queensland Metal As Anything - Part Deux

[basshunter1987]

North Pine Dam is where all my Bass fishing began, and it feels like an absolute age ago that I used to walk the banks as the water level continued to drop down to 13%. Fishing was pretty easy for a beginner on lures, the fish were concentrated and trying new things often paid off. Fast forward a decade or so, and as the dam continued to drop once again I decided it was time to have another crack around the muddy shores of the lake.

These days I have a kayak, and a kayak gets you places. I had lost a bit of interest in walking the banks because it seems an easier choice to just whack the yak in somewhere. And navigating the grassy and timbered banks of NPD at full supply level is quite an effort! One Sunday afternoon though, I packed my backpack, stocked it with spinnerbaits (the best lures in the world, wink wink), and headed out.

The first afternoon was a beauty, I found a spot. And not just any spot, every single fish over 40cm in the dam was there! No word of a lie I’d never seen anything like it, every single cast had hits, touches, hookups and….FISH. I quickly discovered that I had the wrong gear, these fish were brutes. While casting and retrieving, I found very few snags, but as soon as there was a fish on, an underwater labyrinth filled with trees appeared. Smart fish...very smart fish…very STRONG fish! 30 Bass later and it was home time. I was the most satisfied fisherman in the land.

That was the first day.

Schools of Bass appear one day, and then disappear the next, right? Not here apparently, because after asking Dino to do some research for me, and his trip yielding a similar result, I thought it best to get out there a few more times before they did vanish!

There was no trip that wasn’t worth it. LOADS OF FISH. Loads of really healthy, really chunky Bass. Some days they got smaller, but as they say, there’s always a bigger fish Thankfully, Dino had been with me for the trips that needed photos!

A little on the gear…

I only have light gear in my arsenal, and after discovering these fish, I grabbed the heaviest rod I own, which is a light Snapper rod. I couldn’t care for finesse fishing after the first trip, I wanted the fish in my hands. I learned very quickly that my technique needed to be more ‘hook the fish, and put some world-ending hurt on it’ haha I primarily used spinnerbaits, though sometimes even they were slow to produce. So Jackalls, metal blades and metal slugs were also loaded and effective. The slugs are amazing for getting that distance you require…all 600 metres of it. If the wind was up (which happened often), then I’d start with a slug to suss the area out. Spinnerbaits and metal blades have excellent distance about them, but nowhere near a slug. 1/2 ounce spinnerbaits are my favourite for these locations.

So, here is just a small collection of the hauls we’ve been producing. Some of these Bass were absolute perfection.

Thanks for reading!

Luke

[basshunter1987]

[basshunter1987]

[fenelious]

Great photos, especially those first couple - gold.

-Steve.

[Dinodadog]

I think we were very lucky even if it only lasted a few days.

Dino

[Angus]

Very cool!

Exactly how I started on the bass front as well including the slugs.

Thanks for sharing mate.

Angus

[samsteele115]

Great report. I really enjoyed reading that . That photo with the bass hookup in the water... brilliant.

[Glenn S]

wow, some cracking bass amungst those photos! good on you guys, gotta love hard fighting big bass!

Cheers, Glenn

[Luvit]

Thumping big bass land based.

You have inspired me to clear out the electric boat and have a crack soon.

Great report and photos.

[Samrenny]

Excellent writeup, awesome photos and even better fish! Looks like you had an absoloute cracking few days, extremely jealous! Starting to love spinnerbaits after discovering them for myself recently ...keep it up!

[basshunter1987]

Thanks guys, I certainly can't complain about the fishing lately! Just need that one goliath now, 50 to 60 isn't that far, right?

[Do$tylz]

man not far off that 50. Great fish and good to see NPD is still producing the goods after all this time. The stocking guys really do a great job.

[sweresy]

great stuff mate! Long live the mighty bass!!

[Nog]

Crikey, that's almost like the good ol' days as you say. I take it schools are beyond fly casting range?

[Dinodadog]

Can you fly cast a slug Norm.

[Nog]

0.05 gram slug easy

[ryanyoung]

Some top shelf sessions there mate.

Ryan.

[Doobsy]

Great report and some very nice pics.