REGULAR FEATURES Urban basssing

Awesome urban bassing

BRISBANE Bob Thornton

Bass fishing takes anglers to some absolutely breathtaking locations. Whether they’re grand boulder-strewn valleys with torrents of clear mountain water gushing through or little spring-fed trickles meandering through a paddock, the location becomes as much a part of the experience as the fishing itself.

With our busy lives and ever-changing world, though, finding the time and money to get to these places can be a huge challenge. Many bass fishing heartlands lie hundreds of kilometres from any major population centres. Even stocked impoundments set of challenges, though. So, let’s take a look at these environments and the wily little bass that live in them!

THE BIG SMOKE

Bass can be found in many freshwater bodies these days. Where once naturally occurring populations were doomed to disappear with rapid development, stocking efforts, research, conservation work and closed seasons have ensured there are, once again, plenty of bass to be caught in our cities and towns.

Weirs, culverts and other impassable barriers built along natural watercourses were a major damaging factor to bass stocks. So too were many construction and farming practices, which due to a lack of research at the time, didn’t consider the involved to do it. ARE THERE BASS HERE?

This is the first question you need to ask yourself, because there are some very appealing creeks around that just don’t have bass in them. Despite all the conservation efforts, things like pollution, artificial barriers and other environmental damage are still a factor.

If you can’t find any information on bass stocking for your local system, or there is no stocked dam or weir to provide ‘escapee’ fish, there’s still always a chance of a natural population.

The first thing I consider is access to saltwater, which bass need to breed. Bass are able to navigate rapids and some small waterfalls when flow is sufficient and will

The urban creeks that flow below major dams have recently received an injection of escapees with the recent rain. Fish topple over the spillways in search of flowing water, which is why this fish looks a little knocked around.

Photo courtesy of Peter Jung.

There are some truly magical little streams in the heart of suburbia. Unsurprisingly, the author could hear a lawnmower cranking while snapping this shot!

with good bass fisheries are often located outside the city limits that many of us live in.

While we as anglers strive to get away from the crowds, good bass fishing certainly isn’t limited to areas completely free of human activity. In fact, some fantastic bassing can be found right under our noses, sometimes in the heart of the urban and suburban jungles of our major cities! What’s more, restorative efforts from forwardthinking State governments and research groups have brought back many of these fragile environments from the brink.

Modern anglers can enjoy great bass fishing in places that have you wondering whether to grab the rod or the camera first, while not worrying about taking days off work or spending precious savings on fuel.

Bass fishing in our cities and major regional centres isn’t without its own unique wildlife in the area. With more modern weir and bridge designs to facilitate migratory breeding behaviour, as well as environmental groups to keep agricultural activities in check, things are looking up.

We now know how fragile these important ecosystems can be, and while the management of our riparian and marine environments isn’t perfect, it’s come a long, long way.

Being able to not only preserve natural stocks, but also reintroduce them to areas where they were once common has ensured there’s plenty to go around, even in the big smoke.

Urban bass fishing is no walk in the park though… well, if you’re walking through a park to get to a piece of public water it is, but you know what I mean! Difficulties can arise when chasing our much-loved battlers in the cities, but these challenges can make each fish more special and well worth the planning often migrate back upstream with the first floodwaters of the season following their spawning. Weirs, dams, barrages and causeways may block this migration path for our little friends.

A great way to assess the ‘navigability’ of such structures is if you notice schools of mullet in the system above these barriers, as these fish also require access to the salt to complete their life cycle. My rule of thumb is that if mullet can do it, bass can do it. Don’t underestimate a bass’s will to swim upstream!

Secondly, there needs to be sufficient real estate for them. Bass will live in some pretty skinny creeks, but they require shade from undercut banks, snags, boulders, overhanging trees, or artificial structures like bridge pylons, pipes, concrete slabs and retaining walls. Unlike the mullet and herring that swim out in the open (making them easy to spot), bass will almost always keep themselves hidden during daylight hours, only venturing out to snaffle passing prey. It’s worth remembering that bass will happily live in very shallow water, so long as they can get their head under something. A creek with year-round flow is certainly preferable, but not necessary, so long as there are a few permeant pools that hold a bit of depth and structure.

Lastly, footprints and other items left behind by anglers are a dead giveaway. I can remember once when visiting a creek for the first time, I noticed a small popper with treble hooks hanging from a tree over a deep, shaded pool. I got a confidence boost just by seeing this, and my suspicions were soon confirmed when I landed a bass.

I certainly don’t condone leaving rubbish behind, as these are things that damage the environment, and in more public waterways, could result in anglers getting kicked out! If you can, leave only your footprints and take only photos. ACCESS

Accessing bass water in the concrete jungles is something of a challenge, just as it is in the real jungle. Out in more regional and remote areas, the main challenges stem from geography. High banks, thick scrub and long walks are an accepted part of the package for intrepid creek crawlers like myself and many others. In the city however, creeks wind their way through suburbia and form the border between many peoples’ properties. There are sections of public land such as parks and walkways adjacent to these waterways, and these provide great access points. In a lot of creeks though, the good habitat sits amongst private property.

Getting access to such areas can be tricky, however if you can get down to the creek legally (via a bridge, park or some other public land), that’s a good start. Traversing along the creek, or indeed in it if you choose to wade – like I often do – is a

great way to find productive water. Having a quick glance at the Land Act 1994, the only thing on it clear enough for my blue collar brain to understand is that non-tidal watercourses are property of the State.

By this logic, fishing from a kayak or other small vessel is fair game. It’s less clear about the riparian zones, which are the areas (usually thick with vegetation) on the water’s edge. Walking or wading in this zone, well below a high floodwater mark, certainly seems harmless enough, but not everyone feels this way. Some bass anglers (including myself!) have been warned off at gunpoint, although this is more of a problem in the backcountry. In most if not all instances, the landowner was in the wrong.

My advice is to stay in the creekbed where possible, without compromising your safety. Most creeks will allow you to wade in ankle to shin deep water as you

Peter Jung loves exploring the bushy creeks that wind through Brisbane’s suburbs, with decent fish like this not uncommon at all.

Photo courtesy of Peter Jung. Concrete slabs, broken bricks and pipes aren’t a classic feature of a bass creek, but the fish don’t seem to mind!

venture along casting to likely hidey holes. It’s always good to call in and request permission if you plan to fish firmly from the bank. LURKING IN

THE SHADOWS

It’s no surprise that to be a good bass angler you need to be quiet and discreet, almost blending in with the environment. Bass diehards learn to stay hidden from not only fish, but other wildlife that may ‘spook’ a pool, like water dragons, turtles or ducks. They also learn to stay hidden from people, partly for the reasons mentioned above, but also to keep their fishing spots close to their chest. With this sort of covert training, I’m surprised the special forces don’t recruit more city bass anglers!

Urban bass generally experience a higher degree of human activity, so it’s just a fact that they will be a little more weary and better educated than their rural and remote counterparts. This just reinforces the idea that success comes to those who are stealthy.

Over years of fishing these places, I’ve come to notice that I get more interest from fish when I take extra care not to disturb the environment I’m in. Little

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From page 9 things like walking down to a pool slowly, wading without splashing, and even standing a few meters back from the edge of the pool to make a cast should become habit.

You won’t be able to totally mask your presence all the time, and a turtle diving off a log or a water dragon tearing off through the scrub isn’t going to completely foil your operation.

Once you start fishing, you’ll find these city slickers fare put you in with a better chance. The sharp hooks that come standard with these lures are invaluable as well; you might only raise a few fish in a short session before or after work, and you want them to stick.

Anglers from trout backgrounds and those used to fishing for sooties and jungle perch up north will find this is all second nature to them. As I have said in my articles before, creek fishing for bass is a highly transferable skill, and it’s no different in the cities. often told it is!

The conservational efforts of governments and research groups mentioned at the beginning of this article have seen a lot of endangered wildlife returning to these sites. My local creek gets its name from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘water lizard’, and it’s refreshing to see so many of these reptiles on the water’s edge.

In these same places I’ve managed to stumble upon echidnas, platypus, koalas, wallabies, black cockatoos, and a stack of rare native

Water like this should get any bass anglers excited. To city slickers, the house and mowed lawn in the top right isn’t a deterrent.

are just like bass anywhere. Small presentations that imitate insects, crustaceans and fish will work well. Paying attention to what forage species abound where you’re fishing is a good idea. Bass are not known to be super fussy, but a creek full of bass that see anglers on a weekly basis know a trick when they see it. Good quality lures that closely resemble the local A UNIQUE

ENVIRONMENT

It might seem that by fishing close to major business districts you miss out on the ‘wilderness’ factor that’s associated with wild river bass fishing. It’s true that human activity and influence is virtually inescapable in the cities, even right down in the bottom of a generously vegetated creekbed. But it’s far from the wasteland we’re plants. All this within a 10-15 minutes drive of the CBD! Afterwards I can go grab a soy flat white and not be late for work. Yes, just like the bass I chase, I too have become urbanised!

As anglers we have a responsibility to keep these places as wild and wonderful as they ever were, and I believe fishing for bass in the city promotes this idea. Bass anglers have a vested Small poppers and other topwater presentations are highly effective in shaded pools.

interest in keeping our freshwater creeks healthy, and heck… these fish almost certainly wouldn’t have received any consideration if it weren’t for anglers reminding policymakers of their existence!

I believe anglers should always try to be active in the role of environmentalism, and even picking up a few pieces of rubbish or letting the local council know if you see something suss will contribute to sustainable urban bass fishery.

So next time you drive over a little freshwater creek in the middle of suburbia, don’t pass it off as another metropolitan ‘drain’, think about how many bass might be in there!

If you can see mullet swimming around in a freshwater creek, it’s a good indication that there are also bass hiding away in the shadows.