rjc123

Yeah cheers guys I'll keep it up my sleeve... Whipping the cicadas next session. Keen to give them a run! Should be some great bassing this season. Cheers, Tom

Had a quick late arvo bass flick late last week. Having hear that the surface bite is underway I was keen to give it a try. Only problem was that I had none of my favourite bass topwaters on me... Tied on a Maria Pencil (one of the best bream stickbaits around) and gave it a go. After 10 minutes it was engulfed by a cracker of a bass. After steering it away from the snags, it came in fairly easily. Measured it up top be 42.5cm to the tip and 40 TTF (to the fork). Nearly beat my overall lure pb just missing out by half a cm. I think it would be fairly safe to say that stick baits are an option on bass after finding out first hand. Cheers, Tom

Headed up the coast with the yak over the long weekend. It's been a while since i've cracked a jewie so that was a main focus. As i arrived at the location I was greeted with heavy rains and howling winds, ruling out a late arvo session on the first afternoon. I did sneak out on dusk but conditions were just too difficult to fish in, from a yak... Conditions had only worsened by the next morning but i decided to brave it and headed out. Given the dirty water as a result of the rain, I hoped that the 'jew would be on the chew' so to speak. After a little persistence I hooked one. Im fishing seriously heavy structure here and this fish made a fool of me. Got smoooooookked.... Re tied and 5 mins later same occurrence... I knew these were large jew as I'm fishing a broomstick of a rod (Black Label 6-14lb - doesnt sound heavy but its seriously stiff). After re-tying once again i proceeded to hook another. This one was marginally smaller but still a very large adversary, around the meter mark. It took me into the structure, so i freespooled before the line would have given in. After a game of cat and mouse fishing a very light drag i got a look at the fish.... A mulloway of around a meter. Unfortunately that's as close as i got to it... Leader gave in eventually... Absolutely shattered after this. The school moved on and so did my hope of landing one this trip... After regaining some composure I head out again in the arvo. No jew were at home so i resorted to chasing some bream and flatties in shallow water. Unfortunately they were fairly shut down with the cool water from that rain (17.5 degrees) so i only ended up with a bunch of undersize flatties and 2 legals around the 41-42cm mark. The next morning conditions had well and truly cleared. I headed out bright and early chasing some bream. They were super quiet unfortunately, and I only managed one or two sub 30cm models on the grubs. One thing had changed today however. There was no shortage of small flatties. Pulled 30odd over the day, most undersize but managed a few better ones over the 50 mark. Fishing a 2.5" grubz on a 1/8 TT head in channel edges in 4-7' of water proved successful. On the final day i headed out early again to chase the flatties. I had given up hope on the jew pretty much so for now it was flatties an bream. The flatties seemed to have disappeared today which was odd... I didn't land a single flatty all day. In the morning all I managed was a couple of bream and tailor on the grubs while chasing flatties. It's odd how they shut down all of a sudden without warning. After taking a break in the middle of the day it was back out again to have one last crack at a jew. Boy i'm glad i made myself go. It was the back end of the run out tide at this point and I was fishing the same location as the bust offs. A squidgy 100mm fish in silver fox matched to a TT 3/8 jighead was the weapon of choice. 15 minutes passed without action then all of a sudden i hooked up solid. I can safely say this was the most intense fight ive ever had... especially from a yak... I was fishing locked up drag and the fish was pulling me in to the structure. At one point i was fending the structure off and using every ounce of strength to keep the fishes head out. After an intense minute or so i extracted the fish and we both went down current. Shortly after the mulloway surfaced and boy was it a great feeling. After doing a lap around the yak it slid straight into the net. A new lure PB for sure so was very stoked. Not massive but a very respectable fish, especially considering the extreme structure it was pulled from and from a yak. Raced into shore to grab some pics and had it back in the drink for release in quick time. It went 80 on the dot. Great to see it swim away. After this i kept persisting only to be drilled again by a bigger fish later on. I did however pick up some good bream on 4" curly tail streakz and 1/4 heads later on... They don't mind hitting a big plastic at times thats for sure. Biggest went around the 35-36 mark (to the tip). While most fishing was super quiet this trip, I still managed to keep myself occupied and got the prize in the end. It certainly feels good to set out to do something and achieve it. While the bigger meter + jew were too good for me this time, i'll keep at em! Cheers, Tom

Great Bass Stu! Some chunky fish that's for sure. Awesome stuff! Cheers, Tom

Good stuff Pete! Lovely Jew. Hopefully the first of many for you! Tom

46! Great fish! When was this? I may have to give the cicadas a work out this arvo then!

Managed to head out on the yak today to chase a few bream. The water was a little chilly early on at 16 degrees and so was the fishing.... went the entire morning with only a couple rat flatties and nothing more. In the afternoon the water seemingly heated up a fair bit to around 20 degrees (pretty big increase) and this seemed to coincide with a better bite. After flogging the pylons for some time a little fella at 28 hit the bloodworm grubz. First fish off these pylons in months so it was a relief regardless of size. Unfortunately just one other hit from this spot before another move was in order. Only had a little while left so decided to go and see if I could save face with a couple of flatties from a favourite spot. Elected to fish my favourite all-rounder blade - Ecogear vx40 in the black/orange belly colour. It makes a great silhouette and seems to produce when all else won't. Sure enough I sounded up a school of something holding near the bottom in around 7m of water. Dropped the blade down and it didn't take long to hook up. After a good tussle, up popped a better bream at 33. A short while later I hooked up again and landed a 34cm model. Had to get going after this which was a little annoying as I had that school well and truly fired up. Blades are usually an absolute weapon when bream are schooling in deeper water, and today was no exception. Even though it was a really slow session the spot's gradually coming back to life as summer approaches. The super clear water didn't help that's for sure! I even found myself fishing topwater at times today (very optimistically) as it's my true addiction.... not long now til topwater time!! Cheers, Tom

Yeah they are certainly comparable to the scorpions - similar action also. Definitely give his lures ago I'm fairly sure they are available online.

Your good! Just did a google and it is indeed a Murray Kneebone. I have to say they are really good - great action on them.

Went out this morn for my first bass flick of the season. It's too early to be chasing them on surface so I gave some deeper diving HB's a run. Things were very quiet for a couple hours without a hit but finally i was rewarded on one of those "that deserves a fish" casts. After a good fight on silly string, I landed my first bass of the season. Not big by any means but still a solid little fish at 33 TTT. A little hand crafted HB i bought up on the gold coast a while ago did the damage. Ended up leaving soon after but good to get the season underway! Cheers, Tom

9pm onwards would be a better bet... and yes its definitely worth a shot

It's hard to say. The PA is what you want fishing inshore and in all the estuaries. The ability to stand up and fish is invaluable. It would probably be fine offshore, but not ideal. The prowler 4.3 would be ideal for offshore work. I know plenty of people do, but i wouldn't take an outback offshore. From what you've said you'll mainly be fishing in botany and the harbour. It comes down to personal preference between the paddle yak and being able to fish freely with foot pedals. IMO the PA's are the best you can get for inshore/estuary work. As previously said, definitely 'try before you buy'. You'll find that many of the big kayaking stores and that will do demo's. Cheers, Tom

Great stuff guys. Weipa's an awesome place. Headed up next April fishing with lee and josh from weipa sports fishing too. Great guides. Been with them 3 times now. Awesome stuff guys!

Get a battery pack with the GP. Doubles it's life to a bit over 2 hours. You can also grab another battery to have charged as spare and then you have over 3 hours battery. Bit of a pain the battery life but the cameras perform well. Cheers, Tom

Blades aren't the first thing that comes to mind for chasing bass, but on EP's they're a good option. You'll have a load more fun chasing them on surface lures (small poppers and cicada styles) and various plastics and hb's have their place too. Jig spinners are always a good option as well. Blades would work well on deep schooled fish but when the fish are in the timber and in tricky country (which is the majority of the time) they aren't a great option. If you really want to crack a fish on a blade then flatties and bream are the go but for bass i'd say ecogear vx 35's and 40's, TT 1/12 ghostblades, TT 1/8 Switchblades, Strike Pro cyber vibe 40 and even a Jackall TN60 or TN50 on the bigger fish. Fish them just as you described, slow lift and pause. If you get into the topwater side of things over summer, Megabass sigletts and soft shell cicadas are the go. Small poppers are always good as well. The Nepean is a top bass fishery. Some big fish in there too. Cheers, Tom

!!!!! A diamond!

Blades are gun lures if you use them in the right situation. You'll catch a lot of fish on them once you figure them out. As previously stated, ecogear vx 40's are fantastic. I also love my TT ghost blades and switches. Sebile flat shads aren't bad as well! A great way to put together a mixed bag! Real simple to use Aswell. A slow lift and drop will do the trick. Well worth the money. Cheers, Tom

Cracker Trev! They sure do go hard. I love nothing more than chasing them on ultra light gear! You did well not to get done at your feet as they seem to have a habit of doing so... Cheers, Tom

Nice Stu! Lovely Perch mate! Real fat by the looks of it. Not a bad way to spend a winters day! Cheers, Tom

Already stocked up hard for the next few months! Need to up the ol' lure PB

It was a little slow this weekend. The trevs are around in MH but the numbers aren't great. They're a little finicky as well. I've only been able to get them on blades lately. The salmon just aren't around for me yet. Hopefully soon.... Could have been salmon at the king spot you speak of... The kings wouldn't be busting up this time of year I would think. There's some xos tailor around though so never know. I've only ever got a couple of legal snapper in the harbour. 35 max. Cowan creek on the other hand, some good snapper in there. People get them to 50 odd. Cheers, Tom

Headed out on the weekend back to middle harbour to pursue some more winter kings. Unfortunately, this time there were none about. Maybe they've finally moved out for the rest of winter The plan off attack changed to fishing blades... After a slow start with just a couple of tailor, I hooked up on a nice trev. A couple of minutes later, a solid 41cm trev was netted. Another victim to the ecogear vx40. I marked the trevs on the sounder and managed to vertically drop straight on their heads and hooked up once again. Slightly smaller this time at 37, but great fun on light gear none the less! I had a live yakka out while drifting around the moorings, hoping for a dory. Unfortunately just swarms of tailor taking the yakkas. While i still had the blade on i peppered a couple of boats and managed a few bream to 34 or so. At this point it had been a fairly slow day until my mate came over in his tinny. He'd managed to score a 70 flattie on a livie while drifting. A couple quick pics and we got her back. A short while later the tailor started busting up and while working a school with a 110mm flickbait, i was hit midwater. I was thinking that I might have myself another dory on plastic like we got recently. Turned out to be a flattie around the 50 mark. Not as lazy as you'd think... This fish hit the plastic at least a couple of meters off the bottom. Soon after i returned to blading, hoping to find some more trevally and flatties. It didn't take long to hook up and much to my surprise it was a squid! First squid i've ever got on a blade. Perfect live bait size so stored it in the livewell for the 5:50 low tide change. The tide change neared, so i rigged up the squid and chucked it out. Around 6pm it got hit hard followed by a brief "zzzzzzzzzzz" before i could reach the rod. Just as i was about to pick it up line went slack. Was fishing fighting drag on a 7/0 single circle. I guess i payed the price for not taking the time to make a two hook rig.... Called it a night soon after... Disappointing way to finish but there were still a few fish around at least! Cheers, Tom

Cracker fish! Did well to get him out! What'd you get it on? Cheers, Tom

Nice work Ian! Some good fish there. How are you liking that new combo? Looks like all is well. Cheers, Tom

There's a fair few around. Got a couple around 65 last week. Hopefully they stick around til the season begins! Cheers, Tom