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Author Topic: Clarrie Hall yesterday  (Read 4968 times)

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Clarrie Hall yesterday
« on: January 29, 2011, 04:00:42 PM »
My mate Phil and I went out onto Clarrie Hall yesterday arvo  to give his new electric boat a little run. Got there about 1.30 and fished thru 'till about 5.00 and drew a complete donut. The water seemed to be clear enough, just the usual t tree colour but completely fishable. Used a variety of gear excepting hard bodies mostly blades and softies with beetle spins. There was very little surface action about so I'd have to say the bass just didn't want to play. The dam is currently at 100%.
JD


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Re: Clarrie Hall yesterday
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2012, 01:03:40 PM »
I have fished Clarrie Hall about a dozen times now. The first trip, it was simply a matter of dropping a soft plastic to the bottom and a bass would commit suicide. We caught about 30 that day. Since then all subsequent trips I have had to work very hard for fish. I usually start out early with surface lures and go deeper as the sun gets higher. In a day I usually try everything from plastics with beetle spinners to blades and hard bodies. I fish the surface, mid water and deep. I catch most of my fish trolling deep diving hard bodies along the edges of the weed.

Having said that I am still putting in alot of time for a handful of fish. I am rediculously determined to figure out how to up my catch rate at this dam. Partly because it is my local impoundment and it is possibly the most picturesque place I have ever fished.

I fished there on the 26&27th Feb 2012.  I must have put in 8 hours but only came up with 4 fish. I am always on the look out for fish on the sounder but don't often see any significant numbers. My theory is;

For the majority of the time the bass live in under the lilly pads. These lillies line the shores extensively and probably provide all the cover, food, dissolved oxygen and shelter they need. So for the most part they have no reason to  come out and eat a lure. Lure fishing amonst the lillies is very limited. Early mornings I skip weedless surface lures like plastic frogs across the lilly pads but hooking a fish and managing to extract it from the lillies is another thing. Fishing the edge of the lillies is probably the best option at these times. Trolling the edge seems to present the lure to any fish that happen to be near the edge. However, due to the boats position whilst trolling a hooked fish often head straight back into cover and unless you have a super fast electric out board, the fish wins again. Casting and retrieving to the edges with the boat some distance from the lillies is probably the surest way to land a hooked fish, but the downside is the lure doesn't spend as much time in the strike zone. Which leads me to ask this; Is there a lure that swims sideways? Maybe there is and I just haven't found it. Imagine being able to troll the edge of structure such as oyster racks or lilly pads, but have the boat positioned more or less parallel to the structure. Anyway back to reality.

Of course there are those golden times when the bass leave the safety of their cover and head out into the open. I think knowing when and why this happens is the key to upping my catch rate at Clarrie Hall. Focussing on spawning ques, barametric pressure, water temps, oxygen levels, water levels, food sources etc are the key (I think).

The first successful trip I had at Clarrie Hall, I am guessing the fish were forced from out beneath the lillies and into the open due to lower water levels. The lillies may have been stressed and consuming dissolved oxygen as they decompose. This forced the bait fish as well as the predators into the open where I could harass the little beauties with my lures.

Anyway there is some of my thoughts. If anyone has any other theories on bass in Clarrie Hall I would be most glad to hear about it.
Thanks,

 

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