In the last fast weeks that's gone by, we 've had some descent rain falls, bringing the river levels up, making it fairly unfishable .
With levels at 6 metres
flowing strong, it was dragging out old cars, alligator weed, up rooting trees, collapsing banks, etc. It was going to take sometime for the river to settle completely but when conditions seemed OK, I ventured out.
On this two
day trip I planned to investigate the river, to see how much it had changed, but hoping that
the bass would be still there & didn’t catch a free ride to head down river to spawn in the salt.
I had got my father in-law to
drop me off at a particular spot bright & early, as I was
planning on heading down stream for the day with him kindly picking me up in the
afternoon.
I set of with the current, as
the water still had plenty of flow. The water looked really good, but let
me tell ya, the river had changed dramatically and I was hoping there would still be snags for
me to fish.
I kept my fishing gear simple
for the day: I packed light with 2 rods and I rigged 1 with a hard body & the other
with a Betts spin.
I flicked around for awhile
for a few little hits & bumps, trying different lures as I went. It was going
to be one of those days, I thought. I continued being fish less, casting lures into
those sneaky pockets & snags, honing my casting skills to be more accurate.
I thought that's what its going to be, casting practice all day.
I was
a fair way down river, by this time and I finally had a
big hit & the line was swimming across the yak, It felt like a good fish,
tho' even small bass can fight just as hard as a big one. “Where do they get
all the power from”, I thought but soon it was in the landing net looking in really good
condition without any scars or bruising. I didn’t give it a measure, but a happy
snap did me fine , a descent fish was released & I was on the board.
I was hoping that from this point on there would be more.
These bass do very well to
fight the floods & not get any marks or bruising, they hide in
deep pockets of the river. It's amazing that any can remain at all after seeing what the floods were like.
I was on a high after that 1st
fish, and the next cast into the bank, as the lure was falling into the depths, I waited
a few seconds before I retrieved the lure. It felt like the knot had come
undone, there was nothing there. ‘WHAT HAPPENED HERE ‘ I thought as I wound in
& the line went straight under the yak , "Oh hang on, I’m on!" Wow this fish
didn’t waste anytime at all, being 15 metres away from the bank, this fish went
like lightening & into the middle of the river .The yak was getting
towed around as the fish was fighting for freedom. As I slid it into the net I thought "where
is my lure?" WOW !!!! it was down its gob, it was smashed .
The only down fall was not
putting the fish into too much stress , trying to get the lure out of its mouth but luckily I was using the Betts at the time .
I approached a very
narrow section with plenty of water flowing through it with timber all over the
place. I cast into a back eddy and WHAMO, I was on again, no mucking around now, as
it can run for cover very quickly & its all over in a blink of an eye, but
with a few awkward moments, it was in the net . These fish were quality & I
was surprised to see them in numbers and I continued to get plenty more. Normally at
this time of year when the river has been flowing they start making their way down
river for spawning.
Day2 I started
where I had left off from day 1, it was crazy! Every 5-7 casts I had
a bass, it doesn’t get any better than that.
I had lost count by mid
morning on how many I caught. Though as the day went on it was slowing down making things just a little tough. Most of the fish were averaging the same
size. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t crack a 400mm. That would of put the icing on the cake .Thanks again for the report, Terry. At least someone has been getting out regularly. Happy yakkin', everyone!
cheers,
Cid
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