queensland Maroon 22nd May 08

[Rocket75]

With Aaron on holidays and keen to get some Bass, I cleared a day in my hectic schedule :silly: and we headed out to Maroon for an afternoon session.

I had never fished Maroon before, but Aaron had on a number of occasions.

From his experiences of the past he promised lots of Bass but not big ones, and a good chance of catching my first yella.

After our lack of success on lures at Hinze the previous week, I was hopeful that the Maroon locals would be more receptive, but we had shrimp with us just in case.

Compared to some of our SEQ catchments, Maroon is not a big dam, but it does offer a variety of fishing options.

There is standing timber, weedy banks and large drop off that all hold fish and are worth exploring.

We saw most of the dam in one afternoon by trolling in search of lure hungry schools (both petrol and electric are permitted).

When we did find the fish on the sounder, the lures remained untouched.

Much like Hinze, spinners, divers, and bib-less lures all got the cold shoulder.

The shrimp however were a hit. The bass seemed to be schooled in fairly shallow water (5-10m) on the sunny weed banks. As always, the difference between fish and nothing could be the length of the boat. At times the fish seemed to be actively seeking the shade of the boat and only a drop straight down would get a hit.

As promised the fish were not huge, but the school we found held mainly legal fish with the odd runt and ring-in making an appearance.

After a slow start with the lures, we quickly racked up our pass mark of 10 fish boated and set our sites on 20.

To add some spice to the afternoon we raced each other to the fish, dropping at the same time with the first fish landed being the winner.

This bit of fun meant that we had numerous double hookups and most if not all fish gave us a good battle on light gear. My 2-4kg Starlo spin stick and 4lb braid was worked over by some of the bigger ones but made for fun fishing.

Over-all we hit the 30 mark just in time to make tracks for the ramp before dusk.

Best Bass of the day went 37cm to the tip for Aaron with most bass being just on or over 30cm and in good condition.

Two surprise catches popped up amongst the Bass. I was lucky enough to catch my first Yella @ approx 35cm:woohoo: , and also managed a pretty little spangled.

The drive home in the dark saw plenty of wildlife, thankfully all stayed clear of our car.

I would advise caution if contemplating the same trip as there is a mass of road-kill evident to attest to the dangers to both vehicles and locals alike.

Thanks again to Aaron for the invite and being chauffeur and skipper.

You may have caught more fish than me, but I caught more species!

Thanks for reading, photos to come.

[Stinger]

Great read.

That would have been a top day.

Bit of local knowledge behind you now for the winter camp.

[STU]

Thats a great session guys well done

[brisfisher]

nice report mate n a good read.congrats on the first yella:)

[Aaron H]

Thanks for coming Rod as always u were a top deckie and a good report as well. Congrats on the first yella the grin said it all:P. No monsters but we had a lot of fun. Aarghh holidays are coming to an end I'm afraid back to work Monday, unless the lotto gods smile on me Saturday night:laugh:

[Dinodadog]

Well done Aaron and Rocket sounds like you guys had a ball

[bretto]

Good on you guys. Congrats on the big bass tally and the yella for rocket. Maroon is another one on the to do list which seems to be getting bigger and bigger as the reports on this site come in

[mangler]

Nice report mate, well done and congratulations on your first yellowbelly. Sounds like a fun day with plenty of action and some very nice fish landed. Oh by the way, how cool do the spangly's look, love em.

Cheers,

Matt

[polyphonic]

Nice read with the winter camp coming up, well done guys

[Plastic Man]

well done guys nice fish we have hit heaps of rabbits on the way out there at least one every trip congrats on the first yella rocket

[Bommie]

well done guys, maroon can be hit & miss with lures, some days you will get stikes nearly every cast, other days not a touch:unsure:

[rayke1938]

Thanks for good report not long to winter camp now.

Cheers

Ray