a lesson in itself in where to put the lure. Just got the latest Fishing DVD with Starlo & Seamo hitting the Manning ..... that golden rattling Spot did the trick on a few of their fish ..... I am sure I have something very similar to that in my box of lures .... just didn't pull it out on the day - pulled most of the others out tho!

Hi Jewgaffer - dosed myself up with voltaren again .... feels better already! Hopefully it will be back to normal soon! I reckon it was a crooked, wobbly office chair I have been sitting in!

Cheerio

Roberta

Grant, Glad you called it yakback .....

[Ouliis]

GOOD REPORT, NICE PHOTOS. WELL DONE ON GETTING THE TWO YOU CAUGHT. ITS GOOD TO SEE YOUR TRYING. I WENT TO LAKE ST CLAIR OVER THE LAST LONG WEEKEND AND HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THE OTHER HALF, IT WAS THE FIRST TIME IVE EVER CAUGHT A BASS. THERE A GOOD FIGHT. NEXT TIME YOU GOT A FEW DAYS OFF YOU SHOULD GO TO LAKE ST CLAIR. HOPE YOUR BACK IS BETTER

Edited March 19, 2008 by Ouliis

[arpie]

Well done Ouliis!! Nice looking bass for your first effort. That looks like an Argoblast topwater lure!! I tried one of those but with no joy! Last time I was at Lake St Clair, the water level was way down & no-one could use the boat ramp!!!

Hope it is looking up now! The back is getting better every day, many thanks!

Roberta

[Ouliis]

We had alot of fun a LSC. The water level was about 40%, the ramp was in use at all times of the day. Its a nice place to take the family.

I dont know too much about what lure to use or were to go after the bass. My other half rizzo is the man to ask, he loves going out and catching em. All i know is that you have to go out early in the morning or just before it gets dark. The bass at this time are looking for there food. In the day the hide deep in the water. If you need any help just ask Rizzo his the man .

[arpie]

Thanks for that Ouliis, glad to hear the level had risen! When I was there last, I fished the tree area on the other side from the ramp in my yak - didn't get any but had fun trying! Everyone was doing it tough just then.

The river i was fishing Sunday has heavy bush & fallen trees all along the banks & except at midday when the sun is directly above, there is always shadow areas on at least one side of the river most of the times ....that is the area we were targetting ...... then I got the first one in the middle of the river in the middle of the day in the middle of the rapids in water that was probably less than 1ft deep! Funny eh? Every day is a lesson!

Cheerio

Roberta