Bass whipped into a feeding frenzy.

[Pickles]

Had a shocker on Tuesday with a few lads I used to teach and their dad. We took my boat and James borrowed his brothers (30 year old Tinnie with 65 hp Evinrude of the same vintage) but aborted fishing as it played up and thwarted our plans for an outside session on Kingies). I suggested a follow up on bass today as a storm was predicted and if we could get a leave pass to hit the water just before, I was confident we’d have a cracker of a session and so we did.

We launched at 4.15pm and boated 16 fish before 5pm and home and cleaned up by 6.30 pm. The boys were pleased indeed . Although there were some tiny ones, we also got several in the 40+ range, but nothing at the magic 50cm mark (still waiting this year). No Flatties or trout today though, but a great few hours on the water in Gods great outdoors never the less.

[R E G I C Y C L E]

Sounds very productive for such a short session!

The banana looks a little off colour. Nearly banana muffin material I'd say.

[bessell1955]

The storms seem to get them on the bite.

[Yowie]

Good work on the bass there Bob. A mix of sizes, however, they fight well at any size.

[Jfish]

@Pickles Looks like you are not only a kingfish whisperer but a bass whisperer too. Great effort! 👏

[big Neil]

Another good session on the Bass Bob. Do they stay in the upper reaches of these rivers all the time or is it a seasonal thing where they go elsewhere to breed? Looks like the Ferak Catt lures are still doing the business.

Cheers, bn

[Pickles]

4 hours ago, big Neil said:

Another good session on the Bass Bob. Do they stay in the upper reaches of these rivers all the time or is it a seasonal thing where they go elsewhere to breed? Looks like the Ferak Catt lures are still doing the business.

Cheers, bn

Hey Neil, this has been an unusual year with the floods and now very dry. The cicadas and Christmas beetles haven’t had a significant “hatch” this year, but the prawns have been running so the “normal” behaviour of the fish has meant the summer dispersal hasn’t happened yet as they appear to be hanging around to feed on the prawns rather then heading up river and into the creeks as they usually do - but it probably won’t be long. The breeding season for bass is usually July - August (closed season when they are down stream in the salty / brackish water), so there it’s common to catch quite small ones that are the bigger of this years hatchlings - often not much bigger than the lures.

[Pickles]

7 hours ago, Jfish said:

@Pickles Looks like you are not only a kingfish whisperer but a bass whisperer too. Great effort! 👏

Very kind @Jfish, in our obsession there are no “experts / whisperers” only those who put in crazy hours and connect the dots to see patterns of behaviour that can be reproduced - sometimes successfully, sometimes not.  God has been good and I’ve had some great mates to share experiences with and opportunities to take advantage of.

The thing that really rings my bells, other than having a wonderful family, fishing and sharing Gods goodness is Dog training. I compete in Gun Dog sports and breed Labradors and spend 15-20 hours a week training and then on weekends in winter competing (my Lab (Rosie) is currently running 35th in Australia on the national leader board, so I’ve been blessed with a great year fishing and working the dog.

[Pickles]

8 hours ago, Yowie said:

Good work on the bass there Bob. A mix of sizes, however, they fight well at any size.

👍

[Rebel]

Top report.

Banana is looking a bit second, time to trade it in.

Great haul & photos.

Well done.

[Jfish]

@Pickles Wow!  I LOVE dogs, especially labradors.  They are such wonderful and amazing creatures.  That is a beautiful photo of you and Rosie.  She is very cute.  I'm sure the both of you will reach number one soon.  You are very blessed.  Thank you for sharing with me you other passion.  I appreciate it.  

[Pickles]

1 hour ago, Jfish said:

@Pickles Wow!  I LOVE dogs, especially labradors.  They are such wonderful and amazing creatures.  That is a beautiful photo of you and Rosie.  She is very cute.  I'm sure the both of you will reach number one soon.  You are very blessed.  Thank you for sharing with me you other passion.  I appreciate it.  

Always welcome to join me any time you want a session - only issue for me, I need someone with a towbar to pull the tinnie.

[jenno64]

Another great day on the bass Bob! You don’t miss a window! Sounds like the lab breeding is also one of your amazing talents!

[Amilyo]

On 1/4/2023 at 9:04 PM, Pickles said:

Had a shocker on Tuesday with a few lads I used to teach and their dad. We took my boat and James borrowed his brothers (30 year old Tinnie with 65 hp Evinrude of the same vintage) but aborted fishing as it played up and thwarted our plans for an outside session on Kingies). I suggested a follow up on bass today as a storm was predicted and if we could get a leave pass to hit the water just before, I was confident we’d have a cracker of a session and so we did.

We launched at 4.15pm and boated 16 fish before 5pm and home and cleaned up by 6.30 pm. The boys were pleased indeed . Although there were some tiny ones, we also got several in the 40+ range, but nothing at the magic 50cm mark (still waiting this year). No Flatties or trout today though, but a great few hours on the water in Gods great outdoors never the less.

Where is this place ? I want to try fishing for bass soon but don’t know where to start.. need somewhere land based

[Pickles]

6 hours ago, Amilyo said:

Where is this place ? I want to try fishing for bass soon but don’t know where to start.. need somewhere land based

Land based is awkward, I’d try at first light (5.10 at present) under Nth Richmond bridge and flick toward bridge pylons or Devlin Rd at Yarramundi - bth very productive land based spots.

[Jfish]

18 hours ago, Pickles said:

Always welcome to join me any time you want a session - only issue for me, I need someone with a towbar to pull the tinnie.

I would love to go fishing with you!!! Unfortunately, our car doesn’t have a tow bar. 😞 

I’m truly honoured to be invited to join you fishing. Thank you very much! Hopefully we can work something out in the near future. 

By the way, do you do any land based fishing? 

[Pickles]

18 hours ago, jenno64 said:

Another great day on the bass Bob! You don’t miss a window! Sounds like the lab breeding is also one of your amazing talents!

Kind words jenno64, working / breeding dogs is like fishing, it’s all about research then putting in the time. This pup gets trained a min of an hour a day and 3 - 4 hours twice a week.

[dunc333]

wow Pickles i hope im as active as you when i retire dog champ trainer as well well done 

[Pickles]

17 hours ago, Jfish said:

I would love to go fishing with you!!! Unfortunately, our car doesn’t have a tow bar. 😞 

I’m truly honoured to be invited to join you fishing. Thank you very much! Hopefully we can work something out in the near future. 

By the way, do you do any land based fishing? 

Hey @Jfish, no land based for me anymore due to mobility issues (only have 1/2 a foot and a pin from my knee to hip and prosthetic hip due to getting smashed up on my motorbike in 2015). I did love rock and beach fishing though and used to do lots of it in and around Sydney.

If you get a week day off, I’m sure I could get someone to drive and we could meet at the ramp at Roseville some time soon to get out for a fish. I try to avoid weekends - especially in Summer.