Fishing for Australian Bass with Lures

Australian Bass are rated highly by anglers as great sportfish that can put up a spectacular fight when hooked on light fishing gear. Although a relatively small fish that grows to less than a few kilograms, the Australian Bass displays amazing strength.  Here are a few hints on fishing for this exciting species.

Australian Bass are predominantly distributed along coastal New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. A number of freshwater impoundments from southern Queensland to Victoria are also stocked with Australian bass. In their natural habitat, the fish can be found in coastal tributaries and rivers, from the tidal reaches to fresher upstream waters.

Australian Bass like to shelter under snags, reeds, overhanging trees and similar cover during daylight and venture out of cover to feed at night. Summer, is generally the best season for angling for Australian Bass and It has also been said that any month ending in an “R” are the months when fishing for Bass is likely to produce results. Daytime fishing close to the bank of a river or impoundment is likely to be far more profitable than fishing in more open waters.  At night the fish can be found more easily in midstream as well as close to the bank and if you’re looking for larger Bass you’ll find them around during the full moon period.

Although a famously wary fish, Australian Bass take bait and lures aggressively. They are attracted to bait’s such as, prawns and freshwater yabbies as well as land based bait such as cicadas, worms, grasshoppers and crickets.  Some Saltwater or freshwater baitfish flies can produce well, or fishing lures such as deep diving or buoyant minnows, surface crawler and other small surface fishing lures and soft plastic fishing lures all attract Bass. Surface lures such as fizzers or Popper lures are effective around sunrise and sunset; while spinner baits suit daytime fishing or angling in heavily weeded areas when Bass are deep in the water.

The Shimano Raider Bass Raider Fishing Rod, available from Ocean Storm Fishing Tackle’s Online Fishing Tackle Shop, has been devised specifically for the angler targeting bass.  It’s a light one piece rod, just less than 6 feet in length, and designed to accommodate an overhead bait caster fishing reel.

For the Spinning Anglers and for tossing round the lighter weight lures a spinning combination is generally a light weight graphite fishing rod from 6 – 7 foot in length combined with a small fishing reel. A good choice for the angler that doesn’t want to spend a fortune on a bass fishing set up but also wants a quality bass fishing outfit the choice would be a Shimano “Rack Raider” – Raider Fishing Rod coupled with a 2500 Size Shimano Spinning Reel.

Some of the more productive fishing techniques when targeting Australian Bass include casting from the bank or a boat into likely cover locations, and trolling over sunken weeds and logs.

Although many of the best spots for fishing for Australian Bass are rather remote and difficult to access, your perseverance and dedication in trekking or kayaking to these locations can reward you with some great fishing.

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