A frog...A Jig...A smile!!

[Colin Linton]

G'day from Down under!!

Well been a while since my last report however it seems the fortunes here have changed a little for the better.

The Bass closed season (applies to rivers below dam walls.  Australian Bass move to the brackish water to spawn and the ban allows them unhindered access to do so) lifted on Sept 1 and with the floods earlier in the year flushing many great fat bass down the concrete slippery slide into the river, it was once again time to get back to being the river rat I am.

Armed with a bunch of Australian type lures I hit my local system with fantastic results.  To be honest the fishing is pretty darn easy with the river returning to normal levels the once winding river once again becomes segmented pools allowing anglers to pretty much assure themselves of good results.  That being said the White Bucket Brigade tend to make short work of them (Bag limits in Australia only allow for 2 Bass per angler over 30cm)  The white bucket brigade are the mongrels that feel it is their right to wipe out the populations of Bass and sell it illegally to the numerous fish and chip shops that surround the areas    Don't get me wrong I am all for taking home a feed of fish, in some respects the sheer no.s of fish that went over the wall it is possibly a good thing for the system to see a few fish dissapear however these morons aren't about that.

Anyways I digressed 


After several trips with good success I decided it was time to answer a few long held questions I had about Frogs and American style jigs.  I had a belief that Australian Bass would surely crunch these offerings and I was not gonna give up trying till they did.

Topwater fishing in general is something I consider myself useless at due to the patience required to allow for long pauses between working the lure.  I much prefer a Crankbait, Spinnerbait or slow rolled soft plastic to tempt my fish.  That being said I came across a Hardbody frog that I managed to acquire being only 2.5" in length and wearing a prop on the front I was determined to make this thing work.

The topwater bite in Australia is a little different to the largemouth bite with only small windows of opportunity opening before the sun gets high in the morning and last light in the afternoon.  With most of my trips coinciding with this time of day it was a fateful morning in September where it all came together for a WIN!!

Having tied on the Frog and picking out a typical Bassy type haunt I fired my cast and commenced with a few jerks of the rod to wake em up!!  Deciding to pause the lure afterwards saw a nuggety little Bass roll on the frog like it was it's last meal.  A short spirited fight which seemed like an eternity on 6lb braid and 4lb leader (not reccomended at all  )  And the fish was bankside for a quick photo and off to swim again    Mission Accomplished!!!

I continue to throw that little frog but have yet to see another fish    But atleast I can say I got it done once!!

Moving onto the jig and this seemed to be more to my liking!  Cast out and slow wind with a soft plastic trailer hitched on for added effect.  Dreams of flipping a weedless version into some nasty country has always appealed to me however I thought I would start on the flats with a non-weedless model.  Did not take too long on a misty morning to convert a few fish to my offering    Happy Days!!  That was not so hard I thought however I have been making a weedless jig (which was originally for sale but logistically illogical) and the next plan was to make it work.  So after a morning session on the flats and few fish taken on the non weedless model, I tied on my CRAWlerX Jig (my name for them) those that have me as a friend on FB may well have seen far to many photos of them when I first started making them  but as previously stated I shelved them due to Jigs not being so popular here in Oz!  Now the migratory habits of Australian Bass see the fish feeding on the flats in the morning then retreating to deeper water or deep shady banks as the sun gets up.  With this in mind and a little bravado knowing these things are harder to lose being weedless (I have since proven the theory wrong)  I picked a stretch of bank strewn with laydown logs and tree roots hanging from the exposed bank as my target.  From memory it was about the third cast and BANG............Bass on!  Thankfully I was throwing this jig on 10lb Braid and 12lb FC leader as this bugger fought dirty!!  Again I managed to get him/her bankside for a quick photo and release. 

I have attached a few photos below of the fish caught with a gratuitous lure in the mouth of course.  These are no 6lb's by any means but certainly up in the 2-3lb range which is not bad for an Aussie     Behind me in the photo with me holding the fish is pretty much where the Bass came from on the opposite bank.  The flats I speak of are to the left of me as you look at the photo.   

I am certainly envious of your fish and techniques and hope one day the stars and moons align for a sojourn to Gods country for a fish!!


Hope I didn't bore you with the details!!

Regards and Thanks
Colin Linton

[djkimmel]

Been missing the Down Under perspective! Thanks for a great report!! Fish on!

[cameraguy]

Thanks for taking the time to post this report. Good job and nice photos!