IT’S RARE in ABT events for an angler to dominate at any particular location, so when someone wins three consecutive tournaments at the same location, then you can note the performance as quite an achievement. Forty-four year old Peter ‘Carrot’ Keidge did just this at the BASS Electric event at Lenthalls Dam with a 2.92kg limit topping a bass-rich weigh-in.

And, for a second time, local guide, Paul Dolan, remained the bridesmaid, but this time, Carrot’s winning lead was 110g rather than last year’s 30g margin.

Other qualifiers for the BASS Electric Convention were Alstonville’s Danny Robinson (2/2, 2.77kg), his partner Hans Jensen (2/2, 2.67kg) and bass legend John Schofield (2/2, 2.64kg).

Lake Lenthall lived up to its reputation as one of the most consistent bass fisheries in the country, with many anglers releasing up to 50 bass for the six-hour session.

Keidge extracted larger fish from the areas he fished with a Jackall Bros. Squirrel 67 and 79 jerkbaits in bright colours – chartreuse/white and chartreuse/blue.

“I caught all of my bigger bass in only 6’ to 10’ of water,” Peter explained, “as there were plenty of smaller fish in the 10’ to 15’ depths, a lot of anglers targeted these, but the bigger bass were sitting amongst the weed reefs along the drop-offs and the jerkbait suspending above them was too much for them to resist!”

Keidge fished his Squirrels on a Loomis Crankbait 843 overhead, Daiwa TDZ baitcaster spooled with 15lb SuperBraid and 20lb Siglon leader.

“The technique was basically the same as I use when I fish for barra – crank the lure down a few turns of the handle, rip it a few times and just wait. Often the fish will hit after it’s been sitting there for several seconds,” Peter continued.

Duplicating last season’s result, Paul Dolan filled second place, but this time he fished soft plastic jerkbaits rather than the finesse jigs he used to such good effect in 2003.

“I used the 5’ Terminator Snapback jerkbaits in watermelon colour rigged on a TT 1/4oz jighead,” Paul said, “but I fished them within a couple of feet of the bottom.”

Paul would cast the artificial close to the edge of the lilies and let it sink to the bottom in 8 feet of water. He’d then hop it out to the 15 foot mark, never pulling it more than three feet from the bottom.

He used a Daiwa Regal-Z threadline on a Stealth 6’6” 3 – 4 kg spin rod loaded with 15lb Bionic Braid and a 20lb Siglon leader.

“Some of the bass ate the lure on the drop, but others picked it up off the bottom and ran with it. I think that it’s because of the floating properties of the plastic – when the lure sits on the bottom, the tail floats up and it offers a better target for the bass,” he continued.

“I think that Carrot and I are even now. I’ve beat him twice on his local dam [Maroon] and now he’s beaten me twice on mine.”

Big Bass honours for the day were taken by Sue Flemming, with her 1.66kg bass topping plenty of fish in the 1.4 to 1.6kg range presented to the weighmaster. It ate a Bassman spinnerbait.

“It’s just a shame that the Council doesn’t maintain the rod into this place a little better. The more bassers that experience the quality of fishing this dam offers, the better.” Paul concluded.

The next BASS Electric event will be held at Lake Cressbrook on June 6. Call Carl Jocumsen at Mullet Gut Marine for information about that event on (07) 4632 9770 b/h.

Qualifiers

Big Bass – Sue Flemming, 1.66kg