queensland Yak Expedition up the Pine River

[Orca]

It was still dark as the 3 intrepid members of the Austackle Freshwater Fishing Team pulled up at the Pine River. Having left the relative comforts of the Austackle Mother Ship at home, Ben Cole, Steve Clenton and John Wright were about to embark on a Bass fishing expedition from Kayaks. Whilst Steve had long been a Kayak user, John and Ben were definite virgins.

Rumour had it that Bass were to be found in the upper reaches since the Dam had overflowed. However, getting to the rumoured best spots required some extreme paddling against the outgoing river flow and some 360 degree doughnuts were common as our virgins struggled to come to terms with paddle power after years of using electric motors.

The sun was just coming up as the first spot was reached. Significant surface activity was already present so shallow diving Sakana SD40 lures were immediately thrown into the active areas. The water was very brackish and the Silver colours of the Sakana Bullet seemed to throw off the right sort of flashes as all 3 anglers hooked up within the first few casts. After about an hour of quite frenetic activity where quantity was definitely winning versus quality, the Team decided to move to another spot to try and get some larger models.

After a 20 minute paddle and a few more doughnut manoeuvres, a slower backwater appeared around a bend in the river so the Team decided to give it a go – probably because they needed a rest from the paddling. After a fairly quiet opening, the spot went ballistic with all sorts of fish being caught on the Sakana lures including many Bass and Bream. However, the rumoured XOS Bass were still nowhere to be found so about 9-30am the team decided to move on once again.

Just before 10am, Spot X was discovered, a small creek branching off the main flow with very little water movement. Steve and John continued to fish with Sakana lures of various colours, whilst Ben decided to experiment a little with Boneheads.

The water was still very brackish and 3-4 metres in depth. The surface activity was significantly less than earlier in the day and Ben was fist to hook up with his deeper diving Bonehead. Ben continued to catch fish so Steve and John also decided that the deeper diving lures were definitely worth a try. John switched to the Boneheads whilst Steve swapped to some Prototype versions of the Sakana Deep Diver.

The change of lures proved to be a smart move. All 3 anglers were hooking up on a regular basis but still no XOS Bass. Most of the Bass were in the 25 -35cms range with Steve managing to catch quite a few even smaller!

Just as the Team were about to call it quits on a busy and successful morning fishing, Steve’s rod tip dipped right into the water and a battle royal began. Steve knew he had hooked up to a beauty. Steve’s Camo Stik Pro 1-3kg rod was bent almost in half as the fish took him all over the place for about 15 minutes. Finally the battle was won and a beaming Steve was proud to put a 62cms monster Bass onto the measure. In total, our intrepid kayakers caught 76 fish with at least half of them being of a legal size. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

[madmullet]

nice work mate... one of those bass is a horse

[eg_vtec]

thats one monster bass! and great report. so many fish.

[ryanyoung]

Great report fellas, mega bass too!!

Well done,

Ryan.

[Jords]

Sounds like a great trip with an absolute horse of a bass to top it off!

[Luc53]

Great session and well done on the 62cm horse.

That equals my PB for the Pine.

Makes you wonder how much bigger speciments may be in the river or still in the dam.

Luc

[Rocket75]

great report! :cheer:

got that bass on the measure?

I'm still to see a 60cm on a brag mat or ruler...plenty of reports claiming but still none with "the pic" :pinch:

[rayke1938]

Looks like south pine to me? Also would like to see measure shot.

Cheers

Ray

[Orca]

Like you i have to believe what the guys tell me but knowing how competitive they are i dont think Ben and John would let Steve get away with stretching it. You can easily judge the approximate length just looking at the kayak and the paddle.

Cheers

MikeCole

[rayke1938]

Respectfully I would estimate around 56. The fish is under twice the lenght of the lip grippers or the width of 4 fingers around 8.5 cm.

Cheers

Ray

[mick fillet]

nice sesion on the bass orca :woohoo: i reckon its a 60 its a slender model ay.

on another note my lip grippers are 33cm long and i use for a quick rough mesure to the fork on the bass quite regulary and yeah that bigger fish not quite double the length of the lip grippers so definatly not 66cm maybe 62 like ya said

[Angus]

Great report.

Jut moved it to the Freshwater Reports section

Angus

[Dinodadog]

when I get my 60cm it will be on a brag mat then off to get wall mounted

[wesfish]

good report of a fun day bassin, i have to disagree its a 62 though more like 57

-58 which is a monster bass indeed, but the mythical 60 on a mat still eludes a photo here is a pic of grippers on a mat 29.5cm

[Orca]

The Austackle Lip Grippers have a built in metal tape measure in the handle so the guys use that to measure fish. I accept that a tape measurement is not quite as accurate as on a flat mat but its within a 1cm tolerance. It really don't matter if the fish was 61 or 63, the whole point of the story is that there are some bloody big Bass in the upper Pine for those willing to put in the work.

Cheers

[Dazzamcgee]

62cm :dry:

[rob316]

I have to say that the report is full of good info and explanations of the trip , and its definately not worth splitting hairs on the size of the big bass , its a bloody corker regardless - if was a report on just bragging rights then maybe yeah , but it doesn't read like that at all...well done fellas , deserved prize fish !!

[wesfish]

The Austackle Lip Grippers have a built in metal tape measure in the handle so the guys use that to measure fish. I accept that a tape measurement is not quite as accurate as on a flat mat but its within a 1cm tolerance. It really don't matter if the fish was 61 or 63, the whole point of the story is that there are some bloody big Bass in the upper Pine for those willing to put in the work.

Cheers

are they austackle lip grippers in the big bass pic?? dont look like their 3 in 1 grippers at all. like i said big bass in deed but so many claim for 60cm+ bass but never got a mat shot or tape measure shot to prove it, hence why so many of us react the way we have when their is no proof! great report and great fun day had by all and look forward to more of your reports

[rayke1938]

As others have said not saying it isnt a good bass. An alternative would be a shot of the lip grippers on a brag mat.

Cheers

Ray

[elops]

A nice Bass, came from good stock that lot.