Fishing Australia

This week I pick up my adventure on the way to Bass Heaven.

About 15 kilometers from Bass Lodge the dusty dirt road hugs the escarpment and draws Parallel to Georges Creek below. The view is reminiscent of the bass creeks and streams along the south coast, but lots greener and with a much grander escarpment.

The rock solid Cypress Pine Bass Lodge was not only a unique welcome, it is ideally placed in the middle of the valley at the junction of Georges Creek and the MacLeay; bass central really…

We unpacked our gear headed up Georges Creek to meet a farmer who had given Thommo and our guide Youngy access to some usually inaccessible waters. After the compulsory chin wag and a few laughs we started fishing.

I got a little bass around 25 cm second cast, but things died off a little after that.

We spotted a few lunkers and had a few follows, but later found that the farmer had just let a camp group through and as a result the fish were a little lure shy.

Youngy had other spots he knew were firing on the Georges which on it’s own is 30km of Bass Heaven, but darkness a cooked meal with a cold sherbet lured us back to the lodge.

The lack of results early up didn’t phase me at all; bass fishing is not about rushing and nothing was going to rattle this little black duck. We had arrived safely, my mobile phone was out of service, we had some good company and a hell of a lot of pristine water to explore. It was like an end of year school camp and nothing was going to stop us from having a good time.

After a cosy nights sleep in the lodge we had a mid morning start with view to fish late into the evening. We 4WDrived along some very hairy tracks and launched our Hobies in a pool some 5 kilometers above the lodge.

Daves partner Cillia took the 4WD home so that we could fish our way back downstream to the lodge, great system that and all part of the service.

By now it was the middle of the day and while Armidale and Coffs Harbor on the coast were around 34 degrees, it was a sweltering 44 degrees in the valley-pretty soon everyone was cooling off in the soft clear river water.

To me this is one of the real attractions of bass fishing in summer, no sharks, jelly fish, or crocs; just clear un spoilt fresh water that begs you have a dip when ever need be.

Despite peppering the overhanging trees for 20 minutes, the first good bass came out of the middle of a 20 foot deep hole mid retrieve. A superbly condition bass of over 40 centimeters at mid day during a heat wave-no words required.

Several more fish followed, most just above 40 centimeters and the mojo was building now.

The outfits were straight forward, a 3-4 kilo spin stick, a 30 sized spinning reel loaded with 3 kilo braid and a rod length of 10 pound fluorocarbon leader.

At the business end was a 6cm long Rapala Clackin' Rap Bibless Minnow. We pretty much stuck to these lures the whole time because they are just so versatile.

Cast in hard under the trees or as close to the bank as you can, let it them fall to the bottom on a tight line, and then work it back over the snags and rocks. By varying the retrieve speed or rod tip height you can work these lures as shallow or as deep as needed and the bass hit them with gusto.

The rattle also helped attract fish when the lure was half way back in deep water. Youngy recommended bibbless minnows and with everyone now convinced they were the go, we were able to concentrate on staying mobile and hitting new areas rather than stopping to change lures.

Next week the pace lifts another notch when I venture even further off the beaten track. Can’t wait to write about it.

Rob Paxevanos