Bass’n with Bob and MD

[GordoRetired]

After reading a number of reports from Pickles late last year about the great sessions he had been having catching and releasing Bass up near where he lives I was keen to give it a try myself. I have only ever chased Bass once and that time I did not catch a thing, which I commented on one of the write-ups. This quickly elicited a response from Bob, being the generous and warm human being that he is, ‘When are you coming out to go for a fish?’ Now trust me when I say, when you get an invite to go and fish with Bob you would be a fool to refuse it. He has such an in-depth knowledge of pretty much all things fishing and lots of local knowledge.

After a quick chat a plan was made to get out in the New Year. Finally the time came round and we agreed that we would meet at his place at 5.00am today….. 5.00am! ! ! ! ! I can’t remember the last time I was up that early, let alone up early enough to be over an hours drive from home by 5.00am.

Last night I set the alarm for 3.30am and hit the sack around 9.30pm for a whole 6 hours of sleep. Now of course I was excited about the trip today so I really did not manage the 6 hours that I had planned, I kept waking myself up dreaming that the alarm had gone off and I had aver slept. Still, this was for a day out with the Bass Master so it’s bound to be worth it.

Headed away from home at 4.00am and after a Maccas drive through breakfast and coffee met up with Bob and MD just after 5.00, hooked up the boat and drove to the ramp. Easy launch and driving away from the ramp around 6.00am. Little did I know that we were about to experience some of the best fishing ever.

As we drove away from the ramp there was a light mist across the water and the sun slowly rising through the mist, it gave quite an eerie feel to the scene.  A couple of hundred meters from the ramp the lures went into the water and it was on for young and old.

Within minutes the first fish hooked up, quickly followed by the second, then the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and so on. Over the next hour we boated around 30 Bass, ranging in size from ‘How on earth did a fish that small hit a lure that big’ through to fish up towards the 40cm mark.
The great thing about Bass is that when you are hooking them on light gear, 6lb line, they put up a great fight for their size, even the small ones seem to go hard.

 

                                              

Interestingly the area we fished was probably no more than a couple of hundred meters of river.

While fishing we got numerous double hook up’s and even a few times when all 3 of us were on fish at the same time. Despite that somehow we managed to not get tangled around each other and actually got the fish to the boat.

The only real tangle we got into, OK the only real tangle that I got into was as we passed another boat and I managed to hook one of their lines. They were very good, we backed up, they undid the tangle and then were good enough to throw my lure back in right on top of a fish. On the 3^rd turn of the handle while bringing the lure back in I hooked up. 😊

The Bass seem to be quite aggressive fish, not shy of the boat as evidenced by some of our strikes coming mere meters from the boat just as we were about to lift the lure out of the water.

After the first hour the strike rate slowed slightly but we were still seeing a fish every few minutes, I think the second hour accounted for around 20 fish. Then as we went into the 3^rd hour it slowed some more, however the size of the fish seemed to increase and we got some of the better specimens up towards the 40cm mark.

 

                                          

 

By 9.00am, after 3 hours on the water, it was time to call it a day so lures in and we took off for the long drive back to the ramp which must have taken us all of 2 – 2 1/2 minutes of driving. Loaded the boat and drove back to Bob's for a quick wash down.

We were then treated a wonderful display of dog retrieving as Bob put his Lab through her paces, swimming across his dam to retrieve his doggy lures. Sitting obediently to return them to Bob's hand, then sitting to heel waiting for the next throw. Probably the best trained dog that I have ever seen. It was a lot of fun. 

Overall it was a Fantastic day, Bob kept count of the Bass and the final tally was 62 fish hooked and boated along with probably the same again in hits that either did not hook up or spat the hooks before we got them in.

MD kept a couple to cook up, I’ll be interest to know how he goes with those, I am sure he will comment below to let us know, the rest were all sent back to fight another day.

Early in this report I referred to Bob as the Bass Master, a title he certainly deserves after today’s brilliant effort.

Again, Thank you Bob for a fantastic day out on the water. I’ll look forward to doing it again soon.  

Bob and MD, if I have left out an interesting bit's please add them in the comments below.🙂

Tight lines all.

Gordo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B7.bmp

[FishingFables]

Great report - sounds like you had an absolute blast and the action was non-stop! Well done and clearly a good choice to go with Bob the Bass Master

[Rebel]

Top report.

Looks like you had a great day.

Sper photos

Well done

[bessell1955]

That is a lot of fish!  The river must be crawling with Bass. 

[GordoRetired]

16 minutes ago, bessell1955 said:

That is a lot of fish!  The river must be crawling with Bass. 

It was an exceptional day. Averaged a fish every 3 minutes over 3 hours. 🙂

[Restyle]

is it safe to say bob's boat has caught every bass in the river twice over now? yet again, awesome trip out!

[hucho hucho]

Congrats to Bob and all of you. Can I ask where did you launch the boat from?

[GordoRetired]

16 minutes ago, hucho hucho said:

Congrats to Bob and all of you. Can I ask where did you launch the boat from?

Bob will have to reply to that, all I know was that it was on the Hawkesbury river 🙂

 

[Rah]

What an awesome morning of bass and a good doggo! 

 

Cheers

Rah

[fish-aholic]

One of the best fishing day of my life. I met two legends @Pickles & @GordoRetiredand spend some quality fishing time with them. Thanks for the opportunity Bob and hope to see you again soon.

As for the taste, I’ll rate them 4 out of 5; if anyone interested to my recipe; here’s how I cooked the bass:

Marinated those white flesh beautiful fillets with salt, pepper, freshly chopped garlic and rosemary. Then Pan fried in 2 tablespoons of butter for 2/3 minutes each side, keeping your eyes on chopped garlic ( do not let them burn too much).

Served the fish with roasted veggies and garlic bread. My 5yrs old son and wife both loved the dinner.

[GordoRetired]

1 hour ago, Reel’em said:

One of the best fishing day of my life. I met two legends @Pickles & @GordoRetiredand spend some quality fishing time with them. Thanks for the opportunity Bob and hope to see you again soon.

As for the taste, I’ll rate them 4 out of 5; if anyone interested to my recipe; here’s how I cooked the bass:

Marinated those white flesh beautiful fillets with salt, pepper, freshly chopped garlic and rosemary. Then Pan fried in 2 tablespoons of butter for 2/3 minutes each side, keeping your eyes on chopped garlic ( do not let them burn too much).

Served the fish with roasted veggies and garlic bread. My 5yrs old son and wife both loved the dinner.

Wish I had bought a couple home myself now 🙂
Spoke to my wife on the way home and told her how many fish we had caught. When I asked what was for dinner she said Fish.... Not realising that we put most of them back 😂

[hucho hucho]

3 hours ago, GordoRetired said:

Bob will have to reply to that, all I know was that it was on the Hawkesbury river 🙂

 

Thank you Gordo.

[Jfish]

@GordoRetired Great report!  Well done.  

[Yowie]

Another great day out with Bassbob. He certainly does well with the bass.

6 hours sleep before you wake up for fishing? 😂 Some nights I only get 3 hours sleep.