Bass Fishing with Bass Lures

Wild Australian Bass: Creeks and Rivers

Australian bass can be found anywhere along the eastern coastline of Australia from the Mary River, Queensland to the Gippsland Lakes, Victoria. Essentially any freshwater creek in between this location that leads to the saltwater could potentially hold the Australian Bass at some point of the year. A closed season between May 1 and August 31 allows the bass to migrate downstream to the lower reaches of rivers where they breed in the salt/brackish water. During summer, wild bass push upstream to the limits of freshwater creeks where they feed on the likes of cicadas, small baitfish, and insects. This makes the summer months an exceptional time to target Australian Bass on lures. Wild river bass takes a variety of lures with surface lures being a very enjoyable and productive way to fish for them. Poppers, fizzers, walk the dog style lures, unweighted soft plastics, and cicada imitations are all popular bass lures that earn a spot in most bass fisherman's tackle boxes. Some stand-out surface lures include the incredibly realistic-looking Zman Finesse Frogz, Megabass Siglett's, and Tiemco Softshell Cicadas. As surface lures float on the top of the water this makes them great for fishing over snaggy creeks and weed beds.

Subsurface lures also such as small divers, soft plastics, chatter baits and spinnerbaits also have a place in your tackle box when going for these hard-hitting fish. Australian bass responds very well to vibrations put off by chatter baits and spinnerbaits after heavy rain in the muddy water. 

Wild river bass is extremely structure orientated. Casting lures close to bank undercuts, fallen trees, weed beds, and overhangs is a good way to start searching for these fish. 

Impoundment / Dam Bass

The closed season for Australian bass does not apply to freshwater impoundments. This makes impoundment fishing a liable option for bass fishing in the colder months when larger fish are schooling up in deeper water. A quality fish finder certainly helps during winter as these fish will often be sitting on deep drop-offs and or other deep bait holding structures. Fishing deeper water requires a different approach with lures such as blades, vibes, metal jigs, weighted soft plastics, and spoons being effective lures.  

Summertime can also be a very productive time to target bass in impoundments. During these warmer months bass push up the edges of weed beds sunken tree lines and bounders in search of food. Surface lures, spinnerbaits, and deep cranks are popular for this type of fishing. While the fish won't be schooling up as much as they would be in winter they will certainly be more aggressive and ready to take a well-presented lure.