dean

Not sure why the fishings been poor this year. There was plenty of rain early in the season, the fish ladders are working and there's plenty of flow from the environmental releases for the bass to make it up river. There's always next season. Love exploring new systems, seem to get better fish and you don't have to travel that far from Sydney. Good luck with the clubs, they can be a good source of local info.

Hi mate, like others have said, the fish will spread throughout the system in summer. I fish in the camden area and it has been a slow year, fish in the high 30s are big for the area, the average would be around the 300 mark. At this time of year the fish should be feeding up for the run down river, fishing will be tough but there should be some bigger fish about. There are a couple of small clubs in the area, Bass Sydney and the Wollondilly bass club, both are kayak based and both run socials on the river through the warmer months, well worth a look into.

It's starting to get late in the season now and the river hasn't fished that well all year, so you might find it tough at the moment. You can launch at any of the bridges, some will be harder than others. Belgenny probably provides the easiest launch site. There's a local bass club in the area, might be worth looking into. Good luck.

No mate, side console.

Hi mate, I've got a 475 topender with a 60hp high thrust yammie on the back. Pretty sure it's the same hull, I don't consider it underpowered and can carry 3 adults and 2 kids no problem. Load it up with 5 big blokes and gear, you'll feel it, but then it's probably overloaded. Top speed is about 50km.

Great vid Bassboy, the gorge looks awesome. Always wanted to fish it just haven't got around to it yet. Some quality fish, 8 over 4 days, is that normal or was the fishing slow? I'm headed up to the Nymboida in just over a week, hopefully I come back with similar results. Cheers, Dean

Roberts, I didn't notice any other kayaks that weekend, it was a couple of weeks ago. Hope Michelle does well, I know a few others that headed up for the GF. Should be a good weekend.

Nice Bass Stimo, always enjoy fishing Glenbawn. Your right about the wind, I've lost a few tents up there over the years.

Nice fish Poddy, sound like the family had a good time with all the whiting and trevally. Never had much luck with the NW, maybe it was the colour I was using.

Spent the weekend up at St Clair. It was hot and windy when I arrived Saturday afternoon, paddling out into the north easterly didn't appeal to me so I delayed launching in the hope the wind would drop. It didn't and I really wanted to fish, if I reached the western shoreline there would be some protection from the wind and at least make the fishing bearable. The trip over was interesting, the yak wasn't very dry in the chop and I was soaked by the time I reached the opposite bank. Over the next 4hrs I tried plastics, jackalls and surface for only four fish. The fishing was tough, the wind did eventually drop as the sun set and I had high hopes for the following morning. Strong wind were again forecast for the Sunday, the plan was to head of early and be back before the winds hit. The conditions were perfect as we launched at 5 and by 5.30 I was at my chosen bank. It's always a good sign when your lure gets smashed first cast and when another fish jumps on two cast later you know your in for a good morning. It turned out to be one off my best dam surface sessions and I lost count of the number of fish landed before the sun rose and the bite slowed. Most fish were in the 37-39fl bracket, 3 over 400 and a few little ones joined in the fun. When the surface bite stopped I switched to jackalls and was reward with another few fish before I made my way back to camp, just beating the wind. Cheers, Dean

Bassboy, looks like the local bass are starting to wake up. There's been a few good report over the last couple of weeks, we could be in for a good summer.

Thanks for all the replies. Roostersone, not sure what's happening with the local at the moment. I'm starting to hear a few good reports but it's not happening for me at the moment. Scratchie, It's the far south. The Clyde, Deua, Tuross and Bega/Brogo rivers are the main systems down that way. Lots of good water and plenty of bass. I'm hoping to visit all of them over the summer.

It's been a very slow start to the bass season for me. I fished my local every weekend in September for only a few fish so I jumped at the chance to spend a few days down south over the long weekend. Being early in the season the water was still clear and cool, and the fishing slow. I persisted with buzzbaits (without a doubt my favourite surface lure) and it eventually paid off with 6 fish landed the first morning. This included a 49FL PB. Fished up river the following morning, it was hard going and I only had one hit that morning. I had a bit of time before I needed to head back, so I decided to move and fish lower down in the system. The water looked great, lots of snags, overhangs and sunken timber. It was mid morning by this stage and I didn't expect much but when the lure was gently taken off the top and the rod buckled over I knew this was a solid fish. When it finally popped up next to the yak I remember thinking I needed a bigger net. Finally cracked the 500 mark and a new PB, 510FL! The following morning I was back on the new stretch hoping to explore further up the creek in search of a few fish. I wasn't disappointed. Not long after launching I was working some sunken timber spotted the previous morning, on the second cast the water erupted in front of me and I was connected to another solid fish. This time the fight was different and the fish surfaced early, it wasn't a bass but a big EP. There were a few tense moments before I finally netted the fish, this thing was prehistoric and by far my biggest EP at 510FL. I fished for a few more hours and landed another couple of bass including a 44FL but the EP was definitely the highlight of the trip. My local bass are still playing hard to get, it won't be long before I head south again. Cheers, Dean

Great result Bassboy, nothing like a bit of friendly competition between father and son. I'll be up at st Clair in a few weeks, if I do half as good as you guys I'd be happy. Nice looking boat, bet that rides a little better than the tinny.

Spent yesterday on the Fish. A usually productive stretch of river was very quite, we did eventually find some fish but not many. Couldn't find them in the runs only deep pools and there was no sign of any rainbows. Not the start to the season I was looking for. Hopefully things will improve over the next few months. The fish we did catch were healthy browns and it was a nice day on the river, so still worth the trip. Cheers, Dean