BELLO BASS
The Bellinger Valley is located on the Mid North Coast of NSW, approximately halfway between Sydney and Brisbane and it is a region filled with accessible bass-filled waters. The township of Bellingen is located on the banks of the Bellinger River, which flows from headwaters at the eastern foot of the Great Dividing Range, down through the township of Bellingen, all the way to Urunga, where it meets the ocean. Therefore, bass fish opportunities range from skinny, crystal clear waters, more turbid freshwater, and brackish zones.
Bellingen is a derivation of the Gumbaynggir word “Billingen”, which may mean clear water or winding river. It was named in 1841 and by 1842, cedar getters and sheep farmers were in the area. Conflict was common in the early years as the indigenous residents tried to keep Europeans off their land, regularly attacking the cedar cutters camps.
Accessible cedar was gone by the turn of the Century and dairy farming became the primary focus. Disease, conflict, and limited access across the landscape decimated the indigenous population and the last full-blooded Gumbanyggir is thought to have died in 1922.
These days the valley is a wonderfully eclectic mix of tradition farmers, alternative life-stylers and
