LuckyFil Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Just had a weekend away with my son Pat chasing bass in the upper Hunter. It's hot and dry up there and the river was full of weed and algae so not ideal but we managed ten bass over the weekend, one yesterday arvo and the rest this morning. Casting at snags was proving unproductive so we turned to trolling which while not as much fun it got results. The fish were all fairly small averaging around 25-28cm with a couple of 30cm and a few tiddlers. They seemed to be in small groups and the very old and basic sounder on my punt proved invaluable locating the fish and we had hits and usually got fish whenever it showed a few around an area while many similar looking areas were devoid of fish. We travelled down to the brackish water for an afternoon session and while trolling from one side of the river to the other had a good hit on the little bass lure, but this was clearly no bass as it did some long runs and had plenty of weight (at least when you're using 8lb leader on a little 2500 Daiwa Sol!). I was expecting maybe a decent flathead as we were now in semi salt water, then after a slow patient fight through the muddy water came a nice Jewie! After a few nervous moments we got the head and shoulders of it into the small net we use for bass and lifted it over the gunnel. We didn't have a measure on board but guessed it was between 65-70cm. After a few quick pics I sent him back for someone else to catch (maybe me) when he's a bit bigger. Quite a by-catch when targeting bass. Cheers Fil 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Sounds like a good session, with the jewie a bonus ( and they do fight on light gear) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 That's a nice surprise! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterfisho7 Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Well done nice fish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett davis Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Well done mate ,had a similar surprise some 20 years ago on the Hawkesbury river bass fishing , I was hooked into a bass around a pound on a surface lure when a all mighty smash broke the water, after around a 15 min fight a Jew of about 20 lb come to the boat, it took one look at my ugly mug and dove to the depths making short work of 8 lb leader never to be seen again . a great experience I will never forget, has anyone else ever had a similar experience while fishing the brackish waters of our rivers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAZ Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 On 12/8/2019 at 7:43 PM, LuckyFil said: Just had a weekend away with my son Pat chasing bass in the upper Hunter. It's hot and dry up there and the river was full of weed and algae so not ideal but we managed ten bass over the weekend, one yesterday arvo and the rest this morning. Casting at snags was proving unproductive so we turned to trolling which while not as much fun it got results. The fish were all fairly small averaging around 25-28cm with a couple of 30cm and a few tiddlers. They seemed to be in small groups and the very old and basic sounder on my punt proved invaluable locating the fish and we had hits and usually got fish whenever it showed a few around an area while many similar looking areas were devoid of fish. We travelled down to the brackish water for an afternoon session and while trolling from one side of the river to the other had a good hit on the little bass lure, but this was clearly no bass as it did some long runs and had plenty of weight (at least when you're using 8lb leader on a little 2500 Daiwa Sol!). I was expecting maybe a decent flathead as we were now in semi salt water, then after a slow patient fight through the muddy water came a nice Jewie! After a few nervous moments we got the head and shoulders of it into the small net we use for bass and lifted it over the gunnel. We didn't have a measure on board but guessed it was between 65-70cm. After a few quick pics I sent him back for someone else to catch (maybe me) when he's a bit bigger. Quite a by-catch when targeting bass. Cheers Fil By catch pffft, they're a great catch! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nbdshroom Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Awesome stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Now there’s something you don’t see every day! That’s a solid bass bycatch indeed. cheers scratchie!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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