Episode 369: Lake Wivenhoe Bass With Niki Sticklen

Niki’s Top Tips For Wivenhoe Bass

• Niki takes a notebook fishing on Wivenhoe Dam to keep track of fish catches and sizes as she fishes – but also to keep a running scoreboard of her catches versus her husband’s. She’s not competitive or anything, though!
• During autumn the bass move onto the flats adjacent to the original river channel in water depths of 20-25 feet. If you find fish feeding on one flat of this description they’re likely to also be congregated and feeding on similar flats. You can identify these on your charts before you leave home.
• It’s not uncommon at Wivenhoe for fish to follow your boat but become difficult to tempt. Anglers often make the mistake of continuing to target them when it’s better to move off and find another school, perhaps coming back after giving the original school a rest.
• When you find active fish feeding up off the bottom they’ll often be the smaller specimens. They might still be good quality bass, but the real trophies are often hugging the bottom beneath an active school.
• Consistent stable weather with a relatively high barometer often favours good fishing. Unlike nearby Lake Somerset, which often fishes better in a breeze, Wivenhoe fish seem quite happy to take lures even on very still days.
• If the fishing is tough, slow down how you work the lure. A lure that’s close to the bottom and stirs up some mud can be very effective during the autumn months on Lake Wivenhoe.

Nicki’s Bass Fishing Tackle

• Niki is sponsored by Lew’s Australia and uses a 7’ Lew’s TP1 Black Speed Rod in the 6-14lb line class. She pairs this with a 2000 size Lew’s spin reel, 8-10 lb Suffix 832 braided line and an 8-12lb leader.

Niki’s Best Wivenhoe Bass Lures

• The Hot Bite 20g G1 and G2 spoons are an ever-reliable lure on Lake Wivenhoe and can be fished in a variety of ways during the winter months. Niki will usually cast them over active fish, let them sink to the bottom and then either slow roll them as close to the bottom as possible (G1) or hop them along with gentle lifts and winds (G2) , keeping them tight to the bottom and not working them too fast. If the fish are holding above the bottom these spoons can be counted down to the required depth and then worked with lifts and winds to keep them just above bottom.
• Hot Bite Tailspinners are great when the fish are less active. They can be fished in much the same way as the G1 spoon, sinking them to bottom and then slow rolling them through the schools of bass.
• The Hot Bite Spectre is a great little finesse chatterbait that is deadly on Wivenhoe Bass in the warmer months, but Niki loves using it and tends to put ina few casts with this lure even during the winter.