Bass En Masse

While my electric has been out of action for the last 3 weeks i have visited a few of my old land-based stomping grounds in the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury i havent seen in years. I have fished these spots since those days, only it's been out of the comfort of my boat.

This time of year i start to dedicate some time to catching some of our native species, namely bass nad EP's. To be honest i prefer to chase bass at this time rather than in the height of summer. It a lot more challenging to start with but the size of the bass are generally bigger too.

I wrote an article in Fisho a few months back on bass and EP's in the Hawkesbury and discussed at length the relationship between these two extremely similar species. I guess the key takeouts were that both species seem to migrate in Hawkesbury at much the same time. The difference was that bass migrate to the brackish in winter and EP's migrate to full salt at that time. While we are a little off the full brunt of winter the migration has already started.

This is a blessing in disguise as the closed season in winter prohibits us to catch either species for 3 months. The time to capitalise on th3e spawning run is pretty much about now. Reports of big catches of bass and EP's are filtering through around the Lower Portland and Ebenezer areas. Admittedly most of these have come in the twightlight periods and even into the full darkness of night. The fish are hurding hawkesbury prawns to the surface and gorging themselves in the process.

One thing that really struck home with me after my land-based efforts was the difference in attitude between fishing from shore as opposed to fishing from a boat. The spots i fish in these upper reaches have restricted access due to bank-side vegetation. I can only fish small pockets of prime land. This usually means i have to methodically work over the area with multiple presentations until i strike it rich. In a boat i might try 5 or 10 casts to a likey looking spot with the one lure and move on if i have no interest.

Both techniques have thier merits. The more ground i cover in a boat the more fish that see my lure. Here, mobility is my key asset. From shore, the slow methodical approach can lure inactive fish into striking. It's not uncommon to frustrate fish into taking the bait, so to speak. The less options you are presented with can be a blessing in disguise. The thinking angler will persist until something works.

From this is one little 3 meter wide ledge i fished from i did really well. Funny thing was it took me half an hour and 20 different lures to get my first touch. Once i found the right combo (the old faithful bloodworm wriggler) i got stuck into both EP's and bass. It was top little session. Just goes to show you don't need a boat to catch good fish in Sydney.