Well we are back.
The comp was its usual social success although I have been told that after my effort on sat night I am condemned to the tent on my own next year.

A disappointed wombat who thought I was a new mate
The area had received a lot of rain and the water was over the top of the wall, they had a photo of a 49cm bass taken below the wall with drag marks down its body (now that’s a desire to spawn).
Those that fished the gorge areas did it hard while those that put in the paddle yards found clearer water and fish, HOWEVER, the area was beautifully green and who wouldn’t be happy with views like this

And fish like this

The comp winners had over 2000 points, that’s a 40cm+ avg for their best 5 fish and there were 3 teams within 100 points of one another so some good catches were made.
Dean Hayes and Greg Catt while not winning the size battle must have got the best numbers score with around 50 fish between them.

Once again it came down to studying the prevailing conditions deciding where you expect the fish to be and putting in the hard yards. Unfortunately I studied the red wine label, decided to drink it all and had to survive the hard paddling but there is more to fishing than fish (we got 8 bass and a cat fish which gave us a team score higher than our 2004 comp and prob would have won it?
So to miss quote The Mentals, “The Bass Are Getting Bigger”.
Get to Tullowa if you can and even if you have to disguise it as a family camping trip (campers were everywhere, and no it wasn’t all the Nordic lady paddlers that distracted us) it will be well worth the effort.