Winter Brawlers
This chunky winter bass snatched my bass vampire and bricked me in the weed licketty split! The fly line then wrapped around the propeller which was on spot lock, then wrapped around the transducer pole on the Garmin. When did fishing get so complicated đ
New England Comes Alive
After drought, bush fires, fish kills and floods its great to see #newengland still producing quality fish! Today Harry guided Chrissy onto some crackers including this well conditioned 89cm cod. Surface lures throughout the day accounting for all the fish. Happy days đ #northernriverssportfishing #shimano #shimanoaustralia #shimanofishing #gloomis #fishshimano #powerpro #environet #stradic
Starlo Goes Northern Rivers Sportfishing
Perhaps it was Rex Hunts Fishing World where Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling first made his TV appearance and became a well known fishing identity. Since then he has written countless articles, blogs and books and appeared on any number of fishing and outdoor adventure shows, both in Australia and overseas. For more than 30 years now Starlo has been one of Australia’s most respected recreational anglers. So when he first contacted me to go fishing I was more than a little excited.
The plan was to film 3 fishing stories for 3 episodes of the Offroad Adventure Show. As a fishing guide I often feel the pressure to deliver to my clients, but this time the pressure was really on! However I had a few things on my side. First I knew that the scenery of the Northern Rivers would no doubt provide enough natural beauty for the cameras. Second, I knew that if anyone was going to catch a fish it would be Starlo. Boy was I right.
On the first day of filming Starlo, his lovely wife Jo, Shaun the producer and myself headed straight for Clarrie Hall Dam. As always Clarrie strutted her stuff for the cameras and put on a stunning display of misty mountains, blue skies and lush green lily pads. Jo Starling is an accomplished angler in her own right too and turns out she is an avid fly fisher woman. We hit it off immediately. The idea was to get Jo her first Australian bass on fly. It wasn’t long before Jo’s rod buckled over as she skillfully arm wrestled a solid bass away from the weed. Moments later she was holding up her first bass on fly for the camera.
Meanwhile Starlo worked the lakes margins from the Slayer 10 Propel kayak. Steve is no stranger to the Native Watercraft as he owns a few of these boats too. He commented how this type of kayak is ideal for Clarrie Hall because once hooked up he could just start pedaling in reverse and pull the bass away from the weed. When the first bass for the day snatched his offering, Starlo demonstrated just that. He too was amazed at the pulling power of these Clarrie bass. The day was off to a great start.
By 10:30am the sun had climbed above the mountains and burnt off the mist. The bite had slowed and so we headed for the river. I took us to a part of the river where I had caught bass the day before. Starlo and I fished the run out tide from the Slayer kayaks. But do you think I could land a fish? But that was no problem, because Starlo caught enough for both of us. By 2pm Steve had tallied 2 fat bass, 3 flathead and a bream. All of us had smiles from ear to ear. It was only mid afternoon on the first day and we already had our 3 stories!
Day 2 we returned to Clarrie for more action. Starlo hooked up to 2 cracking pocket rockets but they jumped off at the side of the boat. After getting her first taste of bass on fly the day before, Jo decided she wanted more……so more it was. Jo did a fantastic job teasing out the bass from edges of the lilies with her bass vampire fly. She experienced several hits and by mornings end she had scored another 2 or 3 beautiful Northern Rivers bass.
Over the brief 2 day period the Starlings visited Murwillumbah, mother nature really turned it on for us. The bird life and the fish, the water dragons and goannas all came out to greet us. And at the end of the day we drank cold beer and sat watching lightening crack over cane fields and we laughed and said that this is Australia.
– Simon Fitzpatrick , Northern Rivers Sportfishing
Trees for Fish Day
Mother nature always gives freely and asks for nothing in return so it is always great to give something back. Yesterday I helped plant 400 trees on the banks of the Tweed River. Some native fish rely on river bank vegetation to provide up to 40% of their diet! Insects, frogs, lizards, birds and other fish are all attracted to this type of habitat so it is important we replant areas that have been cleared. OzFish Tweed River Chapter is dedicated to doing just that and also aims to undertake all types of projects that improve fish habitat in the Tweed Valley.
Of course I never miss an opportunity to wet a line so it was great to get out on the water afterwards and hook up a few bass. The river looks good but could certainly do with a flush of rain to wash away the weed that is floating throughout the water column. Nevertheless we had a great day! Looking forward to the coming warm weather, the insect life and the surface bites it will bring đ
OzFish Tweed River Chapter is looking for volunteers. If you are interested in helping restore fish habitat we would love to hear from you! Email ozfishtweedriver@gmail.com
Dutton Trout Hatchery
I recently visited the Dutton Trout Hatchery in Ebor NSW. Perched among some magnificent country side, Ebor sits about 1,350m above sea level, providing a cool climate all year round that is suitable for trout. The hatchery produces many thousands of brown and rainbow trout each year, all for the purpose of recreational fishing. All trout produced are stocked in rivers and dams across the state. A big thanks to Paul and the crew for showing us around and being the perfect hosts. A special thanks for letting us wet a line in the ponds which are not always open to the public.
Simon Fitzpatrick
Lake Fishing Charter 1st Feb, 2018
The “pressure is on” when one fishing guide hires another fishing guide to go fishing. Especially when the customer is an expert guide such as Rohan Soulsby from Top End Barra Fishing. Rohan operates his charters from Darwin targeting iconic species such as the mighty Barramundi, GT’s, Queenfish and Golden Snapper. So it was fantastic to see Rohan’s enthusiasm and appreciation for our southern native species. Out on the water this morning Rohan connected with plenty of bass, three of which were around the 40cm mark. I felt the pressure easing with each fish that hit the net. Clarrie Hall had done me proud again.
Thanks for a great trip Rohan. I look forward to visiting up your way for a fishing trip soon……no pressure mate đ
Bass Fishing Trip January 27, 2018
The bass fishing was consistent today with plenty of fish moving around and feeding on the surface. Popping sounds could be heard throughout the morning as the bass inhaled small bait-fish at the surface under the lily pads. Robs small diving minnow lure was certainly the flavor of the morning, drawing at least a dozen strikes from some aggressive fish. Rob managed to stay connected to at least half of them, finishing the morning with a very respectable tally. Thanks Rob for a great bass fishing session!
Clarrie Charter January 8, 2018
Under a cloudless sky and with barely a breath of wind we ventured out onto the mirrored lake. It was hot and still but Feizul and Shane managed to rustle up a few fish. I was surprised to see an Eel Tailed Catfish Tandanus tandanus take a spinnerbait today. Only the second one I have seen at Clarrie Hall to take a lure. The boys also landed a couple of Australian Bass Macquaria novemaculeata. A little different to the Small and Large Mouth Bass they are used to catching back home, but no doubt 2 welcome editions to their new species lists. Thanks for a great day!
Clarrie is Looking Good!
The water at Clarrie Hall has now cleared and the dam is now looking fantastic. Much of the cabomba weed is gone which makes the fishing much easier. You can now work your lures right along the edges of the lilies without fear of having the lure covered in weed. The bass could be heard feeding on the surface which makes surface luring around the pads a great option. Today I caught bass hopping a mumbler across the bottom and also found bass by retrieving lipless crankbaits. It is great to see Clarrie firing once again!
Tweed River Charter, October 17, 2017
Patrick and I arrived at the river at 6am just in time to see the first rays of sunlight hit a very coffee coloured looking Tweed River. As is often the case, after a period of 12 weeks without rain the heavens opened up just a few days prior to the trip. The much needed rain had certainly stirred things up and visibility must have been 6 inches at best. Undeterred Patrick worked his fly at all likely looking snags and eventually found a hungry bass that took a liking to his Donny Brasco fly.
Judging by the colour of the water and the amount of rain we received it may take another couple of weeks before things clear up.
Simon
Gone Fishing Day 2017
This year I spent Gone Fishing Day with OzFish Tenterfield who organized a ripper of a day with a tonne of activities. Here is a quick clip I made showing the highlights of the day.
Tweed River Fishing Charter, October 9, 2017
Andrew and I enjoyed a great days fishing the Tweed River for bass. Andrew had never caught a bass before and it wasn’t long before he nailed his first on a cicada surface lure. His second fell for the same trap soon after. As the sun rose we switched to deeper divers and the bass continued to bite. Another 4 or 5 fish were netted before the sun made an appearance from behind the clouds and the bite slowed down. Andrew still managed another couple of bass before we called it a day. Andrew finished the morning with about 8 nice bass and a smile from ear to ear. Thanks for a great day!
August 14 Tweed River Charter
A few bass continue to show up through the month of August. Today Melle and Kim worked their lures diligently along the edges of the snags and were rewarded for their efforts. Another couple of weeks and this freshwater section of the Tweed River will be absolutely teaming with bass as they return from their spawning run. September is the best month for bass fishing by far!!! Now is the time to book your charter.
Hinze Dam Feb 16, 2017
Tom showed up keen as mustard ready to fish Hinze Dam for the first time. The weather had cooled since the previous days, so conditions were very pleasant out on the water. First up we headed straight for a nice looking bay where we fished the surface for saratoga. Tom tied on a popper and it wasn’t long before he had his first inquiry. The toga snaffled the lure on the pause, jumped a few times and spat the hook. Saratoga have hard mouths and throw violent head shakes when they jump, so staying connected with a toga is a volatile thing. I have heard many say “expect to land about 1 in 5 toga hook ups.”
We continued to fish the area but with no luck we decided to tie on spinnerbaits and fish the structure. We fished the edges of the timber where plenty of fish were identified on the sounder. But with no wind the fish just didn’t appear to be feeding. I threw everything I had in the tackle box at them but the bass were very tight lipped. In the afternoon the wind picked up but it appeared to make little difference. The bass were there but just not interested
As the shadows grew longer towards the end of the day we came across a school of bass that were keen to play. Both Tom and I had several hits from the school and we landed a fish each. We certainly worked hard for those 2 fish and we were very happy to take a couple of photos and release them to fight another day. Hinze Dam is a beautiful place and a valuable fishery. I can’t wait to get back there soon.
Spinnerbait Me!
Spinnerbaits would have to be one of the most versatile lures for Australian native fish. Bass, cod, saratoga, yellow belly and sooty grunter all love ’em. They can be worked horizontally, vertically, deep, shallow and are quite snag resistant.  When fishing heavy structure many other lures would see you snagged up again and again when trying to present the bait to the fish. Fish will often strike after the lure has hit some structure, so it is best to get the lure right into ‘tiger country.’ The spinnerbait design allows you to clank and clang the lure right in among the timber, with only the occasional snag-up.  A tackle retriever such as a Tackle Back will help you ‘de-snag’ and about 9 times out of 10 you should get your lure back.
Today after a solid 2 hours fishing the surface I finally conceded that the surface temperature of 30 degrees was just too warm for the bass. Out deeper the bass could be seen on the sounder at around 7-8m holding tight to the sunken trees in the dam. There appeared to be a thermocline at around 6m and the bass were consistently sitting just below it. Using a 5/8 spinnebait I would cast and allow the bait to sink whilst counting to 12. This put the lure right in the strike zone. A steady roll back to the boat was enough to entice a number of bass. I landed 6 fish up to 40cm and had several other hits. I had a stinger hook on so it appeared that the fish were hitting the blades.
Happy days.
Simon Fitzpatrick
Clarrie Hall Charter Feb 11, 2017
What do you do when it’s too hot to go fishing?……”MAN UP GIRLY BOY” and go fishing anyway!! With temperatures forecast to reach the high 30’s/ low 40’s it was always going to be hot. So with plenty of sun protection and plenty of fluids Ned and I hit the dam nice and early. To make things more challenging, there was not a breath of wind until about 1pm so it was a little sticky to say the least.
With the surface temperature so warm we chose to give surface fishing a miss and immediately tied on the Jackalls. Although diving minnows appeared to be the lure of the day for Ned, my lures attracted no fish. Ned’s little Jackall swam and swam all over the dam and by the end of the day he had racked up a total of 10 fish! I, on the other hand couldn’t raise a fin. I flogged the water with the same Jackall lures but in every other colour variation than Neds lure. It seems he had the ‘go to lure’ for the day and it was the only one in the tackle box. This for me confirms the importance of colour. On this day it was clearly the difference between an abundance of fish or none.
Over the years I have noticed this particular colour consistently catches more fish. It has always been my favorite colour for cod and bass fishing, but today really highlighted just how dominant it can be! I am almost at the point where I could throw out all the lures in the tackle box and replace them with ……….. ones. Anyway it was a huge pleasure to show Ned around our beautiful dam and put him onto some nice bass. Especially on his birthday. …..Happy birthday Ned!!
Simon Fitzpatrick
Barbless Hooks
I headed to the Tweed River today for a solo ‘bass fishin mission.’ One of my all time favorite lures are the smaller size ‘finesse’ diving minnows that dive to about 2m. I believe the smaller models around the 40-55mm length are less intimidating to a bass than the larger ones. Therefore they are more likely to be snaffled by even the most finicky fish. Most small diving minnows-baits come with two very small treble hooks. These hooks do a brilliant job in hooking bass first time, every time. The fine gauge wire ensures the hooks penetrate the bass’ skin, even if the bass is just side swiping the lure to drive it away from its territory. These hooks tend to stick to anything that comes near them. This is great for hooking fish, but unhooking them can be a real issue.
Some species such as bream tend to have a tough mouths for dealing with shells and crustaceans. However the bass’ mouth contains some very fine membrane. This thin almost transparent layer of skin is often where the hook ends up. As the fish kicks and struggles either in the water or in the boat, the membrane can be pierced several times and thus becomes entangled in these tiny trebles.  Major tears in this membrane can result when the angler tries to unhook the bass. These tears can be so severe that the outer edge (maxillary) of the upper jaw can come free. I have even caught bass that were missing their maxillary on one side completely. I can only imaging this is from a previous capture and release where the angler struggled to unhook the fish.
The eyes are another vulnerable part of a bass’ anatomy that can be pierced by these small trebles. With one treble firmly lodged in the mouth, the other treble can end up in the eye. This has happened to me on an occasion where the bass was kicking in the net and landed eye first on the hook. This is a particularly troubling thing to witness. When fishing in waters that are heavily pressured by anglers I have caught bass with one ‘milky’ eye. I suspect these milky eyes are from hook injuries. These kind of eye an mouth injuries mouth injuries would obviously hinder the fishes ability to find and eat food. The good news is that you can make a few simple modifications to lower the risk of injury to our native fish.
Firstly, ‘de-barb’ all the hooks. Simply take some pliers and flatten the barb on all hooks on each treble. This ensures that any hook piercing can easily be removed. This significantly reduces any potential damage from occurring to any fish you plan on releasing. Using barbless hooks doesn’t necessarily mean a reduced hook up rate either. As long as you keep a ‘tight line’ when playing the fish (which you should anyway) there is no reason why the fish could spit the hook.
The second thing I like to do is cut off one hook on each treble, so you now effectively have 2 doubles (not trebles). Again this reduces the chance of injury to the bass whilst not compromising your hook up rate. Sometimes I go one step further and replace the trebles with a single lure hook. But I think modifying the trebles already provided with the lure is cheaper, easier and takes advantage of these small sticky hooks. Both these modifications can be made with a simple set of pliers.
With all my hooks now modified I had a trouble free day on the water today. I managed to land 9 bass averaging about 36cm long. All the strikes from the fish I caught today were converted into landed fish. My customized hooks worked brilliantly.
Simon Fitzpatrick
Tweed River Fishing Charter October 8, 2016
The bass continued to bite well on the Tweed River today. Edward and Craig were more than happy to take advantage of the great weather and the hot bite. Using spinner-baits and diving minnows the boys racked up a respectable tally of bass between the two of them. Neither had caught bass before so it was a great introduction to our native fishery. Once again the Tweed river offered up its gems. Thanks for a great day gentlemen đ
Some of the fish had damage to their mouth parts which might be the result of injury caused from previous captures. If your intention is to catch and release, remember to flatten the barbs on your treble hooks. I like to snip one or two hooks off each of the treble hooks, just to reduce injuries to the fishes mouth parts and eyes. I don’t believe it significantly reduces your hook up rate.
Simon Fitzpatrick
Tweed River Fishing Charter October 4, 2016
Today was no ordinary fishing trip. Whilst paddling our way up the river we came across a calf in the water. It appeared the poor little fella couldn’t make its way up the steep river bank and we feared it would drown. So I jumped in the water to help it out. After lifting the calf out of the water and placing in on the river bank I realized it couldn’t stand. On further inspection I could see an umbilical cord still attached to its belly. I soon realized the mother cow must have recently birthed the calf in the river and it was yet to take its first steps. After a little encouragement the little calf stood on its back legs and eventually propped itself up on all fours. The calf was a little wobbly but immediately made its way over to me, presumably for a feed.
By shear stroke of luck Ray knew the property owner and he called the farmer and notified him of the calf’s dilemma. You’ll be happy to know that mother cow and calf have since been reunited and all is well. Â Now that’s a fishing trip with a difference! Oh and we caught some bass too đ
Thanks Ray.
Tweed River Charter September 13, 2016
Conditions were perfect out on the Tweed today; a slight breeze, some cloud cover and mild temperatures. Niya and Anthony were keen to enjoy the conditions. Anthony scored the first bass using a cast and retrieve technique. Niya was next on the score board with a feisty bass on the troll. The fish were certainly in the mood for food and all that was needed was good lure placement. Anthony ended the day with about 5 bass and Niya clocked up 2. An excellent effort considering neither had been bass fishing before. Well done!
Easter 2016 Fly Fishing at Clarrie Hall Dam
Have you noticed that bass seem to like low light conditions? Whether your fishing in the shade under a tree, at dawn or dusk or on overcast days, the bass appear to be more active in these situations. My theory is that predators such as birds of prey can see a fish better on a bright sunny day, because the light penetrates deep into the water column. But low light condition appear to give bass the extra confidence to move closer to the surface to feed. Perhaps evolution has played its hand here and any sun bathing fish have been quickly dispatched from history. The wiser more cautious bass have lived to pass on their genes to the bass we see today.
With a thick coverage of clouds my fly of choice was always going to be a surface fly. Twitched in amongst the cabomba weed it was only a matter of time before my frog imitation drew a response. Â After landing one fish and dropping another, the heavens opened. As the rain poured down I noticed I could no longer hear the popping sound of bass inhaling the gudgeon against the surface of the lake. Perhaps the rain had scared the baitfish down deeper and the bass may have followed. I quickly switched to a deeper presentation.
A lead eye clouser is such a versatile little fly that can be worked at a variety of depths. Retrieving the fly along the edges of the weed resulted in a couple of feisty bass attacking the tasty looking morsel. After some perseverance another fat bass was in the live well. By now I was soaked to the bone, so I released the bass and made a hasty retreat for home. But rain hail or shine Clarrie Hall Dam always offers up some gold.
Australia Day 2015
Fishing for natives in our impoundments can be tough. It takes a lot of planning, preparation, checking weather forecasts, organizing time off work, preparing tackle etc. But if the fish aren’t willing to play all the best laid plans go to waste. I am happy to say this was not the case with my recent trip to Clarrie Hall. One of the most beautiful dams in Australia.
It was an extremely hot and humid day and shortly after I put the boat on the water I had to seek shade for an hour or so. This gave me some time to collect some underwater footage and do a little research as to the bass’ potential food source. There was certainly plenty of bait fish swimming amongst the lilly pads. Probably Firetail Gudgeon and Gambusia. So I made a mental note to collect some next time for identification.
The other thing I noticed is there appeared to be more weed than usual. There has always been a thick perimeter of lilly pads around the edge of the lake with another rim of feathery submerged weed, I identified as Ambulia, leading into deeper water. I think this ambulia has spread since last I visited the dam and it is my theory that the extra cover provided by the weed has drawn the bass out of from under the lily pads thus making them more susceptible to angling. In any case the fishing was great!
I worked the edges of the ambulia with hard bodies, jerk baits, soft plastic frogs and dahlberg diver flies. I caught fish on all my presentations and finished the trip with about 12 bass. Watching the bass crash tackle the surface flies is always a highlight! As usual the bass aren’t huge in Clarrie Hall but they are a robust and hard fighting population with a very respectable average size of around 35cm. I also managed my personal best for Clarrie Hall dam landing a fish of 38.5cm.
Fitzy
106cm Murray Cod
One night I had a dream that I caught a meter long Murray Cod. It was a vivid dream. Perhaps the dream was just in anticipation of the trip to Glenyon Dam I had planned the following day. In any case the next morning I headed off to the dam with great enthusiasm. I stopped along the way at the tackle store and bought the biggest landing net they had in the shop. The label on the net revealed it was rated to 30lb. Â I asked the assistant if he had a bigger net? He replied that 30lb was a big lump of a fish and that I would be lucky to land a cod that big.
Once on the water and after about an hour of casting my spinnerbait, I had a good strike. As soon as the fish hit I said to myself âThis is it!â I somehow just knew I had my first âmeteryâ. After a shorter fight than expected, I lead the behemoth of a fish into my new landing net. Whilst lifting the fish into the boat the net was stretched way beyond itsâ recommended weight limit, but it somehow held. The cod measured 106cm. The DPI fish length/weight conversion scale shows a cod of 100cm weighs 22.1kg. So an conservative estimate of 25kg (55lb) sounds about right.
In an effort to release the fish I must have swam it beside the moving boat for over an hour, but to no avail. The big girl passed away. I think it may have been weakened by some kind of illness as the cods eyes were bulging a little. Popeye or exophthalmia is a condition sometimes seen with aquarium fish that causes the eyes to bulge. I usually release all my native fish captures, especially Murray Cod so was a little disappointed she died. That disappointment was short lived after tasting the fillets over a camp fire that night. Absolutely delicious! After returning home I sent the Codâs otolith (ear) bones the DPI to have it aged. Gavin Butler at the Grafton DPI was nice enough to reply with his estimate of 17 years old.
I am not quite sure what to make of that sequence of events. But never the less thatâs how it happened. Some days you are full of confidence and everything goes right. Well almost everything. The video of the fish I shot on my phone was pretty lousy and it is equally hard to take a good photo of yourself with a phone and a fish that big, when you are by yourself. When I got home I bought myself a Gopro.
Simon Fitzpatrick (Fitzy)
