Luc53

I was planning to go to Hinze today but got email yesterday from a recently retired person who must be suffering from early onset Alzheimer's . Said going to NPD on sunday so I said meet you there. After a couple of text messages I got a phone call to say he meant next sunday.
 Anyhow didnt matter as there were more fish for me. I ended up with 64 bass ranging from 15cm to 40cm with the most between 20 and 32cm. All on live shrimp with the fish sitting at around 6 to 8 feet and they were taking the bait immediately before I could get the bail arm over. Knocked off just after 10.30 and left them biting.

A pedestal seat on the front casting deck saves my back during casting sessions.
 

Went to eastern arm for the first time for a few years. 8am launch due to having to return home for a rough job to change a wheel bearing using a second hand bearing. Woke the neighbours up as I had to use the angle grinder to cut the inner to get it off the axle  Found fish in all our old spots. First place was in 25 feet of water on the edge of the drop off opposite the pump tower where we pulled around a dozen bass before going to check some other spots in among the trees further downstream on the western side of the dam. We fished another 6 spots before finishing up at midday with a total of 5 tandanus, 4 barred grunter and 43 bass. Was glassed out all morning and only one short shower. Now to source a magnet for the brakes , set of brake linings and a new set of bearings .

A pedestal seat on the front casting deck saves my back during casting sessions.
 

A pedestal seat on the front casting deck saves my back during casting sessions.
 

A pedestal seat on the front casting deck saves my back during casting sessions.
 

After having 2 weeks off with a back flare up, I finaly got out to NPD again this morning. To say it was crazy was no lie,I thought I  would troll a couple of crazydeep lures and try and keep away from casting, to save my back any more proplems.It was the right move, I had 24 bass before I got to the main area, although they were a bit small. I then picked up a few good sized ones as well as a 5kg forktail catfish, he was crazy as well. Ended up with 48 bass and left with the sounder lit up, but I did not want to overstay and it was getting very hot.
Dino

Hard going to start off new year at NPD this morning. 16 bass and one yella between the 3 of us. Small bass around the floats and nothing elsewhere, Percy is back pestering us and all his mates stinking up the ramp.

I popped out for a few hours fishing before a party tonight so I don't come empty handed. 
In two and a half hours I managed to bag a 5lb, 7lb, two 9lb and a 10.5lb yellow belly. I'd call that a successful last fish of the year. 

Bit of a slow day today. Barred grunter were at most places we tried. At least the eagle got afew snacks. Best bass just over 40cm with another 2 at 35 and the rest around 30cm. We went upstream to within sight of the salvenia barrage and could not find a school anywhere. Finished up with 27 bass and one tandan. All tagged and released.

Good day today at the western arm. We had a fair supply of shrimp so we headed upstream straight away and tied up to an isolated stick that is now protruding from the water now that the dam has gone down. We quickly boated 20 odd bass but they were just legal or under so we headed further upstream into the trees above bass bay. The bass were a better size in the high 30s and low 40s.Just after 8.30 we ran out of shrimp and proceeded back where I had a few shrimp traps to load up with more bait. While we were there Neil said I had some traps further in that I lost when the dam came up 3 months ago. We located the pots and amazingly they were loaded up with shrimp so we rebaited them for next time that Neil comes. We ended up with 70 bass and 3 tandans tagged and a few barred grunter for the eagle.
Cheers Ray

Had a few hours to spare yesterday morning so went up the local creek in search of Jacks.
I hit the water at just after 5am, paddled up the creek in the early morning glass off through the mist. It's a magical time of the day, just before the sun comes over the horizon, that the birds and animals on the banks seem to enjoy also.
Lure of choice for the morning was the gold bomber. 
The jacks were really fired up, wish I could crack the code of why this morning but not the day before? but can't seem to see any difference much in tide/air temp/water temp/barometer reading etc. 
Managed to land a couple, think I lost more lures than fish caught but that's jack fishing. Expensive morning in lures lost but I'm sure the local manage of BCF won't complain when I come it to restock, I'm sure I have paid to put his kids through college with my fishing gear purchases.🙄
Once jacks get over that 50cm length they are so hard to stop from getting back into the snags. It can be all over before you even get a turn on the handle.
Anyway, I think the vid will show you the fun better than I can explain it.
Enjoy.
 
 

Decided I needed some more exercise, so went for a walk this morning.At times the grass along the bank was up to my neck and the buffalo grass kept wrapping around my  shoes and tripping  me.At least I had a soft landing, until I was on my way back along a 2 wheel track and I went for a spill, the ground was rock hard. First thing I did was to take a deep breath, this was to make sure I had no broken ribs.Got out of it with just a bit of skin and hair missing (situation normal )
I bush bashed or grass bashed for a few hours for not many bass, so going back to the tinny (47 last trip ) or the new second hand hobie outback (28 from lake K ) As soon as the body recovers.
Dino

Part of todays catch.


 

Recieved an invitation form an uncle to get away from the hustle and bustle and head out to Uncle Billy's Retreat out past Glen Innes. First time fly fishing for me but a great big thankyou to Uncle Tony for showing me the ropes on how to cast and handle a fly rod. We both had a great 4 days away staying in the log cabin there and was the most relaxing time i've had for a long time. We didn't take our jumpers and jackets off for the whole time day and night, it was bloody cold and windy. Minimum temps were 2 degrees with maximums of 20 degrees... crazy to think it's December. Lost count of how many rainbows we caught and it was great fun fly fishing for something different . Highly recommend Uncle Billys retreat!!

Good day at the western arm today. Rick and Joy were looking after their granddaughter Amelia so naturally she came along to show us her angling skills that she honed up at North Pine dam last sunday. She baits up her own hook and even knows how to count down the bait to the depth that the fish are holding. After doing our shrimp pots which were a little light on due to lack of maintenance we pulled into Ians island for 20 odd bass before the barred grunter moved in. We then moved upstream to the top of bass bay for another 20 odd bass till the school dispersed so we moved around 100 feet around the corner and tied up to a tree and once again another 20 odd bass. Amelia was getting a bit tired so we decided to head home but wen we went past a solitary stick we saw a good show on the sounder and in the next half hour boated another 15 bass before running out of bait, In all places that we fished the fish were holding half way down the water column no matter what depth we were in. Finished back at the ramp at 11 am with a total of 75 bass and 2 tandanus plus assorted barred grunter that the eagle enjoyed. Fish were looking real healthy with only a few showing red spot. Note rare photo of Rick holding one of his beloved tandanus.

PRFMA members released 120000 healthy bass fingerlings into NPD today. We arrived at the dam at gentlemans hour of 7am and had a Xmas drink and sausage and then did  our shrimp pots and returned to the ramp at 9am to meet the fingerlings supplied by Hanwood hatchery.  We loaded up the 2 large eskys  that were equipped with aerators to keep the fingerlings in prime condition and proceeded downstream to release the fingerlings on the edge of the weed beds. Amelia did an excellent job of doing this. Naturally once this task was completed we had to have a fish. The fish  were a bit hard to find but we finally located a school near the floats where we proceeded to catch 28 bass,4 yellowbelly and one tilapia. It was fantastic to see Amelia releasing the fingerlings and seeing her struggle to land some good sized fish.
Ps 100000 yellowbelly to come next month
Cheers Ray

Woke up at usual time of 3am and thought that the dog was being unusually friendly and found out why when I put in my hearing aids and heard the thunder. Headed off at around 5 with a spectacular lightening display accompanied with rain that had all cleared by the time we arrived at the dam. We had some shrimp left over from last trip so we headed into the honey tree on Ians Island to find someone tied up about 20 feet away from our favourite tree. By 7am we had ran out of shrimp with 19 rat bass on the counter. After going downstream and checking our shrimp traps we then tried our usual spots for only 7 bass so back to the tip of Ians island for a donut . Back to the honey tree where we increased the tally to 38 bass and a few barred grunter which are back with the warmer weather. Best bass was 42cm with the majority under 30cm. All tagged and released.
Cheers Ray

Hi Chris,
No fingerlings are ever released at Youngs Crossing as it's not part of the PRFMA's approved stocking plan.
A number years ago (10+), at certain times I used to catch the odd very small bass in shrimp traps left overnight at Youngs. I believe that they were from natural breeding. 

Hi Chris,
No fingerlings are ever released at Youngs Crossing as it's not part of the PRFMA's approved stocking plan.
A number years ago (10+), at certain times I used to catch the odd very small bass in shrimp traps left overnight at Youngs. I believe that they were from natural breeding. 

Youngs Crossing is not the well stocked larder like NPD or LK especially after the influx of bass from those dam.
The escapees need their fat reserves to give them time to adapt to the harsher conditions there and generally don't get back to their plum dam physique.

Youngs Crossing is not the well stocked larder like NPD or LK especially after the influx of bass from those dam.
The escapees need their fat reserves to give them time to adapt to the harsher conditions there and generally don't get back to their plum dam physique.

Youngs Crossing is not the well stocked larder like NPD or LK especially after the influx of bass from those dam.
The escapees need their fat reserves to give them time to adapt to the harsher conditions there and generally don't get back to their plum dam physique.

Youngs Crossing is not the well stocked larder like NPD or LK especially after the influx of bass from those dam.
The escapees need their fat reserves to give them time to adapt to the harsher conditions there and generally don't get back to their plum dam physique.

Youngs Crossing is not the well stocked larder like NPD or LK especially after the influx of bass from those dam.
The escapees need their fat reserves to give them time to adapt to the harsher conditions there and generally don't get back to their plum dam physique.