Clear sky bassin'

[Little grey men]

After a hectic Saturday of taking the kids to KungFu, swimming, looking after said kids while the wife went for a walk with one of her friends. Watching Dora the explorer with my little girl and Flash Gordon with the my little boy.
I decided to make the rest of the day mine and headed for North Pine Dam before the sun went down.
I was left with one hour to play with the bass, so I hoofed it through the scrub to reach the water. I later told my wife that if she wanted a good work out to put on a heavy pair of waders, lift a backpack full of fishy things and carry a couple of rods through the gully's and thick grass out there.....sure does make your heart pump.
The bass have been holding deep for the last few weeks so I was using 15gram slugs to find them.
First cast, a hard flick of the rod to send the little piece of metal out as far as I could. Hold the rod still and watch for any line movement and feel for any little tap. Nothing on the way down so after the slug had hit bottom, I let it sit for a few seconds. One gentle lift of the rod tip and WHAM...its go time.
Second cast was as above. The slugs were wiped with S Factor which brought some very strange bites. One fish kept tapping, more like a little bream until it finally committed after about ten seconds and bent the rod tip down towards the water.
The amount of grass still in the water means that your gear can cop a bit of a flogging, drags are wound tight to keep the bass from burying themselves in the slowly rotting jungle on the bottom. You really have to put some hurt on these fish to keep them from heading for the snags.
I lost four fish trying to drag them through the grass way out in the deep but I landed four more nice fat bass before the sun went down and the air started to chill. So I packed up my gear and hit the trail, but not before getting a shot of the lake looking its best.
C'mon Wednesday morning.

[Peter4]

Sounds like a great short session, Michael.

Lovely pics (as usual) and some nice bass.....

Regs

Pete

[bdowdy]

great stuff lgm,, im so keen to fish this place this year,,time to visit the brother. cheers bdowdy..brett....p.s some nice fish and photos.....your place sounds exactly like mine on a saturday...lol..lol...

[Nic]

Those are great pics LGM, I especially like the close-up of the bass' head and the evening shot of NPD. I can almost feel like I'm there!

I have never tried targeting bass on slugs before, it's cool to see that it works!

[jim_bream]

On ya LGM, producing the goods again!!
I took the yak out to Bribie and sniffed around Buckleys and the channel with no joy (small chopper, small flattie and more pike than I knew what to do with!!)
The funny thing is I was thinking about heading down to NPD on Sunday for a late flick but the kids brought something back from the Ekka which made me feel grotty (read: nasty bug- I did n't even go this year and I got sick!)
I think I might have to book in some 'guiding' time with you, my freshwater skills are getting very rusty with the purchase of the yak.
As always, a very impressive tally and some fine plump fish there!
Good on ya Michael!
P.S. How's the 'toga painting coming along?
P.P.S. Do you ever realise that you're humming the 'Backpack' or 'Rescue Pack' tunes from Dora the Explorer? It's really time for my kids to get into Star Wars or something with a less catchy jingle. (At least Hi-5 had some eye candy...)

[Little grey men]

great stuff lgm,, im so keen to fish this place this year,,time to visit the brother. cheers bdowdy..brett....p.s some nice fish and photos.....your place sounds exactly like mine on a saturday...lol..lol...

We'll have to catch up for a fish when you visit mate. Saturday morning with kids is pure mayhem. Its all go go go on Saturday at my place. Now I know why my parents used to fall asleep in front of the TV Saturday arvo.

On ya LGM, producing the goods again!!
I took the yak out to Bribie and sniffed around Buckleys and the channel with no joy (small chopper, small flattie and more pike than I knew what to do with!!)
The funny thing is I was thinking about heading down to NPD on Sunday for a late flick but the kids brought something back from the Ekka which made me feel grotty (read: nasty bug- I did n't even go this year and I got sick!)
I think I might have to book in some 'guiding' time with you, my freshwater skills are getting very rusty with the purchase of the yak.
As always, a very impressive tally and some fine plump fish there!
Good on ya Michael!
P.S. How's the 'toga painting coming along?
P.P.S. Do you ever realise that you're humming the 'Backpack' or 'Rescue Pack' tunes from Dora the Explorer? It's really time for my kids to get into Star Wars or something with a less catchy jingle. (At least Hi-5 had some eye candy...)

Hey Jimbo, sounds like your getting some use out of your yak...good to see.
I'll be heading out there again early Wednesday morning...I mean early, while the roosters still dreaming. Have to be home by 9:00, my little girls getting a swimming medal...so I'm on camera duty.
Toga painting's coming along OK. I just have to stay awake at night time.More coffee.
Painted all the pink dots on it last night. My little girl thought they were pretty.

Speaking of Dora, singing "back pack, back pack" helps me to get to my fishing spots. down the dusty trail. through the smelly gully. past the dead fish frame.
And I reckon Doras Mum is lookin fine....very exotic.

[Cammy]

Nice session there LGM, i have just organised a trip to the dam wed arvo for a little fish,when you go through all the grass, is that the really thick stuff? liek you have to kick it down with your feet? i got up to that poiint last time i went to npd and didnt want to go any further ! Also slugs seem to be the go at the dam, anything els worth trying? I will probs be going to forgans and wandering the left hand side of the dam, i will proobably go to the spot where i got my first hit at the dam.

Heathy Fat Bass there !

Cam

[Little grey men]

Hey Cammy, I'll send you a PM for directions......Metal slugs are working because you'll want to cast out a long way. The bass are deep at the moment and you won't reach them with other lures, unless you have a lot of weight. But slugs are cheap as chips and the bass really seem to like them. Tie on at least 15gms and cast out as far as you can. Let it sink to the bottom. If it doesn't get hit on the way down. Let it sit for a few seconds then lift the rod tip....give a few flicks, whatever you want but only do this for about five metres ( you'll feel the bottom of the dam is quite clear out that far, but it won't take long to hit the snaggy stuff closer to the edge )then lift your rod tip and get the lure back quickly so it doesn't snag up.
I'd say that most of your hits will be a long way out. If you feel any little touches on the way down....STRIKE.
When a big fat bass slams that metal slug, be ready and try to keep it off the bottom. There's a good chance that it will bury itself in the weeds. Not sure of the best way to get them out but if they are really stubborn just ease off and sometimes they will untie themselves. Sometimes you'll lose the fish and the lure.
Best of luck mate, and I'll look forward to the photos.

[Cammy]

Righto Thnx for the advice, i'll have to go and get some slugs tmro arvi. lol pics, i gotta learn how to catch the fish first.

Cam

[jim_bream]

"Speaking of Dora, singing "back pack, back pack" helps me to get to my fishing spots. down the dusty trail. through the smelly gully. past the dead fish frame".

Geez you're a funny bar steward!!! And only parents will get it....

[rc@hinze]

Thanks for the report Michael. Good to see and hear that your still into those NPD bass. The 45 would have given you some satisfaction. Appreciate the photo of the slug you used. Have one of them in my tackle box that hasnt seen the water yet so I hope to give it a go at Hinze tomorrow. You and Brian are sure putting NPD in the limelight with the fish you are pulling out of there.
- cheers Richard

[Little grey men]

Thanks for the report Michael. Good to see and hear that your still into those NPD bass. The 45 would have given you some satisfaction. Appreciate the photo of the slug you used. Have one of them in my tackle box that hasnt seen the water yet so I hope to give it a go at Hinze tomorrow. You and Brian are sure putting NPD in the limelight with the fish you are pulling out of there.
- cheers Richard

Thanks Richard, pulling bass from that spot is hard work at the moment. They tangle up so easy.
The slugs sure are a great lure. They'll hit anything that shines I reckon.
I was getting hammered the other day on Bumpa bars. Another really good lure worth throwing in the tacklebox. A metal slug with vibration...what more could you want ?

[themissus]

Great report LGM!! I would never have thought of slugs for bass. That tray may have to stay in the tackle box for the next Carrie trip.
Cheers Kim!!

[NAGG]

Another fine report LGM ...... Top fish & photos
That's a smart bit of fishing ..... using slugs ( who would have thought )

thanks for sharing

Cheers

Chris

[Little grey men]

I read an article by Fitzy about using them ages ago..Heavy metal bassing I think it was. He won a comp using slugs and blokes thought he was strange when they first heard about it. ( Fitz is only a little bit strange )
Also last year I saw a lot of North Pine reports with people using slugs to pull bass. At certain times of the year they can really produce. Gee they snag up easy though. My tackle box is loaded with them now.