Hunter Valley

Get stuck into surface fishing

HUNTER VALLEY Nick Price

November is a great month to head to Glenbawn or St Clair. Reaction and surface are everyone’s favourite, and that’s what this time of find fish, casting to the edge and then commencing a slow wind back. It is not difficult fishing, and it is great fun and very productive. Once I have found fish then I target similar banks.

There are many, many carp in Glenbawn, and they are great fun to catch on either bait or fly. Local identity Les Donne has also been known to target them on skirted jigs at this time of year. Fishing with corn or worms from the bank is a great way to catch these fish, too.

Carp are incredibly hard fighters and they’re plentiful, providing great sport for adults and kids alike. There are many opportunities to stalk carp in the shallows on fly. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a seasoned veteran or you’re just learning how to fly fish – you will find plenty of carp and suitable banks to target them.

The Hunter River and its tributaries are open to fishing, and there have been some great reports of large wild bass being caught and released. When targeting these bass in rivers, the most productive lures are small divers (e.g. Jackall Chubby), a small plastic with a beetle spin, or a surface lure.

Surface fishing in the Hunter River is a great way to target overhanging structure. The bass like to sit in the shade under overhanging branches. Cast a surface lure, such as a cicada, upstream of the overhanging tree or bush, and as the lure floats down under the cover and in the shade, give it a small twitch and a long pause. The hardest part about this type of fishing is getting the hard-fighting bass away from the underwater structure without losing your lure and the bass!

The trout season is in full swing, and there are plenty of anglers from near and far travelling to the Barrington area chasing trout. Like all trout waters in NSW, the Barrington area has had plenty of rain over the last few years and the trout fishing is very good. Please remember to take all your rubbish home and look after the environment.

Carp are great fun, and there are plenty in Glenbawn.

year is all about.

The water levels in both lakes are full to overflowing, and there are many good banks to fish. Lake St Clair has been fishing more consistently than Glenbawn, but the fish in both lakes are big, fat and strong.

When fishing the banks with lipless crankbaits, I like to use 20lb line and leader at this time of year. The fish are super aggressive and will take too much gear if light tackle is used!

I work a bank until I Glenbawn is famous for its big bass. The bass are well fed and ready for a fight.

Tom with a nice river bass.

It only takes a few to give trout anglers a bad name.

When targeting trout, the ever-reliable Celta and Rapala minnow are the stand-outs. There are many insect hatches and aquatic life is abundant during the summer months, so fly fishing for trout at this time of year is very relaxing and productive.

Last year there were many reports of people taking many trout, filling eskies and even leaving dead trout on the bank or hung on a fences! Please play by the rules and remember that this is a finite resource that is stocked by local people in local fishing clubs. I like the saying, “Let it go, let it grow”. This really applies to our trout. If everyone does the right thing there will be some trophy trout on the Barrington in years to come.

December is still a great month to fish, with the surface bite in full swing and fish still hitting reaction baits. Next month I will continue looking at these techniques.

Remember, if you’re heading up to the Barrington, Glenbawn or St Clair, drop into the shop at the turn-off to Glenbawn in Aberdeen and ask about the different techniques and what they are biting on. We stock all the quality tackle that you need.

From page ### real challenge on the lighter gear in the thick timber which Pindari is known for.

Around the latter months of year, I like to match the hatch and fish with smaller presentations. Lures roughly around 40-60mm in length and even up to 70mm are classed as a golden perch lure and are fine to use. Mazzy Vibes, Jackall TNs, Megabass Vibration-X and Ecogear ZX Blades are all favourites at this time of year, so I always make sure I have one or two in my tacklebox at all times, as well as a packet of soft plastics to change things up sometimes.

Split Rock Dam produces some good-size carp which can often be sight casted during the warmer months as they forage along the dam’s edge in the shallows. They, too, can be really fun to target on the fly gear, which makes this waterway an awesome place to learn that kind of technique. Even better than that, it can be a good getaway with the mates or even the family and kids, where you can go back to basic fishing and chuck a bit of corn out on a hook and have a really good time – as well as doing the waterway a favour by removing some pest fish.

Copeton Dam is looking good this season, with higher water levels, and has been fishing well of late. Solid numbers of golden perch have been getting caught as well as a handful of the big Murray cod which Copeton is known for (Copeton Dam in Northern NSW and Blowering Dam in Southern NSW are the only two impoundments that remain open for Murray cod fishing in NSW waterways all year round).

Spangled perch (or ‘bobby cod’ as many people call them), carp, shrimp and crayfish are more active with warmer weather and water temperatures around. They are the main food sources for Copeton’s XL native fish, so replicating these baits with similar lures can be a key factor in getting the bites – as well as fishing the moon phases, like I mention in most of my reports. The full moon falls on 8 November, and the

Redfin on fly can be a fun challenge in the smaller streams. A shrimp-style fly brought this fish unstuck.

new moon on 23 November.

With many reptiles around the dam’s edge, wakebaits such as lizard-style lures, and big paddlers that replicate ducks and waterhens, are good options this time of year as well.

Good luck to all getting out on the water this month, enjoy the warmer weather and awesome fishing opportunities the New England area has to offer.