# Qld, Half a metre of Wivenhoe Bass



## Nativeman (Sep 6, 2005)

I hit Wivenhoe today for the first time in ages.

The forecast was brilliant, light winds all day. I slept in and made it out there for launch at 10.45 am from the Sailing Club. I headed straight up to the Horse Paddock where I was fishing last year with huge success. I had been up there during previous trips and had found nothing, it was much the same today, no schools to be found or even a bait fish school. I made my way from the Horse Paddock back towards Brads Point. Last year when traveling from the Horse Paddock to Brads I would always pick up fish on the troll.

I was paddling over scattered fish and then I would come up on a small school, nothing massive but something worthwhile to fish. This is where I use a buoy, this is something every serious bass impoundment fisherman should have. Its easy to mark the spot on you GPS but its hard to navigate back or even know where the school is at glance. A buoy gives you instant visual contact to where the school of fish is holding. The forecast today was for 4 - 5 knots but the wind was stronger than that so I only had a small window of opportunity to fish it each time as I would drift quickly. So I would paddle up to the school, drop over a blade and work it fast. I was dropping it down, hopping it and then burning it up to the mid water. I was having trouble getting it to sound properly so I brought up the blade and moved the clip back to the furthest attachment towards the back of the blade. This was perfect as the blade was diving down quickly, I felt a bump on the line and I thought it was a catfish as they often tap on the lure before hitting it so I burnt the blade vertically fast, instantly I had a massive hit. The blade would have been almost halfway up the water column along way from the sounding, I almost lost the rod it hit so hard. I knew it had to be a bass, as I know a catfish won't swim fast to get to a lure.

I had forgotten how these fish fight, this fish had several hard runs and when I would gain line it would take it back. I had a lost a massive bass the last time I was out here due to me working the rod too severe so I took my time as I knew by the way it was fighting it had to be a bass. Sure enough it hit the surface after me taking my time and loosen the drag several times to let it tire. I was careful not to give it any slack as I reach back for the net, I swam it into the net and I had to short handle the net to lift it in as it was very heavy. It was like a football, absolutely massive and thick, it was like it had been on steroids, there must be some good bait out there to chew on.I put it on the ruler and the hinge broke and the second half of the ruler took a swim, so I took a mark on the base plate and measured it here at home, it was a perfect 50cm long.

I took the usual photos and let it go, I swam it beside the kayak and it an instant it awoke and took off splashing me all over in the process. I made the mistake of releasing the fish back on the school and after that the fish shut down. Whatever I tried, they just weren't interested. As it turned out this was to be the only fish for the day, disappointing as I thought it was a start of a good session. The wind was annoying at times and it was hard to find fish anywhere, it seems as the dam is full the fish are well and truly spread. I made my way over to where Estuary Girl(Toni from KFDU) had caught here giant bass from a while ago and no fish were over there either. Anyway it was a great day on the water, I paddled 10.5 kms and spent 4 hours looking around collecting information for next time. Its not the biggest bass I have caught out there but I was happy for my efforts today.


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## smaas (Oct 5, 2009)

With cracker Queensland weather, who cares if you get a fish, but you ended up with a nice one sel.

Any idea of what size bass could be in wivenhoe?

Cheers Steve.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Well done Sel another nice outcome, BigW is certainly a special place when the chilly weather arrives.


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Sel , you old demon Bass fisher you , well done mate great bass , your the bass man Sel


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## Nativeman (Sep 6, 2005)

smaas said:


> Any idea of what size bass could be in wivenhoe?
> 
> Cheers Steve.


Steve I have been fishing Wivenhoe for about three years solid now maybe four and the biggest I have caught myself has been around 58cm overall. There might a few 60cm ones in there but they will be hard to find.

The bass I caught yesterday is really a rat as once you start fishing out there you will consistently catch bass of this size. A 50cm bass is considered to be a milestone for alot of bass fishers but at Wivenhoe you will catch bass this size non stop when you get onto a good school of them. I have heard the likes of Steven M and Wayne D when fishing in the company of them saying "oh no not another rat 50", we are all chasing that 60cm one these small ones are just standing in our way.

Those in the know reckon that once hits 50cm they are not likely to grow much larger, if they do grow larger it will be at a very slow pace. Anyway its bound to happen one day, one of us will get one and that day will be special for the lucky angler whoever it happens to be.

I'm keen as to go back next week so if anyone wants to tag along let me know and we can launch out of Logans Inlet where the comp is being held again this year. I will be heading out there Saturday if the winds are right...

Cheers


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## fishinnut (Oct 4, 2009)

Very, very nice bass


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## mehi (May 25, 2009)

Every time you post a bass pic Sel it's a beauty, awesome fish mate look forward to the next one


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## clarkey (Jan 13, 2009)

Nice one Sel that's a fine bass,to bad the school shut down.
Clarkey


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## Southerly (Apr 20, 2007)

Wow, very nice bass there and great hints as well, thank you.

David


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## Nativeman (Sep 6, 2005)

mehi said:


> Every time you post a bass pic Sel it's a beauty, awesome fish mate look forward to the next one


Thanks Dave

That was pretty small by Wivenhoe standards...the next one will be bigger I promise ;-)

Cheers


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## Seadog (Nov 5, 2007)

Nice Bass sel so does this mean that anything under 50 cm is classed as a rat bass in your book ;-)


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## YakCult (Nov 4, 2008)

Well done Sell - a good fish indeed!  
I've got a few lately, but only around the 43 mark - thank goodness winter is starting to encourage the next size up -
As always - an excellent report!


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## boc (Feb 17, 2009)

Hi Sel, nice bass. It would be interesting to know when fish of this size and bigger were stocked into the dam. I'll definitely have to get out there for a fish sometime soon. I'm yet to fish the impoundments from the yak and haven't fished them since my teens (about 12 years ago). Seeing reports like this does make me want to dust off the little old abu 1500.

cheers
Ben


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## boc (Feb 17, 2009)

Hi Sel, nice bass. It would be interesting to know when fish of this size and bigger were stocked into the dam. I'll definitely have to get out there for a fish sometime soon. I'm yet to fish the impoundments from the yak and haven't fished them since my teens (about 12 years ago). Seeing reports like this does make me want to dust off the little old abu 1500.

cheers
Ben


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## Nativeman (Sep 6, 2005)

boc said:


> Hi Sel, nice bass. It would be interesting to know when fish of this size and bigger were stocked into the dam. I'll definitely have to get out there for a fish sometime soon. I'm yet to fish the impoundments from the yak and haven't fished them since my teens (about 12 years ago). Seeing reports like this does make me want to dust off the little old abu 1500.
> 
> cheers
> Ben


Gee Ben, you are making me think now, I am a member of the Wivenhoe and Somerset Fish Stocking association and I do remember attending a meeting last year where they handed out information stating when the dam was stocked with what fish and which year. But me being an idiot threw the said document out one day when I was cleaning up my fishing room. I reckon these big fish would have to be over 10 years old, anyway I'll find out for sure and get back with the info.

Ben, check out the site in my signature, I have some video's on there of some bass I caught out there on my kayak from last year. I was going to head out there tomorrow for a fish but as usual the weather has turned to absolute crap for the weekend, so it looks like yard and home duties for me tomorrow. If the weather improves I may be out there Sunday Morning...

Cheers


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## andrewyakfisherman (Oct 5, 2010)

Nativeman said:


> I hit Wivenhoe today for the first time in ages.
> 
> The forecast was brilliant, light winds all day. I slept in and made it out there for launch at 10.45 am from the Sailing Club. I headed straight up to the Horse Paddock where I was fishing last year with huge success. I had been up there during previous trips and had found nothing, it was much the same today, no schools to be found or even a bait fish school. I made my way from the Horse Paddock back towards Brads Point. Last year when traveling from the Horse Paddock to Brads I would always pick up fish on the troll.
> 
> ...


Mate your a good as kayak angler please can you give me any tips for catching bass


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## Nativeman (Sep 6, 2005)

andrewyakfisherman said:


> Mate your a good as kayak angler please can you give me any tips for catching bass


I could give you some here, but I would be repeating myself, no time for that.

Go here, viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34328

Also check out the website on my signature, its all there, under tips...

Cheers


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