Desperate - Aussie Bass in Gippsland rivers

[Sebb]

Thanks guys.
I see those stockings mainly are in Gippsland East.
Like truedogz said, more bass further to east.

Rivers around Glenmagie sounds like a good start and only 3 hrs from where i live.
Enough driving for a day trip.

Maybe i should call sick off from work and get a Jeep :p

NSW has closed season on bass rivers.
VIC doesnt have?

[nlm12390]

gday everyone....
have been keen to try some fishing in the avon river......possibly up towards huggetts crossing in the mountains..
anyone had any luck in the last short while?
cheers

[pwalnuts]

I fished that area of the Avon just before the close of trout season and did not see a fish all day despite it looking very "fishy". The water was gin clear and well oxygenated. I was fly fishing, tried a variety of nymphs tied under dries for no takers. I did read that bass will move further down closer to sea over winter, not sure how true this is as that's first time I've tried to catch one.

[DR.SPESH]

Good bass above the Falls @Bemm. Snake city in summer though. Sb's & Hb's

[CarlG]

Seb85

All the rivers draining into the Gippsland Lakes contain Bass. The official position of Vic Fisheries is that bass are not (naturally) found west of Wilsons Promontory. This conclusion was reached based on surveys conducted in the 1980s by which time bass had undergone a major decline. Very old anglers maintain that bass were once common at least as far west as the Powlett and Tarwin Rivers and old photos conclusively record captures of bass in the Tarwin - but they had effectively disappeared from west Gippsland by 1960. Some fisheries scientists have got very closed minds and wont change their view that bass didn't swim west of the prom. Similarly, bass go further north than Tin Can Bay in Queensland. In the early 1980s both myself and Bill Sawynok from Sunfish caught quite a number of bass in the Elliot River near Bundaberg many years before bass stockings started.

Bass are effectively extinct west of the prom and 99.99999% of 'bass' captures in west Gippsland are estuary perch.

As a general guide the further east you go the higher the density of bass, i.e., you are more likely to catch bass in the Snowy River than the Thompson. This observation is based on fishing experiences prior to bass being stocked over the past 5 years. Surveys indicate that the stockings are working in rivers like the Thompson and Avon.

Twenty years ago, in my experience, the closest spot to Melbourne where I regularly caught bass was the Tambo River which I would recommend as a starting point. Going further east to the Snowy might produce more bass for you but the Tambo is smaller and easier to fish. It looks like a trout stream, not dissimilar in size to the Yarra upstream of Warburton and for the most part is quite wadeable. The area to look at is between Bruthen and the Haunted Stream. There is a section of the river which swings away to the east from the Great Alpine Road. There are 4wd tracks in the area leading to the river. A road called Playground Road takes you to the junction of the Tambo and Timbarra Rivers.

The most abundant fish in this area of the Tambo are carp, followed by eels, grayling, tupong and some bass. It has been stocked in recent years with bass as has the Timbarra River last year, so there might be a few smaller ones about from these stockings.

I caught my first bass there by accident on worms just on dark. The bass weren't super abundant, but there were more in areas well away from campsites. You could hear them slurping on the surface just on dark. I would have averaged one a trip, some trips none, others a few fish. That was twenty years ago. Stocking has improved things, but don't expect to catch a lot of fish.

This website has pictures of the river in the area:
https://poi-australia.com.au/points-of- ... ra-rivers/

The Snowy would produce more bass but it is a bigger river and best fished by canoe.

Found this VERY old pic of me with a bass (a bit over a kilo) from the Tambo:

tambo bass.jpg

As to fishing methods it is up to you - they fight just as well on worms as they do on lures. Surface poppers are great fun. Caught them on flies too. The old floppy lure was a killer, but shallow divers and even small Stumpjumpers are excellent.

Best Wishes

Truedogz

What an excellent, informative post. A+ mate.

[Nightwish]

x 2
maybe one day l will be able to post such an informative response
Well done
:cheers:

[Tackleberry]

Seb85
Some fisheries scientists have got very closed minds

Truedogz

you got that right here in east gippsland they class southern blue spot flathead as duskys