Friday night Bass whackin

Author: josh

Category: Trip Reports

Created on Friday, 19 March 2010 20:16

Written by Josh

With enough after-work energy in reserve to pedal into the out-going tide this evening, it didn't take me long to reach Rocky Mouth from the launching area. The fact that I could see birds working the water spurred me on somewhat perhaps. Whatever these birds were working were pretty small, though amongst other debris floating underneath, some of the marks appearing on my sounder were indeed good fish. I was on my first run up through a short passage of water I like to troll when the first hit came - a quick bite and then released. A few minutes later, however, while twitching the lure while trolling (a 3"Gulp minnow on a Mantis lure stinger jig) something grabbed on and didn't let go, pulling hard and going for a sharp run. A minute or so later, badda-bing, badda-bass!

I shouldn't have been surprised with all this fresh water coming through, but I was at first - not just it's species, but also it's size. I didn't measure or weigh it, but I'd say it was probably around the 55cm mark and weighing a couple of kg at least. After a quick couple of snaps it was released back into the muddy waters of the Clarence for him, safe and sound.

Later joined by local Col in his Adventure Island fully rigged (I was using mine in outrigger mode) and we fished for another hour or so - pulling up a couple of small flathead - and watched the sun go down over the river. Both of us got a few more good bites from strong hardy fish (possibly more bass) but neither of us were able to hook into any more good fish. On the way back, however, I passed over a short stretch of water that showed just as much promise as it did on my way out. This is the first time I've used my M68c sounder in this part of the Clarence, and I've noticed some interesting aspects on other sounders before, but the clarity the m68c provides gave me a clearer picture about what's going on, and where. Most notable of this new spot X is the proliferation of fish, and the size of them. I've never stopped to fish this area heavily before - mainly because its so much deeper than other parts of the river I tend to fish (so the lures I have at the ready aren't suitable) but I think I might give it a go this weekend. Now I have to devise a strategy to try and catch what's down there. I'm going for mulloway!