A Weekend On The Shoalhaven

[Lizardboy]

I'd been planning this trip for a while, but somehow didn't manage to get around to it until May. Pete, a good mate of mine joined me for the trip and despite being late in the season we were both very keen to explore some new territory. We drove down to Nowra early Saturday morning stopping briefly for supplies and the mandatory trip to the local tackle store. With a bit of local knowledge and a handful of new lures we headed West 30 odd k's to a place called Coolendel, a camping area/nature retreat which would be our starting point. The canoe was loaded and after some deliberation and minor adjustments to the weight distribution we set off upstream. The river was quite low and only flowing gently, which meant a fair bit of dragging needed to be done between pools, but at least we didn't need to unpack and carry the canoe. The afternoons fishing proved very slow with only a few tentative bumps as we stopped to cast at likely snags along the way.

Late in the afternoon we arrived at our campsite, a sand bank that had formed opposite a steep rockface at the base of a rather promising looking pool. We quickly unloaded the canoe and pitched the tent before venturing out to explore the pool. Despite the good looking territory we only managed a couple of small bass on jig spinners and spinnerbaits. The wind had died off through the afternoon and the pool had glassed off nicely, with the occasional Nepean herring breaking the surface. I tied on a surface lure in the fading light and second cast, the little fizzer was nailed by a feisty little bass, a few casts later I was on again. Pete soon got the idea and followed suit. Over the next half hour or so I experienced some of the best surface bass luring action I've had. What was unusual was the hook up rate, the fish were onto the lure seconds after it hit the water and they rarely missed with most strikes resulting in a hook-up. The session included a double hook-up and a tiny bass that repeatedly smashed

the lure within inches of the canoe. Whilst many of the fish were small I managed 10 in total with two nice specimens of approximately 35cm's. Pete also managed his fair share from the back of the canoe.

One of Pete's better fish

My best for the trip

Several Beers were consumed around the campfire as we reminisced about past trips and planned new ones. We were up early the next morning for the surface bite, but it only lasted briefly. The mornings fishing was slow overall, but we still landed a few as we made our way back downstream.

The campsite

On the drive back to Nowra we stopped off at a promising looking little freshwater lagoon (see last pic), surrounded by reeds and Lilly beds called flat rock creek, which we had spotted from the road. We had no idea if there was anything in it but it looks so bassy so we unloaded the canoe and gave it a shot. The water was even colder than the river and all we managed was a few bumps, but we were informed by a local fisho that he'd caught bass up to 40cm's in there.

Flat Rock Creek/Dam

All in all it was a great trip. Thanks to Chris aka "the Lure" for some tips on the area.

Lizard

[knapers]

That was an UNREAL report Lizard, i could only dream of catching a Bass yet alone a 30 odd speciman like you did, that was truly a wicked report. Thanks mate. Knapers.

[Ken A]

Thansk for the great report Lizard

Sounds like a geat weekend in some nice looking country

[Guest MarkD]

Great report, fantastic scenery a campfire and some decent fish - cant go wrong!

[Hooky.]

Great report there Lizard.

Darn fine campfire as well.

cheers

Hooky

[Narralakes]

Great report, nice fish and great surrounds, that's what fishing is all about I reckon. Well done!

[knapers]

Lizard i reckon you should send that to a mag saying you think it makes a top read and the way Bass are fishing out your way

[trev]

XLNT report,

Nothing quite like wild river bass.

Can't wait for next summer

Cheers

Trev

[the_lure]

Great Report! sounds like you had a good time, some of the scenery down there is pretty amazing, Im glad some of my tips help out (You might have to repay the favour when I head to the clarence )

"Over the next half hour or so I experienced some of the best surface bass luring action I've had. What was unusual was the hook up rate, the fish were onto the lure seconds after it hit the water and they rarely missed with most strikes resulting in a hook-up"

I experienced the exact same thing down there, getting 4 fish in 5 casts that absolutly smashed the lure as soon as it touched down, never experinced instant hits like that anywhere else. -I used the small R2S Bubble Pops.

where you fishing weedbeds by any chance as thats where mine came from?

cheers

Chris

[Lizardboy]

Cheers Guys,

Pedro, Yeah, I feel for Pete. They're building up pretty good range of camping and outdoors gear at Gowings now, so still drop in for a bit of a wander in my lunch hour.

Thanks for the compliment Knapers, I wonder if that's how some the guys who write for magazines get their start.

Chris, anytime.

We were mainly fishing a rocky shoreline, with a few snags and overhanging trees at the head of the pool as it began to narrow. I was having most of my success on a small Koolabung cicada fizer. I have one of those bubble pops, I must give it a try, I tend to use fizzers and surface crawlers for bass generally.

Gus

[EVAN]

Nice report , beautiful looking fish --well done...