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Little grey men
10-03-2008, 09:45 AM
This report Doesn't include huge numbers of fish or the capture of mighty beasts, although it does have a little action.
It's simply a report of perhaps my most enjoyable mornings fishing at North Pine Dam. My constant fishing companion, my little boy sat this one out as he was feeling a bit miserable with a head cold. Fishing on my lonesome, I decided to get to the water early, and was trudging down to one of my favourite spots in the early morning darkness.
The dam level has risen a lot and most of the trails and now under quite a few feet of water. So a bit of bush bashing was in order. After countless stick burrs and an unpleasant encounter with a very large spider who's web was destroyed by my face, I reached my spot and started to get ready.

With the increased water levels, casting from the bank is all but impossible. The best bet is to stand in waist deep water to get your lure out beyond the many metres of submerged vegetation. So it's off with the boots and wade in very very slowly.
Early morning on most waterways is an amazing time. The water on the dam was like black glass before the sun had decided to make a proper showing.
It seemed this morning that every inch of the dam was alive with little creatures, busy doing what little creatures do, chasing each other or exploring their environment.
Swarms of tiny insects were hovering amongst the tips of the submerged grass, driving the small fish just underneath the water crazy. I swallowed two of the same bugs and honestly I don't know what the fish see in them.
The only fish I could identify without getting too close were snub nosed gar. Further out in the slightly deeper water, tiny bait fish were skipping across the surface to escape the dams larger piscatorial pursuit machines.
Various waterbirds were clucking and hooting in the tall grass nearby. Miniscule little wrens were chirping and dancing from flower to flower. Turtles popped their pointy little noses out of the water for a breather along with their much bigger mates, the lungfish that call the depths of the dam home.
The beautiful electric blue dragonflies made quite a few appearances as well.
All of this right on the edge of Brisbanes suburbs.
It's quite amazing what you can see if you just take the time to stand still and just look around.

Quite a few of the feeding fish appeared to be of good size as they were dispacing a lot of water during their hunts.
I was fishing with my spin gear this morning rigged with Slider and Ecogear paddle tail grubs on a beetle spin jighead attachment. With the amount of rotting plantlife on the bottom, heavy diving lures get snagged too easy to make it enjoyable.
When a fish would hit the surface, I would cast just beyond the settling water, let the lure sink for just a second and lift the rod tip for a slow retrieve back...lift retrieve...lift retrieve, nothing fancy this morning.
The bass seemed to be feeding just beyong the exposed grass, no more than say twelve feet from where I was standing.
Six fish were taken from this point. None were big, but they were a tonne of fun.
Each one was a challenge to get back through the thick strong grass. With two of the larger fish I had to wade out to them and perform a bit of under water gardening to release them from the tangled vegetation.
My drag was wound up tight in an attempt to get the fish up and over the grass quickly. For the first time ever, I was actually dreading the prospect of hooking a good sized bass, for reasons which will become clear soon enough.

Casting all along the edge of the grass, I noticed a few strands standing proud of the water about thirty feet further down the bank. I dropped a cast right beside it, and before the splash from my lure even settled, the tip of my rod was slammed violently.The fish must have been sitting just below the surface. Straight away I lifted the tip to set the hook and also to attempt to keep the fish away from the underwater garden. This fish was obviosly a lot bigger than it's little cousins which I'd been catching earlier. The bass wanted to swim straight down and that's excactly what it did. The drag on my reel wasn't going to stop this one, and from where I stood I didn't have a chance of turning it.
I lifted the rod tip to find no give what so ever. It had wrapped itself around the big clump of underwater grass very nicely. I waded out closer to the snagged fish and could feel it taking line as I got closer, but I couldn't retrieve any for myself.
Up to my waist, up to my chest, up to my neck and then there goes the bottom.
A few strokes with one hand while still holding the rod high with my other hand and I was directly above the fish. I decided to let the line go slack while I treaded water, for no result. Starting to get frustrated I gave one last tug and felt the line give a dull pop and it all went light....DAMN IT. it was gone.
Back to the bank to tie on another lure and inpect my cut fingers. That braid can cut like a rope saw. The whole time I was telling myself, the fish was probably only a smaller one that was extra strong...yep that sounds good.
All I know is that theres a big bass in there now with a small spinning blade lip piercing.

Time for a hard bodied lure, something light and shallow diving.A Stiffy minnow was chosen and cast out past the grassy barrier. A few downward jabs with the rod and a slow retrieve saw the little lure zig zagging lazily no more than a metre under the water back to my position.
It was all too much for the nice little bass that was out and about to rustle up some breakfast. Once again it was. WHACK...THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. Gee I love these fish!
I was starting to feel hungry myself and I'm afraid that the two bugs I ate earlier did nothing to ease my hunger. So I decided to head off home in the hope of finding something along the lines of bacon, eggs, toast and hot coffee.
Arriving home I was met at the door by my little boy with his usual barrage of questions. How many ? How big ? Can I see the photos Dad.
Guess what we'll be doing next Saturday morning ??? Lifes good is it not ?
Oh yeh, I did get my bacon and eggs too

Little grey men

tiges
10-03-2008, 10:46 AM
Great report LGM, thanks mate.

Peter4
10-03-2008, 11:05 AM
Beautiful report LGM. I doff me hat to your eloquence.

In a few paragraphs you have summed up what it's all about.

Regs

Pete

bdowdy
10-03-2008, 12:10 PM
another great report mate, nice healthy bass, im sure my brother will be heading there this weekend coming after reading this. cheers bdowdy..brett

dowdy
10-03-2008, 01:22 PM
Great report LGM.

I can relate to your report as I fished the dam on Sunday morning (Brett was right). I found myself wading out into the water in an attempt to avoid as much vegetation as possible. I also had the drag up tight to turn the fish and direct them as much as possible. However, tangled bass in the grass and weeds was unavoidable and I also found myself wading out into deeper water to retrieve tangled fish.

For the first time I also found myself thinking, I hope I don't hook a large bass. I managed a great yella which hooked up right at my feet (joys of wading) on a purple skirt spinnerbait which I managed to land thankfully. I also managed 8 small bass for the couple of hours fished. Largest fish was around 35cm.

Thankfully no lures were lost which was a bonus.

Actually, I caught all the bass on an Evergreen LittleMax lure which is the one you recommended when I caught up with you at the tackleshop, so thanks for the advice. They are a great little lure with an impressive action. Alot cheaper than Jackalls also.

No doubt I'll be there again this weekend coming. Your right, it's great to have such an excellent fishery so close.

Dowdy.

Little grey men
10-03-2008, 01:50 PM
Cheers for the kind words fellas.:)

Hey Dowdy, good to hear those littlemaxes are producing the goods. The dam sure is a different place to fish lately hey ? At least the grass in the water is finally starting to soften and rot away. I'm hoping that in a few months we won't have to do the whole wading bit at all. Too cold by then anyway.

Bearclaw
10-03-2008, 03:59 PM
Great report. Just wish there was more reports like it.

B_E_N
11-03-2008, 09:49 AM
seeing as the dam has risen is there still a no fishing barrier on te point at mcgavins view??

Little grey men
11-03-2008, 10:34 AM
Yep, still there mate. I sure would love to have a sniff around the other side where the bass roam free.

the_matrix
12-03-2008, 07:50 AM
Good stuff Michael, Great report.
Hope Caleb is doing his weights.:D
Cheers
Jas

Little grey men
12-03-2008, 08:37 AM
Good stuff Michael, Great report.
Hope Caleb is doing his weights.:D
Cheers
Jas

Yeh mate,
He's skinny but he's strong;)
I've shown him photos and he's been watching DVD's...he just smiles and looks at me rather nervously. And then he says quietly " There as big as me Dad "

the_matrix
12-03-2008, 11:30 AM
Yeh mate,
He's skinny but he's strong;)
I've shown him photos and he's been watching DVD's...he just smiles and looks at me rather nervously. And then he says quietly " There as big as me Dad "
Thats gold.
Only a child can give a frank assesment of the situation like the young fellea did.
Im sure he'll be ready, besides we can always throw on a legrope and attach it to the skeeters bum seat.:)
Cheers
Jas

Little grey men
12-03-2008, 02:06 PM
YEEEEHAAAA !!!
hmmm I better not let his Mum read this stuff or we'll all get a clip behind the ear.

the_matrix
12-03-2008, 04:14 PM
shhhhhhh.......dont tell mum;D ;D

barra_mauler001
13-03-2008, 08:57 PM
Was a great read mate, nice pics as well.

Gotta love those early morning sessions! but not the bugs!

cheers barra

rc@hinze
14-03-2008, 05:52 AM
Thanks for LGM for going to all your trouble to write that report. It was very enjoyable to read and and a great story. It was like we were out there with you.

You could have just starting fishing from an easy bank next to the car but you didnt. You trudged thru the bush and waded out to your spot. You get out of life what you put in - you went to some effort to catch those bass and you were rewarded with a great session - well done!
thanks
Richard

haybii
15-03-2008, 11:24 PM
Very interesting read LGM.. very enjoyable... i hope one day i would be able to write one half as good..

Little grey men
17-03-2008, 02:20 PM
For anyone interested, I hit the dam again on Saturday morning. The place wasn't as "alive"as my previous trip but still had fun. The grass in the water has softened more. Meaning different lures could be used without fear of loosing them.
Caught a few bass and a nice little yella on Jackall's and soft plastics with beetle spin's. On one retrieve I brought my lure right to the grass at my feet and went to grab the trail of weed hanging from it, a little bass went for the lure as I was lifting it about two inches out of the water..Scared the hell out of me, and splashed me right in the face before taking off into the grass again. Never had one so close before.
It's the sort of stuff that makes you dream about bass fishing.

chrisallangler
19-03-2008, 08:12 AM
Good report some exciting fishing, how is the chronarch going?

Chris

Little grey men
19-03-2008, 08:29 AM
Beautiful reel mate, I wound the brakes right off and the thing casts lures an absolute mile...does a good job on light weight plastics too. I used it to drag that yellowbelly out of the grass, much easier than using a spin stick on a whippy rod.
I'll be using it to tackle some barra next month. That'll give it a good work out.:)

Hows your new setup going...gettin comfy with it ?

two fold
21-03-2008, 06:48 AM
thanks for that report, are the bettlespins any good?
purcho

Little grey men
25-03-2008, 08:06 AM
thanks for that report, are the bettlespins any good?
purcho

Hey two fold, yep they work well, they add another element to your plastics fishing. Good for keeping the hook off the bottom as well and away from snags.