Bassing The Tweed

[Jewhunter]

G'day all.

We've finally had some half decent weather the last couple of weeks which for me means back to work & back to fishing.

Headed up to Clarrie Hall dam on 09/03/08 with a Kiwi mate to try to get him his first Bass.

Conditions were great & I was confident the fish would be on the chew. After an hour of casting i was getting a little worried. I didn't see any surface feeding & the usual areas hadn't produced.

It was tough going. Beautiful morning to be on the water anyway. My mate was happy enough to spot his first 'roo & big, sunbaking goanna.

We didn't manage to get him his Bass but I ended up with four myself. Two little tackers & two decent fish. The best went 39cm's. All caught on 3' bass minnow in pearl blue.

Hit the water on my own again on 16/03/08. Listening to Roberta fighting off pain the night before & her being so determined to fish inspired me.

I launched in the upper Tweed river around 6.30 a.m with intentions to fish the river proper. However the wind was already making itself a pain so I decided to head around the bend into the more protected Oxley river. The action wasn't fast & furious but I still managed 3 fish with a couple of 33 & 36cm's. All fish caught on the surface on a black 'bubble pop' 45.

So not great fishing but nice to just be able to get out there & pick up a few anyway.

Cheers,

Grant.

[arpie]

Well done, Grant!

In trying circumstances, you were still able to land some decent fish!! Shame your buddy wasn't able to hook one, but I bet he will next time he tries!!! Glad he saw some of the local wildlife tho. That Bubble pop lure sure looks nice! Never heard of them before, so googled it!! Glad to hear I managed to inspire you toget out & about!! The back is slowly coming good - down to 1 voltaren morning & night now...

I bet your own backyard river will take a while before it settles back to producing fish again. You'll have to relearn it - with all the snags either new or swept away!

Funilly enough, our weather here has been absolutely superb for the last 2 weeks!! Fine, clear, sunny .... now they tell us it is going to rain all over Easter!!

Tight lines, cheerio

Roberta

I just find it so relaxing being on a river or dam - somehow it is different from salt water fishing - can't quite describe why ..... just magic! Can't beat the serenity, the cicadas, the birdcalls & being at one wth nature!

[Bream Mad]

Great work Jewy

good to see your still pulling them in up north

cheers

Kael

[Jewhunter]

Well done, Grant!

In trying circumstances, you were still able to land some decent fish!! Shame your buddy wasn't able to hook one, but I bet he will next time he tries!!! Glad he saw some of the local wildlife tho. That Bubble pop lure sure looks nice! Never heard of them before, so googled it!! Glad to hear I managed to inspire you toget out & about!! The back is slowly coming good - down to 1 voltaren morning & night now...

I bet your own backyard river will take a while before it settles back to producing fish again. You'll have to relearn it - with all the snags either new or swept away!

Funilly enough, our weather here has been absolutely superb for the last 2 weeks!! Fine, clear, sunny .... now they tell us it is going to rain all over Easter!!

Tight lines, cheerio

Roberta

I just find it so relaxing being on a river or dam - somehow it is different from salt water fishing - can't quite describe why ..... just magic! Can't beat the serenity, the cicadas, the birdcalls & being at one wth nature!

Ta Roberta.

The 'bubble pop' is one of my fave surface lures. Bass love 'em.

I still haven't given out back a good working over since all the rains. It looks as though it's returning to normal so I'll have a shot over the w/end.

Thanks also bream mad. Fishing has been limited lately up here because of the crappy weather & me being busy with work now it's cleared up a bit.

Had an awesome session on the dam yesterday morning in the tinnie with a couple of mates. The Bass were going nuts. Got some great pics as well. I'll put up a post on it today.

Cheers,

Grant.

[Jewhunter]

Well what else can I say about yesterday's morning session on the dam but WOW!

Had a great session with my mate Russ & his o/s visitor Steve.

Hit the dam at 7.30 a.m. It rained for the 1st twenty mins & then glassed out. As we get underway I suggest to the boys that we have a troll until we get to my fave areas. Gee it took a while to get there.

I'd rigged the boys up with TT spinner blades I got from Tony Fishfinder a while back with 1/8th jig heads rigged with 3 " slider fat grubs. 40 seconds into the troll & our o/s Bass virgin yells "I'm on". I shake my head & mumble something not to be repeated on the forums. Sure enough a healthy 32cm fish is lifted in for a couple of pics before release. Lines back in & 2 mins later Russ says "you beauty". I'm smiling as a 30cm fish gets the same treatment.

We head around the corner & I see some surface boofs. I'm already rigged with the 'bubble pop' 45 & land one on the spot. One twitch & it's smashed but misses. I resisted the temptation to strike & left it there. I shook the lure & let it stop again. The water exploded and this time it didn't miss. Nice 35cm fish that played up a bit.

And so it continued. We trolled a bit & cast around alot when we stopped. I put the boys in the top possies to cast & directed them while all I did was wait for a boof & cast the popper at it. Constant hits, misses & hookup's. Russ had a great hit & the fish stayed wide of the lily's. It went nuts & when I netted it went 40cm's & is now his new P.B. Bass.

We ended up with 12 Bass in 3 hrs between 30 & 40cm's with around 7 lost & many surface hits missed.

Our Bass virgin pulled 5 while Russ got 4 including his P.B. I finished last with 3 on the popper. Chump eh!

On the way back our visitor said " Grant, I'm serious, you should be a guide" My reply was "mate, if the fishing was always like this I would be!"

Top session with a couple of great guys & the fish playing ball.

Cheers,

Grant.

Here's some pics. Russ with his P.B.

A couple of mine.

[arpie]

Fan-bloody-tastic, Grant!! Gee, your buddies will expect fishing like that every time you go out with them!!

They'll have smiles on their dials for days as they recount their tale to anyone who will listen! Nice sized fish, too!! Very nice of you to give them the 'gun spot' on the boat, too - that really gave them a better chance to get onto them!

Well done! Hope it stays like that for you ....

Cheerio

Roberta

[jewgaffer]

Nice result on the Bass in Clarrie Hall dam Grant.

You can guarantee the Tweed will come back bigger and better after the big floods. Rivers always improve with the changes and regrowth after a big flushout and even missing species start start to appear in the river seasonally like they used to.

Jimmy tells me the Richmond is recovering steadly and it looks as though will be loaded with more species, fresh shools and larger fish by winter.

I remember having holidays at Harrington on a couple of different occasions before a big flood in the Manning when there were thousands of undersize bream in the key spots in the big dry, and coming back myself a month or so after the flood changes, and mostly catching table size bream and the nice mid size flathead rather than catching an old river dusky occasionally and mostly undersize flathead up river between Croki and Taree before the floods.

I'll bet money you'll soon catch some decent size fish in the river near your backyard without much effort, the Tweed, has a good recovery reputation after a major flood !!

Cheers

jewgaffer

[outdoordan]

Good to see you gettin into a few.

You really do live in god's country, that Clarie Hall looks as pretty as a postcard.

Hopefully the fishin just keeps improvin.

Cheers.

Dan