queensland North Pine Dam 4/04/07(andos birthday)

[Tim a]

Hey all

Angus picked me up at 5:30 and we were fishing by 6:30.

We were at 'the g spot' casting lures. I was using a 1/2 ounce tt vortex and Angus was using a selection of lures including jackalls, outback lures, kokoda spinner bait and some softies. Nothing from here and barely even a hit so at 8:30 of we went to bcf to get some prawns so we could cull some talapia.

On the way back we spotted a pet supply store and waited to see if they had any shrimp. They had some so they were purchased and back to NP. We went near Mcgavins view and didn't get any fish for ages until finally we found them. And boy were they.... small. So very very small. Angus pulled in 2 bass and his first silver perch in quick time. The Bass were between 15 and 30cm(stonkers!!).

I still hadn't got a touch and the fish had stopped biting so we decided to muck around with some gar. I had never gar fished before and didn't realize how easy it is. We burleyed up a frenzy and with in no time I had my first gar. Using tiny mustad hooks with a short trace of 6lb leader(left over from bassing). Just chuck out your peice of prawn(5mm long) and with in seconds it gets devoured by a school of hungry stupid gar fish.

Angus and I got/kept 25 garfish in about 1 hour and the only reason we kept them is I'm gonna be using them for mackeral this week.

We packed up and left WITH OUR RUBBISH at 1:30ish.

Twas a good day! [img size=455]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/IMG_0091.jpg

[Tim a]

Check this headshot!! [img size=455]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/IMG_0092.jpg

[Tim a]

The gar [img size=455]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/IMG_0094.jpg

[adventure_angler]

Thats 1 monster bass!!! Haha, it looks very healthy though and good to see some smaller bass growin up.

Good haul of gar, hopefully the mackeral wont be able to resist them.

-nelson-

[Oztrav]

man you got a huge thumb:P

[Brian D]

How cool are the gar. Have you tried gar shaped lures in NP?

[Angus]

I cant beleive it.

We were targeting the so called pest species (tilapia) and all i could catch was natives hahahaha.

Guess i should not complain hey

Angus

[Angus]

Oh out of curiosity sake.....

When was the last time the dam was stocked.

The little bass i caught looked pretty healty. I was wondering if they were newly released or merely stunted.

Does anyone know how long it takes for a bass to reach say 30cm? Or is it completely food dependant?

Angus

[adventure_angler]

Angus, I am pretty sure their growth rate is highly dependent on food availability. I read somwhere that the bass in Nth Pine grow pretty quick for bass due to the abundance of food sources. Bass found in natural populations (eg natural rivers) are said to grow MUCH slower and this is another reason why people choose not to keep them. The food is few and far between and therefore the bass must work for their food, which also burns up energy, thus requiring more food. Id guess those bass havent been in the lake all too long...?

-nelson-

[James W]

you would think that north pine would be runnin out of food for the fish in there...running out of water quick:(