# "Fish of the Month" - Australian Bass



## Davey G

Good info there Steve - thanks. I've never ever fished for Bass, but hope to change that this summer.


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## ausbass

Good selection of info that covers all the techniques. 

I might add a short section on bait fishing cause it does work and a good backup if the artificials just arent cutting it. 8)

Freshwater shrimp are the best bait for bass, caught with a fine mesh dip net in aquatic weeds.
Crickets (especially black crickets) are a good bait as well, its just a bit more difficult to catch them so thats why I prefer shrimp. But when we have a weekend set away for dam fishing, we call up the local pet store and put an order in for a few boxes of the largest crickets they can get.
Another bait we have tried, but not so successful with the larger fish is meal worms, once again these can be bought from pet sores. With these using at least 3, allow the bait to be large enough to be cast and to be seen by the fish.

A successful rig for using bait is to pin them with a small jighead and cast them as close to structure as possible, then allow to sink slowly and hold on because the fish usually grab it and run.

If you arent that attentive, adding a small float about 1-1.5m above the jighead will allow the hook to set when the fish turns.

Hope that helps.


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## johnny

top reply StevenM...troll dead slow...outside weed beds..look for gaps in weed...note drop offs,trees,rock faces....bibless lures can be fast retreived for reaction strikes across flats!....use a finder,drop marker over school...drop ice jig,2 lifts slightly,flutter down...or tournament tail spinners in purple like prickly petes to the school....fly-deceiver,bass vampire in purple,sinking line,cast past holding deep fish on finder-strip slowly with small jerks or fast strip....learnt from the south east Queensland tournament fellas


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## Levi

Name: Levi

Where I Fish: Rivers + creeks- E.g Clarence catchment and Nepean system (this is only on rivers and streams as I don't fish lakes)

Endless topic, but i'll add my favorites here.

Rod / Reel I Use: Diawa Tierra and exceler 2000 and Pfleuger trion combo. 4lb braid, 6-10lb fluro leader (mono on small surface lures). Fly rod 6w loomis, weight fwd 6wt floating line, various leaders
I used to love bait casters, though have downsized to the spinning gear which gives more options on shy fish i feel.

*Hard Body Lure: *
Surface-my number one is Tiny torpedo by Heddon, and various walk the dog types (Sugar pen, red Pepper, sammy). The good old jitterbug has taken a back seat these days, just a personal thing.
Diving-Any high quality stubby diver with a tight action. Manns 5+, Sx40, good o'l craw daddy, jackall chubby etc..
Spinner baits are also a great option, almost snag proof and will get great aggression strikes!








*Soft Plastic:* 
Lately i have found these to be the key when the fish shut down/turn their noses up due to heavy pressure (that is if I don't have a fly rod wit me). In the rivers and creeks i fish i will use as little weight as possible (1/16-1/32 normally). Favorites are Gulp 3' minnow and 3' grub in Pumpkin seed. Fished with a twitch and pause action. You will get hits on splash down, pauses, and even mid strip








*Flys- *
Zonker types for wets are favorites, great action. I tie one with a chenille body, zonker down the back and hackle skirt up front, wire ribbbing and bead chain eyes. Generally anything that pulses nicely works for me (Pink things, etc also good). Size 20-60mm generally.
Dry flys- i like to tie anything from a black cricket replica through to a Dahlberg divers and full blown 4 inch long dear hair mouse imitation complete with eyes and ears. When the fishing is tough i find the smaller flys work a treat and when aggressive fishing on hot summer afternoons i step it up to some Dahlberg divers and mouse imitations. if they shut down or turn off the lures, subtle accurate flys will often win out (try black cricket types and small zonker type minnows)

if you want more specific just ask away.

*Techniques: *
Structure is number one. Fish up close, 20cm further in can be the difference between a 50-60cm ripper and nudda!

*Fishing tree lined banks *and casting WAY UP under overhanging Callistemon etc will bring many a fish undone. If you land it on a branch, try to relax and twitch it until it drops in, this will often bring a big fish unstuck as they really think it's a prey item dropping into the water. To me a lure that can be landed on a branch and twitched in is the ULTIMATE cast (note it can also mean paddling in and ruining any chance of fish!)
When using floating divers, and surface lures etc, a GOOD cast will often provoke a strike right on splash down.. or just give a small twitch and wait for the explosion!
Yakking gives a great opportunity to cast up under trees and let the drift down stream allow a slight parallel retrieve to the bank and more time in the strike zone.








*Broken rock banks, submerged trees and under water snags* also produce, even mid stream structure. The same applies get up close, if you're not snagging up every now and then, your too conservative.
Mid stream structure in fast water is a real big fish holder, out of the current, but plenty of passing food.

I fish some really *fast water, around waterfalls and rapids.* In this instance target the back eddies right next to the main flow. Fish will sit here and take the food that passes by. You can see these by rock/logs that come out of the wall to break the flow , or midstream boulders below the surface recognized by the swirls above. Big water Clarence bass will sit in these with no structure, just the back eddy to hold them out of the current.








*FOAM- *under foam pools, rough water (small floods etc) makes foam that banks up to hold fish. BIG bass will often hold under these as it offers both protection and also is generally the place where food items will be swept. A good foam pool can hold many bass, I have caught 3-4 big bass from one pool (40-55cm long), so never over look these.








Also in small stream, just like trout the bigger fish normally sit near the head of the pool catching the incoming food, and good fish also near the tails, though generally the largest hold the best positions near the head.

At night you can fish weed banks and shallow open water also, though that's a whole chapter on its own.

*My Hot Tips:* 
Accuracy- Most cases in rivers mean you need to be close to structure- seriously, 20cm difference can mean everything if fish are shy. 
Also, in faster water, landing a fly/lure, with enough slack to hold the strike zone.
Get right up under overhanging branches, running parallel to sunken structure&#8230;. Nothing beats a yak for this, low in the water and you can set a perfect drift.
Watch the river flow like you would fishing for trout, and think where the current will bring food to the fish with as little effort as possible in fast water.
]


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## Jacks

Thanks for that detailed info LEVI. And great pics. I personally have never fished for bass. But will do when the season opens. Cant WAIT!


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## colzinho

UNREAL INFO guys thanks. Im a novice, only 1 season bass fishing under my belt on 3 different rivers so good to read some experienced guys secrets, really generous of you.
Where: anywhere bass are roumered to be.
Gear: The gear is pretty simple I reckon you don't need mega bucks stuff, but its nice. A 1500-2500 reel and a bream rod is OK, I fish 4lb braid I started thicker but found that the thin stuff gives your lure a lot more dive and action. I got an awesome little Shimano speedmaster telescopic with a little penn 1000 reel for river trips which folds down for the rapids and when dragging the yak/canoe - Ive gone through a couple of exy rods bassing already.
Lures: Ive stuck pretty much to surface lures when I can and minnows when the surface action isn't happening. Favourites are bushies stiffy popper, R2S Cicada pop and for minnows/divers Kmart Superbass Halco scorpion 55mm, Rapala shad-wrap. Ive got fish on the usual 40mm bream lures too sx40 strikepros etc whatever is in the tackle box.
Techniques: Cast and wind  seriously if fish are in the spot they will go for the lure. The closer you get into the hidey-holes the better when fishing tight structure with a minnow go for a floating one so if you feel it catch/snag you can back off and it will come free. The other thing I like about the floating ones is that if you get a hit while its on top you can switch to a surface lure.


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## tomca

I only target impoundment bass myself, with mainly spinnerbaits, and can add nothing to Stevens report. My girl fishes with bait and soft plastics. Shrimp are #1 bait. No matter how small it is, just tossing an unweighted hook over the side with a shrimp pinned through the tail can almost guarantee a fish. Earthworms drifted down through the water column also work fairly well. 
Soft plastics woth resin head jigs and grub tails in greens and browns do the damage for her.
On Sunday at Hinze Dam I barely got a touch on lures and she was pulling in fish after fish on worms.








In the warmer weather, surface luring is very exciting. Big poppers get smashed at Clear Island Waters, but the bass shy away from the same lures at Maroon Dam, and best results are from 30-40mm surface lures. 
I haven't found them to be fussy about flies at all. It seems that if I cast one amongst them they will strike, but along the weed margins is the best place for me.








I use a 2-4kg Baitcaster with 10lb braid and a 6wt fly rod when targeting bass and my girl has a light spin combo loaded with 6lb braid. 
We catch fish all year round and I only ever came home empty handed once and that was from Somerset a couple of years ago.


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## Nativeman

Name : Nativeman

Where : I fish two types of areas, Dams and Rivers

Rod/Reel : I like rods 6'6" Fast action/1000 - 2500 Reels/ 6-8lb Fireline/14lb Flurocarbon Leader

Favorite Presentations : Mask Vibes, Blades, Jackalls-Silent and Rattling, Slider Grubs with or without Betts Spinners, Squidgy Fish 65mm and Spinnerbaits

Sounder : Humminbird 343c

Firstly I will just mention why I put my sounder in there, to be a successful fisherperson in an impoundment it is essential that you have the best sounder you can afford. In my case I use the one above, it is colour and has a relatively good pixel count for the dollars, I think its 320 x 240 pixels. You also need to know how to use and know what to look for, knowing what bass looks like on a sounder will help you immensely in catching more bass.The higher the pixel count the easier it is to define when the bass are on the screen thus in the dam. The settings I use is the sensitivity at 95 % and the speed of the screen at 80%.

I will start first with Wivenhoe Dam as I use different Techniques at this dam to any other dam in Qld/NSW. I fish Wivenhoe Dam differently as this dam has a very large population of fork tail catfish. I think at Wivenhoe Dam to keep your presentation silent it is best to use a lure that has no noise.Catfish just love a slow noisy lure, especially green ones. In this dam I favor lures such as Mask Vibes, Blades, Silent Jackalls and Soft Plastics.

I tend to find the fish first by using the sounder and then cast to them using a silent presentation. I hate to troll as I feel trolling you are covering only a small area where as if you are casting you will find more fish as you fan your casts and covering more ground, however I will troll when going from spot to spot that I do know that hold bass.

In Wivenhoe dam I look for what is called flats and drop off points, Generally running through a dam is the old river or creek bed, I search for this and then move off this area looking for the area where the river bed raises out over a flat of land. Often the bass are moving about in these areas looking for food. Also the drop off points where these flats drop off into the river bed often have fish stacked in these areas. This is why you need a good sounder to help you look for areas such as this and tell help you distinguish what information on the screen is actually bass or bait fish.

So once I have found a school I will first hit them with blades, I use blades as they are heavy, the important thing to remember at Wivenhoe Dam if you fish slow you will catch more catfish then bass. Catfish love a slow moving lure, bass probably do too, but to get more bass and less catfish it is best to fish fast. A typical Blade I use will be at least 16 grams. I ones I am using at the moment and I am having great success with are 22 grams. I like these as they sink quick and stay close to the bottom when retrieved. My favorite outfit for a blade is a baitcaster stick, currently I am using a Pflueger Supreme B/C rod matched to my Shimano Curado rigged with 10Lb fireline. I cast the blade out as far as I can, leave the reel free spooling so the blade hits the bottom quick, once the spool stops moving I engage and wind fast for 4 - 6 turns then pause then wind again and then pause and so on. If in deep water and I know fish are present in the area I will simply free spool the blade back to the bottom and start over rather then cast again. This is an exciting way to fish, the bass will hit on the drop, on the pause and just after the pause when you start winding again. The best thing about these lures are they can be jigged as well and when you find a very active school of fish its just a matter of jigging these lures over the school and holding on! You can some times get one after another this way and catch like 10 bass in half an hour.

When I come across fish on a flat that are scattered I tend to use mask vibes and silent jackalls fanning casts using a spinning outfit until you find the fish. Again if you come over top of them and they're schoolling you can jig the mask vibe or the silent jackall. Other people I know troll when they are scattered but I am not a fan of trolling, I prefer the fanning cast method.

If they are shut down and the above techniques don't work I may resort to using an ice jig, this lure swims in arches when jigged if worked slowly. This lure is sometimes irresistible to a bass after seeing it above its heads after a while.

If i am trolling and this is when I do go from one known spot to another( I use a gps or use landmarks) I will mostly troll a masked vibe or a blade, I don't use bibbed lures in Wivenhoe, well not lately.

That's pretty much how I succeed at the Big W.

In other dams other than Wivenhoe, I use almost all the time first thing in the Morning, poppers( I mention in the river section how best to work them) worked over exposed weed beds or weed beds that are just below the surface. I also like to work open edges that have fallen logs, clumps of grass and lily pads near the edge. All the time making sure I stay out of full sunlight, keeping in the shadows. I use these same techniques as the light is fading late in the day and into the night.

As the sun rises I will switch to a bladed type lure, in my case a betts spinner. Other times I will use a spinner bait usually about the 3/8 oz weight and work the weed bed edges. The weed bed edges is where the weed bed ends and drops into deeper water. I will position the kayak at one end of the weed bed and cast and retrieve the lure so as the lure is running along the face of the weed bed. If bass are nearby they will race from the weed and hit the lure. It is best to have your drag set tight in these situations as the bass can bury you quick in the weed if you are not aware.

Again a little later in the day when it is warming up I will look in the middle of the dam for schools of fish or scattered ones, using similar techniques to the ones mentioned in Wivenhoe dam and now as these dams do not hold forktail catfish I will introduce a rattling jackall as l a lure to search for fish. Fan casts in all directions from my kayak until I locate fish. So if the fish are around I will just tend the lure that is working best in this situation either a Jackall, mask vibe, spinner bait or blade.

Again if like in Wivenhoe dam the bass are shut down I will use a ice jig, as most of the dams I fish other than Wivenhoe are a lot shallower, most are around the 30 - 60 foot mark I will also use a husky jerk lure if the fish are shut down. Plenty of lure makers make this style of lure now but I use the rapala husky jerks, they are a lure that can cast and wound down to a depth and once you stop retrieving the lure will suspend in one position, staying still. I remember one day on Maroon dam when I used to own a boat, my friend and I were throwing everything at these suspended schooled bass but they would not bite. We both had a rapala Husly Jerk in our boxes so we tied them on and threw them out. Each time we would wind them down to the fish, pause it and leave it there for up to a minute, as soon as we moved the lure the fish would hit, exciting stuff let me tell you. I think we got about six each from that school before they shut down again.

As the day rolls on, reverve all the techniques back to the edges late in the day and it should work for you.

Again having a good sounder is important. Most bass will be on the bottom of the dam but sometimes they will be suspended in the water column. Times like this I use all the same lures and techniques but I count the lures down to the bottom when free spooling and then work out by the depth and the seconds how fast the lures are sinking. I do the arithmetic and then check where the fish are position on the sounder screen and then work out how many seconds I need to drop the lure before putting my lures in front of there faces. Worth it in the end as you will usually get a hit if they are active.

Here's some pics.
Schooling bass, this is why high pixel count is important to show clear images on your sounder.










These are my favourite Blades at the moment, they're 22 grams, Jaz Brand not Jazz...you won't find them in Brisbane. Rayza 65's










Silent Jackalls, they are the same as the normal ones but without the rattles.








This is an Ice Jig, this one is made by Nilmaster, Strike Pro lures have a range of them too









Jackall Mask Vibes 65mm, a soft plastic version of a Jackall without the rattle.









Ok Rivers and creeks

I use the lightest rods I own, I have two, a 1 - 3 kg Berkley Drop Shot 6'6" with a Shimano Sienna 1000 Reel and The Gra Custom Gloomis IMX8 6"6" 1 - 3 KG with a Shimano Stradic 1000 both are spooled with 6lb fireline and 14lb flurocarbon leader

I mostly only use poppers and occassionally 1/4 once spinner baits and betts spinners.

I like a small surface lure that is black, looks like a cicada. My fav lure is a Teimco Cicada lure.

Other Favs are Torpedos, again black, Jitterbugs, river2sea cicada lures, oh dammit I like lots of them, I'll show you a pic of my poppers soon.

I like to keep quite in the rivers, sneak close to structure and cast very close to trees, logs, and over hanging branches. The best cast you can make in my opinion is to the very edge of the water where it hits the bank, as close as you can with out hitting the bank, pause it for up to 30 seconds then move it. If fish are in the vicinity they will be on the lure. Best retrieves are cast, long pause, move it, wait for the water waves to vanish and move again. Present the lure like it is an insect that has fallen from a tree and is struggling to gain flight.

I just love this style of fishing, its relaxing, you can observe nature close up, you see so many interesting things if you have your eyes on, small birds, insects, small reptiles going about their business. And then you cast that perfect cast to the spot, you wait and then the surface explodes with a hunting bass, is there anything better??

I like to start early for the low light advantages and late arvo sessions for the same reasons or low light overcast days when storms are brewing in the distance.

If the poppers aren't working I switch to a spinnerbait and work the same edges just fishing a little deeper. Same can be done with bettle spins. Bettle spins are a wire jig that allows you to attach a jighead and a soft plastic to turn it into a presentation similar to a spinnerbait.

Thats about it, move slow,cast low and precise and present slow. Its great fun. ;-)

Heres my popper lures, someone please help me


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## Nativeman

Some of my Favorite Poppers










I just love buying poppers, I am addicted, there is about 90 here










The top one is a 1/4 once spinnerbait, as Steven M previously said, A white one is a good color to start with. The bottom one is a betts spinner,I have added a Slider grub on a 3/16 jighead to turn it into a spinner jig.










That's it folks, need some help anytime, pm me ;-)

Cheers


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## Ozzybass

Name: Ozzybass
Where I fish: Rivers & streams (dams suck!)
Lures: All the usual stuff; no trendy Japanese lures as I object to lures costing more than $15!!
Tackle: From UL spin to L baitcaster
Years bassin': 16

As far as fav lures & tips for the great Aussie Bass, I can't really add anything to what's already written here, but I notice one thing that has not been mentioned as being significant - SHADE. IMHO, shade is as important, if not more, than structure & cover. The Aussie Bass takes shade-loving to the extreme! What makes a nothing, shallow weedbed or snag hold fish compared to many other similar-looking spots is the shade factor. Even in relatively open areas, as long as there are other fish-attracting features AND SHADE, a quickly cranked spinnerbait, buzzbait or surface lure can pay dividends.

Think SHADOWY THOUGHTS!


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## bazzoo

Well done guys , gee from the amount and depth of the articles on here its very understandable that people are passionate about their bass fishing , now if we can just lever T Curve out of his hidy hole we will get some great wild river bass info , Sel , thank you for all that info mate very nice


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## vladimir

hi ausbass you mention bait fishing were i fish for bass theres only bass ,redfin ,and carp all these fish love worm .how do i deal with the redfin and carp issuie if im bait fishing i would love to use worms and wich pet stores can i buy them from and how much do the worms ussaully cost .


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