The lack of rain means low water levels in the rivers & the aussie bronze battlers were still in the brackish water, waiting for that first bit of water movement to make their way home up river for the duration of summer. It was a poor start to the new bass season on the 1st September with very little happening & no reports to mention of bass being caught. This time last year it was all happening with the wet weather being on time & the bass migrated up river giving us anglers a lot of opportunity.
I thought I’d try for myself to see what was happening but it was very quiet & not even a resident fish would be there for my offerings.
Bass withdrawals were doing my head in! I couldn't hang on any longer. It was time to take some leave from work and head off for a trip down south for a few days as I’d heard some fish were getting caught & the river had some water flow which is a good sign.
A late arrival to my destination with very limited daylight hours left had me pushing to get the kayak loaded & set off into the wilderness for a few days. The hard slog was just the beginning, pain & agony dragging the heavy loaded Hobie kayak through those rapids.
.
The river had changed considerably since
my last visit 12 months ago. With last season’s floods it was carnage of trees
in the water, collapsed river banks, shifted river pebbles & new sections
of river opened up.
With very limited time it was a
matter of pushing on to the Hilton campsite with no fishing done. With only 45mins
to spare before dark it was a matter of setting up camp before calling it home
for a few days.
The alarm went off 5am the next
morning & I was ready within 30 minutes. It was a beautiful morning with
very little wind & the birds were chirping away making it even more
pleasant as the sun started to break over the ridge.
First cast was plugged deep into a
dark crevice. After a few moments of sitting the lure I was waiting nervously.
I worked the lure with a few bloops. Nuthin’, seems like no-one is home. I'll
cast again, hopefully this time something will happen. Mmmmmmmmm I thought,
that’s strange, not even a bump. I kept persisting for 20 minutes, changing
lures in between just for a lovely donut.
With the cicadas deafening my ears I was
very surprised a bass hadn’t lunged to my offerings, so plan B had to be the
next option .This year I tried something totally different which I haven't used
in a very long time.
I was going back to bait casters
which are brilliant for casting accuracy. I got a brand new outfit 6 months ago:
5ft 6"Browning bait caster rod fitted with a Daiwa Millionaire CV-X 203
& I was looking forward to tangling with some descent bronze battlers,
hoping on giving it a real workout for its money.
The new 1/8th spinner bait was tied
on ready to be smashed by a hungry bass. A perfect cast was landed only
millimetres from a sunken snag & I’m hoping a hungry bass is waiting for a
different offering. As the lure helicopters its way down into the snag for a
few seconds, the rod loads up very rapidly as the kayak veers towards the snag.
This feels more like it!
An angry frustrated bass fights its
way back for cover. I’m in the game I thought as the fish safely slides into
the landing net. With a quick glimpse & a photo of this beautiful fish
& leaving behind that magic bass scent, I release her, hopefully giving
somebody else an opportunity to catch her, too. The drought was finally over.
Moments later I was on again with an
average fish caught from the ribbon weed & all of his mates following to investigate
what was happening.
The morning was passing by very quickly
& a few fish being landed. As the sun rose high in the sky punching down
the heat & minimising the shadows on the water, the fishing was getting a
little tough, as the bass make their way down into the deep water for cover, as
they don't like that bright light.
I tried for a few hours in deeper
water with very little success. It was time to head back to camp, have a bite
to eat & an afternoon nap, think over the morning’s session and what could
of of been & not been.
I decided to slip back out for a
short afternoon session and went one pool down from the camp site. I continued
with the same spinnerbait, casting into snags & crevices for a few average
fish 300mm-350mm.
As the day light was pretty low &
with no head lamp, I pushed on, casting away hoping the big mumma bass were out
to play. As we say ONE MORE CAST! A few cast later & mumma WAS out to play,
wrestling her way back into the deep. With no time wasted I didn't give her an
inch and I hoped she would surface soon. With the fish in my lap & a
measure of 395mm, I was stoked.
The next day was a different story:
overcast, very humid & the flies were clinging to me like magnets. I set
off at gentleman’s hours with a packed lunch & headed up 4 pools from camp
for the day. One of these pools had plenty to offer as for structure & I hoped
would be home to some big bass. A green spinner bait was tied on,
imitating a green frog. I cast the lure into the raging rapids letting it flow
with the water as it was sinking. WHACK, I got a good hit but no hook up -
bummer. Next cast in the same spot, the lure was still sinking when it got
slammed by a freight train.
It felt like another fish of a
lifetime. This angry beast swam very quickly into cover making it difficult
with the raging currents, really giving my new outfit a real workout. On a few
occasions I had some hairy moments ,but eventually it was held in my hands it
looked very close to be another 500mm but it was just shy. Regardless that it
wasn't a 500mm it’s still a trophy fish in some peoples terms.
Half hour later it was time for a
lure change to a small vibe & I concentrated on deeper water where there
was plenty of sunken timber. It wasn't long before the rod reloaded to another
aussie battler. Not huge but a lot of fun never the less. I cast the lure back into
the same snag. I didn't realise for a moment that my lure got belted on the way
down! I wound up the slack thinking my knot came undone. I kept winding the
slack OH HANG ON I’m on here; wow ok it felt like another good'n, if not bigger
than my high 400.
Being very stubborn & hanging
down deep with the kayak being towed around .These fish sometimes catch you by
surprise with their size, sometimes the smaller models fight a lot harder than
the bigger fish. Eventually the fish surfaced with just a part of the treble in
its jaw. PHEEEW that was close, a quick measure of 420mm. I was wrapped but a
crappy photo turned out after all of that, but never mind I will always
remember it lol.
Excellent stuff Terry, and thanks for taking the time to write it all down for us. Looks like a really beautiful place down there. And thankfully I've finally got some reprieve from work and have been able to get out for a quick session or two myself, chasing the saltwater species though. I'll get those reports up soon, too. Happy yakkin', everyone!
cheers,
Cid
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