# QLD: Bass'n on the Brissie



## krisvander (Aug 3, 2011)

With Monday looking like it was going to be gusting in all my usual saltwater haunts, I thought I'd take the opportunity to try my hand at some freshwater on the upper Brisbane River. For a public holiday the place was empty, it was great. Of course in this part of the river only kayaks and maybe, just maybe a car topper could be carried down.

I had never caught the elusive (well for me) Australian bass. Didn't quite know what to expect but decided to go about it just with lures. I took out my secondary kayak so all the bells and whistles were not with me so I had to guess depth. But it was much easier to carry & also pull down the embankment.










I was going to entice a bass with either a hardbody lure or a soft plastic. I threw the soft plastic around for a bit then decided to just go for a troll as I had a bit of ground I wanted to check out today. Just a couple minutes in, I had a huge hit on the lure. What ever was on, it was big. I was trying to get control on the fish when my other line just starts running off... double hook up... what to do! All of a sudden the headshakes stop and I have a deadweight on the line... then *ping*. Busted off... So I grab my other line... same thing as it also went into the underwater tree. Double hook up with zero conversions. I spent the next bit of time tying new lures back on.

As I explored, there were just down timber after downed timber. It was pretty thick at some spots. I must've had to save my lure a dozen or so times today from just catching the branches.

I also had a go for some practice casting my baitcaster to work my rapala xr6. I can now official say... I dislike baitcasters. I spent a bit of time cutting out two birds nests. Not happy Jan. I almost was going to stop using it for the rest of my time on the water, but I cleaned it out again. Good thing too because 30 minutes later I had it go off and it wasn't a branch, it was my first bass. A quick scoop of the net and I have my very first Australian bass. It was just a smaller guy at 31cm, but still very exciting for me. I found out quickly with a bit of pain that Australian bass have sharp spikes on their gill cover like a flathead... the bass I grew up with had nothing of the sort.










Objective one was now complete. The other objective was to catch a fish, any fish on my soft plastic. I grew up as a bait person and still am set a bit in my bait fishing ways. I only learned how to use hard bodies last year and even though I had all the needed gear for plastics and would try for a bit most times out, I had caught nothing. But today, today was different. For my 100th or so cast to the other side of the river, right in a bit of current, I worked the plastic as I had almost every time when all of a sudden the line tightened and I was on! Finally! After a pretty easy fight I had netted a 41cm bass.










The rest of my time was just a nice paddle back to my launch point, only to lose another xr6 100 metres from where I would be pulling out. It was one of those branches that is just barely out of reach and I couldn't get a good hit on it with my paddle.

Two major bustoffs, three lures lost and my first two Australian bass. A nice day on the water. Did I mention, no worry of tide times or major currents other than one in one direction? Freshwater is simple, not to mention not needing to do a major scrub down on gear... but I still prefer the saltwater fish.

-Kris


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## Kahuna (Aug 9, 2010)

Good stuff. Shame about the birds nests and lost lures.


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## WayneD (Jul 11, 2006)

Congrats on your first bass Kris. Where did you launch from and did you see any floating dead catfish?


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## krisvander (Aug 3, 2011)

Hey Wayne,

Launched from the area now known as "A Tale of Two (illegal) Fences", which I know you'll understand and yes there were heaps of dead catfish. The launch place was clean & I had no dramas. The water was very dirty at launch because of the cattle's mud pit.

-Kris


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## bildad (Jun 20, 2011)

Congrats on the Bass, but I must say they are skinny buggers.


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## geminiwraith (Nov 26, 2010)

bildad said:


> Congrats on the Bass, but I must say they are skinny buggers.


I noticed that too. Is that a normal thing for wild bass? I've only ever caught them from impoundments.

Nice work though. Those 41cm models seem pretty common wherever you go. :lol:


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Kris well done on being rewarded for your efforts with the couple of bass, congrats mate.


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## scorpio (Dec 15, 2009)

Great write up. Thanks for the read.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Being yet to lay eyes on a bass I read these trip reports with interest, especially the ones like this one where someone gets their first bass. Great report.


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## AJD (Jul 10, 2007)

Great report Kris and well done on getting your first bass mate. May there be many more to come.


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## simonsrat (Feb 13, 2009)

good stuff Kris. Double hookup would have been awesome.

Invest in a Tackleback .... it is contraption that slides down your line so you can retrieve lures under the water. If you save one lure it pays for itself.

cheers,

S


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