Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2019 i Fishing World

Seven Spirit Bay Wilderness Lodge This iconic lodge has been completely refurbished, offering luxury wilderness accommodation in an area teaming with sportfish. Location Seven Spirit Bay Wilderness Lodge is situated on the western side of Port Essington on Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park, western Arnhem Land. Sportfishing Seasons March / April 2020 October / November 2020 Fishing Lodge guests have access to a huge expanse of bays, headlands, offshore reefs and islands where Spanish mackerel, giant trevally, golden snapper, coral trout & many other pelagic and tasty reef species abound. Plus the many sandy mangrove creeks and flats offer great barramundi, threadfin salmon and mangrove jack fishing. Arnhem Land Barramundi Lodge Booking Peak Seasons Only Following the complete refurbishment of the iconic Arnhem Land Barramundi Lodge,…

When fishing time on the water is precious - whether it’s on your local waters or while travelling - and you want to make the most of your opportunities, using an accredited professional fishing guide is the right way to go. The Professional Fishing Instructors and Guides Association (PFIGA) is Australia’s only national association representing professional fishing guides in Australia. PFIGA was established almost thirty years ago, and today its members offer professional guiding services using leading edge techniques right across Australia. An accredited PFIGA guide will offer you an enjoyable, safe and professional fishing experience while they share their fishing knowledge and expertise with you. You’ll find a PFIGA guide to cover you for everything from drone fishing snapper in the west to drift boating for trout in Vic…

GOFISH Nagambie has announced its e-news subscribers will be able to begin the entry process to the $80K Murray cod competition 48-hours before general entries open at 9am, November 14. Pre-sale ticket buyers will also go into the draw to win a Jayco JTRAK Camper Trailer. GoFish Nagambie says with only 1,000 boat entries available and boat entries selling out in 2019, accessing entries during the pre-sale could be the key to securing your spot. Here is how it all works. The $80,000 gets awarded to; The largest (longest) Murray cod caught in the competition Open division entitled to prize only, prize pool for junior division to be released shortly. If multiple fish of the exact same size are caught, the first fish entered will be the winner. GoFish Nagambie…

SOUTH Coast Estuary Charters is based at Tuross Lake, halfway between Batemans Bay and Narooma. While the magnificent Tuross system will be the focus for guide and operator Pete Dugan, charters will also be available on estuaries from the Clyde River in the north to Wonboyn Lake, near the Victorian border. Pete is a highly experienced angler and has extensive knowledge of the NSW far south coast estuaries. He’ll offer clients full and half-day guided trips targeting flathead, bream, whiting, mulloway and estuary perch on the far south coast. Charters will focus on lure fishing with soft plastics, hard bodies and vibes, with clients having access to high quality Daiwa rods and reels. South Coast Estuary Charters caters for anglers of all ages and abilities. Beginners will enjoy learning the…

South East Queensland’s Moreton Bay has some spectacular fishing available to boat and land-based anglers. With a diverse array of species on offer such as bream, flathead, snapper, jewfish, cod and mangrove jacks, you can quickly see why anglers have a true love of this region. Aside from the everyday “basic” methods of fishing for these finned adversaries, a few switched on anglers have started to employ some totally addictive techniques to target these fish! If you’ve ever had a “Jaw’s” style bow wave trail your lure only to have it disappear in a froth of white water then you’ll know what I’m talking about. Topwater lure fishing has become an iconic way to fish for all species and in my experience can be at times the only way to…

DURING my years working on the tools in the NSW power industry to be called a grub was probably one of the worst insults going around, yet when it comes to fishing soft plastics, grubs have been a long time favourite lure style of mine. My first ever lure caught dusky flathead was taken back in the late 1970s on an orange double tail Mr Twister grub. The Mister Twister double tail grubs were the first really successful soft plastic lures brought into Australia that I recall and were popularised at the time in Fishing World through the writings of the late Gene Dundon. These days there’s an incredible range of soft plastic grubs available for keen recreational anglers to choose from in single and multi-tail configurations. In recent years…

WINTER I found it very odd after meeting Ken Smith that we had not crossed paths at some point. We traced each other’s footsteps in the sand, maybe even rekindled the same glowing embers from campfires with the wave of a hat, and smiled at wood left piled up under a tree. We moved in the same circles at different times, both spinning to the beat of nature’s drum. I had heard Ken’s name mentioned a number of times over the years; campfire stories of a guy with a fishy wonder lust, someone with boots shoes and tires well worn, an older guy with a great grip on history and legend. Social media was my first snippet of contact with Ken. It was a post on trout cod history in…

The rivers west of the Blue Mountains lie within a couple of hours drive of the heart of the Sydney CBD, and yet danger, solitude and most importantly trout can be found between their banks. Slowly making your way up one of the region’s rivers or small tributaries idly flicking flies or small lures in search of trout is great way to while away the hours, especially if the seas are up or there is a Nor’easter howling. Countless hours can be spent poring over the relevant topographical maps in conjunction with Google Earth to try to gain access to the more remote stretches of these rivers and streams. Being physically fit is important for this style of fishing given the vertical nature of the terrain, a quick glance at…

It’s well established that big kings fight dirty. In fact they’re probably one of the most intelligent and cunning species that anglers can come up against in our wonderful country. On top of this they’re extremely powerful to tame so the odds are well and truly stacked against the angler before a fish has even been hooked. I vividly recall a story of a mate who hooked a solid king on a surface popper alongside a lengthy breakwall. Instead of the fish slugging it out in the adjacent channel it decided to charge the breakwall and began smashing its face into the large rocks in only a foot or two of water in an attempt to remove the lure from its mouth. Thankfully for the angler everything stayed connected but…

Anna takes us back to a time when fish stocks were abundant and cricket score catches common, and while those days are over, there is some good news for those dreaming of the “good old days”. Picture this: you’ve forked out for a weekend charter with your mates and the anchor’s been dropped near an offshore bommie just outside Sydney Harbour. You’re leaning over the edge of the boat, hauling up one huge fish after another until the deck is swimming in them. They’re jumping on the hook as quickly as you can plop it down into the water. It’s the stuff of fishing dreams, right? Well, there was a time when catching a swag of large snapper was literally as easy as dropping a line. Newspaper reports from the…

Each month we will select five lucky winners for our Grin & Win section. Grin & Win winners will each receive a cool Shimano cap and Squidgy DVD! E-mail your entry and contact details to: pictures@fisho.com.au Please include your name and age and details of your catch. Also provide a postal address so winners can receive their prize. Good luck! Visit the Shimano Junior Anglers’ website at www.shimanofish.com.au…

Centre consoles have been one of the most popular configurations since the early days of small boat game fishing over 50 years ago. While the boats themselves, the hull designs, and the layouts, have improved out of sight, the reasons fishos love centre consoles remain the same. Centre consoles are arguably the ultimate fishing design. What they lack in protection from the elements they gain in open, unimpeded fishing space. Let’s look at what Aussie plate and fibreglass manufacturers have been up to these past few years with their range of centre consoles. Formosa SRT plate hull and centre console Formosa Marine is currently racing ahead with its latest and most advanced generation of hull design which officially released at the Brisbane Boat Show earlier this year. The New Formosa…

These days modern technology allows us to venture further off the beaten track with reasonable safety. For example, GPS technology has given practically anyone the skills to find their way to a spot and safely home without getting lost. When it comes to emergencies, there are nopw numerous products available to ensure someone will find you if things do turn pear shape. In this article I’ll explain three common safety devices: the EPIRB, PLB and Garmin InReach. I own all three devices and each one has a unique purpose. EPIRB I carry an Australian made KTI EPIRB in my boat at all times. NSW regulations (where I live) say an EPIRB must be carried on any boat travelling offshore. It pays to check the finer details and your local regulations,…

Raymarine DockSense Alert FLIR has announced the Raymarine DockSense Alert, a new addition to Raymarine’s intelligent docking technology line designed for a broader range of vessels. Raymarine DockSense, unveiled in early 2019, is the recreational marine industry’s first intelligent object recognition and motion-sensing assisted docking solution. Similar to the driver-assist capabilities of today’s modern automobiles, DockSense Alert detects, displays, and alerts the captain to obstacles around the boat using FLIR machine vision camera technology and video analytics. Live video feeds from each DockSense camera make it simple to see into blind spots and DockSense intelligent object recognition helps prevent scrapes, crashes and close calls. DockSense Alert systems consist of an array of one to five DockSense stereo vision cameras and a central Southern Formula 19 processor connected to a Raymarine…

Welcome to Fishing World’s summer-long edition. The summer months are a great time to go fishing in Australia. Not only are most of our popular species on the chew, but many of us are on holidays and have more time to devote to chasing these fish. The days are longer, warmer and getting out and enjoying the outdoors doesn’t get any better. One thing that appeals to me over the holiday period is the opportunity to get back to basics and chase some of our favourite bread & butter species. Fish like flathead, bream, whiting, tailor and others are fun to chase over summer and provide great experiences for the family. It’s also a fantastic time to grab a feed of crabs and prawns for the table! This time of…

IN a profession/ industry where guides and operators come and go, Phil’s Barra will be entering its 12th year since opening to the public. Darwin NT has many professional fishing guides to choose from, most are of excellent quality, fully experienced and licensed and with coxswains tickets and current first aid certificates. Phil’s Affordable Barra Tours prides themselves on its selection of arguably some of the best, well known and most trusted guides/ operators in the Northern Territory. Every guide is pre assessed on their local fishing knowledge, quality of boat and fishing tackle, realistic prices and personality. Find out more at barratours.com.au…

THE kingfish action is heating up across the ditch with Epic Adventures catching some monster-size Kiwi kings recently. Reports from the North Island indicate good ctaches of fish out of the Bay of Islands with some real trophies coming in for clients. Epic Adventures is one of the biggest and oldest fishing charter operators in the Coromandel. Epic has a team of the best skippers in each region with Capt Owen (on KAOS), Capt Chase (on EPIC) and Capt Ryan (on CHURCH) operating out of Whitianga, while up North in the Bay of Islands there’s Capt Kit (on KOROKING) who is running fishing charters out of Russell and Paihia. More info at www.epicadventures.co.nz…

SWISS ARMY KNIFE IN WALNUT THE Swiss Champ Wood pocket knife is a close echo of the original Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, itself a descendant of the legendary Officer's knife. Victorinox has remained faithful to its classical roots, while realising its scales in smoothly crafted walnut, which hides no less than 29 functions and countless possibilities within it, including a ruler, pliers and a screwdriver. So wherever you are and whatever happens, the Swiss Champ Wood is the elegant fix-it solution that should always be with you. RRP $259.00. More info at victorinox.com ALVEY ORBITER SPINNING REEL ICONIC Australian reel manufacturer Alvey has announced the launch of the new Alvey Orbiter range of spinning reels. Following a two-year research and development program to expand its range of products, Alvey is…

There’s something special about that first glimpse a trophy size flathead; they’re an impressive creature to behold and even more impressive are the strikingly mottled specimens that come from clear and shallow waters. I’ve caught plenty of fish over the years yet catching a big flathead on light line in shallow water would rate highly as a favourite form of fishing. Big flathead are relatively unpredictable; their fight, their behaviour along and even the colouration of two fish caught from the same location can be markedly different. Whilst big flathead won’t entertain you with a sustained blistering run, their erratic bursts of agility coupled with a dogged fight and hefty weight on the other end is enough to make any seasoned anglers knees a little wobbly. As with most species,…

I’ve had the pleasure of fishing in the Northern Territory many times. Most of my trips have been focused around fishing the major rivers, usually coinciding with the wet season run off between March and May. While I’ve spent a few days fishing in the many billabongs in Arnhem Land, Kakadu and near the Mary River system, I hadn’t really spent enough time in these areas to develop a familiarity with the methods used in these beautiful places to catch barra and saratoga. In September I headed up for a week’s fishing with Mark Frendin and Rocky Edwards. The wet season of 2018/2019 was very much a non-event and river levels in the Daly system were at their lowest recorded levels in recent history. The entire Northern Territory was in…

The Solomon Islands or "Sols" is an island nation consisting of six main islands with many other smaller islands. It's located to the east of Papua New Guinea. The Sols is well known for its WWII history and world class diving. But in recent years – and for good reason – the Sols has captured the attention of fishos and surfers. After confirming my upcoming visit to the Sols I quickly got to researching the plethora of fishing opportunities. I was salivating at the prospect of casting topwater lures around the productive reef systems for big Spanish mackerel and trekking the freshwater streams for spot tail bass. I was well prepared for this trip, already owning what others before me had advised to take and use, which largely consisted of…

People go fishing for different reasons but catching a feed of fresh fish is a fundamental motive for a lot of our fishing pursuits. I love my sportfishing, but I also really enjoy grass-roots fishing and I gain a lot of satisfaction from taking home a feed of fresh fish to prepare and cook for my family. Hunting and providing is still a deep-rooted motivation for many of us. But it’s not always practical to launch the boat when time is limited, and that’s where a quick land based session is ideal to fill that time. I’m pretty fortunate to have a big bay system on my doorstep which offers plenty of calm-water rock locales in which to hunt a feed. Similarly around our country, you don’t have to venture…

Homegrown company Lively Lures reflects what it means to be an Australian fisho. The brand truly caters for anyone, from the father son duo chasing flathead in the tinny, to the nomads who roam the blue water. Just in case you haven’t heard of him or his company, Alan Dolan, a passionate waterman, created Lively Lures over 30 years ago and still operates out of the same factory at Caloundra, Queensland. Al Dolan has been a family friend of mine for years, and is the hardest working man I’ve encountered in my 16 years existence; a true Aussie battler. I sat down with Al and fired some questions off about his brand, the man, and the process of making lively lures into the thriving business it is today. EARLY LIFE…

THE summer holiday period is the busiest time along all waterways in this great country of ours. Most folks pack the car and a few fishing rods then head to the coast for some well-earned fun in the sun. Crowds are unavoidable at the more popular spots as are delays in trying to find parking or launching a boat during the most popular times of the day. Many of the beaches and estuaries I fish around Sydney are productive and quiet in the week before the holidays but once the final school bell sounds and parents take annual leave, those spots are taken over by pleasure craft, kayaks, paddle boards and swimmers. It’s not just the crowds that make it tough, with most holiday anglers only fishing a handful of…

Fisho first noticed the Mad Dog brand at this year’s Sydney International Boat Show. Lakeside Marine, the Australian distributor for Tohatsu, was showing off this latest Mad Dog centre console on its stand. Mad Dog is based in rural Victoria along the Murray River and produces a range of quality small to medium alloy boats by hand in its factory. The company makes tinnies from smaller car toppers to these larger centre and side consoles. The Brute tested here comes in 429, 461, 489 and 519 sizes. On the water A few months after checking it out at the Sydney show and the Mad Dog 489 Brute was ready for testing, complete with the new MFS 60A four-stroke outboard. I met Lakeside Marine’s Trevor Robinson and local boat dealer, Tony…

With so much at stake it’s probably not surprising that not all professional footy players go out as winners. One exception is Mark LeCras, recently retired forward for the West Coast Eagles Football Club. After experiencing the lows of losing a grand final against Hawthorn in 2015, the 32-year-old one club man finished his career on the ultimate high after West Coast took out the 2018 AFL Premiership in a thrilling game against Collingwood. LeCras’ Eagles took the lead in the last few minutes to win the game 79-74. “I couldn’t be happier after playing in a winning grand final with so many blokes who will be mates for the rest of my life. The last few weeks have been something really special and I’ll never forget the feeling when…

When I was old enough to go night fishing with Dad, we often went up the Hawkesbury River to Brooklyn. On the way we would stop in at "Windybanks" to pick up some fresh bait, then take a hire boat out to chase bream. The ideal method when conditions were right was to drift along the rocky banks. Using handlines wound on cork we would cast a small crab or prawn into the shallows and then ready the second line. Bream feeding in the oysters would grab the bait, the cork would roll and bounce and you were on… In the present world of bream angling, many still use bait in the traditional manner, but there are also a dedicated army of lure anglers. The well-established bream competition scene has…

SHIMANO has launched its latest competition offering entrants a chance to win its biggest prize yet. The “Last Man Standing” competition gives every fisho the chance to not only win a share in over $10,000 of weekly prizes, but to be selected as one of six finalists who will be sent off to Copperlode Dam for a 2-day Barramundi fishing adventure. Then, out of these finalists the “Last Man Standing” will be drawn and awarded the grand prize, a brand-new Bar Crusher 535C alloy fishing boat with a powerful Suzuki 90hp 4-stroke outboard and custom trailer - worth $60,000. For every $50 spent at any Shimano retailers nationally – between the 1st October 2019 to 31st January 2020 – shoppers will receive one coupon to redeem in the competition. Weekly…

THE recent release of the much anticipated Samaki Vibelicious 85mm Fork Tail coincided with a run of perfect weather and fishing conditions for me to field test these new soft vibe lures for Fisho. Expectations were high for the new 85mm Fork Tail to fill a niche in the extensive Samaki Vibelicious range and it didn’t fail to disappoint. My home waters of Lake Macquarie are one of the epicentres of the soft vibe boom that has swept the country in recent years and proved the ideal testing ground for these hot new lures. It only took two sessions to land a number of jewfish, dusky flathead, bream and tailor on these super versatile lures and establish that this model is destined to be the great all-rounder in the Vibelicious…

WE were trolling through a sandy gutter chasing flathead. The lures, small deep diving Lively Lures Micro Mullets, were hitting the bottom and we had caught a few nice fish that morning. My lure was hit hard, bending the rod over sharply, followed by a dead stop snag. The hit seemed too harsh for a snag, and when I applied pressure the “snag” broke from its cover to reveal a quite solid heavy fish. I’ve experienced this sort of bite several times before, and I soon had a big stargazer at the boat. After netting it we took a few pictures. On the Boga Grips it weighed 3 kilos, a quite solid specimen and despite the great eating qualities, I felt a bit sorry for this strange predator of the…

An important lesson I learned many years ago was to be quiet when fishing. I did my fishing apprenticeship on the rocks and beaches where noise wasn’t that much of an issue but my father had a small De Havilland tinnie that we fished out of in Botany Bay and Port Hacking in the ‘60s. There were many lessons to be learned fishing the rocks and beaches but dad was fastidious about keeping the noise down in the boat. We were mainly bait fishing for bread and butter species and sitting at anchor a lot of the time and any noise and movement that made noise was frowned upon. That meant anchoring up as quietly as possible and sitting there for hours on end without knocking anything that would resonate…

WHEN I first started sportfishing back in the mid '70s I also got interested in photography. I’d never taken a photo before that but my father was an avid amateur photographer when I was young. I can remember seeing Ossie Emery’s LBG black and white photos in early issues of the Australian Angler and I’m sure they played a part in getting me interested in documenting our own land based game journey back then. My first camera was a Ricoh SLR with a 50mm lens that I got started with. Several years later I upgraded to a couple of motor driven Canon A1s with 24, 35, 50 and 135mm prime lenses. I thought I was as flash as a rat with gold tooth running around on the LBG platforms with…

Let me set the scene. A year of fishing all over the great state of Western Australia, catching everything from marron to marlin, flowing like the ocean currents with no particular direction or destination, just a rod in hand and a desire to explore. Sounds like a pretty good time, doesn’t it? That was my reality; a gap year between high school and university to catch as many fish as I possibly could. And I did. And it was awesome. But it came to an end, as all good things do. So you can imagine after pulling my head out of the boat and into the books for an entire semester of business law and economics, I was itching to catch some fish. But not just any fish, good fish.…

In times past, smoking the catch was popular amongst many Australian anglers, particularly those beach fishos targeting tailor. These days however, it seems much less common to smoke your own fish, even though the popularity of smoked fish is on the rise. In contrast, smoked trout that was once only available from trout farms and niche outlets is now carried in many seafood shops and larger supermarket chains. Similarly, commercial smokehouses have emerged across the country, selling a range of species including smoked tuna and kingfish. Smoked fish is now widely regarded as a delicacy and Australian consumers are willing to pay premium prices for well-smoked fish. “These days however, it seems much less common to smoke your own fish, even though the popularity of smoked fish is on the…

WHEN Melbourne-based (VIC) Bar Crusher Boats launched back in 2000, factory-built plate aluminium boats were pretty rare in Australia. The situation’s changed dramatically, with plate boats soaring in popularity as they’re relatively light to tow, economical to power, easy to maintain and incredibly durable. In the 20 years since Bar Crusher’s original two-model line-up appeared at boat shows around the country, the range has expanded to nearly 30 models in a number of configurations – cuddy cabin (C), hard top (HT), hard top pilothouse (HTP), centre console (XS), open hard top (XT), walk around (WR), and bow rider (BR). Designed and built for Australian conditions, the CEcertified boats have proved popular right around the world. FISHING WEAPONS Bar Crusher is a premium Australian boat builder delivering high-performance fishing boats for…

The Edgewater 188 has been around a few years in Australia. Boat Fishing has featured various Edgewater models – including the 188CC – over this time. Edgewater are a regular sight on the water with several guides and high profile fishos using these boats. Sydney fly fishing guide Justin Duggan fishes from a 188, Fisho’s Chris Cleaver owned a 170 and two 188CCs and now fishes from a larger 208CC. The larger 228CC was also the subject of a Fisho story and belonged to cricketer Brett Lee. Given the high number of experienced fishos using Edgewaters, it’s pretty obvious they’re a great fishing boat that deserves some attention! Well there’s another Edgewater on the water which, thanks to impressive fit out, instantly caught my eye. This 188CC Edgewater belongs to…

A few years ago the thought of taking up fishing from a trendy stand-up paddle board (SUP) would have made me scoff. Then I tried it and saw the advantages. While there’s a tinny and kayak sitting in my shed, a SUP seemed to offer a faster way to get on the water – ideal for short impromptu sessions. Where I’m lucky enough to live in southern Sydney a tidal river laps at our back yard and can offer reasonable fishing for bream, flatties, and more. For quick outings the idea of not having to hitch and tow the boat to a ramp or load the heavy yak onto roof racks was appealing. I could grab the board, drop it in, jump on, paddle and fish. Now, after doing exactly…