Low light conditions work well for catching the Niugini Bass, and as they hunt in fairly turbid waters, they do not have a strong ability to see.

Feeding habits are not completely understood, but it is believed that they lie and wait to ambush their prey. However, food preference is not critical to catching these creatures. Like the largemouth, they are voracious predators and highly aggressive. They attack both large and small lures are effective inferring that they eat both large and small fish alike.

The young Niugini Bass eat almost anything they catch but concentrate mostly on insects, plankton and small baitfish.

Adult Niugini Bass, especially big inactive lunker bass are voracious predators that eat various local fish, both small and large ones alike. They will also chase after the climbing perch, but due to their spines, some get lodged in the throat of the bass, killing them.

They will also eat sardines, prawns, slimy mackerel, garfish, bonito, crabs, frogs, salamanders, catfish, crayfish, snakes, mice, turtles and even birds.

Low light conditions work well for catching the Niugini Bass, and as they hunt in fairly turbid waters, they do not have a strong ability to see far and detect colours.

Lures

Try using the Lively Lures Assassin with vivid blue dorsal with a red and yellow underbody. Lively’s Mad mullet is another good lure with the same colour scheme.

The Reidy works well too. We recommend black and silver. The only problem you are going to have with these lures is that you are going to get them lost. These rivers are filled with sunken logs, trees and other items hidden below the surface.

The Reidy B52 is very well liked for catching many large black basses in Oceania. It is versatile and can catch salmon, trout and black basses to name a few. It works on both fresh water and salt water. Again, the big problem with fishing in Papua New Guinea is the cost you will incur in loosing your lures.

So what do we do about this? Well, we can go with cheaper lures and live baits, but the annoyance factor is still there. If money is not the object, pack plenty of them to contact local angling stores before heading out on a trip.

Guides

If you want to avoid getting your lures snagged and lost all the time. Hire yourself a good guide and they will help you find the best areas to fish the Niugini Bass without getting your lures caught.