bass fishing adventure in the local

[dirvin21]

A good mate and I both had the day off, we were planning on hitting the salt in the boat but with a perfect weather forcast we decided it was a perfect opportunity to fish a stretch of the Taylors arm of the Nambucca from private access I have to Grays crossing what I worked out to be about 9.5km, have never done this run before. We dropped a car off at the retrieve point and hit the launch 

 

looking quality as ever, and we got to casting didn't take long to be on the board

a flea to break the doughnut, the fishing was a little slow but woring the familiar pools we put a couple of fish the board 

only small fish but still bass none the less, as we got the end of the familiar water we hit some portage into new water 

certainly looked the goods, put plenty of casts in each cast feeling the anticipation of a hit, eventually in the middle of nowhere I get slammed 

a bit better quality fish, we fished all the prime spots but the fish were playing hard to get, it's crazy how much the river changes going from deep rocky pools with cliffs to open stream

we fished all of it 

we had a slow section for awhile with only a couple of hits and misses then we reached another big pool that looked fishy and very remote as far as river access goes 

got excited at this site 

the fish turned it on for me in this pool starting with ant size models

but the size did improve

 

with some more average sized fish, this is a standard Taylors arm fish

the zman grub with a igspinner was doing the damage I offered 1 to Andy but he declined although he was struggling 

We got into some more skinny water portaging our way down, put a cast in a tiny bend and was instantly rewarded with a solid take the fish played hard in the small stuff but managed to extract him

A nice high 30's fish, we bumped into the landowner who was friendly and stopped for a chat, if you follow the rules and stic to the river without taking paddock short cuts this is the usual greeting you get from a farmer.

Andy was continuing to struggle with his plugs but he persisted and in an insanely shallow piece of water his lure was nailed it was a joy to watch an outstanding fisho expertly fight a cracking fish, we were pretty pumped when it hit the net

a 45cm brute in outstanding condition and easily the fish of the day

with that it was time for lunch, a beer and a swim

nothing like stiing in the middle of nowhere having a cold one

recharged we continued on our journey, we ended up in a long stretch of portaging 

We eventually hit another good pool and actually had a bit of a hot bite 

mostly smaller fish like this but a few slightly better models 

With the day getting on we realised we'd forgotton the GPS so we had no idea how far we had left, we made the decision to start pushing down as we didn't want to be going through the nasty portages in the dark, we pushed through good looking pools and absolutely overgrown amazon,  we actually started to get a bit concerned when our presumed 6 hour day hit the 8 hour mark and I still hadn't recognised any of the river that's within the last km, going through some brutal overgrown river we came accross a farmer who filled us in on out whereabouts turned out we were about 1/2 km from the area I'd been to before upstream of grays but we had some brutal portaging to get through, the farmer was a top bloke and let us pull out on his property and walk down to the car which was only a short distance cross country.

We were pretty relieved to be out next time we do this run we'll have a better idea on time frames but to anyone thinking of this type of paddle, it's amazing hard to describe how awesome it was but never underestimate how much fishing slows you down, we spent a lot of time casting pools that really left us a bit short at the end

can't wait to have another crack when every muscle stops aching that is

cheers for reading 

Dave

 

 

 

[Blackfish]

Great adventure and write up Dave.

[masterfisho7]

Dave one great report and top photos mate

[frankS]

Dave. Great read and fantastic photos. What a way to spend 8hours, every minute of it enjoyed !!.

Thanks for sharing with us.

Frank

[Rebel]

Super report. and fabulous photos.Great day. Great country.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Rebel

[Rah]

Top report mate!! Thats a cracker bass! 

Cant wait for your next trip! 

 

[Lizardboy]

Awesome, thanks Dave!

[James Clain]

Nice reports thats heaps of bass!

[kingie chaser]

Some great looking country there.

Nice way to spend a day off 

[Centrepin]

Dave,

Great stuff.

The difficulties make the trip even more memorable. Good to hear they are starting up your way.

Thanks so much for posting,

 

Geoff

[lastworm]

Nice report mate. There would be a lot of jealous fisherman (me included) that would kill to have access to water like that!

[61 crusher]

Sounds like a great day out, nice read & photos 

[Pickles]

45cm is a great Bass Dave. Great report and excellent pics - a day out with mates - like the garden of Eden.

[big Neil]

Thanks for the report Dave. What an exciting trip...if only I was 30 years younger (LOL). Hope you can think of another way to catch some Bass and EPs when I venture up to your fishing paradise Dave. Still got some unfinished business with the Mangrove Jacks. Cheers, bn

[dirvin21]

2 hours ago, big Neil said:

Thanks for the report Dave. What an exciting trip...if only I was 30 years younger (LOL). Hope you can think of another way to catch some Bass and EPs when I venture up to your fishing paradise Dave. Still got some unfinished business with the Mangrove Jacks. Cheers, bn

Got a solid plan