Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2020 i Fishing World

FOR anglers in the southern half of this country, Australian salmon are a popular and easily accessible sportfish. While there are better fish on the table, these tough fighters take lures, flies and bait with gusto and rarely disappoint with aerial displays and relentless stamina. Salmon are found all along the NSW coast, down into Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. The SA and WA Aussie salmon are slightly different species and are often larger than their East Coast counterparts. A salmon school is often a welcome sight, and for many fishos, spinning up a few “sambos” has saved an otherwise fishless trip. They’re also a great species for newcomers to fishing and for kids. Now for the bad news. The past few years has seen a noticeable decline in…

FISHING is a major part of most reader’s lives. It can be a passion, a lifestyle, an obsession and an outlet that provides relief and replenishment in our lives. As parts of the country enter the second wave of this pandemic, it is important to look after your mental health and develop strategies that can help you cope with an everchanging landscape. Suicide is a leading cause of death in males aged between 20 and 50, which is the exact same demographic as the majority of anglers who read this magazine. If you feel you are at risk, it is important to seek help. “Many of us always have some kind of trip to look forward to, be it overseas to catch something exotic or a holiday.” As I write…

Solomon Airlines fly daily to Honiara and weekly to Munda from Brisbane (pre Covid timetable). It’s a three hour flight. Honiara is the capital city and home to many expat Aussies and Kiwis who work there. There is a large cargo and naval port along with tourism, agriculture, mining, administration, Government, commercial fishing, import, export, finance and retail. The Solomons consist of six major islands and over 900 islands in total. Covering 28,400 square kilometers, the Solomon’s lay to the east of Papua New Guinea. Total population is just 650,000 so over crowding is never a problem. The main language is Pijin which is a very broad interpretation of English. Most islanders also speak English. After 10 days travelling with Alice Afia from Tourism Solomons, I was starting to pick…

FOR many years Aussie fishos didn’t have a lot of choice of brands and product features when it came to electric trolling motors. Possibly the biggest change came with the availability of bow-mount electrics around the early ‘90s. With pedal control and autopilot capability they offered big advantages over traditional tiller steer electrics, notably “hands free” fishing. As a result their popularity grew and most inshore fishing boats (and some offshore) these days sport bow mount electrics. In recent years electric motor technology has leapt ahead with more players entering the market. Lowrance, a brand more synonomous with sounders and other marine electronics surprised the angling world last year with the release of its Ghost trolling motor, a product obviously aimed at the massive US bass fishing scene –accordingly it’s…

DUSKY flathead are one of the most popular species in Australia. Big flatties can be found in most coastal waterways and estuaries. At times, big fish can be caught along beaches and even offshore. Smaller flatties are reliable, tasty and are considered an “everybody” fish, which is perhaps why captures, stories and photos of monster-size fish are so revered. At full maturity, dusky flathead are impressive creatures. Featuring a prehistoric looking head, big jaws, tough, leathery skin and impressive markings; it is not surprising big flatties were coined “crocs”. Studying how big flathead sunbake, ambush and attack their prey at high tide on sand and mud flats adds further merit to the all-encompassing moniker, “croc”. Like many anglers, I have fond memories of chasing flatties as a kid. Early on,…

IF you’ve ever visited a new fishing location, you’ll know how important access to “local knowledge” can be. More often than not, it’s the difference between catching fish or not catching fish. Even basic info like common local species, proven techniques and a few spots to try can make or break a day spent exploring new water. Over the past few years DPI Fisheries has been developing a series of regional Go Fishing guides to provide visiting or novice anglers with handy info to get started when fishing new spots. It’s well known that NSW boasts some of the best fishing locations in the world so these DPI Go Fishing guides are designed to not only help with local advice and locations, but also promote increased participation and interest in…

MOST anglers generally set their drags conservatively and generally use a third of the line’s breaking strain as a rule of thumb. There are many reasons for using a lighter drag setting; the chance of pulling hooks generally decreases with reduced pressure on the hook point whilst lighter drags give a margin of safety and reduce the risk of rod and line breakage for inexperienced anglers. Sometimes, however, fishing a heavier drag setting is needed. If a fish is heading back to a snag or reef, if you’ve hooked something much larger than expected or if you need to haul in your catch before it’s taken by a shark then chances are that you’ll need to up the drag setting. Knowing how far you can push your gear is critical…

AS sport fishers we often travel to new destinations in search of different species. For some, that may mean towing a boat or driving thousands of kilometres. It may also involve air travel interstate or overseas. That opens up the debate on whether you should attempt to do it yourself or hire the services of a guide. Sometimes that’s a handy option but other times it’s a necessity. Let’s have a look at some of the pros and cons of hiring a guide or doing it by yourself. Sometimes there is no option but to hire a guide. I fished Exmouth with a mate in 2017 and flew there. We had no option but to do a 5 day guided stint and it was money very well spend. We fished…

WE’VE all seen TV bloopers and had a chuckle about someone else’s misfortune. Most times nobody gets seriously hurt or injured and people get a good laugh. Sadly, I have to inform you that even rod building has its fair share of bloopers, but unlike television, no one gets to see them, except for the poor rod builder. In this piece, I am being brutally honest and unlocking my secret bloopers that, until now, only I knew about. Don’t laugh too hard because you just might be next on the blooper stage. If rod builders are really honest, I don’t think there would be one who hasn’t made a stuff up. In this piece I will try to list some hiccups or mistakes that ,while they might seem pretty simple…

AROONA Luxury Boat Charters has specialised in remote sportfishing trips in northern Australia since 2014. The vessel has travelled extensively around the top end but currently spends her time exploring remote sections of the Great Barrier Reef and Princess Charlotte Bay. The Aroona team offer an array of fishing packages and are fully flexible, aiming to customise as much as possible to create an anglers dream trip. Popper fishing, trolling, jigging, sight casting, the choice is yours as you explore remote rivers, flats and reefs. The guides are experienced in all aspects of sport fishing in the tropics and want to see you hooked up to that fish of a lifetime. Other activities you can expect to find on board Aroona include spear fishing, diving, snorkelling and kitesurfing. For the…

THE NSW government has responded to the impacts of COVID-19 and the summer’s bushfires on the state’s fishing industries with a $9 million support package for commercial fishers, aquaculture businesses and recreational charter boat operators. $200,000 of the package is in the form of fee waivers for the charter sector and these will be automatically applied with no requirement to apply separately. Commercial fishers also get fee waivers, aquaculture businesses get waivers and rent relief, and fishing cooperatives get rent relief if they’re located on Crown land. Businesses that have already paid fees will receive credits on their DPI accounts. There’s also $2.1 million allocated in the package for industry stimulus programs aimed at developing technologies to help develop resilience in the face of change and provide greater business flexibility.…

Canals are now well established along much of our coastline. Many anglers have a canal estate nearby while others encounter them on holidays or as they travel. These safe and productive areas offer fishing opportunities often too good to ignore. Canals tactics is all about understanding fish behaviour and working structure. Most of the stuff we consider when going fishing still relates. The bite is often season and tide related while factors such as time of day, boat traffic and water temperature impact too. Like most places the presence of bait can make a big difference. In this article we look at how to approach a canal to catch the common species found in many of them. RESPECT It is inevitable that anglers will encounter residents as they work along…

COOPER Creek is probably the only creek in Australia formed by the meeting of two rivers, the Thomson and Barcoo. The Cooper and its tributaries are still carp free; it handles drought and flood as easily now as it has since the millennium of time. As a result, the fishing in these outback water ways can be extraordinary. With the canoe loaded on top of the 4wd we took the winding track through outback NSW crossing the very sad Darling River at Wilcannia. With a couple of hours before sunset we pushed through to the Opal mining town of White Cliffs. After a couple of days chasing opal we were back on the road roughly following the route of Charles Sturt’s explorations of 1844/45. We pulled into the old gold…

Back in October of 1996 I visited the Solomon Islands on a fishing magazine assignment. We call them “Famils” which is short for familiarisation trips. That was one of my first trips overseas and was a very memorable experience. I fished with Bruce Libbis from Merimbula and we became lifetime friends and fishing buddies after that trip. We fished Gizo for several days and caught a heap of fish then went to Lola Island near Munda for a few more days. We trolled, cast lures and flies and jigged. The number and variety of species we caught was a real eye opener for someone who’d never fished outside of NSW. The culture and people were mind blowing, and I returned home after 10 days with my head absolutely spinning. Twenty…

1 Dash Sparrow with a 1.2kg squid from 14 Mile Beach at Waroora Station in WA. 2 Noah Mullan caught this bream in Lake Macquarie while fishing at night with his brother, Oliver and their Poppy. 3 Ten year old Anthony Kikiras with a 45cm tarwhine 45cm which was released unharmed. 4 Xavier Watson, 6 years old, with a banjo shark. 5 Ten year old Noah Marshall with a large toadfish caught off Hervey Bay QLD.…

IT was during the evening session of a four day cod trip when it finally happened. I’d been casting a swimbait for about two hours and was well into the groove when a Murray cod grabbed my lure. The hit was definite, and I’d struck more out of reflex than anything, but I was on. Not a massive fight, but the fish moved plenty of water boat side without being so big that it would not fit in the net. At 83 cm, it was no monster and well short of the magic 100 cm mark, but I didn’t care. It was a cod out of Copeton Dam and that was enough, and one of the most satisfying fish I can remember catching for quite a few years! An hour…