Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2020 i Fishing World

FISHING has always been considered a mainstream pastime. The participation rate of fishos in Australia has always been high and eclipses most mainstream sports. It’s not hard to find a fellow fisho in a pack of strangers and it’s still okay to brag about your latest fishing exploits to colleagues or non-fishing friends and expect a positive response. Sadly, however, things are changing as Australia continues its rapid urbanisation. We now have mega cities filled with high rise residential blocks and roads filled with traffic. The divide between urban and rural Australia has never been greater. This combined with a growing trend towards social media activism leaves pastimes like fishing at a crossroads when it comes to social licence. The writing is on the wall and hopefully we're paying attention.…

DESPITE being continually told how good Australia is at managing its fish stocks we’ve just witnessed a near disaster with South Australia’s famed snapper fishery, leading to closed seasons and bans which will impact the commercial, recreational and charter sectors. How 20 per cent of an original biomass can be seen as sustainable is a mystery. Meanwhile a study by scientists from the Sea Around Us initiative has found that global tuna catches have increased by 1,000 per cent in the past six decades, driven by a massive expansion of industrial-scale fisheries. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that a third of the world’s fish stocks are being harvested at biologically unsustainable levels and 90 per cent are fully exploited. As an example, it notes that the population…

“I have no idea why, in a deep patch of ocean with no bottom structure or bait that bites tend to come in almost the exact same coordinates as previous bites occurred.” Trolling for pelagic game fish is a complex business. It isn’t a random pursuit of wandering around the ocean waiting for a bite. Over the years I’ve trolled with some great skippers such as Bob Jones and Ross McCubbin and I’ve learnt a lot over quite a few years. Tactical trolling requires a good plan, and as the day unfolds that plan will be modified by the signs and clues that the ocean gives up. When you plan a trip the weather is always a major factor. In general, when the wind is going to blow from the…

There’s no doubting Sydney is a place of opportunity. However, with a population of over five million people, competition is high, the cost of living is higher and let’s not talk about the cost of real estate. With this constant high level of pressure and stress, Sydney living pushes us to work longer hours, earn higher salaries and continually improve ourselves in order to try and get one step ahead of the competition. It’s no wonder a lot of us feel burnt out and tired. Never has it been so important, to find time to relax and immerse ourselves in our hobbies and passions. For us fishos, this sees us grabbing a rod, hitching the boat up and heading out on the water whenever the opportunity allows. Unfortunately, in Sydney,…

SEA Jay stands for heavy-duty. Anyone who has owned a Sea Jay hull, and I’m one of them, will tell you that they’re unbreakable. For many years now, the Bundaberg based manufacturer has been building solid alloy and plate hulls with checker plate floors and no nonsense, reliable design. This has always been good enough, but with so many boats on the market, Sea Jay has stepped up and put its competitors on notice. They’re still bullet proof and as reliable in the rough stuff as ever, but with an upgrade in hull design they’re now smoother and quieter than before. The Samurai Hull has been around for a few years now and Sea Jay claims it improves planing speeds, economy and ride quality. The Samurai Hull has a sharper…

Who knows this scenario? You're moving along quietly placing your lures into deep dark corners of the riverbank for little result - then a quick cast over the weed and you instantly hook up! Anglers have known for a long time that bankside structure is a very important environment for our native fish. However, it may not always be the preferred bass feeding zone. In certain rivers, weed beds can be the best choice to get action. Recent trips and discussions with other anglers have shown on the Mid North Coast of NSW the 2019/'20 season is time to get your weed game on and this could be similar in your local fishery. Low water levels and urban pollution is often a recipe for heavy weed growth. What are we…

ALVEY ORBITER SR80 ICONIC Aussie brand Alvey has been making reels for the past 100 years with a loyal following spanning several generations. The past couple of years has seen some changes to its traditional line up of products with some new exciting colours, designs, and in a surprise move, a brand new spin reel. It’s a bold move for a brand with such an established product in its sidecast reels. Although given the long term trend towards using spin reels on the beach, estuaries and offshore, Alvey just might be onto the something. Alvey sidecast reels have a reputation for resilience. The simple design and strong workmanship of an Alvey lends itself to the rigours of beach and rock fishing. Given that, you'd expect Alvey spin reels need to…

It would be accurate to say the cost of living in Australia is phenomenal. The days of where the words "disposable income" were thrown around are now non existent and as we dream about an "exotic escape", the issue of saving money is a genuine priority. Trips overseas, Coral Sea adventures and even Australia’s Top End can very easily see costs climb towards the ten thousand dollar mark and as a result most are immediately filed into the "no chance" category. Family type trips also become an issue and the desire to include the family will also exist for many anglers. The questions now become, are you able to reach a compromise on all levels? Is there a middle ground that can see the family involved while costs are kept…

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…

AUSTRALIA’S CSIRO has generated the first ever estimate of fishing gear lost in the world’s oceans, using data published between 1975 and 2017. It estimates that 6 per cent of all fishing nets, 9 per cent of all traps and 29 per cent of all lines are lost or discarded into the oceans each year. It becomes marine pollution, has significant impact on marine life and habitats and can take hundreds of years to break down. Much of the data on gear loss is from the USA and Europe, but more information is needed from the African, Asian, South American and Oceania regions. It’s noted that there have been very few studies of gear losses in Australian waters and that only one could be included in this study. As Kelsey…

VICTORIAN recreational fishing licence fees are funding a two-year study by the Nature Glenelg Trust that is revealing amazing secrets about the movement of mulloway in and between rivers, bays and beaches. Aquatic ecologist with the Nature Glenelg Trust Lauren Brown said volunteer fishers had tagged nearly 500 mulloway in the Glenelg (308), Patterson (34), Hopkins (23), Yarra (25), Barwon (17) and Moyne (2) rivers, and six beaches at Portland, Geelong, Western Port. “Over 80 tagged mulloway have been recaptured so far, seven fish twice and another, tagged in November 2018 in the Glenelg River, has been recaptured three times,” Brown said. “More than half the recaptures (55) have been in the same estuary the fish was initially tagged and released in, and the greatest distance travelled was in the…

THE incredible fly fishing action available in our tropical north rivals anywhere in the world in my opinion. There’s never been a better time to get started in fly fishing with good quality gear becoming surprisingly affordable in recent years. I recently purchased a new mid-range 9 weight fly outfit for a trip to our northern climes and it was a lot cheaper and performed better than the expensive top of the line set ups I used years ago. For those anglers venturing north for the first time I’d strongly recommend they consider employing a professional fly fishing guide for at least some of their trip. The accelerated learning curve to be gained from fishing with an experienced guide when fishing a new location for the first time can be…

MOST anglers will usually refer to the super lines they use as braided line or “braid” for short. Using braid is commonplace nowadays but the line you are using might not actually be braided at all. Whilst the use of super lines has now become mainstream, understanding the different characteristics of these lines and some of the terminology will help you be better informed the next time you go to buy some new line. WHAT ARE SUPER LINES? The building block for most super lines is polyethylene, an extremely versatile and popular plastic material that is also used to make shopping bags. The difference between shopping bags and your fishing line however is that is that ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene is used in the making of super lines. This super…

I’VE just returned from my maiden visit to Borumba Dam with “The Boyfriend” (daughter’s, not mine) and Jordan, a mate from work. Like all fishing trips, we got more and more excited the closer it came, but with no experience of the place, it was time to hit up my brains trust. First up, I reread Peter Morris’s great article in a recent edition of Fishing World where I learnt the importance of moon phase, the effect of daytime temperature on saratoga and the gear to take. Peter’s description of the Yabba and Kingham arms sparked my interest because my roots are in wild waterways filled with lillies and snags. I have two Darrens that round out my regular brains trust; one lives in Coffs Harbour and is up to…