First bass on lure at Yarramundi

[jm94]

Since moving closer to the hawkesbury river a few years ago, I've always wanted to catch a bass on a lure but never really put in the time or effort as I love my saltwater fishing. However, with the birth of my son, time has become more scarce, hence I've decided to explore locally and give freshwater fishing a go. 

On Tuesday, with about an hour of daylight left, I packed my gear and went to Yarramundi to flick some lures. Lure of choice (just picked one randomly) was a Savage fat head crank bait. Focusing my casts into where the eddies were, I made my way downstream hoping to catch my first bass. The water where the eddies were seemed quite shallow, however, I persisted and sure enough, I managed to snag one, albeit really small! A steady retrieve fooled this little fella into taking my lure. After a quick pic he was released back into the water.

As I made my way further downstream, I had no more hits, and hence called it a session.

 

A couple days later (today), in similar circumstances to the first session, I made my way down to Yarramundi. The plan was to make my way downstream again, while focusing on the eddies and structure. After a few casts into the bridge pylons (using the same lure as before), I caught another bass, this time even smaller than the one I had caught previously 😂 After a quick pic, this fingerling was released back 🐟

Making my way downstream, I noticed the water was flowing stronger than before, probably due to the rain we had. As it was getting dark, and not having much more luck on the crank bait, I changed to a cicada lure and made my way back towards the carpark. By the time I got to the bridge, you could see the reflection of light from the moon on the water and there was alot more surface activity (baby mullet?). Here, I focused my casts near a half submerged tree. On about the third or fourth cast to the same tree, I felt a strong hit and splash in the water! Unfortunately I was not able to hook-up to the fish this time and I can see why this type of fishing can become so addictive! Despite this, I'm glad to have caught my first bass on lure, and following it up with another a few days later! 

Looking forward to catching a larger one in the future! If anyone has any tips or pointers it'll be much appreciated 😁

Thanks for reading! 🎣

Jo

[jed38]

Nice work on the bass. there's bigger ones in there for sure. The river has dropped heaps and not much flow at the moment, you can only paddle about 200mts upstream from the carpark before the water stops with about 20-30mts of rocks into the next section.

Nice and peaceful down there at Yarramundi. Good luck on your next trip.

[Pickles]

Well done @jm94, Bass are great fun and there some big unit between the Yarramundi bridge and Devlin road - if you can beg, borrow or buy a yak or canoe and head upstream and pepper the edges, you’ll have great fun. Watch your car though friends recently had their window smashed and stuff taken from inside.

[bessell1955]

Great advice Pickles!

[R E G I C Y C L E]

Good report. Bass are an exiting catch on lure, especially top water.

[jm94]

9 hours ago, jed38 said:

Nice work on the bass. there's bigger ones in there for sure. The river has dropped heaps and not much flow at the moment, you can only paddle about 200mts upstream from the carpark before the water stops with about 20-30mts of rocks into the next section.

Nice and peaceful down there at Yarramundi. Good luck on your next trip.

Thanks for the insight jed38! 

Would you say the lower water level makes it more difficult to catch the larger models?

It is a very beautiful yet wild place! Looking forward to exploring the area more 😀 

[jm94]

4 hours ago, Pickles said:

Well done @jm94, Bass are great fun and there some big unit between the Yarramundi bridge and Devlin road - if you can beg, borrow or buy a yak or canoe and head upstream and pepper the edges, you’ll have great fun. Watch your car though friends recently had their window smashed and stuff taken from inside.

Thanks for the tips Pickles! I shall give it a crack 😁