North Pine Dam

[PinHead]

I am after some advice and tips please. I have never been freshwater fishing before but seeing as NPD is not too far from me I thought i might take my 6 year old grandson and give it a go.

okay..the questions are:
1. Easiest access road
2. Can you fish from the bank
3. What type of gear is most commonly used.
4. Lures?????
5. Are bass the fish most commonly caught in there?

any other info you may like to share????

Thanks in advance.

[tiny_tinny]

I would appreciate similar advice. Also, can you still get redclaw in NPD? I remember reading about this a few years back. I would like to catch a few to keep in an aquarium.

Thanks,

Mke

[chrisallangler]

Judging from the reports about npd latley it's a great fisherie and bass are definatley the most commenly caught fish, the gear: well i havent fished it, but i would guesss Jackalls because i haven't seen a bass not like them but, if there too expensive for your liking grab some kokoda G-vibes they are not as good but they do catch fish. At some shops the G-vibes are selling 3 for 10. Tiny

[Cammy]

Hey mate im not much with lures all i no is use jackalls and vibes work a treat.other aus fish members do quite well on lures at the dam but im still waiting for my hookup.

With bait fishing use ur standard rod nothing special, the bait you could use is prawns, nippers(saltwater), yabbies,worms, grubs, and mussels. the baits i have tried and work good for me are the prawns and mussels. mussels usually catch catfish and lung fish, the lung fish are totally prtected return to the water immediatly. i have caught yellabelly and spangled perch with the prawns and the odd lungfish. the mussels u find at the edges of the dam.

one of my favorite spots is at forgans cove, its a fair walk,but follow the water to the left side of the dam until u reach the no access flags and drop a line in there. or if ya dont want to walk that far with ya grandson, just try somwhere thats open, dont try to fish the arms of the lake, as you will probably get turtle after turtle.

as for redclaw, i havent yabbied there for a while, but when i do i use a yabby trap, as bait just use kitchen baits, or pilchards, pillies work great.

can definatly fish the banks but we have a boundary, at forgans you can walk to the left side all the way until u reach white flags, after that its a no go zone.
on the right hand side you can walk all the way around until u meet more white flags at the dam wall. (sry i was unable to get a pic)

and for bait fishing the most common fish caught are lungfish and catfish.they are pretty good fighters

hope that helps.

cam

[shayned]

Greg,
For your 6 year old grandson, there are a couple of better approaches which will give him a better day out. I'll PM my mobile as I don't have enough time to type it all out at the moment, if you'd like a little advice give me a bell and I'll try to help. I'll post a photo of a recent day we did with some local kids.

Not a bad bit of fun for 11 inexperienced kids in about an hour and a half.8-)

[bruza80]

Hey mate. I found that the better places require a bit of a walk so it might be worth it. If the little fella isnt up for it maybe just try close to the carpark and take wehat you can get.

If you wanna use lures i found the cheap G Vibes are pretty alright(usuually 3 for 10 bucks at ##### #########) or pick up a few purple coloured spinners from whereever and they seem to do the trick.

P.S watch wourself in the no go zones as the rangers are cracking down a bit lately

I have seem people catching a bit of everythign down the rock wall at McGavin View on bait so maybe tha'll be the way to go with the young fella in tow. Anyway good luck with it and i hope you get enough to get the young fella pumped on the sport.

[Little grey men]

Hey Pinhead, I fish North Pine every weekend with my boy (5 1/2 )
Mcgavins or Forgan Cove will produce fish without a real lot of walking, Mcgavins being the easier option. Standing at Mcgavins park you'll see heaps of easy banks to fish from. The deepwater is usually better if you want to get onto some bass. Look for banks that slope steeply down and you'll be right. I usually fish Forgans Cove area, because it's quieter and produces more fish for me.
Light to medium spin gear or baitcasters are the weapons of choice. I use both with different lures. Lure choice is very diverse, lipless crankbaits are effective, Jackalls, Spro's, Rattlin Rapala's, G vibes. Spinnerbaits and Soft plastics will take bass no problems as well.
If you want the young bloke to get onto some fish, it might be worth your while to take some worms out there.
Using lures mentioned you'll most likely hook bass, but the occasional Yellowbelly will show up. Catfish and Tilapia are more commonly taken on baits.

Send me a pm if you want more info.

[Fitzy]

Heres a map of permitted access areas for Lake Samsonvale (http://www.sweetwaterfishing.com.au/Samsonvale.htm)

http://www.sweetwaterfishing.com.au/images/SamsonvaleSign1.jpg

Cheers,

Fitzy..

[Pretzil]

I live quite a way from NPD but used to love going up and catching red claw, unfortunately I stopped when it seemed to be running out of water (i always found there were more redclaw when the grass on the banks was recently submerged). Anyways, what is the level of the dam at the moment? Worth heading back there?

[Cammy]

i think it's around the 15% margin,im not quite sure though. but the last time i went out (about 2 weeks ago) the dam had risen and there was hardly any mud just shrubs and grass on the banks, the dam was looking much healthier. and yer it's worth going there for bass fishing, but im not too sure about the redclaw sry mate.

cam

[ernie cox]

I was up the dam a few weeks ago & could not get near the water due to long grass in & out of the water, I was near the dam wall below the picnic area.
I could not evn get a line in the water.so I attempted to try forgans cove & when I parked the car I was talking to a guy who had just come back from that area & told him about the grass in the water & he told me the same problem was there as well, so i didnt even bother checking myself I decided to go home instead.
Guys is it like that all over or are some areas accessable for fishing.

[shayned]

weedless and surface style lures the best at moment. Spinner baits worth the go. Dont bother with any type of diver unless you have deep pockets.