february 2013, bass going bananas, sunny coast hinterland

[Member]

g'day sweetwater fishing, this my first post after working the ins and outs of the forum out. febuary 2013, crazy cyclonic weather smashes our se corner. .
i'd been waiting, i think patiently for my bass hole on the sunny coast hinterland to fill up after the tail end of the 2012 dry as period.. last year the hole was constanly full but not fishing too good. got a couple of bass brutees, so was keen to do some more fishing around the same time, but, geez the hole was like the sahara friggin desert, all sand and silt and no water.. now time was running out to fish the hole cos my lady was gonna start uni this year and so we were moving from the bush to north brisvegas around redcliffe, scarborough area..i was sweet with the move cos we were getting closer to the ocean and had been reading heaps about scarbie reef and those pinky fish with fluoro blue spots, that pull like crazee..yummy snapper..
i was close to the net watching the radical system sitting over bundy, gladstone area and waiting for it to move south and dump some very much needed rain over the south east corner.. haven't seen it dry like that on the range for a long while..
the friday arv it was coming and in the back of my mind i knew we were gonna get smashed, but also in the fishy part of my mind i knew my hole was gonna be a filling up..living in a shed and caravan we realised we gotta batton down the hatches cos the wind gusts and the rain was seriously picking up..something fierce. but again in that fishy part of my mind i was doing a quiet yeehaaa, i might get to fish my hole before we move on..
sat night it really picked up the wind was swirling in the valley, rain was really starting to come down and  we were in bed in our humble caravan. still awake at 1.30am i heard this gust comin throught the valley that smashed the tail end of the van and pushed it a foot foward from where it was perched, full on.. trees were bending, trees were cracking in the distance, the row of gympie mesmates  behind us  were making so much noise it sounded like 20ft swell was breaking on my back doorstep..double full on..needless to say we did'nt get much sleep that night. the rain was caining down and i knew now that the hole would be filling up, and quickly..i had this smile on my face cos i new i'd get my wish before we moved ,to drop a few lures in the now ranging torrent of a creek..which untill that sat night sunday morning was nothing but a trickle..i think i was the only one smiling on the community...the other thing that was exciting was that , we got 2 creeks to cross to get to our block and i knew we'd be locked in for a few days so, no going to work..and was also thinking if i was a bass i'd be trying to find a deep hole to reside in to get out of the craziness..
sunday morning was insane, my work shed was filling up with water so me n my lady were out in it digging trenches to move the 100s and 100mms of water we were getting smashed with..yeehaa..but again  my casting arm was getting excited at the idea of my bass hole filling up and becoming fishable again..
half a week after the weather and block got to some sort of `back to normal`..i thought nows my chance to toss a few lures in the hole and hopefully snag a bass or two that should be feeding heavily on all the tucker getting washed into that spot on the creek.. got my gear together and made way down to the access i had spent hours clearing in the past years to get to where i wanted to fish..when i got to the access, it definately was not accessible for a yak cos trees had come down everywhere..what a friggin mess..so no yak and decided to walk the area..got down to my spot and got very excited at the idea of having a sick little sesh in a quiet bit of water, and hopefully hook up..
bugger not even a touch. i threw spinner-baits, hardbodies, surface walkers..blady'ell where were they..my plan did not manifest itself, the way i had it in my noggin...so no fish and we were moving that weekend..aah man.
so we made the move..and i must say really good living so close to ocean again after residing in the bush for a number of years..now the good thing was that i still had abit of work out in the hills so instead of driving back and forth i thought id stay a few days while i finished building a kitchen for a mate down the road from the block..the conditions were perfect, the sun had come out abit, the dirty water had cleaned up and my fishy mind was thinking this is gonna be a good few days back at the bush..so wednesday, week and half after intense rain kept telling myself they gotta be there now man..knocked off around 3.30ish and started to get fully stoked at the idea of having a sik sesh..
i gave my little pflueger asaro and arbor reels a once over, checked  my little diawa and slightly heavier shimano rod for readiness, tied a 10pound fluoro leader onto the arbor and 8pound fluoro on the asaro...tied my newly bought JACKALL TN-60 (ama-deadly) onto the arbor and hop skipped and jumped down to the access..when i got down there someone had fully cleared the area of the snapped trees and limbs that come down, and thought..hell yeah i don't have to get the chainsaw out and get into it in the morning..so i was feeling positive and was off to a good start..
the hole was looking great nice clean water, no bits of timber and branches and leaves and generall cr@p lying on the surface..double good vibes.by now  my hands were shaking at the idea of hookin up..i put my gear down, checked the drag on the arbor reel took a deep breathe trying to chill my energy down and cast the JACKALL to the other side of the hole and let it sink to the depths...i was fishing between 4-8meters of quiet awesome lookin water..,i took up the slack and gave the rod tip a lift of about 500mm and really got that funky JACKALL vibing, then let it drop again..took up the slack again and lifted the rod tip again..every lift got my body shaking as i was waiting for that first HIT..i lifted the rod tip again and on the drop..BANG..my shimano buckeled as i felt the weight and pure power of this fish that meant business...i was on, holy smokes i was deffinately on, this first bass tried to get its head down and was heading straight for the radicall rocky snaggy bottom in the depths, it was pulling like a bull, but i had that drag perfectly set and managed to stop it from pulling me back down and busting me off, my heart was racing my hands were shaking as i got him back up and out of trouble..i was stoked to see it come to the surface and got him to the bank put me rod down and slowly lifted this bass beauty to the safety of my hands and out the water...this first fish measured at 48.5cm a new pb for me, the gurth of this fish was solid and very healthy lookin..couple of shots, then released the fish abit down the creek healthy and away from his  brothers and sisters that were hopefully schooling up as not to spook the rest..aah man i was excited to get another cast in the same spot..i let the viby JACKALL decend again to the bottom..gave the rod tip a lift and let it drop again, worked it almost all the way back through the deepest part of the hole and ..BANG..yes i was on.. again, this fish gave me a good working over but managed to get it back to the  safety of the bank, aah man i was stoked 2 fish in 2 casts, i realised this IS this sik sesh i've been waiting months for. that bass measured 47cm, healthy, fat and glimmering goldy silvery bassness.,released it down the creek, and took a coupla minutes to realise what an excellent spot to be with no-one else around. i put the arbor and shimano setup down, and went for my little diawa, asaro setup..this rod and reel got a solid work out for the next coupla hours. i managed to catch and release 10 fish that late arv all ranging between 43-48.5cm, also dropped another 4..the best thing was i managed to get 4 or 5 fish on film which i could'nt wait to get back to and relive those moments in time..got to sleep that night running over and over in my head that first hit..
the next morning i G'd up my good mate ian and let him know of the arv before, then was off to work knowing i was going straight back that same spot later that day. needless to say ian was waiting for me on my doorstep after work, with this wild look in his eye, keen see what all the fuss was about,and of course his gear at the ready and with a JACKALL hanging off the end of his leader.. i'd had him down there before in our yaks and managed a fish each so was hoping the bass were gonna turn on a good show..we made our way down to the spot.
ian of course was the first  to have a lure in the water, i was still fluffing about trying to tie knots with shaky excited hands. i hadn't even finished my knot when ian's rod buckeled and him looking at me with this over excited look..FISH ON... i put my rod and reel down to take a second to watch him battle this fish. he got it to the bank and i safely netted it for him (making sure i safely netted it) his first fish smashed my pb it went for 49cm i thought you bugger, and we were of to a good start...he kept looking at me saynig this is gonna be epic.
the 2 of us carried on to fish the hole for a solid coupla hours, we manged 10 or 11 fish between us, all caught and released with care....we even manged a double hook up, which i haven't see a pikky for yet..i hooked a horse that day which we both reckon would've been over that 50cm magical mark, but he managed to find a sharp piece of rock on a finall lunge, just as i was gonna land  it, was so close..sposse it didnt count, but holy cr@p they can go when they getting up that sorta size..and iany kept saying..and i quote " this is the best bass session hes ever had"
so all in all a wicked coupla days, and experiencing this with a good mate was all the better!
so can't wait to get down there again with my bro and get those JACKALLS howling. aoooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhwwwwwwwwwww
its the type of session thats gonna stay with me for a long time, probs forever.
go the TN-60..

[Member]

heres a couple of pikkies from the sesh.

[Member]

Great story and great fish mate. You would not be the first to get the shakes over really good fish and I know all about the anticipation factor. Too bad you have to move from there.
Cheers,
JD