lastworm Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Finally hit my local on Saturday afternoon which was long overdue. We’ve had rain, hot days and perfect conditions since my last fish up there, and whilst Saturday wasn’t “perfect conditions” it was a nice hot sunny afternoon with plenty of insect activity and I had a hall pass to get out. This would be my first trip fishing barbless hooks, although I wasn’t on the Nepean so didn’t have the issue of thousands of tiny bass. This system has fish few and far between but the quality is always better and I know there are some very well sized fish in there. I was fishing an OSP dunk suspending diver as the sun was still high. Hooked my first fish about 20mins in, felt decent but it hung me up on a snag and got off. I was cursing the decision to go barbless, although happy I did when I got my lure of the sunken snag. Fished on and lost another fish right near the kayak, damn barbless hooks! A bit further up a wayward cast hit the bank and a big old angry water dragon came down and snapped up my lure, managed to get him off without too much fuss, thank god I was fishing barbless!! After a few touches on surface I finally boated my first fish of 31cm to the fork on the diver. Not bad and fought way above its size. Managed to land another 26cm forker on the way home after a few bumps but no hookups. Was starting to lose hope and cast into a spot that never produces for me, got a huge hit and solid hookup, after fighting deep for a few seconds I managed to land this football shaped 36cm forker, in mint condition and with an oversized rear dorsal fin and thumping big tail. A proper fight and finally a reward for the days frustrations. And thanks to the barbless hooks, even this was an easy and stress free release for both me and the fish. So good having these fish so close to home, can’t wait to go back! 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirvin21 Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Some nice bass mate Gotta love tte good old Eastern water dragon commonly known as "ya bastard" amongst bass fishos 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R E G I C Y C L E Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Nice report. Some days persistence is the only thing that works. @dirvin21 "ya bastard" is also commonly used in describing the Eastern Long-Necked Turtle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastworm Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 I’ve had so many near misses with the water dragons, unfortunately hooked a couple of long necked turtles, man they have tough mouths! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 2 hours ago, lastworm said: I’ve had so many near misses with the water dragons, unfortunately hooked a couple of long necked turtles, man they have tough mouths! Yep and really sharp claws too. They must be related to the water dragon as I call the turtles "bastards of things" when they take bait intended for Murray Cod. bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 It appears that you have been justly rewarded for using barb less hooks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastworm Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 3 hours ago, bessell1955 said: It appears that you have been justly rewarded for using barb less hooks! Yeah can honestly say I've converted for good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Brilliant effort @lastworm, that 37 is a really good fish - looking forward to more reports.👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Top report. Super photos. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzybass Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 I always used barbless hooks when I'm bass fishing. Makes it much easier & safer for both fish and fisho. I've dropped very few fish that I can definitely say is because of the barbless hooks. As long as you can keep some sort of pressure on the hooked fish and not give any slack line, you're usually no worse off than if you used barbed hooks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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