Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i Fishing World

WHAT makes one fish more popular than another? Is it the fight? The eating qualities? The difficulty of catching? Or maybe a combination of the above, and more. Here at Fisho we have a fair idea of what the average Aussie fisho likes to catch. Years of magazine and website statistics paint a very clear picture of your favourite species. Southern estuary favourites such as flathead, bream and mulloway are at the top of the list. In the fresh, Aussie bass have always had a strong following and natives such as Murray cod and golden perch have surged in popularity these past few years. It’s interesting how fish species come and go in popularity; maybe it’s something triggered by new techniques, environmental factors or fisheries management leading to more or…

It’s pretty difficult to keep anything quiet or to yourself in the world of fishing these days. Social media allows the immediate transfer of information, so you can know who’s caught what as soon as they land a fish virtually anywhere in the world. While no secret fishing locations such as hidden reefs or sunken wrecks are safe from the new generation fishfinders equipped with side scan and GPS. Still, with the amount of information overload we suffer in society these days it’s possible to miss or not fully appreciate the odd gem of wisdom that comes your way. That happened to me recently while preparing for my first sport fishing trip to the fish filled waters of our tropical north for around four years. In preparation for the trip…

WHY is it that some anglers seem to have all the luck while the rest always battle away to put together a decent catch of fish. The truth of the matter is that the guys who catch all the fish make their own luck through their dedication to the pursuit of their chosen target species. It doesn’t really matter which of life’s pursuits you choose to follow success always comes down to commitment. Sure, you see fishos occasionally get lucky and land a cracking fish at their first attempt, but to catch those benchmark sportfish species on a regular basis such as a 50cm Australian bass, 60cm yellowbelly, 80cm dusky flathead or metre plus barra, cod or jewfish requires a level of dedication bordering on obsession. So what do you…

I’ve tested the odd boat and written a few boat tests over the years but mostly on other boats that weren’t my own. This boat test is a little different because it’s my personal boat. As such, I apologise now if it comes across as a little biased. The decision to purchase a Bonito 560 center console took me about 12 months to make. I was lucky in that I already had a TABS 4800 Territory Pro and was living in southern NSW at the time. We had plans to semi retire to Hervey Bay in early 2018 so the planning process wasn’t required to be urgent. I had a lot of time to do my homework and research. In short, I needed a boat that could handle several Hervey…

SEND YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS AND A DESCRIPTION OF YOUR CATCH TO PICTURES@FISHO.COM.AU FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN. 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…

Catching fish in creeks, rivers and estuaries is a business shrouded in folklore, mystery, dogma and fairy tales! There’s always an expert somewhere giving you advice, social media is full of 12 year old arm chair experts and rabid greenies ready to attack you for catching a big fish, and getting accurate advice can be difficult. The following article is about some of the myths of fishing I’ve learnt over a long period of time, and how to catch fish when conditions are not in your favour. Patience, persistence and using lessons gained from previous fishing trips are the keys to "myth busting" your fishing. You will often hear that you can’t catch much when the estuary you fish in is full of jet skis and heavy boat traffic. While…

NSW DPI has confirmed there has been a second major fish kill event in the Darling river at Menindee, NSW. Residents near the Menindee Lakes reported what is the second major fish kill along a 20km stretch of water near Weir 32. An incident before Christmas saw an estimated 10,000 fish die. Locals posted photos of dying fish washed up along the shores of the lakes and some are saying that it could all but wipe out the populations of Murray cod and other native fish, raising serious questions about the way WaterNSW is managing the lakes system. According to a Guardian article, two years ago the lakes were almost full but WaterNSW has been releasing water and allowing extraction upstream for irrigation at a rate that has just 2.5%…

SHIMANO TEKOTA WHETHER it’s bottom fishing for snapper, pearl perch and jewfish down south, or coral trout and nannygai up north — with a bit of mackerel trolling thrown in — the latest Shimano Tekota is the complete all-rounder. This enduring levelwind overhead has just undergone a massive upgrade, with a number of new features that includes a main gear upgrade that is 50% stronger than the previous. The Hagane Body, coupled with the S-Compact Body Design, makes it comfortable to hand-hold while waiting for a bite or fighting a fish. Gear size has been dramatically increased too, so with it comes a super fast retrieve ratio of 6.3:1 — perfect for getting that bait, lure or hooked fish back to the surface quickly. A larger handle knob than its…

Trolling skirted lures for marlin seems to be a little out of vogue in many major game fishing ports these days. The popular acceptance of circle hooks and refined live baiting techniques which, as a combination, can be incredibly effective has been the major factor behind this shift away from towing skirts as a frontline option to have a hyper billfish leaping out of your wake. But like most well worn fishing techniques, time out of the playbook of popularity doesn’t mean trolling skirted lures should be disregarded on any day out on the blue water chasing stick fish. Far from it in fact. There’s a reason skirted lures are the iconic artificial when it comes to billfish, and that reason is that marlin of all species just love them.…

BAIA Sportfishing has a once in a lifetime fishing trip you can't miss. The established PNG operator has limited spots left for "The Ultimate Adventure", a 8 night black bass & bluewater expedition from June 9-16 onboard MY Ultimate One. Ultimate One is a 70 foot luxury vessel that has long range capabilities and is equipped with all the electronics needed for offshore expeditions. It has a cruising speed of 25 knots and is geared up with a game chair and outriggers for those who wish to target big blue marlin and sailfish. If you want to catch a Niugini black bass and blue marlin in the same trip. Baia Sportfishing has discovered new river systems loaded with black and spot-tail bass and new offshore reef systems abundant with giant…

ZEREK FISHTRAP 95 AFTER using a Zerek Fishtrap 95 for over 18 months I've developed a high degree of confidence in this soft vibe, particularly in the Sundance (Colour Code "S") colour. On three trips to a local estuary in October 2018, I caught over 100 fish on this lure. Species included flathead, jewfish, whiting, bream, GT and big eye trevally, tailor and a queenfish. Soft vibes are designed to mimic a baitfish. They are used to target a wide range of predators that feed on small fish. A vibe’s appeal comes from its compact profile and soft exterior as well as the vibration created as it is retrieved through the water. The criteria I chose to evaluate this lure were fish "catchability", durability, ease of use and value for…

“THERE’S a couple of men wearing balaclavas in a boat just off my pontoon. They were here last year too. They are pretending to be fishing. I think they are looking to rob us”. The police receive plenty of calls like this over the summer months on the Gold Coast. In actual fact the two anglers, wearing sun protective buffs, were fishing for mangrove jacks around the floating pontoons in the canals of the Gold Coast. There was a post on social media showing one well known tinny in the exact situation as described above. The lure had snagged on the pontoon and in the photo the two well- known anglers have pushed their tinny onto the sandy beach in order to free the lure. Apparently the police had been…

It had been nearly two years since my last trip to the NSW Hunter Valley to chase impoundment bass. While hard to be confident of our chances, contact with local fisho Chris Ingle provided a positive picture. Chris had fished Lake St Clair near Singleton the week before for good numbers of bass, caught largely on surface lures - great fun if you can get it and hopefully just what we were in for. Being almost Christmas there was a short window of opportunity, so the getaway was all about timing. A severe low pressure system moving across the south east was looking to put a dent in the pattern of the first successive days of hot weather of the summer. Spring in Sydney had been weird - cool, warm,…

I guess most well-travelled anglers could construct a list of great rivers they have fished, and those that want to, before they are called to make that last, fateful cast. For me I would have to include England’s finest - the Thames, Severn and Wye; the sparkling Scottish salmon rivers Spey and Tay; the long and fish-filled Shannon in Ireland and the powerful Fraser River that drains the Canadian Rockies. There was a trip to the massive Murray Darling system in Australia where I failed to catch a Murray cod and all manner of rivers, creeks and estuaries in the Northern Territory where the barramundi were much more obliging. My future wish list still contains the Nile and the Zambezi in Africa where I hope to make the acquaintance of…