To be honest, after the crazy windy end to my previous Kurwongbah session I wasn't relishing the idea of another session being nearly tipped out of the kayak... But I was so desperate to get out, I decided to ignore the predicted 35kmh winds and get to the lake super early in an effort to avoid the wind as much as possible.

So I got to the lake in the dark at 5:15am! The car was showing 28 degrees already and there was a very stiff breeze blowing down the lake. It also became apparent that I was going to have company on this session as 10 cars pulled into the carpark as I paddled up the main drag...

Plan wise, I figured I'd try and find calm water so I headed straight across the main basin to boat ramp bay, one because it was relatively sheltered and two because it was the main area I picked up fish in the previous week. But try as I might I couldn't get a bite. There weren't any fish showing on the sounder and despite paddling around and exploring all the areas that previously held fish there just wasn't anything around.

It was the same story at Toga Point and at Stag Bay.

Clearly a new plan was needed as the current one wasn't working! On a hunch, I headed down past the massive weedbed to the far end of chicken coup bay and gave the edges a go. Believe it or not, I got a bite on the first cast! Only a small bass but it was a start. Then another. 

The fish were around the edge again?!

The action dried up after 4 fish, a missed bite finally backing the fish off (which quite often happens, it's almost as if 'the one that got away' warns the rest of the shoal). But it was encouraging and spurred me on to investigate the edges around the top end but weirdly, not a thing showed itself. All the spots that had produced fish over winter were completely devoid of activity and with the wind hacking in circles I just couldn't stay in one spot to properly investigate anywhere.

A little frustrated I decided to drift on down into Fence Bay. I wasn't overly hopeful as I've not had a fish in this spot for months on end. So it was a real surprise when I got a bite! Not a big fish by any stretch but another one to chalk up. Even if there were some more fish around, the wind was maddening by this time and I'd all but given up and was starting my paddle back to the launching area.

But something made me stop in at boat ramp bay... It might've been the calm water, it might've been that 4 speedboat's had turned up and we're racing up and down the lake or it might've been a sixth sense...

But I scored an additional 4 bonus fish in the space of 10 minutes! All from the edges, all pretty small but all more than welcome.

The sun was high in the sky by now and as it was blistering hot and the action dried up as quickly as it began I decided to call it a day and head for home.

So another interesting session at Lake Kurwongbah. I'm not going to lie, the wind has been a constant pain over the last couple of months and today was no exception. But it was really encouraging to get some fish around the edges and who knows, maybe next week's session will be millpond calm and the takes will be fast and furious!

Fish of course! Despite feeling like absolute garbage when I woke up at 5am on Friday there was absolutely no question - I've been stuck at home for the best part of two weeks, I need some outside time, I need to go fishing.

Kurwongbah was the easy choice, I really needed a water way that didn't require a lot of brain power (I was experiencing the COVID fog...) and to be completely honest, everywhere is fishing so badly at the moment it seemed kinda pointless to put myself through a long drive somewhere new.

Despite BOM's prediction of 'light winds by mid morning' it was freezing cold and blowing a gale when I arrived at the late. Another bloody kick in the pants, I've literally been up every morning this week gazing at clear blue skies and completely still trees... But hey, what can you do?!

As with all the sessions over the last couple of months, it was incredibly tough going. The weed has receded a lot from it's absolutely crazy takeover but there's still a lot about which makes finding fishable water a challenge. I kept a keen eye on the sounder but it didn't reveal any fish until I got much further up the lake. Not surprisingly, the windy conditions weren't really ideal for worm fishing and the 5 bass I managed to scrape were all caught on the gangbanger g2 or the Rapala Rap-V Blade 'Halloween'. I only had one fish on the worms, an absolutely blistering take completely out of the blue along the bay near the dam wall.

I decided to call it a day around 2pm feeling pretty sorry for myself - 5 fish from around 6 hours of fishing is a pretty poor result! But it does give you an idea just how tough it is at the moment... And despite the wind it was glorious to be out on the water, it really lifted my spirits after the misery of the last month.

But I'm home now, still testing positive for COVID, still feeling like crap, still can't talk... Good golly, I hope this is over soon!

It might not seem like much but it's a significant change which might improve the fishing. Things have been crazy tough since the relentless rain pushed the water levels up to spilling point and that coupled with insanely quick weed growth has severely impacted the bass fishing.

The other bit of interesting news was an alert from SEQ Water about aquatic weed management. This is really welcome as after the weed explosion about a month ago it's been pretty much out of control making some really productive areas virtually unfishable. The treatment is taking place for 3 days between the 23rd and 25th of May 2024 which rules out fishing for this week.

So who knows, maybe things will improve on the fishing front? Looking back over my blog posts and videos I'm coming up on the first anniversary of fishing at Lake Kurwongbah and so much has changed in that time. I had some amazing sessions through June and July last year so fingers crossed I can bag some decent quality bass before the winter pattern well and truly kicks in. Watch this space!

As you'll have seen from most of my blog posts and videos my main lure of choice has been the excellent Rapala Rap-V blade which has served me well at both Lake Kurwongbah and Enoggera Reservoir. But on recent sessions I had a feeling it wasn't getting down deep enough to where the fish were sitting. After a chat to the chaps at BCF about deep water fishing for bass, they suggested a much heavier lure in the form of the amusingly named 'Gangbanger G2', to be specific the 'Hot Bite Gangbanger G2 Jig Lure 20g Lickety Split'.​

Far out, this thing looks weird! But according to the blurb, it's:

• Ideal for fishing in impoundments
• Mimics a Bony Bream with its unique swimming action
• Rear weighted to improve casting distance and balance
• Bottom treble hook and top twin assist hooks to dig in
• Ideal for slow retrieve

All of those criteria matched exactly what I was after: according to the sounder, the fish were shoaled up in deeper open water and if I was going to have a chance in catching them I needed to get something down in front of them that had a slow enough retrieve that it had time to grab their attention.

A quick visit to Jason Ehrlich's YouTube channel to watch the aptly named 'How to use Gang Banger G2 Spoons to Catch Bass' and I was good to go.

As usual, it was a slow start... The lake was very calm with only one other kayaker on the water but it wasn't until I reached 'Toga Point' that I eventually found a group of fish. A worm bite quickly came and then out of the blue, I hooked a fish on the new lure! That was a bit of a result, both fish were smallish but it was a start.

And then the dreaded Kurwongbah wind got up... Pretty soon, there were white tips and ripples galore on the water which made keeping in the same spot virtually impossible. To add to my frustration, I somehow managed to completely lose sight of one of the H-Blocks I'd thrown out to mark my spot. It took me what seemed like an age to find it and if it hadn't have been for the eagles hovering and swooping on it I think I'd still be out there looking for it...

So I decided to move on up the lake and see if I could find a calm spot. The weed in 'Shed Bay' is still crazy thick and although some of the weed has receded in 'Kangaroo Point', both spots are still virtually unfishable. So I opted to head straight for the only reliable spot I've had in recent weeks, the margin towards the entrance to 'Motorsport Bay'. It wasn't easy, but I managed a couple of fish, two on the worms and another on the new lure. Again, pretty small but it was fish in the kayak which cheered me up.

And then from nowhere the wind got worse and dark clouds started to roll down the lake... Rain?! It wasn't forecast but then again, neither was the wind! It was time to beat a hasty retreet for home but luckily for me I spied a big group of fish just off the point at 'kangaroo Point' on my way and decided to have a few casts, keeping the lure close to the kayak and letting it rise and fall on the retrieve and... bang! Fish of the session! I've not got a measuring tape on the paddle at the moment, but I gave it a guesstimation of around 38cm. A top quality winter bass to wrap the day up.

By the time I got back to the launching area it was blowing a gale and I was soaked from a rain shower - but I'd caught fish in tough conditions using a new lure which put a big 'ol smile on my face! Fingers crossed the weather will hold for next week and I can give it another go.

I guess it's a combination of the terrible weather we've been having since Christmas in Southeast Queensland followed by the recent drop in temperature as we've begun moving into winter. Either way, the edge bites have pretty much dried up and that can mean only one thing: worms! Last year they proved to be an absolute blank saver and this year appears to be no different.

As today wasn't going to be a long session I headed straight up the lake to 'motorsport bay', pretty much the only location on the lake I've had semi consistent action in the last couple of sessions. There seems to be a channel in the weed that's been carved out by the ski boats and although it's only around 10 metres long and 3 metres wide, the fish seem to be happy to school up there.

This is were the sounder is an invaluable bit of kit as it allows you to 'see' were the weed starts and finishes along with showing the schools of fish. It didn't take long to find them, hugging the bottom in around 10 metres of water and true to form them were on the worms in seconds. The takes are blistering, the drop shot paternoster rig giving the most amazing hook holds in the top lip - it really is the best presentation for fishing directly down from the kayak.

As long as I could get a worm around the fish, my cheap-as-chips AliExpress bargain $40 telescopic rod and reel combo was screaming away with each fish buckling the rod right over (the tip is crazy soft, perfect for having a 'sleeper' rod out as it really absorbs the initial run).

What really surprised me though was I actually managed a couple of fish on a black soft plastic grub that I was casting around while waiting for the worm rod to roar off! It's the first time I've got fish on plastics at Kurwongbah so it was a bit of a bonus.

I left once the wind got up having had 7 or so fish with a couple lost which wasn't a bad result considering the conditions.