Bass Fishing Down Under

[Colin Linton]

G'day!!

I do appologise for the delay with getting this up on the board it's a large topic to try and cover in a few paragraphs.  I will try to break down as best I can over the following weeks to give everyone an idea of Bass Fishing in Australia.

I guess to start Australian Bass (Macquaria novemaculeata) are somewhat different than Large or Smallmouth Bass.  In esssence (extracted from Wikipedia)  Australian Bass are a small to medium sized, primarily freshwater (but estuarine spawning) native fish found in coastal rivers and streams along the east coast of Australia. They are a member of the Percichthyidae family and, currently, the Macquaria genus. Australian bass are an iconic, highly predatory native fish. They are an important member of the native fish faunas found in east coast river systems and an extremely popular angling species.

These fish whilst predominately wild are successfully being bred for stocking into Lake Systems down the east coast of Australia.  They along with Barramundi are the most popular (Freshwater) sports fish in Australia.  Stocking Groups have been formed by the local communities for each of the Major lakes.  These groups in conjunction with the Water Authorities manage fish populations across these lakes through fund raising activities and Government Grants.  A Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme (SIPS) is in place in most lakes to assist aswell.  In short it creates a user pays system whereby the angler can nominate which Lake his SIPS fees are distributed too.  More info can be found here : http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/28_14330.htm The fees are very affordable with daily, weekly and annual permits available.

BAIT and LURES:

Fishing techniques as you all would know change each season.  Baits such as Earthworms and Shrimp being the most popular Fresh baits however with that being said, Australia has not missed the Lure Revolution that has engulfed the world.  And this technique would be in my opinion the more popular way to target these species.

Lures such as Crankbaits (Bibbed, Topwater and Lipless) in 2-4" size, Spinnerbaits up to 1oz (3/0-5/0 Hook size) and Soft Plastics in all shapes and forms used, again in the 2-4" range the most popular.  Jigs and Buzzbaits are not techniques readily utilised when fishing for Australian Bass however I have heard reports of these being used successfully.  I will endeavour to upload some pics as a direct comparison.  Having said all that these fish for their size hit hard and fight dirty in order to avoid capture. I will elaborate further when I have the photos uploaded. 

Tackle:

Rods, Reels and Line all vary with techniques and anglers so there will be differing opinions on what is right or wrong when it comes to this topic.

Lines:

Fluro, Mono, Braid and Fused lines are all readily available with most of the larger brands (Berkley, Sunline, Stren etc ) amongst them.  Line weights varying from 2-20lb being used to entice a bite.  There would only be a small percentage of the Tournament anglers fishing 2lb test however when the bite has shut down a small soft plastic presented on light line is often your best chance of a bite.  4-10lb line test would represent the most popular range of  line class used for most techniques however heavy timber could see lines up to 20lb and possibly heavier used.

Reels:

When it comes to reeling in the elusive Bass both casting and spinning reels are used.  Given the smaller lures and jigheads down to 1/24th oz used, 2000-3000 sized spinning reels are very popular with the usual suspects Shimano, Quantam, Daiwa all amongst the favourites!  Pretty much the same names are evident in the Casting reel sector however these reels are generally used for the larger crankbaits and spinnerbaits only. 

To Be Continued.....................

[t-bone]

I like the idea of the SIPS program. That makes a lot of sense.

So what is a typical aussie bass in terms of size - length and weight? What are your keeper limits?

What types of tournaments do you have?

Boats: Do you import bass boats? What is a typical aussie boat?

Thanks for sharing the information - I enjoyed reading and learning!

[mikesmiph]

Great start Colin. We are all hungry for fishing news, seeing how we still have a foot of ice. LOL

[Colin Linton]

Continue........

Rods:

Line class plays a big part in the rod selection of choice.  Again all the major manufacturers are in place here with rods specifically designed for each technique.  Rods generally come in the following classifications: 1-3kg, 2-4kg, 3-6kg and beyond however the noted weights would form the basis of many tournament anglers arsenal.  As a guide below is a conversion table from kg-lbs

Kilograms = pounds
1.0 = 2.205
2.0 = 4.409
3.0 = 6.614
4.0 = 8.818
5.0 = 11.023
6.0 = 13.228
7.0 = 15.432
8.0 = 17.637
9.0 = 19.842
10.0 = 22.046

There are no shortage of custom rod builders plying their trade here and prices run anywhere up to and beyond the $500 mark for a quality custom rod. 
Having been caught up in the U.S. scene for a few years I will be watching for trends such as micro-guides to inevitably work their way into our rods over the coming months.

Wow I am staggered about how much more info I could put into the preceeding topics.  I will plough on though now and re-cap and break down the info a little more with the pics!! (Everyone loves pics!!)

Boats:

Every Bass anglers dream a Skeeter, Ranger, Bass Cat (take your pick) fibreglass behemoths  only really came to fruition for Australian anglers in the Late 90's early 2000's. The influx of Tournament Fishing specific Fibreblass boats arrived with the onset of Tournament Fishing and consumer demand.  Early models included Stratos and Skeeter models,  however we now see the full spectrum inlcuding a smattering of Bass Cats now entering the market.  Prior to this saw a bevvy of Aluminium boats being converted with Casting Platforms, Trolling Motors and Live Wells plumbed in.  The aluminium boat market would still hold favour amongst the many recreational anglers not keen on dropping $55k + on the market specific Bass boat! 

Tournaments:

The tournament scene here in Australia is in my opinion still in it's infancy, as such this reflects on the fact that there is no way anyone could successfully make a living from just tournament fishing alone.  Tournaments at the top level see anglers vying for prize money up to $10,000 (winner) however payouts in the range of $2,000 for a win would be more the norm.  My guess is as the popularity sets in these figures will grow however with a total population of around 22 million we may never reach the lofty heights of B.A.S.S or FLW. 
Tournament Entry fees for a Bass Pro round range from $100 for a non-boater up to $200 for a boater.  In an effort to increase prize money anglers may choose to option up by paying $100 extra which is placed in a pool to be distributed between those that dare to back themselves. 
To give you an idea of scale here are the top 5 bass anglers by $$
since the inception of tournaments in 1999.

Top 5 Money earners:

*Carl JOCUMSEN $56808
Tim MORGAN $30031
John SCHOFIELD $24325
Matthew MOTT $23487
David GREEN $22943

*Australian anglers rejoice as Carl is now in the U.S.A attempting to chase the fulltime Bass professional dream.  Carl competed as a Non-Boater in 2009 at the U.S Open finishing second overall in his division.

Here is a link to an overview of a tournament and payouts based on 56 boat field.  The summary will give an insight to the tactics of our best angler on that day: http://www.australianbass.com.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=404

There is a bag limit of 2 Bass per person so our Tournaments are based on 2 fish over 3 fishing sessions.

To be continued................

[djkimmel]

Excellent cabin fever break material. I'm going to make sure many people get to enjoy this. Any pictures of the fish you can share? I can help you get them loaded if you need.

I actually received an email from an Australian boater a few months ago who was trying find out how to get a Ranger Trail trailer, or suitable alternative into Australia for his boat. I get some interesting email and phone calls thanks to this site from all over the world.

[Colin Linton]

Excellent cabin fever break material. I'm going to make sure many people get to enjoy this. Any pictures of the fish you can share? I can help you get them loaded if you need.

Disclaimer:  The info I provide is my personal take on Bass fishing in Australia.  I am happy for other anglers to have input or possibly correct me if they feel I have mis-represented anything.  All efforts will be put in to ensure validity of info contained.  Some info has been extracted directly from publicly available websites.

My appologies for the disclaimer just wanted to ensure these are my opinions and possibly differ from that of others........lol.

Thanks to all for the early responses.

DJ, I will put together a comprehensive photo album with comparisons of Baits, Hook sizes and fish etc to put up on the board.  I will get your help when they are ready to go though.  Thanks for the offer and hope the ice melts quickly to reduce Cabin Fever!

Regards
Colin

[LGMOUTH]

Thanks for the great read Colin, looking forward to more.

[MadWags]

Great read.

[mikesmiph]

Take your time Son, we have two months

[Redbone]

No need for the disclaimer. Its not like any of us fisherman ever stretched a story.

Good stuff!

[Mojo]

Take your time Son, we have two months

roflmao !!  Thats just hilarious Mike. You are something. Colin, youre like a sleepy bedtime story... just keep turnin the page and we'll keep one eye open to read ..... Give us a link so we can see your version of a Bass Pro Shops or what the fish looks like ... typical size and weight of a tournament fish ? Goes by length or weight ? What weight is considered a darn good fish ?

Example: For us - A standard bucketmouth (largie) goes 2 lb. Tournaments have minimum lengths of 14 - 16 ". Decent fish is 3 lb. Nice fish is 4 lb. A nemmaa is about 5 lb and a Jemimas are 6 - 10 lb ! A 10 lb largie in Michigan earns you your name in the record books for the the year. For inland lakes, largies and smallies come in the bag of 5 best fish. All are returned as FLW, BFL, NBAA etc all practice catch and release.

Now a Smallish (smallmouth) standard goes bout 2.5 lb. Same tournament lengths a Largies. Nice smallie is 3.5 - 4 lb. Usually one of the team members will get 1 or more 4 - 5 lb fish. Thats nice. 5 -6 lbr is worth sqealing like a lil girl getting her pony for christmas and bigger than 6 lb will make your whole week !!

The Great Lakes, basis, and nearby lakes / rivers usually hold quality smallmouth, particularily on Lake St Clair and Erie. Its tributary river movement (believe it or not LSC is a current driven body of water) and shallow hard bottom makes it one of the top 3 best Small mouth lakes in the world. Hence - these insufferable addicted fools (myself included) who stare red-eyed at the frozen shoreline like a St Bernard waiting for their master to appear on the horizon.

So really, start saving your doalers, and fly over to Michigan in May, June, Sept, or October to experience 50 fish smallmouth days, and maybe a 5 - 6 lbr here and there.

Mojo

[Mojo]

Just a wild guess, but does this video represent Australian bass fishing tournaments ?

[Colin Linton]

Mojo,

My appologies for the Boring Bedtime story!!

I will endeavour to spice it up a little for future chapters.

The video you posted gives a good representation of our Tournaments and thanks for posting!

Will edit my latest draft before posting!!

Regards and Thanks,
Colin

[djkimmel]

Colin - don't pay too much attention to Mojo's exact word choices. He gets more than a little excitable at times... Remember - he is speaking a different dialect of English than you are so the translation can be a little confusing.

Just keep doing what you're doing. You're doing fine.

[MadWags]

The fish looks like a cross between a Snook and a Redfish. I saw a Skeeter in the video with an Evinrude on it! Blasphamie!!!!!

[djkimmel]

Or blasphemy...

[Hooksetter]

The fish looks like a cross between a Snook and a Redfish. I saw a Skeeter in the video with an Evinrude on it! Blasphamie!!!!!

Evinrude or Skeeter?

Interesting reading, patiently waiting for the next chapter.

Willie

[djkimmel]

Good question!?!

[Mojo]

The fish looks like a cross between a Snook and a Redfish. I saw a Skeeter in the video with an Evinrude on it! Blasphamie!!!!!

Little blasfor you and a whole lotta blasphame  eh ??

Yup colin DKimmie has it right ..... I aint right ..... but what I was trying to say was that we are all like kids tucked in bed for the night.... and you are the story teller of winter for us .... and we'll never close the other eye .... just like kids do when you are trying to read them to sleep ..... was all I was saying. Anyway - Water are your waters temp - by month ? Which month are fishable ?

[djkimmel]

I figured you meant it as a compliment, but there was a 'translation' problem causing your point to be possibly misunderstood. Figured you wouldn't mind me picking on you a little to encourage Colin to keep at it.

Though not to rush him. He apparently has a job and stuff too!