Apprentice Gorilla catches first Bass

[slinkymalinky]

The 'Gorillas were back in the mist' this morning, introducing a new member of the troop to Bass fishing in Northern NSW rivers.

Grant asked me if I wanted to bring my yak down for a morning session. I drove the hour down from the Gold Coast and met him and his new offsider, Matty in the dark at Grant's place.

The first challenge is that Matty is a different species... he's orginally from Liverpool where they apparently speak a different language. At least I think it was a different language... I was picking up about one word in three and had the weird feeling that I had somehow ended up in a Beatles movie.

Matty hadn't been bass fishing before so we were pretty keen to get onto the water and see if we could bust his cherry. Grant and Matty loaded the last of the gear into the back of a small metal dog dish that Grant assures me is actually a boat, then we headed up to a local spot to launch. The 'ramp' is actually a bit of the river bank where thick bankside grass has been removed and a rough sandy 'drag' worn into the bank by fishos, over the years.

Unfortunately the gentle sandy gravel 'beach' had decided to go visit other parts of the river, leaving behind a sharply sloping edge dropping straight into waist deep water. Now, I'm not the most svelte and agile kayaker so getting onto my sit-on Jackson Coosa wasn't really a picture of elegance. I probably would have been much more offended if I had understood the comments that came my way in a thick Liverpool accent.

We headed downriver and started the session fishing small surface lures. For the first time in memory I managed to get to the first prime spot ahead of Grant (I think he was still busy laughing at my launching antics). First cast and I had a solid hit that didn't hook up. I let Grant and Matty know and was given a mouthful shouted out of the darkness by Grant about "..... his *%$*! spot".

I hooked up solid on my third cast and brought a nice 38cm fish to the net and not wanting to upset my local mate I brought it over for Grant to admire so that in the general excitement he would forget about petty rivalries over who fished where and who's spot is who's. I think I might have heard some more Liverpudlian around about then.

We worked our way from spot to spot down the river. Me catching fish, Grant and Matty looking good fishing. Then I heard some hoots and hollers in the darkness from the direction of the dog dish. I paddled the 200m down to Grant and Matty had vindictively decided to fish one of my own favourite spots ahead of me.

When I got there, the dog dish was in chaos. Grant had managed to connect to and land what turned out to be his PB bass from the river. Matty had managed to land himself, Grant and most of their gear... not so much with a lure as with the loops, tangles and knots of braid originating from Matty's brand new outfit but that were now everywhere in the boat.

Somewhere between the swearing and laughing, Grant managed to untangle a beautiful 45cm Bass that had absolutely engulfed his popper. After a couple of photos Grant managed to find a spot free of braid where he could release his great fish and get to the serious business of untangling Matty's line. I think now Matty knows that fishing into snags in the dark has some new and unusual challenges. Grant is now much better at Macrame.

After that the dog dish boys went a bit quiet while I continued to land fish. The average size of the Bass in the river at the moment is a bit up with most of them being in the high 30s. While still a bit 'post spawn' skinny they were all very fit and fought particularly hard.

One of the outfits I was using was a tiny Shimano Ultegra 1000 loaded with 3lb fluorocarbon. Not my usual snag bashing rig but the reel and some lures I was using were gifts from a Japanese family who recently hosted my eldest daughter on her year 11 school trip. It was an awesome and unexpected present and a sweet way to fish snags that really got the heart pumping as the buttery-smooth drag sang to the song of angry Bass.

Once there was light in the sky, casting accurately became a lot easier but like often happens in this spot, the surface bite shut off like someone had thrown a switch. So we changed over to spinnerbaits and hard-bodies. With the advantage of light to help him get the hang of this unfamiliar form of fishing, Matty started to hit his stride and not long after a nice Aussie Bass fell victim to a Liverpool Basser. Matty's first ever bass was a fit 35cm model but I'm pretty certain it won't be his last (one of the advantages of living in the middle of some of the best Bass water in the country). Unfortunately I wasn't nearby when it happened so didn't get a picture but Grant did so I'm pretty sure he'll post some. Congrats Matty!

Grant managed to eventually pick up a second fish somewhere along the line while I pretty much lost count. I asked Grant a couple of times to help me keep track of how many I was catching but for some reason he wasn't very cooperative (or polite).

With more complaints ringing across the water about Grant's snags (take it to the U.N. if you don't like it), I pushed close to a drowned tree, flicked a purple spinnerbait into the ugliest part... and hooked up hard into a solid Bass. After being dragged around all over the place in my yak I managed to land my own PB bass. 44cm... I thoughtfully made sure it was 1cm shy of Grant's fish so that he wouldn't be so upset about how badly I was kicking his butt.

After that the fishing went really quiet. We worked our way back up the river from snag to snag. I caught a couple more... again. Grant and Matty didn't... again. And we finally pulled my yak and Grant's dog dish out of the river at about 8:30.

Great day, great session of a beautiful bit of water with a good mate and a new mate... and really great to see a couple of PBs and Matty getting his first ever Bass.

Cheers, Slinky

Edited October 10, 2015 by slinkymalinky

[W4z]

Nice report man and a good session. I like the dog dish!

[Witha]

Awesome report Slinky!

Great story, and glad the Pudlian got his first!

[Jewhunter]

Well done on your new PB Tony.

It was great to get you away from work for a bit.

It was also great that you haven't forgotten how to fish!

Here's a couple of pics. Matty doing his best Stewy impersonation

with his 1st ever bass, & Slinky with his new PB.

Cheers,

Grant.

[big Neil]

Great report Slinky...and good on you for looking after the scouser. Cheers, Neil

[Jewhunter]

Great report Slinky...and good on you for looking after the scouser. Cheers, Neil

Yes Neil. The Scouser is being well looked after.

His brain is spinning with what he is being taught. He can fish though,

& picks the whole light line, braid & new styles up quickly.

The morning after his 1st bass he grabbed my kayak, launched out the back,

& nailed 2 x 38 & 47cm Flatties & a juvenile big eye Trev all by himself on artificials.

That's a big result coming from a course fisherman. The plus is that he is an

absolute clown & top bloke to boot! A typical scous.

[big Neil]

Yes Neil. The Scouser is being well looked after.

His brain is spinning with what he is being taught. He can fish though,

& picks the whole light line, braid & new styles up quickly.

The morning after his 1st bass he grabbed my kayak, launched out the back,

& nailed 2 x 38 & 47cm Flatties & a juvenile big eye Trev all by himself on artificials.

That's a big result coming from a course fisherman. The plus is that he is an

absolute clown & top bloke to boot! A typical scous.

Looks like you've found a rare species/ A Scouser that can learn quickly AND show initiative. Seriously though he must be delighted with the fishing opportunities available in Australia compared to coarse fishing in the UK. I'll look forward to hearing of his successes on the water. Cheers, Neil.