Bass fishing for Dummies

[Apollo]

I have a creek at the back of my property and I know in the past has had bass caught in it. It hasn't been fished in for 10 years, so who knows what is in it now (droughts, etc), but I keen to give it a go as I am the only one who can get aCcess to it. I don't have any real freshwater experience (just salt), so would appreciate some help. Assume I know nothing (probably a safe bet). I will try to describe the creek to the best of my ability and hopefully someone(s) can give me some pointers on what to use, look for and some techniques.

I have a weir in the creek and the water backs up 2-2.5km. Depth ranges from 30-300cm and width is about 10m. Water is non tidal, dark (tanin) and usually slow moving. There is heavy tree cover over the entire creek, leaving a relatively low light environment. The creek is in the Mary river catchment area. The creek banks are steep side and dense vegetation, meaning that the only real option to fish it is from a canoe. There is plenty of fallen timber on the banks and submerged. There are water holes up and down stream of my weir.

I intend to use a spare light spin gear I have, but ask the following:

What is the best line option - braid/mono, weight, brand
What lure/bait option? - SP/hardbody/popper/spinners - type/brand/size
When to fish? - morning/afternoon/day
What creek features should I be looking for to give myself the best chance?
Is there any special techniques to try/learn?

I could waste a lot of time/money trying to figure this out myself, but I know there are alot of pretty experienced guys/gals here that live and breath bass fishing, so why not get a good start by picking your brains first. Any/all advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

[TonyM]

wow Lucky you, sounds well worth a fish!

I'll try to answer as many questions as I can, although I'm sure some of the more experienced Bass fishos will be able to provide you with more details.

Re the line I use 6lb fireline on my Bass spinstick, although some use heavier (eg 10lb) I reckon 6 would be a good place to start. As usual with braid lure fishing you'll want to add a mono/flouro leader

The way you described the terrain personally I'd be trying surface lures first (always the most fun, and great for shallow areas) and maybe a few shallow divers. If you've got any small surface lures that you'd use for bream fishing they're worth a go for a start.

Casting in under the overhanging branches and around any snags would be worth a going over, and depending on how deep the holes are it might be worth a shot at them with some soft plastics (generally speaking anything up to about 5" can be worth a go)

The freshwater fish usually tend to require a slower retrieve than their saltwater cousins (there are exceptions to this at times).

If you like I could come for a fish with you and share what little knowledge I have :D


You might also like to check out Fitzys sweetwater site as there is a lot of dedicated freshwater guys in there ;)

Hope this helps

Cheers
Tony

[TonyM]

Another tip worth remembering, Bass have soft mouths so make sure your drag is set tight enough to tussle with them when they head for the snags but don't go too hard on them or the hooks will pull!

If you're planning on releasing them handle them with a wet rag as this will help prevent their protective slime from getting removed and help ensure they survive to catch even bigger another day.

[Apollo]

The way you described the terrain personally I'd be trying surface lures first (always the most fun, and great for shallow areas) and maybe a few shallow divers. If you've got any small surface lures that you'd use for bream fishing they're worth a go for a start.


If you like I could come for a fish with you and share what little knowledge I have :D

Cheers
Tony

Tony

Thanks for that. What about lure colours given the dark (water/light) environment?

WRT coming for a fish, I might just take you up on that.

Cheers

[flairj]

PM me your phone number and we'll sort out a day I can come and personally show you how to fish this virgin tiger country.......... :)

[TonyM]

Tony

Thanks for that. What about lure colours given the dark (water/light) environment?

WRT coming for a fish, I might just take you up on that.

Cheers

I believe the rule of thumb is use darker lures in darker environment and lighter/brighter when it's bright.

Having said that I've had flouro pink lures work a treat sometimes in dark water around twilight! But that's fishing I guess, sometimes it's worth breaking rules to try and find what pattern will work on the day

Sent you a pm ;)

Cheers
Tony

[Little grey men]

I think if I was going to fish a place like that I'd take along a variety of lures to have a sniff around with.
Light weight jigheads, 1/8 th size with a good paddle tail grub, Slider, Atomic etc.
Attaching them to a beetlespin will add a bit of flash and dazzle. I usually go for any natural colour in plastics. Toss them tight up against the bank let them sink for a little while and retrieve nice and slow. If you don't use a beetlespin just use a variety of retrieves until you find somehing that the fish like. Lift...wind up the slack....lift...wind up the slack, or quick flicks of the rod tip. Different retieves for different days. I usually just use the first method.
Spinnerbaits would be brought along, nothing heavy, these can be slowly swam right along the bottom, they're hard to snag so you can be a bit adventurous with these. Anything in the TT, Bassman, Auspin range....they all take fish. Start off with purple. But once again go for the lighter stuff. I think you'll want to sneak up a bit on these fish so lighter gear would be the go.
Harbodied lures...theres a million to choose from, any smallish lure 50 - 70mm which dives to around 2m will do the trick. I've been getting quite a few bass in heavily weeded areas using Bushy's Stiffy minnows, nice and light, don't make a huge PLOP when they hit the water, these would be good for the edges before it gets too deep. An RMG poltergeist 50mm. Good for slightly deeper areas of the creek.
Surface lures..River 2 Sea bubble pop 65 Black. Toss it up against the bank, let it sit for ten seconds, give it a few winds, let it sit.....do that all the way back too you.
If the creek is three metres deep in some places, I'd be tempted to take along some bibless rattlers. Jackall, Ecogear VT65, Spro's, once again theres a million to choose from...perhaps a G vibe would be good just to see how many snags are there before you start tossing in more expensive lures. My favourite G vibe is the all black colour. If you use these sinking lures you may want to snip off the lead treble hook to prevent snags. When using these lures, keep them swimming off the bottom, with quick flicks of the rod. The vibration produced when doing this will attract fish.

Do everything slow and if the fish are there you should get their attention.

[Little grey men]

I just read your post again, to answer a few more of your questions. I personally like to fish early morning, late afternoon, for years people have been saying that.
Where I fish in a lake, the fish go deeper as the sun rises higher but you still certainly get the occasional bass during the day, especially a heavily structured area like your creek.
As for line, if your using light spin gear, just throw some Fireline on it. 6lb is a good size, if you want to get into the snags a bit then 10 lb might be more suitable. I usually fish 10lb braid on Samsonvale bass as some of them have a bit of grunt. I hooked one last weekend that hurt my wrist as it hit, went straight to the bottom and lodged itself amongst the heavy weeds. Couldn't move it. My mate was amazed at how hard it hit.We'd pulled in six bass already but this one was a bit different. I was using fairly heavy gear for bass 4-7kg 6ft 4"baitcaster that bent right over. It was his first time bass fishing and after he saw that it really pumped him up for more of the same.....is it Saturday morning yet ???:)

[Apollo]

I just read your post again, to answer a few more of your questions. I personally like to fish early morning, late afternoon, for years people have been saying that.
Where I fish in a lake, the fish go deeper as the sun rises higher but you still certainly get the occasional bass during the day, especially a heavily structured area like your creek.
As for line, if your using light spin gear, just throw some Fireline on it. 6lb is a good size, if you want to get into the snags a bit then 10 lb might be more suitable. I usually fish 10lb braid on Samsonvale bass as some of them have a bit of grunt. I hooked one last weekend that hurt my wrist as it hit, went straight to the bottom and lodged itself amongst the heavy weeds. Couldn't move it. My mate was amazed at how hard it hit.We'd pulled in six bass already but this one was a bit different. I was using fairly heavy gear for bass 4-7kg 6ft 4"baitcaster that bent right over. It was his first time bass fishing and after he saw that it really pumped him up for more of the same.....is it Saturday morning yet ???:)

LGM

Thanks for all the great advice you have given. I have an injury that will keep me out of action for a little bit, but am itchin to give yours & TonyM advice a go.

I will report if I do any good.

Cheers

[Hardb8]

Hi Apollo,
You have already been given some excellent advice from members already,And to me from your description,It sounds like a top Bass fishery.

To make it simple,Try applying some techniques you may be familiar with in the salt water,Stuff related to species like :- Mangrove Jack & Bream.Eg :- Fish structure,It's a prime Bass hangout at all times of the day.If Bass are indeed in this passage of water,It won't take long to register on your line.In my experience they are aggressive fish in an untouched/seldom fished enviroment.

Keep in mind the above mentioned good drag advice (I'd recommend a medium setting on say 3-4kg tackle) this will of course relate to what pound gear (Rod and line you are actually using),But beware :- A healthy Bass around 40cm can have some real surprising pulling power :o ,And they get much bigger than this aswell.A 50+cm fish in tiger country will be a real handfull,And some gunfighter reflexes,And luck,May need to be on your side to extract some of the larger models in tight quarters.Just keep a finger ready to jam in ya spool when it needs to be done.

Q. #1 .Myself,I'd use 12lb Bionic Braid on a baitcasting outfit.But use anything you have at home ready,To go test the waters.Bream gear can double up as a great option,Before you go out and buy a whole dedicated Bass setup.

Q. #2 .I'm a hardbody lure usin freak,And the list is litterally endless on what will work.But a few favourites are :- Shallow, 1/2 - 4 foot.Baby Merlin,LuckCraft Bevy Shad 65,And the Knolls Native (Minnow).

Medium, 4 - 6ft :- Attack,Majik Sprat,Knolls Native and Megabass Griffon MR-X,All work very well for me.

Deep 6ft+ :- The Tilsan Bass is very hard to beat,Nice lure to have in ya box.Although expensive,Jackall Bros lures are deadly in the right hands.If you were to buy just one,I'd recommend for the place you describe :- A TN/50 in their silent model ;) .These lures are know as bibless minnows and can fished at any depth making them very versatile.You can use this single lure at any depth to fish every square inch of your creek.

Surface :- The most fun you can have with ya pants on ;D .....Megabass dog X JR,Simply awsome.Any popper around 40-50mm.And the old Jitterbug is a long time favourite of many.

Plastics and Spinnerbaits also work well,There is not much they won't eat when they're in the mood.And all are effective when used in the right situations.

As for baits,I have no first hand experience,But from my endless readings on Bass,anything that has a chance to fall in the water is fair game.Crickets,Cicadas,Worms,Small Water Monitors,Frogs,And large Moths are popular.Although certain baits will suit certain depths better than others.

Have faith in your artificial offerings my friend.They work,And work well.

Q #3 .Fish when you can.Any time is a good time.I like late arvo and into the night the most ;) .

Q #4 .Shade and structre,A combination of these with depth (6 - 10ft) will see you connected in quick time with a decent presentation.

The retrieve I'd recommend you use is a medium paced constant wind.It is basic,But probably the most efficient.If you get a nudge,Just stop for a second,And give it a few small twitches before commencing the retrieve.
Bream style retrieves can be very successfull as well,(Slow wind with plenty of twitches and pauses).

Colours,For dark tannin stained water,I'd try darker hues (Browns,Blacks,Dark greens and purples).If in doubt and if the fishin is slow use natural patterns (Silvers and chromes) ;) .

Fish surface lures slowly,And with patients.It can be hard to concerntrate on,But the rewards will burn in your brain for ages.

You will work out what will work best for you with some time on the water with the fish,Learn from each capture,And apply it to your session's.You will soon be in tune with the Bass and the creek.

Now my last bit of advice.Don't consider yourself a dummy.Go in confident of your presentation,And hunting ability.....It won't take long ;) .....

Looking foward to ya report.And the birth of another Bass addict.

I'm sure you'll soon find,They are a very special Australian native,Deserving of their reputation.

Hope I've been of some help. Regards. B8.:)

[bru55el]

Thankyou Hard8!!!

I have to say that your last post would have to be one of the most well written and imformative posts I have read in a long while.

:thumbsup::thumbsup: Nice to see

[tazzydevil]

caught a bass at reynolds creek,Moogerah

[PNG1M]

For any of you based up around the NSW North Coast there is a great little creek for bass called "Shark Creek" about 5km or so south of Maclean (or 40km north of Grafton along the Pacific Highway). It flows into the Clarence River.

An elderly resident of the area (now deceased) who grew up there told me that ages ago an aboriginal child was taken by a shark while swimming in the creek. The pioneers managed to catch the shark somehow and land it and they retreived the remains of the child. After that the creek was named Shark Creek, although apparently it had another name before that - dunno what it was though.

I used to fish in Shark Creek regulary over a period of 10 years or so - from the shore, from a tinny and from a canadian canoe. I caught plenty of bass over that time using live & dead baits like earthworms, grasshoppers, yabbies & shrimps (caught in the creek). I then switched to lure fishing which was more tactful - I found the darkish brown crawdad style with orange underbelly patterns to work best. With lure fishing I caught bass by both trolling & casting and with the baits - by suspending them under a float or using a light sinker & letting the bait sink.

Anyway, I'm working & living overseas now but I know that Shark Creek still exists. There is a sealed road from the highway that follows the creek along for quite a few k's and there are a number of flood gates positioned close to the road - good spots to try - ( the biggest one is opposite the Stokes Lane turn off)

Evidence of old cane derricks (not used now for many years) indicate deeper water - where the boats used to tie up - so also worth a cast.

After a while the sealed road becomes gravel and winds further along towards 'upper Shark Creek'. There's an old bridge up there too with some tempting pilons in the water & usually surrounded by water lillies & log snags.

Go along some more and the road dog-legs left, leaving the creek. Park your car there and set off by foot (or kayak or canoe) and follow the creek further up into the tea trees. There are a couple of big deep bends up there and loads of fallen timber snags. I used to camp overnight on the creek bank many moons ago.

Bass can be caught in plenty of spots all the way along the creek. You just have to stop and suss the places out and give 'em a good try.

So if any of you bass fishermen out there have been searching for an alternative location - give Shark Creek a go! Just make sure you don't fall in, in case there's a noah's ark prowling nearby..!!

If you do take the dog leg left on the road & go bush on the gravel it actually meets the creek again about 10 k's further up (before continuing into Yuragir National Park). By that time the creek as become a series of large waterholes in swampy country. A couple of the water holes are more like permanent billabongs (almost like small dams) surrounded by tall thick rushes. Occasional floods turn them into deep holes. I tried to get in to one once but the joe blakes scared me off...but I'd suspect the holes'd be 'very fishy'.

Loads of potential in virtually untouched water!!!!

Cheers,
png1m

[Apollo]

Couple of blokes asked for a few photos of the creek. Below are a few of the creek upstream of the weir. Any observations or more things to consider? Water depth is about 2.5 - 3m.

sum

25396

25397

25398

25399

[Apollo]

Below are some more for downstream of the weir. Just below the weir is a hole at about 1.5-2m deep, whilst the rest is 0.5-1m deep. Any comments?

sum

25400

25401

[kiwi-in-ballina]

Mate it looks like you have a prime area for a few fresh natives in that spot. As the guys above have mentioned stick to submerged logs and I have personally found early mornings and evenings the best and also a rising baramoter but Im sure evryone has there own preference. I like the gold coloured lures prefably the harbodies or even the spinnerbait may be an option.

[Apollo]

Mate it looks like you have a prime area for a few fresh natives in that spot. As the guys above have mentioned stick to submerged logs and I have personally found early mornings and evenings the best and also a rising baramoter but Im sure evryone has there own preference. I like the gold coloured lures prefably the harbodies or even the spinnerbait may be an option.


When you say submerged logs - there are heaps to choose from. Should I try vertical or horizontal? Just under the water surface or well under?

Thanks

[TonyM]

Hi Steve

Horizontal logs tend to provide the best structure that the fish like, although vertical ones can also be worth a shot as well.

Shallow and deep snags are all worth a go untill you get an idea on what's working on the day.

Cheers
Tony

[Little grey men]

What a magical little spot you've got there, looks like it would hold some pretty serious snags.....after seeing the pics I think my first lure would be a light weight spinner bait to get a feel for the place.
Hopefully you'll come across some fish, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Good luck.