lastworm Posted September 2 Share Posted September 2 So for the first time ever I fished the opening day of the season - it fell on Father's Day this year and I asked to go fishing as a gift. Hooked 5 and landed 4, but boy were they fat fish! I always thought bass would be skinny post spawn due to the tough trip down to the salt and back up again, but these fish looked like they'd spent the winter in a good paddock. Best of the fish was caught out out of a creek I can't usually get into in the kayak, but thanks to low water levels and most vegetation on overhanging trees dying off, I had a clear run in. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastworm Posted September 2 Author Share Posted September 2 Last pic is of the snag I caught the bigger fish from, very unsuspecting and boy was it a fun time being towed around in circles and trying to net the fish in such close quarters. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted September 2 Share Posted September 2 Great to hear from you @lastworm! Nice well conditioned bass there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted September 2 Share Posted September 2 Those Bass are indeed in great nic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted September 2 Share Posted September 2 fantastic! great catches! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R E G I C Y C L E Posted September 2 Share Posted September 2 Great to see some bass action... well done! I think the bass feed better in winter. I've caught plenty in the brackish, and mostly they have been gorging on prawns, to the point where a small fish will vomit 2 or 3 prawns when landed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFil Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 You’re right they are very well conditioned fish. I assume it was too early for them to be taking surface lures? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastworm Posted September 3 Author Share Posted September 3 20 hours ago, R E G I C Y C L E said: Great to see some bass action... well done! I think the bass feed better in winter. I've caught plenty in the brackish, and mostly they have been gorging on prawns, to the point where a small fish will vomit 2 or 3 prawns when landed. It’s been a long, long winter for me. Hadn’t felt a fish on the end of a line since April so these girls made a very welcome appearance. I figured it could go either way with the conditioning of the fish. I know in some areas with several fishways for them to get up the breeders often return skinny and beaten up. In this system there is only a single fish ladder and it’s in very good working order from what I can tell. So I figure they’ve been fattening up while on their migration. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastworm Posted September 3 Author Share Posted September 3 46 minutes ago, LuckyFil said: You’re right they are very well conditioned fish. I assume it was too early for them to be taking surface lures? All taken on sub surface. I was tempted to try surface as there was quite a lot of bug activity on the water, mostly dragon flies. But given it was the first day of the season and the water was still very chilly, I played it safe and threw suspending divers all day. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 On 9/3/2024 at 2:38 PM, lastworm said: It’s been a long, long winter for me. Hadn’t felt a fish on the end of a line since April so these girls made a very welcome appearance. I figured it could go either way with the conditioning of the fish. I know in some areas with several fishways for them to get up the breeders often return skinny and beaten up. In this system there is only a single fish ladder and it’s in very good working order from what I can tell. So I figure they’ve been fattening up while on their migration. I’ve been getting plenty on the surface lately 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 On 9/2/2024 at 12:10 PM, lastworm said: So for the first time ever I fished the opening day of the season - it fell on Father's Day this year and I asked to go fishing as a gift. Hooked 5 and landed 4, but boy were they fat fish! I always thought bass would be skinny post spawn due to the tough trip down to the salt and back up again, but these fish looked like they'd spent the winter in a good paddock. Best of the fish was caught out out of a creek I can't usually get into in the kayak, but thanks to low water levels and most vegetation on overhanging trees dying off, I had a clear run in. great report @lastworm. Fat & healthy fish. The ones I’ve been getting have been stuffed with black beetles & dragonfly nymphs, so water is really warming up (17 degrees on runout a few days back). looking forward to more reports On 9/2/2024 at 12:10 PM, lastworm said: So for the first time ever I fished the opening day of the season - it fell on Father's Day this year and I asked to go fishing as a gift. Hooked 5 and landed 4, but boy were they fat fish! I always thought bass would be skinny post spawn due to the tough trip down to the salt and back up again, but these fish looked like they'd spent the winter in a good paddock. Best of the fish was caught out out of a creek I can't usually get into in the kayak, but thanks to low water levels and most vegetation on overhanging trees dying off, I had a clear run in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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