YZ250 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Hi All, I was tossing up where to fish on the long weekend and decided that the 22 degrees of St Georges basin beat the hell out of the brass monkey weather forecast for Lake Eucumbene, so I packed the boat and headed down for a couple of nights there with my partner. I have only recently purchased this boat (my first) and am still setting it up the way I like it so this trip was a good chance to evaluate some trim adjustments I made to the motor recently. Of course fishing was a primary consideration too, particularly putting my partner onto some fish as she has almost no experience fishing at all. We didn’t get down there until mid-afternoon on Saturday and by the time we got to the boat ramp it must have been 330pm or so. I was filled with confidence when I saw a guy at the fish tables cleaning a nice bag of snapper and one big flathead. He was very helpful too and willingly gave me some tips and a spot to try drifting for Snapper. We headed out to the middle of the lake and were only drifting (in 9m of water) for around for about 5 minutes when my partners rod went off. Mine went not long after and thus continued the pattern for the next hour and a half. In the end we boated about 10 fish (and lost half that again) comprising 8 snapper (one keeper) and 2 Tailor (one legal but released, one small). The next day was forecast to be a cracker and we were on the water by 11 and headed over to the bay in front of Sussex Inlet to have a dig. The wind and chop was up and we were drifting much quicker than the day before (at about 1.5kmh). After about 10 minutes I was starting to feel a bit green when suddenly both rods went off. I pulled up a 38cm flatty but my partner got chewed off by what I would wager was a flatty too. By rights we should have returned to that drift and kept at it but my partner wanted to explore sussex inlet so we did that instead. It was beautiful down in there and we spent two hours exploring including seeing heaps of luderick and Garfish. I was tempted to have a go at them but couldn’t be bothered re-rigging as I wanted to get back to the flathead spot for the incoming tide. By this stage it was about 2pm I think and the wind was mostly gone. There were HEAPS of boats out there, and I chose a spot to pull up and drop the trusty prawn over the side again (the only bait used all weekend). We fished for thirty of forty minutes without getting a bite. Suddenly I realised we were alone! ALL the boats had buggered off. So I took the hint and left too – upstream to chase bream in the feeder creek. This proved to be a fun but fruitless exercise so we decided to go back to the Snapper spot from the day before. By now it was probably close to four pm and the lake was glass. I really enjoyed pinning the 9.8hp two stroke and rushing to the Snapper spot at full noise. The boat was going heaps better since adjusting the TRIM – holding over 30kmh with ease whereas before it was only good for 25 or 26kmh. When we arrived it felt a bit quiet and I wasn’t seeing much on the sounder. The drift was almost motionless at an imperceptible .2kmh. Just as I was beginning to think we wouldn’t get a thing the bites started. Some of them felt much bigger than the day prior, and I was eventually busted off by something that was definitely big – even my partner could tell just by seeing the bow in the rod. Shortly after I was on again, and I could tell it was a better fish. I got this one up – it was 40cms and about a kilo and it went straight into the esky. We stayed out there until right on dark, by which point bait was busting on the surface next to our boat which was very exciting. Unfortunately whatever was doing this wouldn’t take my lure which was frustrating as the sounder was showing some big fish lurking about. All in all it was a fantastic visit and we both are very keen to head back there again. Having done some initial surveys and had some luck we are both very keen to return soon with revised tactics and some more changes to the boat. Brendan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Squidy Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Great stuff Brendan, sounds like a top way to spend the weekend. Its certainly a beautiful spot down there. Cheers Rich 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Looks like you had a great day which is the main thing They get some stonker bream & flathead in St.G basin. Keep at it & do some research on gear, it will pay off eventually. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffb5.8 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 St Georges basin was where I caught my 97cm Flathead, was just drifting along with two rods, had my feet up and was almost dozing of when it grab and went for a good run. ITs a great spot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutsaboutfishing Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 What an excellent first report!! Really looking forward to your future ones. It it sounds like you've both caught the fishing bug!! cheers Richard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Great report and photos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YZ250 Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 Thanks everyone. I should have added that this trip was really improved by the people at fishraider. I read some old posts that were spot on re advice and also got further advice from helpful members. i have been fishing for over 20 years but virtually all of that has been chasing trout in stream or from the bank. I’m lucky I have a partner who loves being on the water (sailing background) and is keen on leaning to fish. So at the moment I just love quantity over quality as we both get excited boating new species (this was both our first ever tailor and snapper). When is the best time to fish St George’s basin? I understand winter is a bit tougher - when do the fish really chew? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Quote Not a local but spent a bit of time down there as a teen/early 20's after my mother moved there. Summer brings a lot of prawns into the basin so I would say that would increase the bite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Glad to hear your trip was eventful Brendon. The general chat down here is the fishing in The Basin was tough over the weekend, so you did well. As others have said, get down here in summer and you'll see a lot more activity when the prawns are running and the mega flattys are fired up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repb7 Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 Would you be kind enough to share the GPS marks where you caught the snapper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YZ250 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 Hi Repb7, I dont have the marks as I didnt mark them up and dont have that sounder anymore - but the fish on this trip came from the deeper part of the lake near sanctuary point. Its all pretty consistent around that 9m to 9.5m mark and it was just a matter of drifting til fish started biting. I have been back to that area a couple of times since though without luck on the snapper (caught flatties though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterfisho7 Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 Well done top report the fish in the pan would have made fine eating 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welster Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 Top report material 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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