MY wife and I and our three little ones are on a bit of a road trip at the moment.
After leaving South Australia around 6 weeks ago, we have been making our way up the east coast to Fraser Island. We’ve been doing a fair bit of fishing on our travels, and visiting some of the inland dams was something I was really looking forward to.
I had realistic expectations about visiting these inland bodies of water, as I have heard the fishing can be quite tough at times.
After having just visited Lake Somerset, and having no idea about the area, it was a little daunting paddling my kayak out onto the lake for the first time –there’s a lot of water out there. I’m definitely no bass expert either – I had only fished for them on one prior occasion so I’m very green when it comes to targeting bass.
After paddling for a while (with my five-year-old son Tyler sitting on my lap) we scored a bass – only a little fish but just enough to boost our confidence and enthusiasm in what we were doing. A little while later we got a better bass of 42cm, and we were pretty pumped.
We found a good stretch of the lake with a steep bank and a bit of structure. Some of the dam was thick with timber, but we had little success by this thick forest of structure. Instead we found the fish holding along the steep bank– especially where small creeks or inlets met the lake.
I did a bit of flicking from the kayak, but the majority of fish were caught while trolling a deep diving Rebel Teeny under paddle power. Over three ‘yak sessions on the lake, we managed 18 bass and a nice yellowbelly. It was cool to visit a new area, and even better to score a few fish and involve the kids at the same time.
I look forward to returning to Somerset!
