Fishing The Inaugural Scotty Bass Classic, Clarrie Hall Dam

[arpie]

Hi all

Last Thurs, I headed north to arrive at Clarrie Hall Dam on the Friday, to setup for the Inaugural Scotty Bass Classic being held on Clarrie Hall Dam, near Uki, northern NSW. It was being organised by the Australian Bass Association & as it was catch & release (totally an honour system, altho i took photos (many!) of my fish, as I was not expecting to catch many!!) Amazing as it was - I only caught 5 fish & the total length of them still had me 'mid field' which was incredible, as 2 of them were just minnows!! As we were doing survey for ABA (noting what fish you caught, at what time, what lure & retireval method & whether released or not ...... and length to the fork, of course), it was one of the very few times that camping was allowed at the lake. Indeed, we were truly blessed with the weather & the permission by the Council to allow us to camp at the Dam was just terrific. Not having to worry about cooking dinner was just wonderful & no-one was left hungry, as that was also covered by the entry fee! Brilliant!

I'd only ever been to the dam once before with Jewhunter/Grant & it poured with rain & I hadn't caught a fish. Grant had caught a very nice fish off one of the dead tree stumps that was not far from the start area, so that spot was on my list to get to at least once or twice a session, but it now had a lily pad in front of it & I still didn't get any hits there! I remembered that we had also gone along a steep cliffside & managed to find that as well & fished it a few times, but only had hits there, no hookups.

I set my OZtent up in case of rain (for somewhere to shelter, as the Van is only small so I suggested that Adrian put his bed in there rather than setting up another tent, as mine had 2 sections, both virtually unused unless it rained! He gratefully took up that opportunity!) So after setting up camp on Fri (I was first there, so reckon I got the best spot away from the ablution block & the would be 'snorers') we sat under the trees sinking a few beers chatting about our game plan - One guy gave me a couple of 'guppy' looking sps after a buddy had shown him pics of some of the baitfish that inhabit the dam! I coloured up the fins to red to match the hatch, but they still didn't work!! I was meeting up with some very accomplished bass fishos & they were generous in passing out tips & info on the dam.

Being a NSWelshman, I thought we'd be going with 'daylight saving' hours, but no, it was decided to go with Canetoad hours (of which there were many in the campground - the animal variety as well!!) So I decided to change my watch to Qld time whilst keeping my phone on NSW time!! I set the phone alarm to wake me up at 4.30am as that was the official 'start' time, but 'chance' was in charge of my alarm & once again, I got the 'daylight savings forward or reverse wrong!! On the morning of the start, I was abruptly woken up at 2.30am by my wrongly set alarm (which I thought would have woken up the whole camp), so I adjusted it to the correct alarm time & went back to sleep!! It then went off at 3.30am which was now beginning to annoy me! Finally, I didn't need to wake up with the 'finally correctly set' 4.30am, as the smell of freshly cooked toast wafted thru my van, waking me up!! I passed on breakfast & grabbed some squirrel food (nuts & sultanas & meuslie bars) and drove down to the lakes edge. I managed to launch the yak without slipping over & then promptly got lost! You couldn't see 10cm in front of you!! It was actually easier to see without the headlamp as the ambient light became a bit better - much like headlights in a fog when driving, the light was just reflecting off the mist & bouncing back into your face! The air was full of 'vapour drops' which formed the heavy mist & I figured it was safe enough to have a cast ...... wrong!! Lilypads x 1 I tried again. Then, Lilypads x 2 By the time i got to Lilypads x 3 I was getting very annoyed & determined not to cast until I could actually see where the water was!!

Finally, i could see the water & I started tossing my atomic & slider grubs on spinner rigs towards the edge of the weed beds & around the points (many thanks Hodgey for your kind donation to the cause!! I used it more than anything else on the day). I had some good hits but they missed! After my 5th miss, I was starting to get annoyed! I saw a likely looking spot & chucked a squidgy bug on the same spinner rig & after a miss, tightened up onto a fish!!! WOOHOO!! I've hooked a fish!! My first for the dam! Not a monster, but at 28cm to the fork, I was happy with that!! THe Lone Tree in the paddock had worked its magic! Thanks again Hodgey!!

He tried to jump off the mat, but i was quicker! I hooked him at about 6.30am - how good are this Fisheries Mats, supplied free of charge?

I watched a dead spider float by & wondered why it hadn't been smashed by a surface loving bass!!! If I could see it, surely they could!!

The 2 guys in the canoe materialised in the mist & told a tale of woe about a brand new Megabass Anthrax lure (RRP $40+) They had taken it from the packet, tied it on, tossed the lure & as they related ...... "a Massive hit by a bass and the water exploded as soon as it landed on the water ...... then broached in the water & then it was gone." Unfortunately, with the lure still attached to the bass's mouth! There was the tell tale 'piggie tail' at the end of the line, rubbing salt into the wound .... as the knot had come undone! I had just landed my first fish at this stage.

I tried around the corner on the point with one hit & miss & cast a few more times before heading towards the next creek, which had a lot of sunken timber about 2cm below the water level! Spooky! I was casting my squidgy grub at any of the exposed timber & had one savage hit - but repeated casts couldn't coax him out for another go! I would return a couple of times during the day to see if he was hungry again! No!! THen another bloke cast across the point & hooked a nice fish! THAT WAS MY FISH!! Well, it should have been!!

I looked up at my rods to see what lure was on & whether I should toss that lure at the bass, when I noticed a gorgeous dragon fly had landed on the tip of my rod & was having a determined go at mating with my rod tip! It would fly away, then come back & did this about 5 times before heading off for good! THe pic makes the line look like rope - but I had the zoom on Maximum, so really pleased that the pic came out so clearly!

By then the sun was high & on the water & a lot of us were getting no hits and it was getting really hot, so we headed back to shore for some late breakfast & perhaps a kip! Fried eggs & bacon on a Mission Wrap went down really well!! No plates, knife or fork - just wipe the pan & egg flipper with a paper towell, ready for the next meal!

By early afternoon, I was back on the water, this time putting in near the concrete boat ramp - much easier than the muddy bank at the front! I tried to cast at any standing timber and the edges of the lilies for ZILCH! The fish had been off the chew for some time & even tho I was working a very nice shaded area after crossing one the orange 'weed protectors' I couldn't understand that why I was getting no hits! I even found a fairly steep cliff with no lilypads at the bottom & still couldn't entice a hit! It was about this time that I heard a Yelp from Dawn (the only other female competing) - she'd just been busted off by a big bass, whilst she was trolling a lure along the front off the lily pads in FULL SUN!! Not fair!! So, it had come to that time of the day - eventually, I had to revert to the worst form of fishing, something I normally dislike as 'intensely boring' ....... Yes, I trolled!! Using a black Feral Cat lure, I landed me my next 2 fish! No monsters, that is for sure!! The first one was 190mm - the first of my 'minnows'!

A few moments later, a 180mm jumped on board - no monsters, but better than nothing, I reckoned!!

Later Dawn told me that she had been busted off on the twin of the lure she'd lost to a previous big fish! That was really bad luck, as she went on to be busted off by another biggie the next day, too!!

After only catching tiddlers on the troll & fishing in the shade with success looking unlikely, I slowly made my way back to the spot I had success with in the morning for another missed hit ...... and then, I met up with Graham The Bass Guru & we chatted about the event & how to catch bass & he showed me a buzz bait that he then gave me to try!! THat was very generous of him! I got the action working & figured I'd try it the next morning!!

With only 5 mins to go to the 5pm cut-off & on the way back to camp, I tossed a lure into a gap in the lilies and ..... SUCCESS!! I got my 3rd fish of the afternoon, 4th fish in total for the day! Yaaay! The spinner rig works again, this time with an atomic or slider grub!!

We all headed back to camp & sat around discussing lures & tactics & why one approach missed whilst another worked so well - I had tried poppers & pencils in the early morning so was disappointed to hear that the fish had been 'going off' not much further up the dam than where I was! Ne'er mind, there was always tomorrow!!! We had a 10.30am cut off so that the presentations could be done & everyone head off home, as some of us had a long drive ahead! I had heard that 3 good fish had been landed that afternoon off the same point where I scored (and missed) my first reasonable fish, so planned on heading there again in the morning!

We had our superb meal that evening but the highlight of the late afternoon must have been when John (Dawn's husband) borrowed Ray's camp shower & 'jury rigged' a plastic tarp as a 'shower tent' and invited me to use it ....... as there was a problem with the hot water system (there wasn't one!!) and us girls weren't going to have cold showers ...... so I jumped at the chance to have a warm wash!! I felt distinctly 'vulnerable' being surrounded by a bit of plastic held together with clothes pegs with one section totally missing from the navel down but luckily pointing towards their caravan entrance....... and the chance it could disintegrate at any moment! Suffice to say, it was a very quick shower!! It was great tho!! It had been extremely hot during the afternoon & I reckon the whole camp would have been a bit on the nose before too long!

We all fell into bed, totally knackered, perchance to sleep, dreaming of where we would go the next day!!!

Day 2 & I actually woke up before my phone alarm went off - I was still amazed that yesterday's alarm stuffup hadn't even awoken Adrian who was sleeping just 2m from the campervan, as it seemed as loud as a fog horn each time it went off from 2.30am onwards!

I was also surprised to see that Adrian was still in bed asleep as I started the van up (I had resorted to sleeping with my yak next to me so that I didn't have to unload all the gear from it & leave it on the lake side like so many had.) Even tho we were the only legitimate campers, I still felt uneasy about leaving my yak there overnight (especially after Ross's theft shocker at Tuncurry!) I met up with Adrian on the water later & he hadn't even heard my noisy Diesel motor start up as I left - so he must have been in a really deeeeep sleeeep!!

Once again the fog was a shocker & I decided to stay on the right hand side & follow the edge of the weedbed out until I got to clear water!! As I pedalled out, a yak was coming towards me & I said something like 'Well, one of us must be going in the wrong direction' & only later did I hear Ray lamenting his getting lost, so I found out it was him!! His secret would have been safe with me, as I hadn't recognised his voice & couldn't see him in the mist!!! He had pedalled straight into the lillies & by the time he'd got out, had managed to do a 180 degree turn & was heading back to the boat ramp!

Out in the main lake, with minimal visibility, I headed to the couple of trees that Grant had caught a fish from & cast around there with no result. I revisited the spot where I'd caught the 29.5cm fish the evening before at 4.55pm ....... for no result, so once again revisited the spot where I had caught the first fish of the weekend & scored my first (and unfortunately my last) fish of the day!! It was only 5.30am, so I thought it was a good sign - plenty of time to get some more before the 10am 'home time'! WRONG!

This one was spot on 30cm, so I was really happy that I had cracked a 30cm!!

He took off with a mighty splash

As I meandered my way over to the creek where I had had the good hit the day before (& Ray had dropped a terrific fish as well) I couldn't even raise a bloop! I was using sammys, poppers, I even tried a Heddon Zara thingo & boy it does a beautiful 'walk the dog' but in much wider zig zags than the sammys. I put on my new fav plastic (squidgy bug) and still got zip. I tried a tiemco stick minnow, thinking it could look like a fleeing baitfish & didn't get a touch! The sun was coming up, so I headed back towards the only shore that had shade still (in my area of the dam) & peppered it with casts for Zilch return. Over the orange boom gates, I went to where Dawn had been busted off yesterday & tossed a smaller version of her lure all around, for zilch hits -Young James (also a gun basser who had landed more than 20 fish the day before) was there & I felt slightly comforted to learn that he had only boated the one fish today too! I saw some wonderful reflections along the way

By 8.30-9am, the sun was up & my heart wasn't in it any more - plus I wanted to dismantle the tent totally before the presentation, so I could shoot off towards home afterwards, as I think I had the longest way to drive to get home.

There were 3 major awards - the first & second 'total length of 5 biggest fish' and the kayak winner. The many other prizes were drawn from the raffle tickets that had been sold & I was not one of the lucky recipients - but hey! I was already a winner!!! I had gone along, hoping to catch at least 1 fish & managed 5, so gotta be happy with that!! A couple of much better fishos than me came out of it with a doughnut! So, how lucky was I? Anyway, there is always next year!!! Many thanks to the sponsors for being so generous with their prizes! All funds raised went towards the restocking program that the ABA does on so many of our impoundment waters.

That afternoon, Adrian & I headed off in different directions - he went home to Nambucca via Lismore & I headed back to Uki & took the same route back to Brunswick Heads & hit the highway to go south. A great drive, until I reached the 'Alstonville' turnoff 10k out from Ballina. EVERY car in front of me took the turnoff & I was pondering whether to do the same when I'd left it too late & once again had to do the slow crawl thru the roadworks of Ballina! I can thoroughly recommend taking that bypass, as it would have shaved about 1/2hr from my trip, I reckon & a lot of stress! It comes back onto the highway just as you leave Ballina. I had just left Coffs when Adrian buzzed me & said that he was leaving Urunga, so there was really only about 10-20 mins MAX difference between taking the inland route as against the coastal one. Ballina had definitely slowed me down, so I reckon if I'd taken the bypass, i would have probably met up with Adriano on it!! Back at Nambucca, I dropped in on Kerry & Adrian for a welcome cold drink & 5 bags of fishing mags. Terrific!!! That evening, I caught up with my buddy Wendy/Gdcalmer at Eungai Rail & had dinner & a bed for the night - thank god i didn't have to sleep in the van, as there was very little room left on the bed!! Everything had been thrown in & the floor was chockers too! I also left a couple of the bags of fishing mags with her to peruse & we'll swap them with the ones that I have next time we meet up.

And I never want to hear another story about Women Drivers being bad parkers!!! This DORK took up 3 car parks (you can call it 4, really, as I had planned on parking my campervan with trailer in the double space in the middle ......... then he got out & went into the coffee shop for a long slow coffee and this was after walking all round his 'art work' surveying his accurate parking skills!!! Not happy, Jan!!

After another bacon & egg wrap for breakfast, I headed to Laurieton to check out our forthcoming accommodation for the next ABT Yak Round to be held there. It is terrific. A nice shaded spot for Michelle's spot & mine & a 5 min walk to the SES boat ramp (for a quick paddle to the start) or a 3 min drive to the start point.

Oh yes - the winner of the biggest fish (41cm to the fork ...... who was holed up right in the lilypads) landed him on 4lb mono straight thru!!~ Given the number that were busted off by stronger line & braid - that was a fantastic effort!!

Ray's wife Maree, took a couple of pics of me on her walk around the dam.

All up, it was a fantastic weekend away & I met up with a great 'like minded' group of people, out to enjoy their fishing. I had a lot of fun out on the water, fishing for a species that I have only had one major success with (Cania Dam late last year) so I would thoroughly recommend anyone wanting to fish the Clarrie Hall Dam to keep an eye out for the tournament next year - we are pretty sure it will be run again by the Australian Bass Association, once again, with camping being allowed at the dam!!

I might see you there!!!

Cheerio & thanks for reading

Roberta

Edited March 30, 2010 by Roberta

[Hodgey]

Great report Roberta! You managed to; find a few fish, explore another picturesque destination, swap hints and tips with other like-minded fishos, and utilise various techniques and lures. That sounds like an ideal fishing trip IMO. Fantastic photos as always. Congratulations on your 5-bag achievement ... you have every right to be chuffed! 41cm on 4lb is a real credit to the angler. The invaluable time spend during this comp will see you even better prepared for the next one. The bass wont know what hit 'em

Cheers

Hodgey

[james7]

Hi Roberta. A huge improvement from your last visit to the dam with Grant. Your five fish were good enough to rate mid-field, a great achievement! Well done!

The "misty" shot of the two blokes in the canoe looks great, as does the reflection photo. It's a very picturesque area.

Great photo of the dragonfly too.

Fantastic report. Thanks for posting.

Cheers

Peter

PS How peaceful are those shots of you in the yak!

[arpie]

Thanks guys - it really was the most tranquil of settings & the old chliche ...... "How's the Serenity'' which was asked of numerous folk on the water! Whilst it certainly was 'competitive' it wasn't 'aggressively competitive', so thoroughly enjoyable from my first arrival when I had the whole place to myself, to when I left early afternoon on Sunday! Great fun & I would encourage anyone else that can get there to give it a go if they can next year. There were about 33 of us this year & it will be capped at 60 next year - so first in, best dressed!!

One bloke flew in from Sydney ($59 was cheaper than driving to be sure!) & was loaned a yak & driven there by a buddy, so he had a great time too - his buddy was the one who won 'big fish' so he knows where to go & how to fish it next year!!! So that is always an option for 'out of staters'! Seems the big fish was caught by lobbing grubs on a jighead into a gap as big as an esky in the middle of a minefield of water lilies ....... and gently dragging the fish out thru the maze of lilies on 4lb mono straight thru! The lilies were thick too!!

That last fish of mine was way 'thicker' than my first & 4th fish, even tho they were just .5cm-2cm smaller!!

Here is the tree that gave me my 1st & last fish!! Lone tree just off a point .......... the pot of gold!!! As soon as I saw it, I was sure I'd get hits & I was right - I just failed to hook up initially!! THen i threw between the tree & the point but further out & got slammed as I brought the lure back past the tree! Like you said, Hodgey - the lone tree in the paddock!!!

And check out these pot belly stoves made from old Gas Bottles - a brilliant updated model, even better than mine! The funnel pulls off for easy travelling. You just chuck your grill or hot plate straight on top! lots of air holes in the bottom & vented splits around the sides for lots of air to get in.

It was great fun & well worth the drive up & back. I planned on stopping for the night somewhere past Coffs, but I got there just past lunchtime on the Thurs, so i just kept going & couldn't find a campground at Ballina that was on my side of the road, so just kept going til I got to Brunswick Heads & stopped at the one near the marina. I took my rod & chucked some lures between the yachts & boats moored then, then found some abandoned chippies which I broke up & tossed into the water ....... and you should have seen the size of the bream that materialized from around the boats!!! I put on a 'thong thing' and rammed some chip onto the treble ...... they were grabbing the real chips & finally made a smash for mine - only to get the chip off the treble without grabbing the hook!! Crafty breambos!!! I then got some fish & chips & started feeding them some chippies ...... just enjoying the big smashes as the bigger fish beat the smaller ones to the titbits! All good fun.

Then on the Friday, it was just over an hour from Brunswick to the Dam, going cross-country! The campervan & trailer didn't miss a beat!

Cheerio

Roberta

[dean]

Great report Roberta, sounds like you had a good time. You almost need a GPS for those foggy mornings. Another place I need to visit.

Cheers, Dean

[crashlee]

Again great report, keep it up.

[slinkymalinky]

Well done on your 5 fish but more importantly, on what sounds like a great trip. Love the report and pics as always, Roberta. Clarrie Hall is a beautiful place, no matter what the conditions.

Cheers, Slinky

[GregL]

Great report Roberta and a top effort on your bag.

What beautiful country to fish in and the conditions looked sensational!

Greg

[Daniel Frost]

Sounds like a great trip Roberta , and well done on your Bass . Will have to get up there one day myself . Saw the shots with the kayak in the back of the shaggin waggon ,can't believe how much room there was , pretty handy on that sort of trip and really is a lot safer to have your gear locked up as you said and well worth the extra effort. Congrats

Bubba

[Jewhunter]

Great report Roberta & well done on your 5 fish!

As you know that is one of my all time fave places to fish. The scenery is spectacular & the bass are very feisty at times.

You were lucky the weather gave you a break. It had been raining for about a month up until 2 days before you got there.

If I wasn't up at Monduran I would have been there fishing with you. I would have loved to have been a part of it all. Might of done o.k as well.

Sounds like you had a great time. Hope we can fish it together next year.

Cheers,

Grant.

[arpie]

.....Hope we can fish it together next year.....

Sounds good, Grant - I'll let you know when it is on!!! We had over 30 in it this year & I think the 'cap' is 60!! I reckon there'll be no difficulty getting that number next year!!

I should have gone further up the dam than I did - but was having fun & getting hits where I was (and kept thinking of the old 'don't leave fish to find fish') ...... perhaps if I had moved, I may have come upon some of the monsters that inhabit that dam!!!

CHeerio

Roberta