As you may have noticed, March has very much been Kayaking month and I've been hitting Enoggera Reservoir hard to hone my lure fishing skills and work out what the buzz about fishing for Australian Bass is all about.

The sessions haven't exactly been prolific... But after six or so outings on the water I've gradually been getting the hang of things, learning to spot the likely areas, get my casting accuracy on point and along the way I've been lucky enough to get a number of bites and fish per session (apart from the previous blank which we won't talk about!).

Today was no exception, the going was hard and the fish very twitchy - maybe due to the windy conditions? I'd headed to a likely looking spot I'd fished on previous visits which although hadn't produced a fish, had resulted in a solid knock on the last session and just screamed that it should do a bite...

And luckily for me it did! This fish was at least twice the size of anything I've caught to date and gave me a really good run around in the kayak - the bite was like steam train! The other great thing was this was on a lure I'd not caught on before, namely the Rapala Rap-V Blade 'Bud'.

Luckily I'd recently picked up a landing net otherwise I think it would've been a struggle to get it safely in the kayak... I've no idea on the weight/length but it was a solid chunky fish, defo larger than legal size (although of course it went back, strictly catch-and-release for these fish so someone else can enjoy catching them).

Apart a couple of missed bites, the rest of the session past without any more fish - but I think you'd agree this 'beast' more than made up for it?!

I've still not figured out why the seasonal change from summer to winter in Australia is so sudden but the long and short is that it goes from being light until gone 7pm to being pretty much dark by 5pm in the space of a week!

And I guess it kinda crept up on me this year... Despite getting on the water and arriving at the current 'hot spot' by 5ish there was a distinct chill in the air and the sun was already dipping behind the trees...

So I made the most of the time I had! After working the faithful tree line that has been producing the bites for over the last sessions I was quickly rewarded by a solid bite after casting tight to the lily pads.

No monster but a welcome fish. And as luck would have it, 5 minutes later I got another explosive bite from the exact same spot! But at that point, I realised that the sun was disappearing fast and if I didn't get a row on I was in danger of being out on the water in the dark...

I managed to get back to the landing stage as the last of the light went and had to drag the kayak back to the car park and load in the pitch black! Worth it? Defo, it was a real buzz to get those two bass in the near darkness but lesson learnt - it gets dark quick! I think it'll be early mornings from now on...

An early start was in order as the reservoir gets crazy busy at the weekend, so I was up before sunrise leaving the house at 5.30am and getting on the water by 6am - just in time for the sun to pop up over the dam wall and treat me to a glorious yellow glow across the water.

As predicted, it was busy with the lower car parks already bustling with other kayakers and stand-up-paddleboarders.​ I also bumped into two other angers... but more on that later...

As it was already busy around the landing stage and main drag down to the dam wall I decided to paddle hard and make my way right to the other end of the water. It was at this point that I had my first mishap of the day in the shape of forgetting to put the scupper plugs in the rear storage section of the kayak... Luckily I hadn't sunk but I had drowned my bag, my shoes, my food... Lesson learned, don't always be in such a rush!

Sadly 5 minutes after that, I had my second mishap - I'd made a few casts to get my eye in and was going well when the line went slack when chucking to a set of lily pads. Weird I thought, I wonder if I'd hooked something behind me or forgot to tighten the clutch when 'sposh' the lure landed a couple of metres in front of the kayak. I've no idea how but the knot had slipped and the leader had completely unraveled from the mainline! What the hell?!?! That was a brand new lure, it's first outing on the water and it just whistled over my head into oblivion. Second lesson learnt, always check your knots - not just when you tie them but after you've cast them as once they're wet they may let you down. 

I tried a few more spots along the way down the lake but it was hard to resist the temptation of hitting the 'hot spot' from the previous couple of sessions early on to see if there were any fish around. But on this occasion, there weren't - I gave it a good half an hour, probably longer than I should've but with no takers I decided to head directly across the water to another spot we'd checked out last weekend.

Luckily for me, this new spot produced my first bite of the day! By no means a monster, but very welcome. The bite came from casting tight to one of the rafts of lily pads in the area and I really thought that once I'd hooked one, there'd be more waiting. But no dice. After a good 30 minutes of casting around to every likely spot I decided to head to some much needed shade, rest up for a moment and eat my now soggy breakfast...

I figured then it'd be worth moving onto the next spot which is pretty much as far as I've paddled down the lake and again, casting to the rafts of lily pads produced the second bite of the day! As with the previous fish, I really thought it would kick off with at least one more bite but after another solid half hour of casting around with nothing to show for my efforts it was time to move on again.

This end of the lake had given me a clear view along the length of the water and I'd noticed the other two anglers I'd met at the landing stage making their way along the far side. As they were so close, I figured it would only be polite to check in on how they were getting on but sadly they too were struggling and hadn't managed to snag a fish.

From what I can tell, Enoggera can be a very tough water! 

By this time the sun was high in the sky, the temperature had shot up and a steady wind was blowing down the water making it hard to keep the kayak from drifting. So I decided to call it a day and make my way back to the landing stage. By this time, there were loads of people on the water including an incredibly noisy group of 10 or so girls on paddle boards. As they were next to another one of the 'hot spots' near the point opposite the dam wall I almost considered not bothering having a cast... But I was really surprised when I had a couple of missed bites! I think the noise and commotion on the water may have made the bass wary and they were only really nipping at the lure but it was interesting that it hadn't pushed them completely out of the area.

So there you go, another enjoyable morning up at Enoggera Reservoir with a couple of fish to show for it. There's defo some bigger fish in there and from what I've been told, they may start showing themselves once the weather and the water starts to cool down a bit. But for now, I'm simply loving being regularly fishing again and to be that close to the water on a kayak is just excellent.

After the success of my previous session where I landed my first Australian Bass (and lost a bloody monster!) I wasted no time and pretty much headed straight to the latest 'hot spot'. And it didn't disappoint, after half an hour of casting around I had my first bite and a plump Enoggera Bass was in the kayak. Having had one, I figured it couldn't hurt to keep casting and after working the shore line for another 20 minutes I had my second strike of the afternoon. Pretty stunning, I really wasn't expecting to have two in such a short space of time. Sadly the fish jumped from my hand before I managed to get a picture - so you'll just have to believe me on that one!

However at the point the bites dried up. The weather however didn't dry up... There'd been some rumblings of thunder over my shoulder and when I spun the kayak around to check out the sky I was greeted with boiling black clouds.

Time to beat it for home! As I paddled hard down the reservoir the first drops of rain had begun to fall and by the time I'd made it back to the car all hell had let loose. Luckily I managed to get the kayak loaded before the deluge started...

So not bad! A couple of hours on the water, a couple of fish and some more well spent time in the kayak - happy days!

I'd messaged Peter a couple of times on YouTube and when he suggested we meet up at Enoggera Reservoir I jumped at the chance. Based on his videos, he's got a real handle on the place so fingers crossed he'd be able to put me onto some fish as so far, they'd been more than elusive... I'd suffered 4 blanks if you counted the experimental paddles in the borrowed inflatable kayak!

We met in the carpark at 6am, got on the water, headed up the reservoir to the 1st spot and got casting. Peter kindly let me have first dibs at all the 'hot spots' but try as we might and despite the areas looking prime for a bite we couldn't get a single hit... This continued for the next couple of hours with both of us meticulously working the water, hitting every patch of lily pads and likely looking hole but... nothing.

By this time we'd got to the furthest point from the launching spot and Peter had to head for work the time now being around 9am. I was trying the last of the suggested spots when my phone rang - it was Peter, he'd had a cast at a spot on the paddle back and'd hooked up to a fish! Glancing over my shoulder I could see him only a 5 minute paddle away so I set steam and headed on over, working on the basis that where there's one fish, there's probably more just waiting to have a snap at a lure.

So I began working the water in this new spot and after 20 minutes of diligently working up and down a likely looking margin I received my 1st take! It was pretty darn exciting, only a short fight with a few lunges and the fish was mine! I couldn't believe it, all those blanks and hours spent on the water had finally paid off and I had my first Australian Bass.

And of course, when you've caught one, you want one more right?! So I got to casting and within a couple of minutes I received an absolutely blistering take - the hit was like a freight train, the rod hooped over and I was being dragged into the lily pads!

I just couldn't stop this thing, it went straight into the pads and locked me up solid... Such a shame, I think if I'd been a little more experienced I would've managed to wrestle it away from cover but no joy. In the end, I had to pull for a break resulting in one lost lure and a lost fish.

So a bitter sweet ending to the session but its left me hungry for more. Now that I've got a better read on the water, which lures to use and what the best conditions are I feel like my chances have gone up somewhat - I'll be back!