lastworm

I was actually going to suggest the OSP Dunk, it’s my favorite for bass and always seems to produce. I use the 57mm model. The beauty of the dunk is that it’s a crash diver, so it gets to its maximum depth really quickly. Another slightly cheaper alternative is the Daiwa Infeet Spike, very similar profile and characteristics to the Dunk. In my opinion, getting as close to the snags as you can is more crucial than anything. Sometimes you really need to get DEEP into the gnarliest and ugliest snags to get results.

I’m no expert on bream on hard bodies, but my understanding is you do the same as above but slow it right down. When you think you’re going too slow, go slower.

Best crank or jerk baits for bass I find are the suspending type. Cast as close as you can to the snags (hit them if you have to), do a few quick cranks to get the lure down, let it suspend for a few seconds and then slow roll back. Throw in some pauses on the retrieve as often the fish will be following it and the pause seems to really piss them off. The beauty of suspending lures is they will hang in the zone on the pause rather than float up which is a little less natural for a baitfish.

I just had my latest custom build arrive. No expense spared, built on a Northfork composites MB661-1 IM blank, short stubby cork grip, titanium Torzite guides. Rod specs are 6’6”, 2-6lb, lure weight 1/32oz - 3/16oz, will be paired with my 22 Aldebaran BFS In my opinion once you go this finesse with rods, custom is the only way to go to get the rod to do everything you want. Alternative is to go budget BFS from overseas, but you’re always going to compromise in some area. If you want something high quality off the shelf locally, I’d suggest looking at the Shimano Expride BFS, around $350-$400. Or the new Ian Miller Drifter BFS, $450 from memory.

On a side note, if you do go for the new spine assembly, its probably a good excuse to upgrade to kick-up fins 😁

The guy received a $500 fine. Pathetic.

Read this earlier and it infuriated me. The bloke will get away with it by pleading ignorance. The guy had enough knowledge to have all the gear and kit to go spear fishing, was clued up enough to know the fish was edible, but didn’t know he was targeting a protected species in an exclusion zone. Common sense should have the book thrown at him.

Wow, trip of a lifetime! Not sure about being in a kayak with crocs around though 😰

My local is teeming with them at the moment. Huge fish that look to be about 4-5kg swimming in schools of 20+. One stretch of about 50m was so thick with them I had to paddle on as my lure kept grazing past them, coming in with big 20c coin size scales on the trebles. Horrible things.

I think it’s probably coincidence by the sounds of things, if not technique as mentioned above. Still seems like something the fish are causing during the fight rather than you though.

I buy my crank baits/jerkbaits from a Japanese site and pay around $12 each instead of $30 locally. Also tend to be more colour options available, as well as models. When you buy 5 or 6 at a time and factor in the $15-$20 postage they are still far cheaper than they are locally, local markups are insane.

No advice but this is top of my list of things to do, very jealous mate.

Ottos tackle Drummoyne will send it away and have it professionally repaired. Speaking from experience the rod builder that does their repairs is top notch. Sometimes it’s a couple of months turnaround though. Compleat Angler can do repairs for you on the spot if you have one nearby

Nice fish! These things are on my list of species to catch. Handy to fish with someone “in the know” and be able to target them. They are so often just random bream and Jew bi-catch.

I’ve got a Hobie Sport that I use for bass in small creeks. The reason Hobies hold their value so well is they don’t really have too many issues, and the aftersales support is amazing as you can pretty much buy every part you need to repair them brand new from Hobie. If anything the only part you really need to look at is the mirage drive itself, pedal it with your hands and ensure there are no obvious creaks or grinding, no rust on the chain obviously, then ensure the rudder lines move freely and aren’t frayed in any way.

Yeah all caught on OSP dunk suspending divers. My go to lure this season.

Found a break in the weather yesterday and got what will probably be my very last session in before the closed season, and with a new bub due in August most likely last fish for a while. Water was very cold from the rain we’ve had, sunny but it was only around 24 degrees, so not ideal conditions. I dropped a good fish early on before landing a nice low 30’s model, this fish was definitely ready to spawn, so fat through the shoulders with an even bigger belly. Then managed to land what felt like a 40cm fish but only ended up going 35cm to the fork. Again, this fish was so thick and heavy for its length, a real football. It’s amazing how chunky these pre spawn fish are, hopefully they all return come September!

Fair enough!

Aldebaran for comparison is a 30 sized reel (ultra light and very small to palm) If you already have an Alphas and like it then consider the Alphas Air TW - there is a new model coming out in a few months so these are going for reasonable prices now. directly from Japan. All of the below will handle the lures you mentioned: Shimano 22 Aldebaran BFS - Japan Shimano SLX BFS - Japan Shimano Curado BFS - USA Daiwa Alphas Air - Japan Daiwa Gekkabijin - Japan Daiwa Air Stream Custom - USA Kastking Zephyr - USA Plus there are a multitude of chinese made BFS baitcasters available from Chinese manufacturers, a lot cheaper but you get what you pay for. You might also want to consider upgrading to a lighter rod rated to around 2-8lb (I use a 4-10lb)

Slightly off topic but why don’t you listen to the doc lures podcast anymore @XD351?

The bantam won’t cast as light as a BFS reel will, as it’s not suited to that kind of fishing. A thread line is easier to cast lighter weights, but I enjoy fishing with a baitcaster and find it far more accurate, hence the BFS obsession. It depends what suits you really.

Hey mate, see if you can get yourself the SLX BFS from Japan, I can PM you a couple of sites that sell them. Will do a far better job with light lures, I fish for bass myself and have gone high end on BFS gear with a couple of Aldebaran BFS reels, but the SLX BFS is a good intro into BFS and probably cheaper than the DC

I'm yet to fish the impoundments, but it is on my list to do!

So it looks like April weather has turned to poo, and the bass gear will be hung up for the season. It's a shame, for a while there it was looking like Summer was going to extend way into the Autumn months. What are everyone's plans?

Arowana looks like a statue! Great conditioned fish! Look at the finish on those scales!