Sports Tuition

The weather conditions have remained fairly constant, and so too has the fishing at Hinze Dam. Fish have been caught throughout the western arm, from the very far upper reaches where the run off enters the dam, right down to Ian's Island, where the dam starts to open up and is more exposed to the elements. The fish are scattered throughout at moment, so it's a matter of using a good sounder, locating a few fish, working the area, and then moving on in search of a large school. The largest schools of bass have been found behind Ian's Island.

It's been a busy time with charters on the dam and Sports Tuition also held a school camp and a father & daughter fishing weekend at Hinze last month. The advantage of having so many boats on the water is that it gives a good indication of where the fish are. The groups are able to work as a team to locate the fish, and in particular, the depth at which the fish are feeding at any given time. And at times when the fish are scattered, it's always very handy to have a good sounder and my 778C Humminbird colour sounder is priceless.

The school camp group on this occasion was Nyanda State High School year 9's. A three day survivor camp was conducted at Hinze and all the kids and teachers sent up tents and experienced a real camping-out adventure. There were plenty of activities to keep them busy, but the fishing was certainly a highlight for many. The groups worked the region from the far upper reaches, right up to Ian's Island, and it was behind the island that the majority of the fish were caught. There are some large schools of bass holding in a couple of locations right behind the island and with perfect weather conditions, with not a breath of wind, the students from Nyanda experienced catching a heap of bass and a few large eel tailed cat fish. The teachers weren't letting the kids have all the fun either. One teacher boat managed to land on a spot where they hauled in 30 bass in 30 minutes, which they were pretty impressed by. The schools of bass in this area meant the kids could anchor up and just enjoy catching fish, and plenty of them. I'm sure the fishing experience will encourage quite a few of those students to wet a line again.

The weather for the father and daughter fishing weekend wasn't as pleasant to start with, and in fact, one of the first wet weather days we've experienced for a long time. There was a torrential down pour on the Saturday morning and things weren't looking too good. The format of the weekend was changed slightly and the first couple of hours were spent inside where the participants were involved in a general freshwater fishing presentation, which was followed by a knots and rigs workshop. Having this opportunity in the morning actually gave the group a lot more independence on the water and the fathers were able to carry a few spare hooks and sinkers with them on the water and if they happened to get a snag or be busted off by a large fish, they were able to re-rig their own lines. As it turned out, it was perfect timing. The group had an early lunch and the sun started shining, which meant the group could still get a good six hours on the water. Normally after rain, it's quite calm on the dam, not on this occasion though. The wind was howling through. It was hard to find some shelter, even in the far upper reaches. So it wasn't ideal fishing conditions, and very cold. It wasn't until late in the afternoon that the wind dropped and in this time the group managed to catch some great fish. There were some solid bass caught opposite Silver Perch Point. However, once enough fish were caught, it was back to the campsite for a hot shower and to prepare the catch for dinner.

In preparing the catch for dinner it was noted that a few of the larger bass contained roe. It's at this time of year the bass do start to roe-up, so winter is an ideal time to target trophy sized bass. Bass can't spawn because they need salt water, and they just re-absorb the eggs over a period of time. The fish roe is not bad eating either. The bigger bass suspend in around 10-11m of water throughout winter and they use the heat of the day to feed. Deep diving lures will be in the strike zone and it's also worthwhile jigging blades in the deeper holes. The best fishing times will be between 10am-3pm.


Nathan, the coordinating teacher from Nyanda SHS, enjoyed the fishing experience at Hinze and the favourable late afternoon conditions to bag plenty of good sized bass.


Alice, a student teacher at Nyanda, caught some great bass and a big eel tailed cat fish behind Ian's Island.


Jordan, a year 9 student at Nyanda, managed to land this solid bass opposite Silver Perch Point.


Serrena was the fish whisperer of Nyanda. She kept pulling them in, one after the other.


During the father & daughter weekend, Presley hooked this beauty on live shrimp, using a Wilson Foreshore rod and SureCatch Ghost reel.


Isabelle caught this bass in the very far upper reaches of the dam. It was a good move not to travel far in the windy conditions, as this region offers good protection, and both father and daughter caught a few good sized bass.


The Nyanda group managed to catch a few eel tailed catfish behind Ian's Island. Stephanie managed to land this one and plenty of bass too, off the point of the island, sitting in around 9m of water.