Bentley

I am also from Bathurst and I have a 4.4 Makocraft Estuary Tracker Tournament with a 60 etec. I have taken it to the harbour a few times and it handles it well. On the better days I have taken it out around the heads but other days we have had to stay up the harbour and be a bit careful going around middle head. Common sense will keep you safe. Tim.

Just thought Id post up a quick report and some pics of our trip. We ended up landing 20 Bass over the 3 days so not too bad but it could have been better though with very hot clear sunny days and falling pressure for the time we were there. Still had a lot of fun though catching about 9 Bass off the surface with numerous other missed surface hits and swirls. These fish were taken mostly on SS Cicadas and Sigletts. Once the sun was up the bite was tough. I had some luck on plastics but TN60's and spinner baits also got a few. Because of the heat between 11 and 5 each days was spent hanging out in the shade back at our camp. Anyway a good trip and i will certainly be back. A few pics ...

Thanks bassboy and swordfisherman. Looks like it might be tough going but we will give it a go anyway. Might try fishing surface after dark if we have to. It will be a full moon. We are heading there on Tuesday for 3 or 4 days so well before Australia Day. Hopefully its not too busy there atm.

Well don't all talk at once LOL

Plan is to head to Lake St.Clair camping and fishing for about 4 nights next week driving from Bathurst. Just wondering what the dam is like to fish and camp at this time of the year? I am hoping that some of the crowd will have headed home and we can get a good spot right on the water. Or am I dreaming ? Basically Id like to know what is the weed like at the moment and are the bass likely to be in deeper water or on the edges? Id really like to do a lot of surface fishing both early in the morning and late into the night. I have fished there before in November and we had a great trip. Or is Glenbawn the go at this time of year? Any advice or info would be great because we are travelling a bit of a distance. Thanks Tim.

Id like to know about this too. I am only new to soft plastic fishing (Bass), but have found that they get snagged up really easily ... even worse then say a TN60 lipless crank bait.

Could anyone tell me if the bass would still be on south from Penrith at this time of year? Is it worth a day trip from Bathurst or is the season close to over? Weather looks great for early next week with 28 deg and high ish pressure. I have a boat and will travel as far as I need to. Any info would be great. Thanks Tim.

Yes it is pricey but not as much as I thought. What reel do you have it matched to ? I would assume that a 2500 steez would balance on it very well. Is your rod a compile x model? Anyone know how a Samurai Reaction 302 would compare? Would it suit my needs or would it be too similar to my Luvias?

Iam considering buying a Daiwa Steeze STZ 701 MLFSA and a Steez 2500 reel. This rod is 7' 1 piece 4 to 12 lb and weighs 104 grams. As far as I know this is not one of the compile x rods and this model was released in America but not in Australia. I cant really find out how the comple x is better. I will be using this rod for everything from Bass and yellowbelly to the salt water where it would be used for flathead and chasing samon, tailer, bonito and rat kings. One thing that does worry me is that it will need to be able to cast and work Jackall 60mm lipless crank baits which weigh 12.7grams. Dont need to cast them a mile but they do need a resonably firm rod tip to work them. Does anyone own one of these? Or has anyone used one? Obviously ideally I would try before I buy but sometimes thats just not possible. Or .... can anyone suggest a similar setup that would be suitable. I currently have a Flueger Patriarch XTR 6'10 2 to 6lb and a Daiwa Luvias 7' 8 to 14lb. So Iam looking for something to fill the gap. Thanks Tim.

Well done. Very good result. I didnt think the yellas fired up like that in winter. I assume you used bait ? Tim.