Bass Attack... Well Not Really. [Brisbane River Session #218]

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi all

At about 5AM this morning I met @TheCharliefisho and my Dad and we drove to our chosen spot to try and catch a few bass before the closed season (we were fishing in tidal water). We arrived by about 5:45AM and were at the ideal spot after a hike in the dark. 

Our cicadas plopped along the surface of the narrow stream that we were fishing. It wasn't long before our hearts went racing and a big bass had a go at Charlie's lure. Despite the big splash, there was no hookup to be seen, so we kept casting in anticipation... But unfortunately there didn't seem to be any more fish cruising around that spot.

Starting

After a good 30 minutes flicking that stretch of the river, we moved on to where I had caught a few last time. To start with, we had to make a bridge out of a heavy plank to get across a rapid, but after we did this we were once again in the prime zone... we thought.

Bridge

Another 45 minutes passed by, and by now it was about quarter past seven without a fish to show for our efforts. We decided to go for a bit of an explore down where we hadn't been before, so we got walking. A big stingray lie (about 1.2M across) caught our eyes, as well as a few mullet bust ups, but more casts with our cicada led to no love from the fish.

They come all the way up the river I guess. 

@Cavvy ended up going bush bashing past his head to try and find a nearby scout campsite (he found it eventually, but no fish) and Charlie and I had a brief chat to a couple of other anglers who also hadn't had any bites. Turns out (according to Dad) they were some kiwis who had come up from a holiday, it then made sense why they were casting some massive poppers and stickbaits about (like what you use for GT's on the reef), lol. 

We switched over to a Halco Laserpro 45 and a small RMG both in Golden Green in hopes of a bite. While making our way back up we worked every snag we could cast to, but still couldn't manage a fish. Oh well, we thought, and after regrouping with my Dad we decided to head back upstream to another area we could fish. After about 20 minutes of bushbashing/exploring, we arrived, had to get our feet wet to cross part of the river, then started casting. It wasn't looking good, and by now it was about 10AM. Just as we were completely losing hope, Charlie and I heard my Dad saying, "fish!". We ran up to see what the commotion was about, and sure enough he had caught a nice 35CM or so bass on his Duo International Cicada. After releasing that one, we had another cast, and upon winding my RMG past a log, it got walloped by a smaller 25-30CM model. A short fight around the structure ensued, and I had my bass up too. With plenty of hope we got back to flicking, but unfortunately we didn't pull any more fish off that snag (I also had to wade out to get my lure off a snag which may have spooked them). 

Photo skills need some work

As we continued to walk upstream, I switched to a small lipless crankbait which also didn't bring me any fish. Dad and Charlie had more of a fish at the snag we caught them while I walked up and picked up some rubbish (fire was still warm so clearly some grubs had been there the night before, as it was completely trashed). As we finished up, we felt a little disappointed about the lack of fish, but at least we caught two. I think from today I've learnt that:

• It's important to be quiet and not spook the bass if you're fishing topwater
• They hang around snags so it's best to target them opposed to less snaggy area

Anyway, thanks for reading this report, I hope you enjoyed. I think I'll be giving the bass a break until it warms up again unless I try one of the dams. Here are some quick stats:

Stats:

Weather: Sunny, 5-22 degrees, no clouds.

Gear Used: I used a Diawa Tierra 2500 on Abu Garcia Veritas 2-4KG, My Dad used the 3000 Stradic on a 4-7Kg Shimano Raider, Charlie used a similiar spinning combo, 10 pound leaders, 8-15 pound mainline. 

Fish Caught: Bass x 2

Lures Used: Cicada topwater lures, Halco RMG's, Halco Laser Pro's, small lipless crankbaits. 

Notes: Very quiet until we found a couple on a snag, where it still remained quiet after we caught the first two. Cool water potentially reason for lack of fish activity. Not many other people fish there, maybe everyone knows that the bass aren't really chewing?

Overall Success Rate: 60% - caught a couple

Cheers Hamish

[Bretto77]

Walking and learning with friends and family is a great thing. Also sounds like there could possibly have been a little spooking before you guys even got there??? 

[ellicat]

Wading to retrieve a lure in winter is dedication ! haha

Good report. @Cavvy wins the day.

[charlie.hans.fishing]

Nice report Hamish. Thanks for taking me out. 

Good work to you dad for getting onto some decent fish as well.

It was a nice morning. 

 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

On 21/05/2023 at 9:29 PM, ellicat said:

Wading to retrieve a lure in winter is dedication ! haha

Good report. @Cavvy wins the day.

On 21/05/2023 at 9:46 PM, TheCharliefisho said:

Nice report Hamish. Thanks for taking me out. 

Good work to you dad for getting onto some decent fish as well.

It was a nice morning. 

 

Thanks Brian and Charlie. It was really hot down on the bank so I didn't mind hopping in to cool off.