Terrific Bass Session!

[arpie]

Hi guys

Michelle and Scott were coming up to Forster today to drop off my 'refurbished' Mirage Drive (courtesy of the Hobie Boys at Belmont!) What went in as a bit of a 'wreck' came back as SUPERB!! Well done boys! Gee it makes a difference - mine had been bent & busted from running into Oyster Leases over the years & the fins had been so shredded that I'd used cable ties to keep them on the Stems!!

We discussed whether we wanted to do salt or freshwater fishing today - and after the rain that we've had recently, we decided to do Freshwater - for the good fighting BASS!! So .... where do we go?? Scott had never caught a bass on lure before & Michelle mainly fished the Dams in the lead up to the ABT Yak Bass Grand Final .... where she caught fish both days & did really well given her limited exposure to bass fishing!

SO .... I thought some 'wild bass' might be the way to go! We headed out towards Wingham & found a suitable spot to try ...... and after putting in, I realised that I'd forgotten to get the Mirage Drive from Michelle - and whilst 'fishing my way back' to shore, I forgot that the rod I'd laid down on the front of the yak still had a lure 'in the water' & by the time I realised that the lure had snagged a snag .....it was too late ...... CRACK! One Catana 2 piece is now a 3 piece! I was just pleased that it wasn't one of Mark's rods!! - So now I was down to only the 1 rod!! My Matrix 4-10lb and it was PERFECT for pulling big bass out of their lairs!

Out on the water again, Michelle called out that she had had a hit on a cicada lure, so I chucked one on too & shortly after, I missed 2 BIG bloops! How on earth did they not find the hooks?? Shortly after that, I'm on!! It has a fair bit of power ......and the big tail displaced a large quantity of water ..... and finally, it is in the net!! I was VERY pleased to be playing him on my Mark's 4-10 Matrix rod ..... combined with a 2500 Caldia & 12lb SAS braid & the 20lb leader (left over from last week's kingie session) it brought the fish to the net quite quickly! Michelle was surprised!

A Nice 42cm Wild River Bass!~! Michelle got some happy snaps & I got the ones on my lap!

A chunky fish!

Michelle was hoping to 'blood' her new Outback yak ..... and was annoyed at missing a couple of hits - but she DID crack the pattern on what was working for her! Mind you, the cicadas were singing .....

We were basically casting towards shadows between trees & under trees - and past any obvious timber that was littering the creek ..... and once again, i was rewarded by a football of a fish! It fought much harder than the first one - so I assumed it was a bigger fish! I am more used to seeing these 'football' fish in Qld Impoundment Reports!

Bigger, No - Fatter - Yes!! It went 38.5cm - I had initially called it as being bigger than the 43cm one, it pulled so hard! Must have been full of cicadas!

MUCH fatter!!

Continuing along the creek, I had another hit - this time just a little tacker on another cicada pattern lure!

It would appear that there had been a flood in the area at some stage - probably back in January,when the Mid North Coast really copped it!

Further along, I missed a couple of massive hits and dropped 2 fish that were lightly hooked, then I had another hit & was lucky enough to get another bass on .... this one went 39cm

Now .... Michelle & I had been chatting about bass fishing & we reckon that whilst tossing lures in to 'bassy territory' .... that there is still very much an element of 'luck' in getting the 'big ones!! So, we were changing places as we moved along the creek ..... and later in the day, when I hopped in front of Michelle and put a cast into a 'bassy spot' ...... and a nice BIG bass jumped on board, I could hear Michelle in the background saying "You Stole My Fish! I was going to put a cast RIGHT THERE" Needless to say, my reply was a mix of "Sorry & Bad Luck!"

This one really fought hard, it kept deep & really tested the rod, line & my knots to the max! It went 45cm! I had cast under a tree just after a big gust of wind had gone thru - and it obviously thought that the cicada had fallen in because of the wind, cos he NAILED IT!

One Happy Chappy!!

Very happy with my Matrix rod!! This is now my FAVOURITE Bass rod!

Scotty hasn't done much bass fishing .... yet ..... but he now knows where some of them live .... so expect to see him on the water again some time soon!! Late in the session, he was busted off by a BIG bass that stitched him up in submerged timber - he was in 'la la' land & it was his first hit of the day!!

All up, a great day on the water with good friends! This has been my personal best day of wild bass fishing, EVER!! My previous best bass day had been up at Cania Dam some 5+ years ago, but it is a stocked impoundment, so doesn't compare to Wild River Bass! I mustn't leave it so long til the next time I go out!!

Cheerio & thanks for reading

Roberta

[Robinsoi]

Magnificent session Roberta and top write up

Congratulations on so many quality bruising bass!

Sorry to hear about the 3 piece rod.

Very nicely done.

Ian

[arpie]

Thanks, Swordie - I was SO stoked!! Poor Michelle - she missed all her hits altho using the same colour cicada as mine (after putting me on to them as nothing I'd tried til then had worked!!) I also must have been moving it that little bit slower, I think!! Some of the boofs were amazing!! SO much water displacement!! I sharpened the hooks after the first couple of 'misses' too. Also, I was holding the line 'tighter' to the rod, so as the fish turned to take the lure down, it virtually 'hooked itself' whereas Michelle & Scott had loose line on the water!

Thanks Ian - luckily it was a 'back up' rod - I'd won it in the Forster Fishing Carnival a couple of years back (altho virtually new!) so it didn't hurt as much as if I'd paid for it!! I'll let Cam fix it up & keep it - the break was about half way down the top section!

cheerio

Roberta

[Scratchie]

Wow Roberta! Now that's bass fishing! That looks like an awesome day out and your report made me feel like I was there! There's definitely some luck involved with bass fishing but you I've think you've cracked the code! Bad luck on the rod though.

Cheers scratchie!!!

[arpie]

Thanks Scratchie - I'd only ever pulled one nice fish (about 40cm) from that creek before and that was about 3 years ago - and usually caught donuts!! Last time i fished there, I was targetting the Water Monitors as they were the only thing that was interested in the lure!! LOL

I feel a bit bad about pinching Michelle's fish tho! After I'd caught the first 2, I put her over onto 'my' side in the hope that she would hook them as it seemed to be 'the side to fish' (I'd NEVER caught fish on that side before - go figure!) - then when I got a hit & miss on the other side, I put her over there ...... so we'd swapped sides & front & rear all day .... in the hope of putting her onto the bass as she's only really done dam fishing .....

It was very interesting to see that I was getting quality hits & hookups from 8am thru to 2.30pm in the full sun - I was SO glad I didn't get up a dawn!

Mind you - none of the hits were out in the middle!!

cheers

Roberta

Edited December 9, 2013 by Roberta

[mottyman]

Goodness gracious that's an awesome session. If I get one fish like that in a session I'm stoked. Amazing stuff.

What's the cicada lure - looks like a Kokoda Bat but I'm guess not.... does it have a soft body or is it hard?

Well done again. Awesome effort.

David

[arpie]

THanks David!!

They fell to a Tiemco soft body, David!! I put a Siglett out & they didn't want it. I'd tried poppers & Zara Puppy - didn't want them, then Michelle got a bloop & miss on the Tiemco & luckily I had one in my jar of tricks ...... It is the only lure that got hits and hookups on the day!!! I've fished it before for donuts - but never used the Tiemco there before! I will from now on tho!

cheerio

Roberta

Does anyone know if the Tiemco Trick Trout Cicadas are hard body or soft?

Edited December 11, 2013 by Roberta

[brendong]

Wow great bass session Roberta! Got to lover the soft shells. I like the thought of holding the line tight on a popper, makes a huge amount of sense really, will give it a go. Do you do the for top water breaming too?

How fat are those fish, genuine footballs. Funny when your fishing and you are in the zone and your mates are doing the same thing for doughnuts.

[arpie]

Yes, Brendon, I use similar line control for topwater bream/whiting too - as you have to 'feel the weight' of the bream before starting to 'bring them in'. Bass (I think) are virtually turning as they hit the surface lure, so if the line is taut to the lure, it should assist in a hookup, I reckon! (LOL She says, knowlngly!!)

I always point the rod at the lure so the line is pretty well straight to the lure - whereas I think Michelle & Scott had the rods pointing to the sky, so there was a belly in the line which I think may have cost them fish/hookups.

I think Scotty is still in shock with him being stitched up in the sunken timber & busted off!!

cheerio

Roberta

Edited December 11, 2013 by Roberta

[brendong]

Yeah my entire popper technique sees my rod pointed at the fish, I use a down stroke popper technique for popping and walking the dog too. I also fish lefthand wind so I don't have to swap hands when casting - I changed over about 5 years ago. Also means I'm ready for the instant strike as soon your lure hits the water.

Do you hold the line with your forefinger like you would if you were bait fishing and trying to detect the bite? I can see how that would sink the hooks in more often.

Edited December 11, 2013 by Poddy Trapper

[Hodgey]

A terrific report as always Roberta. Those Bass were in great condition ... which usually means they're brawlers!
Sounds like you have them sussed now and the outfit you're using is well up to the task. Top photos too!

Cheers

Ian

[arpie]

....Do you hold the line with your forefinger like you would if you were bait fishing and trying to detect the bite?.....

No - just the retrieval of the lure, with the rod tip pointed to the lure will keep the braid in a straight line to the lure. Bass don't slurp at it like bream do - they just WHACK IT!!

Check out this guy's video ..... the water is the same colour as what I was fishing and the hits, just as explosive!! He was using the same rod as me, too. He seems to keep his rod tip higher than me, tho.

....A terrific report as always Roberta. Those Bass were in great condition ... which usually means they're brawlers!

Sounds like you have them sussed now and the outfit you're using is well up to the task. Top photos too!.....

Thanks, Skip - I was just having SO much fun - but mindful that Michelle & Scott weren't getting any so I had to 'temper' my 'YAHOOs'!! Yep - they were brawlers, alright!! Got them sussed for that day - just hope they react like that the next time!

I now know what all the bass purists are 'going on' about! In the words of Arnie ....... I'll be BACK!!!

How have you been going on the greenfish??? Hope you've been getting into some??

cheers

Roberta

I must charge up my GoPro!

Some pics that Michelle took .....

First fish

2nd fish

last fish

Edited December 11, 2013 by Roberta

[bassboy888]

WOOO well done roberta, some superb bass in there. Good to see the trusty soft shell cicada getting a run. Its my favourite surface lure for wild bass! Bassin in the kayaks is a whole new element of fun, dragging you around and into the snags. Its sad news on the rod though, my condolences.