A mere handful of the scores of native freshwater fish species inhabiting this increasingly dry continent attract the attentions of the angling masses. Maybe half a dozen at most have attained iconic status, claiming the lion's share of the pages of angling journals. Without doubt one of the top three in that category is the Australian bass (Macquaria novemaculeata). Part of the popularity of bass may be the fact that they are reasonably easy to catch due to their aggressive nature. That very quality means that the capture of bass in quantity is a fairly regular occurrence.



A big bass by any standards, this is one of scores of fish Nathan Podlich caught on 65mm Boomerangs during a morning fishing with Schultzy.

To keep their pastime challenging many bass aficionados therefore pursue the capture of trophy specimens instead. Regardless of the species being pursued it is almost invariably the "big one" that gives anglers bragging rites. Defining what is a big bass is s little subjective. A seasoned angler may be looking for a fish over a chosen benchmark, a given length or maybe the 2.5kg barrier. Newcomers to the pastime may be happy to label a 45cm fish as big until they have a few under their belts. This is a good time of year to find a quality bass regardless of bitterly cold mornings and low water temperatures.
One consolation is that even on those sub-zero mornings the days are calm and warm making the pain last for just a short while. Just for those of you who are still aspiring to land a big bass I'll ramble on about the pursuit for a while in the hope that you may pick up a tip or two.

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A plump Queensland bass caught trolling deep water under the clear, blue skies of winter. How lucky are we to have winter days of 25°C.

Choose a Lake.

Location is quite an important consideration when chasing that trophy bass. We'll concentrate on lakes for two reasons. First is that all of the bass in lakes are hatchery bred, therefore easily replaceable and not part of a wild breeding population. Secondly, growth rates of landlocked bass tend to be about twice that of riverine fish, hopefully equating to more big fish.

All lakes were not created equal and some produce far more trophy bass than others. Small, well stocked lakes tend to yield huge numbers of fish of a much smaller average size than larger lakes. Take Maroon for example, an average bass there is less than 30cm and any fish over 40cm is an exceptional catch. Lake Cressbrook too tends to see captures of scores of little bass with very few fish reaching the 50cm benchmark (that statement should offend a few Toowoomba fishoes). Likewise Hinze Dam on the Gold Coast is not a trophy bass fishery by any stretch of the imagination, lots of fish but not numbers of whoppers. Let me qualify that a little; all of the above lakes do produce good fish at times, just not in the numbers or regularity of true trophy lakes. To maximise your chances of tangling with that dream bass you should limit your efforts to those lakes that have earned a reputation for them.

In Queensland you could consider Somerset, Samsonvale, Barambah (when it isn't almost empty) and Boondooma. Sure there are others that do yield some very good fish at times (Lenthalls, etc) but for frequent and consistent performance the above lakes top the list. Over the border the shining example of a trophy bass fishery is Lake Glenbawn, near Scone. Not only is Glenbawn a trophy bass lake, it has also produced many of the largest golden perch ever documented.

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Winter mornings can be unpleasant for anglers but once the sun is high the weather is usually quite warm. Jill displays a quality fish caught on the ultra-deep Boomerang and Pflueger outfit.

Know Your Quarry.

Knowledge is the key to most things in this life, from advancing your career to wooing young ladies and angling success is no different. The more information you can discover about the life and habits of bass the more you'll catch. The more fish you catch, the better the odds of one of them eventually being the trophy you seek. At this time of year, if you're fishing a Queensland bass lake, the large fish should be roed up and in pre-spawning mode. In rivers without dam walls and weirs impeding their movement many mature bass will have moved downstream seeking saline water. Bass spawn in water between eight and 15 parts per thousand (seawater is around 35 PPT). However, the landlocked fish we're seeking can't migrate past the wall except during a flood episode (haven't seen one of those for a while). They will however head downstream, often congregating in the lower reaches of lakes until after the water temperatures begin to rise in spring. The movement downstream is triggered by falling water temperatures in autumn.

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A well tuned sounder should show traces like this. Those bass were over 2kg and were actively feeding (at least the couple we landed were) and spat out juvenile bony bream beside the boat.

Australian bass spawn in water between 14 and 18° Centigrade depending on the latitude. Taking that into consideration we should assume that once water temperatures climb above 19 or 20°C (usually in September) the fish will abandon thoughts of spawning and start to drift back into their summertime haunts and habits. While the fish are still in pre-spawn mode (which is right now) lucky anglers will find schools of fish holding in deep water. During winter, Australian lakes are isothermal; that is there is no thermocline present. No thermocline means that there is no demarcation between water of acceptable levels of dissolved oxygen or temperature. This situation allows bass (and their prey species) to move throughout the water column at will to feed or shelter. Forage species in open water tend to move lower in the water column, to where sunlight ceases to penetrate to avoid predation from cormorants.

Bass will follow that daily movement and can, oftentimes be found in the vicinity of baitfish aggregations in deep water. One of the most useful methods for locating these deep water bass is to troll with the aid of a good sounder. Sounders for freshwater work should be high frequency units designed for shallow water usage. My current Lowrance X100C colour unit has proven ideal for freshwater use while targeting bass, barra, etc. Start your search in water around seven to nine metres deep with the sensitivity high enough to show baitfish. Troll along the depth contour close to a drop-off or quarter any deep flats. Keep one eye on the sounder display and you'll eventually see bass and bait schools. Once you've located an area containing bass you can keep working your trolling pattern or change to jigs and drift across the best spots.

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Schultzy displays another whopper and the type of gear needed to catch them.  The little Pflueger Echelon reel is very affordable and functional.  Note that purple Boomerang.

Effective bass jigs range from metal slugs and tremblers to soft plastics on lead heads. My preferred (read most successful) jigs of each style include the 35g Javelin lures Lazer in blue/green, the 75mm Halco Trembler in mullet colour and for plastics the AusSpin 75mm curl tailed grub in watermelon seed fished on a 15g head. The most successful trolling lure for trophy bass in my boat is the 65mm Boomerang. Boomerang colours for bass range from Deep purple, black beetle and jabiru to hot tiger and redhead.

Good luck chasing the big ones!

Schultzy