Welcome to the Australian Bass Fishing Guide. Bass are a great surface sports fish sometimes mistaken with the Estuary Perch. Pound for pound they are considered one of the best sports fish on the planet. Especially when using surface lures waiting for those boof moments. We are seeing increased stocking programs of bass locally as part of the stat governments 10 million by 2022 initiative which is great news for local anglers. This means they can be found in increased rivers, lakes and estuaries across the state. Bass love structure and rock walls and targeting them with ultralight gear with surface styles lures is an amazing form of fishing.
With a scientific name of Macquaria novemaculeata. Australian Bass has a Minimum legal size is 27cm, wit a daily bag limit of 5 over legal size
bait to catch bass
- Scrub worms
- Powerbait
- Yabbies
- Mudeye
- maggots
- live minnows
Thread a small running sinker through the mainline shown in blue, around 8 pounds. Then tie a small swivel to the end allowing the sinker to run up the mainline freely. On the other end of the swivel tie 50cm of 8-pound fluorocarbon leader shown in grey. Then finish with a size 6-8 bait keeper hook.
Lures to catch bass
Bass will happily take many soft plastics, shallow diving hard body lures and surface lures between 35mm and 70mm. Mix up the colour range, we like to start with silvers that mimic small baitfish and mullet.
- Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
- Jackall Micro Tappy
- Tiemco Cicada
- Storm Gomoku Popper
- Savage Gear 3D Cicada
- Jackall Micro Pompadour
- Pro lure live yabby
- OSP bent minnows
- Kietech crazy flapper
- Savage Gear Fathead shallow diving crank
- Tiemco TT Pencil
- Daiwa Dr Minnow Joint 5F
- Zman slim Swimz
- Damiki Monster Miki 2.5 sp
- Daiwa Slippery Dog
- nories laydown minnows
- Berkley powerbait grub
- Daiwa Presso minnows
- strike tiger nymph
- Rapala countdown floating minnow
- Daiwa Double Clutch
- Zman 2.5 inch grub
- Dawia Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
- eco gear ZX40
- Squidges biotough grub
- Rapala Countdown Minnow
- Jackall Chubby
- Dawia Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
- Squidges biotough grub
How to catch bass
Bass love structure so don’t be afraid to cast right into the structure. With surface lures mix up your retrieval techniques. Sometimes long paused are required, some of our best catches have come by just letting a surface lure sit on the surface.
Fishing for Bass requires finesse and control to the target structure. Therefore your best option is an ultralight fishing combo. We recommend a 1-3 or 2-4 kilo graphite spin rod around 7 foot in length. Coupled with a 1000 or 2000 size reel spooled with 4 pound line and roughly a rod length of 6-pound fluorocarbon leader. When bait fishing uses a 2-4 kilo rod that’s around 7 foot in length. Coupled with a 2500 size reel either a float or small running sinker to a swivel and very fine leader.
Often Bass are more active right on dawn and dusk then through the night. During the day they will often seek shelter deep within the local structure.
locations to catch Bass in Victoria
Great locations include
- Blue rock dam
- Rocklands
- Werribee River
- Lake Bullen Merri
You can obtain a free Victorian recreational fishing guide from the Victorian Fisheries Authorities weblink
Additions or Corrections for this fish species
If you feel this Australian Bass Fishing Guide fish species guide is missing key information or needs any corrections. Then please let us know by emailing our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details in the email. Thank you