HNBAA-Dean Hayes February 2007 Scout Boats Sportsfishing boats Australia

	February 2007 Fishing Report By Dean Hayes
	The Bass and Eps in the middle sections of the river has been pretty average with only a few fish caught on most outings. The Salt water is right up to Windsor with good catches of bream and flathead being caught around the Colo River On the brighter side the bass fishing has been good above Windsor with plenty bass being caught around the weed beds and under the trees on small Taylor made and Feralcatt diving and surface lures these lures set the standard. Best colours have been green and yellow and purple in the divers and darker colours for the surface. Both these diving lures float so when you cast them let them sit for a few second then give them a twitch before winding them back often the bass will strike at them when still on the surface. Lipless lures like Jackals, Eco gear and River & sea also cast them along the weed beds and let sink and they are also deadly. The advantage in these lure apart from the rattles is they can be worked a varied depth buy counting them down before you retrieving. Another type of lures that work well in these upper reaches is small spinner baits and beetle spins. These can be worked over shallow weed beds and dropped into any pockets in the weeds. Small shallow diving lures that can be worked over the weed beds are also very effective. Tackle We used light spin and Bait caster outfits in 1kg to 3kg Range .Over the last couple of years we have been mainly using longer rods to cast light lures and soft plastics. Most of the bait casters were too short and stiff to cast and/or feel the plastic working. Over the last three months I have been using Loomis 6’6” crank bait on soft plastic and small crankbaits. This is one bait caster that casts and works small crankbaits and plastics really well. It casts small bream hard body lures as well as most spin tackle. This time of the year is a good time to dust off the old fly rod and reel and fit it up with a fast sinking line and tie a few clouser head down to the Hawkesbury and chase a few bass and eps. Over the past 6 years we targeted these on fly with some outstanding catches of Bass, Estuary perch and the odd flathead. The key to success is where to target these fish, this is even more important when using sinking fly lines. The best areas to fish are the back eddies and water that is out of the current flow so your line has time to sink down to the depth fish are without being dragged away with the current. I find most EP hang around the 3m to 7m range. Sometimes the best of these fish will hang out in the running water as the tide slows The bass fishing around Penrith has been good with plenty fish being caught above the weir around the rail bridge and the edges of the weed beds. A lot of these fish have been falling to Jackals during the day and Taylor made surface walkers at night. The fishing for pelagics has been pretty good with plenty of kingfish, salmon, tailor and at last some bonito have turned up in Sydney waters. Most of these fish have been caught on Slugos and poppers. I must admit these two types’ of lures I use the most. Slugo is the lure that I’ve always tied on at least one rod. Slugo I start with an unweighted work across the top with plenty of rod action to imitate an injured and fleeing baitfish, and kings and salmon love them. If the fish are working the water hard and fast I will high speed them across the water like a popper putting a pause in your retrieve will often trigger a strike. These lures can be either cast or trolled. I find that a popper trolled a long way back with a weight and unweighted slugo staggered either side, one of the most effective lure patterns for finding and catching fish.
	Dean Hayes owns and operates: Sydney Sports Fishing Tours and Sportsfishing Boats Australia

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