Bass season opening

[Member]

have any of your vegimite eating friends been seen at all fitzy?? i thought i spotted one at kholo today

G'Day Wes,

No I havent as yet....devastated but hopeful. 

Are you fishing the Wivenhoe Convention this year Wes?

fitz..

[Member]

haha i love that hill climb thats why i only have a daylite paddler for that spot haha up on the shoulder and away i go, all though i too am sucking in the big ones once i get to the gate lol have any of your vegimite eating friends been seen at all fitzy?? i thought i spotted one at kholo today

Interesting Wes

throw anything at it?

[Member]

Does anyone have pictures of what is below that track to get to the waters edge at Shines?

Cheers

[Member]

Does anyone have pictures of what is below that track to get to the waters edge at Shines?

Cheers

I have some video from the top to the bottom, will try to load it up if I can find it.

[Member]

Sel,

I haven't any pics of the whole track . But I do have a picture of the launching spot from early 2010 and a pic from the background of one of my bass photos. With the old pic , you just need to use your imagination , all the trees are now gone. The island in the middle of the river betweeen the launching area and Lockyer creek is gone. Also the shelf used for launching is much smaller.  So here's what it used to be like.......

And here's whats left.....


Launching any big yaks or canoes from this location is an absolute mission. I'm a Hobie owner , I live in the area and I found it much easier to buy smaller yaks than take the hobies down there. Even Fitzy struggled with his light weight Old Town Pack Angler which hits the scales at a lofty 14Kgs. If it rains this area gets even harder to negotiate .

Cheers,
Dave.

[Member]

Sel,

 Even Fitzy struggled with his light weight Old Town Pack Angler which hits the scales at a lofty 14Kgs. If it rains this area gets even harder to negotiate .

Cheers,
Dave.

Mate those dive boots I had on were slippery as hell getting back up the hill after the rain.

I recommend good shoes or boots. Video is loading up now.....

fitz..

[Member]

Here's the video of draging down the Shines Road track to the river.

Note that the log half way down has been removed by a good samaritan. And check out how I slipped & landed on my butt just after it due to wearing slippery dive boots.

	Small | Large

link youtube.com/watch?v=0Pr3iaABx-Y

[Member]

Thanks for that, I got a giggle at 1.34...

So is Burtons pretty  easy? I might have to go have a look... I remember going there a few years ago, it was a nice easy launch. I thought there were concrete bollards protecting the run in to the bridge each side..has that changed?


I'll be honest all along the lead up to this comp I have been keen to stay at the dam but the weather forecast is not looking flash..I might have to go to the river...


Cheers

[Member]

Thanks for that, I got a giggle at 1.34...

So is Burtons pretty  easy? I might have to go have a look... I remember going there a few years ago, it was a nice easy launch. I thought there were concrete bollards protecting the run in to the bridge each side..has that changed?


I'll be honest all along the lead up to this comp I have been keen to stay at the dam but the weather forecast is not looking flash..I might have to go to the river...


Cheers

Twin Bridges is easy (drive right to water)
Under the highway bridge is easy (drive right to water with 4x4 [not rough, just sandy])
Savages Crossing is easy (drive to within 3m of water)
Burtons Bridge is easy (drive right to water)

Lowood Bend is fairly easy (drive to within 7 or 8m feet of water)
Lowood Town Common is fairly easy (drive to within 5m of water)
Harpeng Road is fairly easy, just a fence to slide under to get to shallow area (drive to with 20m of water)

Shines is hard (see video)
Lockyer Weir is hard

Stick with the top options IMHO.

[Member]

I place this on another sight --- Pretty close spend yesterday looking around with Lockyer then this morning on the way home put in at Lowood bend by myself, yes it can be done alone but would be safer with two from here it pretty easy to paddle up river, really for old farts or with people medical problems, putting in at Twin Bridges and working up is a good easy option or if you can pair up, drop one car at Twin Bridges and work your way down to Savages crossing.
On the way home I did stop at Fernvale and the pies are very nice after a couple of hours on the water.
Sel if the wind comes up there two option Fig Tree or the river and it up to you make a choice me if the river becomes the call Twin Bridges like Gary said it the best too go with.

[Member]

Just looking at this comment for a minute:

Actually , it is more from a story Catfich Al told me on Thursday morning that has changed my thinking . He recalled how he was paddling doing 'recon' just upstream from Lowood on Monday ( down behind the industrial estate ) . He had an encounter with some old geezer in a tinny who had a 'cricket score' ( 30+ ) of dead Bass in the bottom of his boat .

Are we being told that it is OK to break the rules regarding the closed season, but it's not OK to break the rules regarding bag limits?  I, for one, would happily put my hand up to suspend both rules until the river comes back to an equilibrium.  We're really only a couple of months away from us all throwing up our arms indignantly because of a massive fish kill in the river.  Honestly, the sooner the quantities of Bass that are in there are thinned out, the better.  We have a massively overstocked waterway at the moment and it can only end in tears.  (Although I'm sure if the Wivenhoe convention winner wins the comp from the River he'll say it's his skill, and not the fact that it's "fish in a barrel" fishing.) I saw the DEEDI electrofishing boat on Ipswich Road yesterday, hopefully they've been out there and got some numbers and can figure out how to get rid of the massive overpopulation.  I doubt that the river holds enough food to sustain the Bass for much longer, especially the Lockyer junction area where the fish are virtual prisoners until another flood event.

[Member]

Just looking at this comment for a minute:Are we being told that it is OK to break the rules regarding the closed season, but it's not OK to break the rules regarding bag limits?  I, for one, would happily put my hand up to suspend both rules until the river comes back to an equilibrium.  We're really only a couple of months away from us all throwing up our arms indignantly because of a massive fish kill in the river.  Honestly, the sooner the quantities of Bass that are in there are thinned out, the better.  We have a massively overstocked waterway at the moment and it can only end in tears.  (Although I'm sure if the Wivenhoe convention winner wins the comp from the River he'll say it's his skill, and not the fact that it's "fish in a barrel" fishing.) I saw the DEEDI electrofishing boat on Ipswich Road yesterday, hopefully they've been out there and got some numbers and can figure out how to get rid of the massive overpopulation.  I doubt that the river holds enough food to sustain the Bass for much longer, especially the Lockyer junction area where the fish are virtual prisoners until another flood event.

Can they do what was done at Boyne River and look at way to open up the area know as the log jam to allow the fish to migrate down further into the section between there and Lowood bend which you said earlier is pretty baron.  Just a idea.

Ray

[Member]

I think Anna has already directed all the councils to fix the river blockages, but I'm pretty sure the local council has more important things to do than to get down there and clear the river.  They're hard pressed just to fix the roads at the moment.  There are plenty of fish further downstream, I was referring to structure in the next stretch, not fish.

[Member]

Just looking at this comment for a minute:Are we being told that it is OK to break the rules regarding the closed season, but it's not OK to break the rules regarding bag limits?  I, for one, would happily put my hand up to suspend both rules until the river comes back to an equilibrium.  We're really only a couple of months away from us all throwing up our arms indignantly because of a massive fish kill in the river.  Honestly, the sooner the quantities of Bass that are in there are thinned out, the better.  We have a massively overstocked waterway at the moment and it can only end in tears.  (Although I'm sure if the Wivenhoe convention winner wins the comp from the River he'll say it's his skill, and not the fact that it's "fish in a barrel" fishing.) I saw the DEEDI electrofishing boat on Ipswich Road yesterday, hopefully they've been out there and got some numbers and can figure out how to get rid of the massive overpopulation.  I doubt that the river holds enough food to sustain the Bass for much longer, especially the Lockyer junction area where the fish are virtual prisoners until another flood event.

From what fish I have seen , they look to be in better condition than they were in May ( less sores and and less fin damage ) . Plus , they appear to have been well fed , look fat even. Seen a few pics of bass from North Pine and Mt Crosby around the net , they in comparison look skinny and hollow ( post spawn maybe ) .

Equilibrium as you say maybe already on its way , they have certainly changed their behaviour of late. No longer are they regularly caught from a blind cast out in the main trunk of the river . Instead the shadows is where the action is and the big units from earlier in the year are far less common ( still plenty of 25-30cm fish ) . And now with the improved water clarity , the plant life in the river should start growing back. I will only get worried if the all the pelicans and cormorants leave the river , they are certainly still there in good numbers , and they won't hang around if the small fish aren't there ( especially as its only a couple of kms away from the dam and the easy pickings on offer for them there ) .

Cheers,
Dave.

[Member]

Here's the video of draging down the Shines Road track to the river.

Mate you need to load a huff and puff vid coming back up. Then you get an idea of what a pain in the ass it is.