Glenbawn Trip

[Hill373737]

Apart from a trip chasing barra in Tinaroo, all of my fishing experience has been saltwater so I was keen to try something different and my daughter’s boyfriend and I headed up to Glenbawn Dam to fish Friday and Saturday. Andy has a fair bit of experience in the fresh with bass in rivers but it was going to be a steep learning curve for me. The weather was cooler on Friday than we expected for this time of year with very strong gusty winds on both days and the Bass Nation tournament was also running. I love my Renegade 420 but have to admit to some serious boat envy looking at those tournament boats …. nothing like a few hundred horsepower to skim you over a couple of feet of wind chop on the way back in at end of day!

 

On Day 1, we  decided to focus our efforts around snags and structure in the many bays and after a slow morning, started to get things working for us on surface lures and shallow divers that saw us get amongst the fish in the afternoon with me get my first ever bass and Andy picking up a 45cm PB as well as a couple of others over 40cm. The fun continued on day 2 as the lessons from the first day kicked in and  I finished with a PB bass of 41cm as well as a stonker yellowbelly from a tree jigging sesssion with a MinnowZ. There was a lot of casting between fish but we picked up enough to keep us interested 

 

Any-one that has done a bit of surface fishing knows that it is addictive and when you add the visual of throwing into snags hoping to get smashed, it is an amazing buzz when it all comes together. It was a great couple of days and its definitely on the list of places to visit again, soon …. I heard that Lake St Clair is firing, wonder if I can get away this week. :-)

 

Here’s a few photos!

 

[rickmarlin62]

sounds like a great trip..i have fished glenbawn many times..usually its either really good or really bad..glad you got some nice fish..st clair is easier to fish and closer..rick

[Hill373737]

We didn't get a lot of fish but most that we caught were a decent size so all up a successful couple of days. 

While we were out on the water, we had a visit from the Fisheries Inspector checking licences etc, turned out he came down from Tamworth for the day. Had a yarn to him about some spots around Tamworth, my daughter lives there so I might drag the boat up next time I pay her a visit.

[masterfisho7]

Nice photos and great fish well done

[CJay]

nice catch guys, the fourth pic looks like an awesome fishy snag feature!

[frankS]

Well done some nice fish. I like Glenbawn but prefer StClair, planning another visit to StClair as soon as I get my boat up and running.

Frank

[New Signing]

I try and get to Glenbawn once a year in November and i still reckon it is the best fresh water fishery in NSW. It's a shame they arent putting as many Yellowbelly in there anymore however there are still enough there to keep you interested if you know where to look.

If the cod had taken it would have been even better. The old man did find a metery floating last year when he went up

[big Neil]

Many thanks for sharing your post Hill 373737. An interesting summary of your trip. Considering your inexperience I'd say that you and Andy did particularly well. Great photos too, added to the storyline. Some good waters up in the Tamworth area so it would be well worth dragging your boat up there. Keep us posted if you do fish up there, lots of us on here are interested in Freshwater fishing of new areas. Cheers, bn

[Hill373737]

I'm heading up to Tamworth this Friday for a couple of days but no chance to take the boat up this trip. Definitely keen to fish around the area as I've heard some good reports.

I was considering heading up the coast for a few days chasing flatties around Port but decided I couldn't pass up another Glenbawn trip so will head back there the week after next. Will post another report after the trip.

steve

[big Neil]

9 hours ago, Hill373737 said:

I'm heading up to Tamworth this Friday for a couple of days but no chance to take the boat up this trip. Definitely keen to fish around the area as I've heard some good reports.

I was considering heading up the coast for a few days chasing flatties around Port but decided I couldn't pass up another Glenbawn trip so will head back there the week after next. Will post another report after the trip.

steve

You might get the chance to gather info, for when you do take the boat to Tamworth. Good luck Steve. Will look forward to reading your post. bn

[Hill373737]

Fished Glenbawn again yesterday - took my other daughter's boyfriend, he doesn't fish much and we managed to get him his first bass and yellowbelly, and he christened a Loomis rod he won from a tackle shop in Tamworth a year ago! I've offered to mind it for him but no joy there.

5 bass with 2 at 40cm, both on the surface  and 3 yellowbelly including this 51cm model so I was pretty happy with the day!