Episode 10: Nepean River Bass With Todd Young

Todd’s Tips For Catching Sydney Bass

• Bass can be found in the most unlikely spots, so try everywhere, even places you don’t would hold fish. Anywhere the fresh runs into the salt there’s a good chance of finding fish. They’re in most creeks that flow into the Nepean and the Hawkesbury and lots of spots within 30 minutes of the Sydney CBD
• Common newbie mistakes include fishing too heavy and waiting for the perfect time to fish. Fish light, and forget about lunar cycles, barometric pressure and so on, just go fishing because Sydney bass can be caught any day of the year.
• Eating the fish that come from urban streams is not recommended due to pollution concerns.

Tackle For Sydney Bass

• A 2000-2500 size spinning reel or  small baitcast reel loaded with 6-8kg braided line is perfect.
• A matching spin or baitcast rod in the 3-6kg line range and around 2m to 2.2m long is about right. Longer rods inhibit casting in close quarters.
• An 8kg leader about 1.5 times the rod length is a good choice for bass fishing, use mono for floating lures as fluorocarbon leaders can drag the lure down.

Top Lures For Sydney Bass Fishing

• Buzzbaits made by local lure maker Rod Cumming of Dreamfish Lures. Cast into structure and keep them moving.
• Zman 2″ Soft Plastic Grubs with a Betts Spinner and 1/16oz jig head (size 1) in motoroil colour.
• Jackall TN50 Lipless Crankbait (Vibe). It’s good to have a variety of both rattling and silent lipless crankbaits as sometimes the rattle will attract and other times scare fish.
• Also mentioned: Jitterbug, Spook.

Time Of Year & Conditions

• Sydney bass can be caught year-round but are more aggressive during September when they’re conditioning up to spawn and in Autumn when they’re making their way back up river.