Chep Buxley:
Still waiting for Old Mate to find his SIM card...……. :( Moogerah was a dam known for big bass back before the fish kill. Plenty of boney bream for food. Just up the road is Maroon known for it's little bass.
cee bee:
I have seen a few really large bass caught at north pine dam myself and one day i saw a guy with a couple of fish that easily covered the floor of a large esky with heads and tails sitting upright against the sides of the box. They may have looked bigger than they were and they were not taken out of the box and measured in front of me but they did look huge. Earn grant in his guide to fishes book says bass have been recorded up to 10 kilos but says they are more commonly caught at a weight a lot less than that. I can,t argue with a man of his calibre but bass like that would be rare now,a bit like the murray cod of the old days which grew to well over 100 pounds in the old scale. Maybe there might be a few big ones left in remote areas and backwaters in some dams. Hooking up to one of them would certainly test our 3 pound lines and 1000 spin reels!
Chep Buxley:
What edition of Grant's book are you quoting from? I checked my 1972 2nd edition and it basically says they have been recorded to 8lb (wow!) and 3 lb is considered a good fish (agree with that). I'm reading "Bethune on Bass" at the moment and he's just caught his biggest of 5lb (haven't finished the book yet).
Chep Buxley:
I stand corrected. I checked my "Fishes of Australia" and he does say 10 kg. They were a commercially caught fish back in the day but that is unbelievable.
cee bee:
Hi, there. I have the 11th edition from 2008, which, funnily enough, I helped print and despatch at the time so when a few overs were left behind, I rescued one of the books that was heading for the bin. Page 807 has the info on the bass and, like you I must admit I had never heard of bass in that size range myself. I'd like to know where and when these fish had been recorded at 10 kilo weights as well.