Double Bass Solo, 27Sep12

TR by Gemini

Participants:  Gemini
Conditions: Sunny, light breeze

I arrived at the Strawberry patch launch a little before 6AM and unloaded. Conditions were perfect, with little breeze and a slightly mist covered glassy lake. Occasional large splashes in the distance enhanced my motivation for rigging up all that much faster. The fish were in trouble...

Launching, I found myself looking at this:

I moved through the weed beds looking for the first channel to cast into. The weeds had once again moved around, so the gaps were in different spots, but I found my first target within 100m from my launch site. Third cast and I was on.

Now there are two things I'm almost certain of about Lake MacDonald as of today. One is that you will most likely catch the best fish of the day within 10 minutes of launching (or going home). The other is that there are no bass bigger than 41cm in the whole darn lake. :P



Australian Bass - 41cm


After releasing the bass, I made my way around the next couple of bends to the north heading towards the palm farm. I received a couple of strikes along the way, but no takers. The sun was well up by now and conditions were still magnificent, although starting to get warm.



I moved around the weed beds near the palm farm trying to temp my fishy friends into a hooky trap with little joy, and I had all but given up until I felt a light tap on the lure. Not overly sure if it was a half hearted strike or a snag, I let the lure rest a second or two, and then tweaked it slightly...BAM! The fish was off and running.

Putting up a better fight than the first one, I had to pull him away from the weeds a little to keep him snag free. He wanted the bottom more than the first fish. Pulling him in I found him to be smaller than the first (mid 30s), so I didn't measure him up.



After that I had a few more casts and then started to head back. By this time the wind was picking up and the heat was increasing, and I felt as though I had harassed enough bass for the day.

On the return trip I came across some wildlife I hadn't spotted out there before. I had heard mentioned that deer frequent the area, but today was the first time I have seen one. I attempted to get some footage, but she was too quick. Maybe next time.

Cheers!

Matt (Gemini)