basshunter1987

Took young Dennis out to North Pine for a fish yesterday, but his camera battery was dead before we even started. So for this report, you’ll have to give me all the likes and compliments instead. Don’t worry, I’ll pass them on We checked a few shrimp pots first up, including one that had previously been lost from the float being cut off. The pot was sitting mostly above the water, but amazingly, still had plenty of live shrimp in it. I told @Dinodadog that today would be so good on lures that I bet we don’t even touch the shrimp.... We had our sights set on a few spots where we could cast to the edges. Spinnerbaits worked nicely last trip, so we wanted in on that action again. Most of the water fished was actually very shallow (less than 3m), SUPER clear, and had thick weed beds. The spinnerbaits were basically retrieved just below the surface, and the fish would burst out of the weed to hit them. Caught a few fish trolling along the way, but spent most of the morning getting our spinnerbaits smashed by the chunkiest of winter Bass. Had hoped the yellow fish would also turn up, and watched as Dennis caught one now and then. Finally managed one myself as last fish of the day. As we hit the thrusters and headed back to the ramp, I pointed to the shrimp laden esky..... “Told ya”.... Luke

Here's a little fishing tale of a big North Pine Dam bass. In August 2012, Dennis (@Dinodadog) recorded a new PB for himself when he captured quite a sizeable bass. This fish was huge, and fell only just short of the magical 60cm mark, coming in at 58.5cm. Being this size, the bass was probably quite old, maybe even 15 years or more. Adding to this, the fish had at some point been captured at least once before, as it had an old algae encrusted tag stuck in its back. Unfortuately though, there were no records of this tag. Since that day, on almost every trip out to the dam, I wonder where that bass is, and hope that someday we'll see it again. I mean, it would surely be 60cm by now! Well, skip forward to June 2016. Another fisherman by the name of Charlie was out on the dam hunting a big bass himself. Charlie was currently enjoying greatest month of his fishing life, nailing a few whoppers and it would be fair to say he was in great form! He hooked and landed the biggest bass he'll see for a long time, laid it out on the brag mat, and up comes a new PB of 58cm. Charlie, absolutely thrilled, also notices this fish has a crusty old tag in its back. The details are sent in to Suntag, and back come the results that link these two very lucky fisherman. Charlie and Dennis, both recaptured the very same bass four years apart. The fish had not grown one bit! The very slight difference in measurement can be explained by small variations in measuring devices, or possibly that the bass was in fat winter condition when Dennis caught it, and a bit slimmer (and even older) when Charlie found it. So, if you're hoping to see that whopper you caught again one day, it is very possible! Catch and release, so someone else can land the big one! Link to Dino's original post that the fish first featured: Luke

Yep! The Redclaw chew through them like Tubby Taylor at first slip! That and, they're not as strong, tend to rot (a lot faster than gutter guard ever will), and the netting holes get clogged up with algae fairly quickly. The traps you speak of are useful for shorter times in the water, but our shrimp pots live on the bottom 24/7. I use opera house traps with a smaller hole for some of my pots, and they're pretty good, although have some of the same issues as the collapsible square traps.