Luc53

Funny sort of a day today with a fair bit of wind forecast we headed over to the eastern side of Ians island where we caught some bass last time. The bass were there but all only small. Around 8oclock the barred grunter moved in and commenced destroying our live shrimp. We moved around a bit and still only small stuff so up to bass bay where we did our shrimp traps that have been untouched since before the floods/ Got heaps of redclaw and replentished our live shrimp eskys, We only found a couple of small bass and as the wind was not too bad we decided to head down to near the dam wall. By the time we got near Ians island the wind had picked up and i did not like the prospect of punching into it on the way back to the ramp so we tried a few places in the trees on the eastern side for more undersized bass so we went back to our first spot on ians island where found more small bass with a couple of larger ones. The eagle had a good feed of barred grunter and one bass that did not survive the release. Our final tally was 47 bass with only 4 or 5 over 35cm and one tandanus. 3 of the bass were tagged as well as the tandanus.

Went to the Hinze western arm this morning for a sausage sizzle. After doing the shrimp pots we headed downstream to the usual spots. On the way Tai, assisted by Mark cooked up brunch. After eating our fill and dripping tomato sauce and bits of onion over ourselves we tried to find some bass. All we could find were plenty of unders so we headed back upstream trying in amongst the trees for more unders until we struck a school deep in amongst the trees on Ians Island. It was tough going having to extract the bass from the submerged branches. Final tally was 42 bass and one tandan . Best bass 52cm.

Yes, you're to fish from the bank or from your paddle craft.
Go to the Seqwater website for more information.
https://www.seqwater.com.au/locations-and-guides
Luc

Yes, you're to fish from the bank or from your paddle craft.
Go to the Seqwater website for more information.
https://www.seqwater.com.au/locations-and-guides
Luc

Slowish day today for Murray and myself. After doing the shrimp traps we went to usual spot opposite the white post and could only find small bass around 20cm. We headed into the bay before the post and fished a few of the trees.  The bass were a better size but still slow. Was interesting trying to pull some of the bass as they were sitting hard up to the trees and we had to make the decision whether to break them off or try and wait for the fish to swim out. We ended up with only 27 bass with the best fish around 43cm

Yes, you're to fish from the bank or from your paddle craft.
Go to the Seqwater website for more information.
https://www.seqwater.com.au/locations-and-guides
Luc

Went for a paddle in my dragon bush basher yak, this morning.I had sore shoulders before I had gone a hundred yards. Peddling is sure a lot easier, sorry I sold the hobie. Anyway the bass were pleased to see me, a few of them spewed all over me. Managed  36 all up, lures used in pics.
Dino

I nearly did not go considering the forecast but thought I may get an hour or so before the wind and storms arrived. First hour was a glass out and then the clouds rolled in with some wind but nothing serious. Tried all the usual spots for a donut apart from losing an unseen monster at the fad and seriously looking at a donut day by 9am. We ran upon Ander who was having a bit of fun reducing the tilapia population on the floats. We hung around for a while for a couple of small bass and decided to explore elsewhere where I picked up a reasonable bass and a couple of small bass between the islands. As a final act of desperation we returned to where Andrew was still reducing the tilapia population. We found plenty of undersized bass plus a few yellas.  We knocked off at around 11.30 with a tally of 3 yellas and 20 bass with only around 5 bass being legal. I was very impressed with Andrews new geo spot watersnake. It was holding position much better than my old minnkota.

There was a lot of chatter going on out at NPD yesterday. Small to medium bass were all over the place, managed 61 on chatterbaits, when they got sick of one color I just changed to another.
Dino

4 of us to the western arm this morning. Fish were hard to find and small. I caught what looked like a tagged bass but when I reported it to suntag it actually was a barra that was tagged in Trinity inlet. Ended up with only 46 bass with largest 42cm.

Spent a bit of time finding a school, but when I did it was bedlam. Most effective lure was the spinnerbait followed by a cheap vibe from the USA. Managed 83 all up, I was a happy chappy.
Dino

We were a bit late starting because I attended the local flea market and held up a bit more due to a decky no show no phone call no email .Uncertain what I will do if he wants another trip.   Either tell him to get stuffed or maybe make an appointment for a trip to NPD and then go to hinze. We did our shrimp pots and made certain that they were all marked correctly pending visit from fisheries. Could not find a fish anywhere until we came across Mark at the floats. He said that there were a few bass around so we moved off a bit and hit the spotlock and got into them. Most of the bass were under or just legal but a bass is a bass. Finished up with 68 bass,5 yellas and one tandan.

Headed out west into the mountains for an afternoon fish, ended up staying and camping the night, the country mountain scenery, bird life and fishing was just too beautiful to leave.
I did a short hike through the bush to get to a pool I fished last season, only managed a couple of small bass at this spot so hiked back out to the car and moved down stream.
As the sun went behind the mountains, I started fishing a surface lure,  Zman frog, which saw a few hits but only one fished hooked. I think the hook up rate on this lure may not be as high as others with treble hooks, but the action of them seems to really fire them up, less damage to the fish too on the single hook.
The next day fished with a chatter bait which found me a few more fish.
I think the biggest bass caught over the afternoon and morning fish was just over the 40cm mark, so no trophy fish caught, but the country air, beautiful scenery and clean clear mountain waters made me want to quit my job, stay there, live off the land next to the river carefree😀.................but then reality kicked in and I drove home to get ready for work.😥 
 

We launched at 6am and after doing our shrimp traps we arrived at our usual spot opposite the white post near the old quarry at around 7am. My first fish was a respectable 50+ bass so I said lets go home as it cannot get any better. It was a hot bite with us running out of shrimp at 10.30 with 127 bass on the tally. Rick was happy with second prize with another bass over 50cm.
Cheers Ray

Could not entice a decky so I went on me Pat Malone. Launched at 5.30 and first off to a couple of spots on Ians Island for zilch and then headed up to bass bay area for the same result. Whilst I was up there I checked some shrimp pots that have been there untouched for at least 2 months. They were all manky and 2 had rusted out but the other couple were full of huge shrimp. I then headed downstream stopping on a couple of spots on the way and still on a donut. At 9.15 I arrived at our usual spot opposite the white post with nothing showing on the sounder but at least I got off the mark with a 28cm bass. I moved 30 feet and I got rather busy catching 40 bass by 11 am when I ran out of bait.

Back to the western arm this morning. No wind but quite a bit of drizzle but we kept dry with the umbrellas. We started fishing at around 8am after doing our shrimp pots. First spot was in 24ft of water in front of the white post followed by trying spots around 43 ft in the same area. When it got a bit quiet ( Aprox 40 bass caught) we moved into the bay around the first tree where we increased the tally to 77 bass knocking off at 11.30 and back to the ramp by midday. All caught on live shrimp, tagged and released. Best bass 45cm with the majority in the high 30'S. Rick recaptured a bass that he tagged a fortnight ago.

Rick and I went to the Hinze Dam today and participated in a tour of the dam conducted by SEQ water. It was very interesting and informative and included the history of the dam, its operation and the operation of the fish lift where fish wishing to proceed back into the dam are captured in a cage and sorted . Any noxious species such as tilapia and barred grunter are euthanised and bass,mullet, yellowbelly ,eeltailed, catfish,and saratoga are transported up over the dam wall and released. Took the opportunity to have a good yarn with the 2 rangers about different aspects of the dam. Also found that the rangers monitor the different forums to keep them up to date on what is happening on the dams. Sorry no description of the photos.










P1030581.MP4

Started off picking up a few bass from the edges on chatterbaits and spinnerbaits, then when moving between spots I came upon the mother load. Managed 73 bass and all good sized ones.Had to leave them biting as the back couldnt handle it. Bass were all wide to I thought I was as Baroon dam. Hope it is a sign that the bigger bass are returning to the area and they have not all gone over the wall.
Dino

Not a bad day despite the wind being a lot stronger than forecast. After doing 12 of our shrimp pots before the wind got up we headed down to opposite the white post which is located down just before the visitor centre. By this time the wind got up but we did not worry as we immediately started to catch some good sized bass. The wind increased more and it became very uncomfortable with the wind blowing us sideways with the spotlock trying to hold us in position. We then moved into the bay where it was more comfortable and after trying a couple of trees we found some more good sized hungry bass. Up until this move I was happy to have the fish of the day with a 45cm bass and buggermeded Rick pips me with a 52 cm bass that was tagged.  The bass was tagged by S Morgan on 7/6/2018 and measured 48cm so it has had a good growth rate. We knocked off at 11.30 with a total of 56 bass all caught on live shrimp and tagged and released
Cheers Ray

Found a new and exciting way to get some bass yesterday arvo. I would notice a fleeing mullet and cast a lure to where I thought the bass would be chasing it and bingo bass on.I also had a little comp with lures and bait, managed 10 on each,lures  were chatterbaits.Made sure I didnt stay to long, headed home before the back caved in.Wife has ordered me a stool online, so should make life a bit better.(may never come home)
Dino

A bit quieter today with only 40 bass boated. After 6am launch we went straight downstream to opposite the white post and tried everywhere between 25 and 50 feet of water for only 2 under 30cm bass. We went back into the bay and the fish were also scarce but we managed 30 bass around the three trees . Around 10 o'clock we went back in front of the white post for another 10 bass before calling it quits with rain imminent. As normal Joy outfished both of us with Rick getting the largest bass at 45cm. All fish tagged and released and caught on live shrimp.

Had to slip out to NPD this morning to do my traps, glad I did as the bass were fired up. Managed 37 of the hungry buggxrs, although most were small, but managed some good ones to start with from the edges on spinnerbaits and chatterbaits. Seen a bit of lean meat on the way back to the ramp. Hadto leave early as had a doc appointment, had to find out if I had a heart, lucky I did, just double beating a few times. Now I have to have a monitor in a couple of weeks for 24hours.
Dino

I was enjoying myself early this morning, getting into a few and then the sun came up and ruined everything. Bass like the overcast conditions or like hiding in the shade when in the creeks. Still managed several good sized bass with one over 50cm.
Dino

Had a pleasant surprise this morning at the western arm. We launched at 6am to an overcast sky and cool breeze. We were expecting the water to be dirty after the recent rise but the visibility was around 8 feet. We headed straight to the bay where we have been doing ok for the last few weeks and by 9 am had only boated 4 fish with the largest going 32cm. We then went exploring in the trees opposite for nothing and gradually worked our way down towards the dam wall. We found quite a large school opposite the white marker. The fish were located all over a drop off from 45 to 55 feet but some of the fish from the deep side of the drop off were coming up with baurotrauma so I adjusted the spot lock so we were only fishing in 45 feet of water. By 11 am we had caught 88 bass when we knocked off as Amelia was tired from catching fish. Her best bass ( and the fish of the day) went 47cm. All fish caught on live shrimp and released. We were only able to tag 50 fish as suntag are waiting for more tags to arrive and are rationing them.

$1.80 chatterbait with Zman plastic accounted for all my bass this morning and there was plenty. Bass were on the chew because of the overcast conditions.Last bass caught was a 51cm.
Dino