Weed beds are excellent places to fish for Niugini Bass especially in slow moving parts of the river.

Deep Water Fishing

The river catchments where the Niugini Bass can be found are not very deep rivers but they do exceed 50 feet in depth, enough that deep water conditions can be applied here with some success.

Local Guide

A good local guide is very important when attempting deep water fishing on any of the major river basins. Each guide will know a part of the river very well, the part close to where they live. This is important as seasonal flooding changes the river slightly and can greatly change the location of underwater debris and where the bass are located. also keep in mind that not a lot is known about the Papuan Black Bass. The information here was gained from some universities but mostly from anglers like Graham Weston.

Finding the Niugini Bass at Depth

When the Niugini Bass are not feeding, they can be found close to the bottom, hiding in wait under sunken trees and other brush. The water at this depth can be rather turbid and dark, making Niugini bass fishing difficult at best when fishing deep.

Normal methods for attracting them includes using spinners and spoons with bait attached to them. The lively lures work well, but at depth, colour servers to real purpose so do not get hung up on colour.

Fish Finder

Along with a guide, make sure you have a dual beam fish finder/sonar device. This water is turbid. You will not be able to see much more than one foot down. As the annual floods bring down more debris, it is helpful to know where the bottom is and detect possible debris to snag your expensive lures. A GPS is also very helpful on multi day trips at recording spots to fish later. Simply write down the coordinates for later!

Weed Beds

Weed beds are excellent places to fish for Niugini Bass especially in slow moving parts of the river. Again, watch out for sunken logs in order to prevent from getting snagged. Just because there are a lot of weeds, does not mean they did not grow up amongst sunken logs.

In these conditions, try the Dahlberg Diver on a strong 3/0 hook. It should be dressed with a large head and be no longer than five inches.

Trolling

Another good technique for deep water fishing for the Niugini Bass is trolling. Use deep divers such as the Stump Jumpers. Spinner casts don’t require a lot of effort in order to catch the Niugini Bass, but the fight is incredible. Stop the bait in mid-retrieve and letting it fall to trigger a strike. Vary the speed of their retrieve to see what the fish like. Use a 3/8 ounce spinner bait when fishing close in to the bank and 1/2 ounce for water three to five feet deep.