# Tallowa Dam no Bass but great trip!



## timax (Oct 16, 2007)

Saturday morning at 3 am Max and I left Surry Hills to drive down to Kangaroo valley. Coming into the valley from berry was amazing at that time with beautiful light and a valley full of fog. I have been to the dam only once about 20 years ago and was keen to get on the water and up a couple of bends as soon as possible. The water level looked to be up about 20 cm by the submerged water lilies and the colour was like Milo :? I threw a few lures around for what was to be casting practice. I fish a Japan issue Abu 2600 c iar with xtra ball bearings and a ti shaft ultralight spool so it was fun even without fish.
Within the fist hour we saw 1 diamond python in a branch over the river, a wombat, black cockatoos, eagles, kangaroos and hundreds of water dragons swimming,jumping and playing around. It was like being in the zoo! :shock: 
After about 2 hours we put in to make bacon and eggs for breakfast and disturbed a red belly sunning in the same spot we had chosen. All this stuff is great when your there with a 10 year old city boy :lol: 
Where we were headed was to the first rapid which was about 12 k's away so I was expecting to use the tow rope sooner or latter. It wasn't long before the wind came up from the south and our gentle glide up the river turned into one of the hardest slogs I have had! I reccon about a 15kn breeze with gusts to 20, enough to put white caps on the river. You can see in some of the pics how it changed and the rock wall on the left in 1 where we sat in the lee to catch our breaths before poking our noses around the corner. What is normally a 2.5 hour canoe trip took us about 6 hours including a stop for breakfast and some fishing early on. It was great finally landing and making camp before the wind dropped :? Max loved doing all the typical boy stuff like making a fire and cooking dinner and bathing in the river in the nuddy! All great memories. I had another fish on dusk for a while but even with cicada's every where we didn't see any sign of a fish! Very dissapointing. Sunday morning we awoke to rain  and thunder. Thankfully no wind and so the paddle back was only 3 hours again with a fish every now and then. I disturbed a fish on the surface and then saw another boil which got my hopes up until I saw a carp jumping over near some reeds :? I didn't know there were carp in there but then i should have guessed there would be.. In the Shoalhaven arm we saw nobody at all and I don't think many would be able or willing to paddle a canoe into the wind of the saturday but at the ramp there were about 20 canoes that had just come down from the Kangaroo Valley side. A very wet and weary bunch :lol: I would like to explore up that way but the crowd put me off a bit. The pics are just random of some fishy looking water a great camp site and some wet conditions. Sorry NO fish.
Tim and Max


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## timax (Oct 16, 2007)

4 more pics


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## feel the sting (Aug 8, 2006)

timax

never mind about the fish. as i always say catching a fish is a bonus, when you can go to a place as pretty as tallowa.

the sting


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Great part of the world !!! I spent my bucks weekend in the canyons there - Derliverance style !!!!! I was the only one to catch a bass - but what a thumper it was !!!! Great memories for you and your son - what a great dad !!!

Woppie


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## Bart70 (Jan 28, 2007)

Great trip...Dont the kids just love seeing the wildlife!

I used to go to kangaroo Valley and camp at Bendeela - had river touring yaks back then - would paddle up the dam. Took my little fella as a 3yo with me for a short trip once....the water dragons, snakes, wombats...and you can sneak right up to them from the water and most times they arent too concerned. Watched a water dragon and a red bellied black one day...nosed the yak right up to the bank about 2 ft from them...watched with the little fella for near 20 minutes....magic!

There are carp up that way now......is a bugger.....have not had a chance to chase Bass there yet. Santa is bringing my boy a new yak for Xmas so we are hoping to do a trip or 2 back that way in the not too distant future - the rivers are probably a bit safer than the ocean for him at this stage

Great trip report mate.....but the young bloke wont forget it in a hurry!

Cheers,

Bart70


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

Tallowa is my favourite fishing spot. The missus and I camp there a fair bit, down near the dam wall though. I prefer the shoulhaven arm to the kangaroo arm, but either way, it's my favourite bit of water.

The carp are making the bass growth rate go through the roof.


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## timax (Oct 16, 2007)

Koich , where do you normally fish there? Is it usually pretty good? I must say apart from the water colour it looked as fishy as you can get.


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

I have a few spots.

The shoulhaven arm has numerous sunken forests, and the water tends to be a lot clearer because it runs through limestone for a few 100km before tallowa. You can camp at the dam wall, where both arms meet, and it's only a short paddle upstream to get to the really fishy areas.

I also spend dusks and dawns on the river below the dam wall. Wild bass in fast flowing water is the best fun a bloke can have. If you want specific spots, let us know and I'll knock something up for you.


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## timax (Oct 16, 2007)

e. If you want specific spots, let us know and I'll knock something up for you.[/quote]

Thats fine mate , thanks. I just wanted to know if it is worth the trouble normally.
Can you walk the left bank down bellow? How far?
Would love to get a canoe at go all the way to nowra over several days.
years ago when I left school my mate and I drove up from Nowra to some ladies farm,crossed the river,layed a fence down, 8) drove across,put the fence back up and bush bashed for a few k's before getting stuck! :shock: 
Spent about 7 days camped there and fishing from our canoe further up stream. Survived on bass , tequila,and warm red cask wine! We ended up going further up through the bush when we finally dug the land cruiser out a bit per day, to a track that lead to a track that lead to a track that lead to the wrong side of a closed gate with the Water Board no trespassing sign on it! Eventually we came out in kangaroo Valley on the Tallowa road???
That was real wild fishing over 20 years ago and I remember every bit.


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## swampy (Nov 26, 2007)

Sounds like a great father-son weekend looks like a great place to camp I might have to get down there oneday. 

Never mind that you didnt get any fish thats allways a good excuse to try again. :wink: :wink:

Swampy


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Tim what a great experience with the young bloke, and is such a lovely spot, disappointing the weather and fish didn't co-operate but a good read for the rest of us to enjoy with you.


> but the young bloke wont forget it in a hurry!


this will be dredged from Dad's memories a few times to come as well as the years accumulate :wink:


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

timax said:


> Can you walk the left bank down bellow? How far?


A km on the left bank. You can wade across the shallow rapids and switch sides. It gets impassible into a gorge about 6 or so km's down. The first stretch on the left bank has more than enough bass to keep you occupied though. When I was fishing the river a few weeks back, the only lure they were touching were 8 and 5cm nilsmaster invincibles, in any colour.Sky blue is the always the big goer though. Everything else went untouched in 3 days.

If you ever want to do the tallowa to nowra run, let us know, I've been keen to do it for a few years now.


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

I'm up for it too !!!! Warm though please !!

Koich the area you are describing - is that where the water spills over the concrete dam into the valley below ???

I have fished / camped both arms - awesome place. Have had some great success there and some very average. It seems to better when there is less run off and a lower water level. deep divers have always be been the best producers for size - poppers have been fun but nearly always smaller fish

Woppie


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

Yeah woppie, that's the shoalhaven river. the first 500m are off limits. The 500 metre limit pretty much extends to if you can see the dam wall, you are within 500m. The path you take down takes you to the end of the cut off zone anyway.

Woppie is right about the river going better with less water in it though. Look for deep pools with a decent set of rapids in the head or long deep runs. Bass galore.


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

So in theory could you load up the Yak at the start of the river (by the dam) and get through down to the bottom ??? Nowra - thats the trip ??? How many days do you think ??? Is that the same stream that runs through Kanga Val underneath the old castle bridge ??

Woppie


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## Baldy (Oct 1, 2007)

Great report mate and a top effort from the young bloke! better than being at some LAN party playing with his ipod all night :lol: Being out there and braving the elements and living rough for a couple of days would do alot of kids the world of good 

Looking forward to the next adventure and lots of fishy stuff 

cheers
Baldy


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## timax (Oct 16, 2007)

Hey Baldy , nice avatar, I think we saw you in the scrub down there??


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Baldy by the look of your Avatar you too seem to be one for nature :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Either that or you like to dress up in animal suites and go to those KINKY parties in the woods :lol: :lol:


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Tim I think we both had the thought at the same time about Baldy !!!


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

wopfish said:


> So in theory could you load up the Yak at the start of the river (by the dam) and get through down to the bottom ??? Nowra - thats the trip ??? How many days do you think ??? Is that the same stream that runs through Kanga Val underneath the old castle bridge ??
> 
> Woppie


The initial load in to the river would require about a 500m walk carrying the yaks down the track from the dam wall at tallowa.

The river under the bridge in the kangaroo valley is the kangaroo river. That's the other arm of tallowa, the kangaroo arm and the shoalhaven arm.

It's about 50km or less from the dam wall to the bridge at Nowra. I'll do so research on it and find out what the river is actually like


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## timax (Oct 16, 2007)

The Dam to Nowra trip is very level dependent. The lower section I paddled years ago had a few sections only meters wide. Rocks were extremely slippery and there were a few places where you had to drag the canoe a couple of hundred meters. But then with the flow at the moment I think it would be too fast and dangerous. I think 10 ks a day is all you would want to do when your fishing at the same time. Also remember it is very remote so you should take a radio at a minimum in case of some major problem. I was thinking about that on the weekend. If Max had been bitten by that snake it would have been about 4 to 5 hours before I could have gotten him to help because of no phone coverage. And if I had been bitten it would have been up to him to get me to help which is something I would not want to put him through.


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

If worse comes to worse, we can always organise a big akff meet at the dam itself. I'm sure we planned far enough in advance we'd get a lot of interest from the sydney/canberra/south coastal guys. The camp site at the dam wall has more than enough room and then you have the pick of arms to fish. This could be a good idea.

I've got someone getting back to me in regards to the shoalhaven between the dam wall and nowra. From what I can gather, there is a few fairly technical sections that aren't really suited to longer yaks.


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## Baldy (Oct 1, 2007)

:lol: Ah your talking about my good mate Willfred there, I told him what you said and his response was....."Dont be a d!ckhead"

Dont blame me for his hostility, hes still upset the ABC took him off the air 

Cheers
Baldy


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## timax (Oct 16, 2007)

From what I can gather, there is a few fairly technical sections that aren't really suited to longer yaks.[/quote]

We had a 12 foot long kayak and it wasn't easy. 1 of those little bass kayaks and a bivy bag would be good and just drag it over the rock sections.
The bit I paddled if you have a look at google earth is from Burrier up to the sandy looking tributary that enters from the south at about 340 deg North of the Buangla name on the sat/map. It just started to get too hard going. The fishing through there was classic wild bass! Not big but all balls!


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

sounds like a fun trip Tim. I bet the young bloke slept soundly on Sat night after a 3am start and a hard paddle!..

The section of Shoalhaven river around Coolendel (http://www.coolendel.com.au) has fished well for Bass over the last couple of years, and is also a great place for a camping weekend with good water access , nice camping facilities and some great rapids for a cooling swim.

I reckon the section above Coolendel to the dam wall would be pretty much pristine river country, and there should be plenty of Bass in there too - access would be the only issue


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Sounds like a safer trip is just heading up one of the arms again - explore a little further in. I know what your saying about the remoteness Tim - I had 12 pissed up geezers on my last trip - one decided to sleep all night out doors eating mud face down in the rain !!! I like its remoteness - you are in the canyons and close to everything at the top - but it would very dangerous to climb out - you have to paddle to safety and a bit narrow to get the chopper in. I actually got married in Morton Nat Park on a lookout above the water below !!! So the area is very special to me in lots of ways !! I'll post some pics in the new year from sever 8) al of my trips - but for now I have to get on a flight back to Engerland!!


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## timax (Oct 16, 2007)

I thought the mozzies were getting bad until this thing went past :shock: :shock:


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## fisherdan (Apr 17, 2007)

Count me in for the future trips guys, I can't wait till that water is 20 min's from home (next March if all goes well) When I camped on the north west side It was great access, I'll check the maps!

Lucky I've kept my old Dagger "river assault" yak!


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## timax (Oct 16, 2007)

fisherdan said:


> Count me in for the future trips guys, I can't wait till that water is 20 min's from home (next March if all goes well) When I camped on the north west side It was great access, I'll check the maps!
> 
> Lucky I've kept my old Dagger "river assault" yak!


 I hope you will let us know when the water is looking good.


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## fisherdan (Apr 17, 2007)

timax said:


> I hope you will let us know when the water is looking good.


Sure will, very nice work on the Dadding there too Tim, I can't wait to have fun like that with my boys, can't wait.


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## hobieone (Nov 22, 2007)

Hi Woppie , If you need info on Tallowa or the Shoalhaven River ring old Ronnie ( 0412433269 ) he is the Pres of Southern Bass. The trip down from the dam wall is well worth the effort, but you can get out at a couple of places namely Coolendell or Gradys. Gradys is on tidal limit of the Shoalhaven River and Coolendell about 4 to 5 klicks upstream. Cheers & beers


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

Hobieone: How dependent on flow is the trip?


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