Backyard Bassing

30 November 2018 · A few local sessions when the offshore weather wouldn't play along.

Downrigging mackerel, trolling for tuna, jigging kingfish are guaranteed to make our clients happy. But what happens when the weather is so bad you can't get offshore?

We'd had a shocking year for weather. A friend who was out on a Sydney charter boat told me the skipper had mentioned that, at one point, he had only been able to fish for two days out of three weeks! Due to howling non-stop winds. Just an idea, mainly for metropolitan anglers, with something that had been working like a dream for me.

Freshwater fishing. I'm usually pretty hard on Fisheries, but I've got to confess they've done a fantastic job in stocking dams here in Sydney.

Local, inexpensive and a bit of exercise

I'd been out chasing bass four times in the last ten days. Can't recommend the experience too highly because it ticks so many boxes: local spots, meaning quick to get to, meaning you have time for a quick session after work, now that daylight saving has arrived (sorry, Queensland!) and yes I am hooked up, in this pic:

Inexpensive. I was using a secondhand kayak that cost me $200 in 2018 and our three-kilo spinning combo. That scored me ten bass in Lake Parramatta on the Monday night, including, at one point, three fish in five casts. A small used kayak can get you started without buying a big new rig. Check its condition and whether you can transport it before buying; borrowing one first is worth a try too.

Exercise. Maybe not relevant for a lot of our readers but important for a bloke like me who spends most of his waking life sitting in front of a computer screen. Paddling around for a couple of hours is the light workout I need. The fish are a bonus. Here's a 32 cm from Lake Parramatta on that Monday:

Another way to get a hookup

How does it work? I like to be hooked up, plain and simple. And one of the best ways to make that happen is not to put all your eggs in one basket.

So, for instance, on the Monday I arrived at Lake Parramatta and quickly set up our rod pod on the little deck. Mixed up a can of corn niblets and a bag of breadcrumbs in a bucket, with a little water. Threw that out in front of the pod and set two rods, passing the baits into the berley zone. Turned on the alarms and went to sort the kayak and bass gear. If anything was to happen, the buzzers would let me know:

Keep those bank rods attended: in NSW non-tidal waters, use no more than two lines, within 50 metres and in sight. Bring them in before paddling away. See the current NSW freshwater methods rules.

This tactic alone is deadly. All that year I'd been catching big carp from ponds here in Sydney in just short sessions after work:

Stocked water, a kayak and the right gear

Here's how to get started. Number one: check your local Fisheries web page for fish stockings in your area. Manly Dam was where I was headed on the next run. In 2018 I was looking at a chart showing around forty thousand bass stocked there over the preceding eight years. Plenty of reason to go and have a look!

For planning a trip now, use the NSW fish-stocking records, then check the access information for Lake Parramatta or Manly Dam. The kayak and deck photographs here show our 2018 outings. For lure choices, a light outfit and planning a short session, read our bass fishing around Sydney guide.

Two: get a kayak. Maybe you can borrow one? Fishing from a kayak is so much better than fishing from the bank:

Three: get the right gear for the job. The Light Spinning Combo is the sort of outfit I used for these bass sessions. Needless to say, the outfit wasn't just for bass. Ideal for flathead, squid, bream, trout, salmon and FAD dollies. I even got a 12 kilo bluefin tuna on mine a few years earlier:

These were the small black bass lures that had been working so well over those two weeks:

The whole outfit worked beautifully. If you already have a suitable rod, match the reel and line to it rather than buying a whole outfit just for the sake of it.

And if you want to try the rod pods and bite alarms, I can't recommend them too highly for keeping the bank rods organised. Another way to get a hookup on a local session. Note the rod pod at top right:

“I'm not fishing! I'm only casting.”

In closing, here's a video you might get a laugh from. From years ago, when we were at the 4WD and Boat Show at Penrith Panthers. Our stand was next to the Sydney Bass & Bream Club, and I thought it would be rude not to buy a couple of spinnerbaits from one of the club members selling there.

About 50 yards from our setup was the Aqua Golf pond, where people whack golf balls into the water for fun. Headed down to Aqua Golf with the new lure tied on, with blokes calling out, “You're not allowed to fish in there!” Me: “I'm not fishing! I'm only casting.” Here's what happened next…

Thanks for reading, and get back to me if you need any tips on where to go and how to do it.

Andrew

Also in Tackle News