Sports Tuition

If winter is any indication, we are in for a great season of fishing in spring this year. It's been one of the most productive winters for several years on Hinze Dam. Reflecting on the last few months mainly brings back positive images with some thumping bass that were full of roe being caught. There were also plenty of good size yellowbelly caught. One of the most pleasing aspects was the low impact of the banded grunter, particularly as bait fishing with live shrimp was the method of choice on most occasions, and the banded grunters in the dam have a tendency to work through the shrimp in pretty quick time. Winter is always more difficult to entice bass on lures and using live shrimp ensured consistent catch rates. Consistency is the key word and the reason behind the successful catch rates. The conditions didn't change that much and the water surface temperature remained fairly constant at around the 15-16C mark. There were plenty of bass and yellowbelly that stayed in the far upper reaches of the dam, and over the season, they didn't appear to move too much at all. This meant most of the sessions were conducted in close proximity to the Numinbah Valley boat ramp. We really didn't venture more than 500m into the dam, and in this region the dam doesn't open up that wide, which provided good shelter on those windy days we experienced. Sports Tuition and Brisbane Fishing Online held a very successful fishing comp, which typified the catch rate right throughout winter and the bass didn't really go off the bite at all, except for one day that we experienced just days after the BFO comp. It was one of those days we had where the wind was blowing a gale and it must have been 50 knots. Along with the cold weather, these conditions caused the dam to roll over. When a dam rolls, it means the water on the surface becomes cooler than water on the bottom and putting convection current theory into action, the warmer water always moves to the top, and as it moves from the bottom to the top, it stirs up the mud on the bottom and makes the water quite murky, and as a result, the fish tend to go very quiet. During that particular session it was a real struggle for the few that were involved and only a couple of fish were caught. In years gone past, it has tended to take a couple of weeks for the dam to settle after a roll over, and for the fish to start actively feeding again. However, three days later we had a group from Griffith University's International College where we hosted a group of Arab leaders and Griffith Uni's recreational officers, and the bass were once again on the bite, which typified the great winter fishing we experienced.
Sports Tuition's last event was a Family Fishing Weekend at Hinze Dam. Sports Tuition's fishing weekends are about spending quality time on the water with family members and I must say the group we had on this particular weekend was awesome. Everyone pitched in and helped, which made it a very enjoyable and relaxing weekend for the Sports Tuition staff. The group managed to catch some great bass which measured up to 44cm and some good solid yellowbelly were caught as well. On this particular occasion the group caught so many fish, they were all happy to get off the water as the day was starting to cool down. Everyone was back at the campsite for a hot shower and preparing dinner much earlier than we're used to. The kids also had plenty of daylight to gather all their wood for the campfires for after dinner. With all the kids ‘chipping in' and peeling potatoes, and then breadcrumbing all the fish fillets, we had our usual meal of fish and chips. We also cooked up a number of pockets of fish roe, which a couple of us ate. These pockets of fish roe have hundreds of thousands of fish eggs and when you eat it, the eggs are so light; they pop in your mouth. It's quite a strong, fishy flavour, but it's a taste sensation. I'm not quite sure why more people couldn't be tempted.
As we head into spring, the bass will slowly reabsorb their fish roe, because they need salt water to spawn, and obviously that's not possible in a freshwater impoundment. And as the weather continues to warm up, so too will the surface temperature of the dam, and the bass will become more aggressive in their feeding, and hence, more fish will be caught on lures. The best fishing times will tend to be early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Bass will be targeted using surface poppers, diving lures, spinner baits and soft plastics. It is exhilarating when a bass smashes a surface popper, and judging by the great winter we've just experienced, this spring may be an ideal time to give it a try.


Rebecca, 14, was wrapped with her 44cm bass on the Family Fishing Weekend.


Dianne, fishing with her husband and three boys, picked up this great bass using live shrimp.


Max, 7, displayed some great angling skills. He caught plenty of bass, and just as well too, because he had plenty of energy!


Thomas, 10, caught this solid yellowbelly near the Numinbah boat ramp during the Family Fishing Weekend.


Jesse, on a ½ day charter, found a hole just to the left of the Numinbah boat ramp and was pulling out a bass on every drop using live shrimp.


Eric, a recreational officer for Griffith Uni, picked up quite a few bass like this one on a ½ day fishing charter.