What happens when you put two, fishing-mad, ex-pro cricketers, and good mates together for a morning of Blue Mountains Bass fishing? Hilarity ensues! Our host Nathan Reardon, brings good mate, and Aussie cricketer Peter Forrest along for a day wandering the banks of the Nepean River, at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
Pete, or Foz as he’s better known, played a lot of his junior cricket at the Hawkesbury, before answering the call to join the Queensland side in 2011. From there, Foz had a steller domestic career playing for the Bulls, and six months later, was called up to the Australian One Day side. In his retirement, he’s returned to his old stomping ground down here in the hills of Sydney, and back playing for Hawkesbury.
“I grew up in Windsor, not far from here, played all my local cricket at Hawkesbury, and then New South Wales… well it’s nice to go back and play where it all started, Hawkesbury cricket club. Captain coach. Doing that which is good fun”
The boys have today hooked up with Tim Williams, who runs a company called Wilderness Adventures. Tim specialises in taking his clients to the remote rivers and streams that make their way across this beautiful part of the world. Today, it’s Bass on the agenda.
An early start for the guys means they can get cracking, trying to snag a couple of these pretty fish on surface lures. Bass are classically, aggressive feeders, meaning they will eat most lures you throw at them, but they tend to fee well at dawn and dusk.
Nathan brought along a load of tackle to try. The one that did the trick was a little cicada imitation from Savage Gear. Casting it up under vegetation, or around snags, puts the lure in the vicinity of the Bass’ hiding spots. Then slowly reeling it back gives the fish time to investigate it, and hopefully have a swipe!
The guys end up with 2 nice little fish, and an awesome morning hiking along one of the cleanest systems around these parts. We’d definitely recommend enlisting Tim’s services if this brand of fishing sounds like you.
