Innholdsfortegnelse for Winter 2025 i Fishing World

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF’S CHAIN OF ISLANDS OFFERS RED HOT FISHING AND ENDLESS OPPORTUNITY FOR DIY ADVENTURE. I get to chat with other anglers quite often and I’m always responding to the question of my favourite fishing style/destination with a description of our annual Great Barrier Reef Island holiday. The response is almost always overwhelmingly positive, but the offer to contact me to “chat further” is very rarely taken up. It seems to me that whilst the idea of staying on a coral island and targeting tropical reef and pelagic species holds overwhelming appeal to most, the task of organising such a trip overpowers most. Currently, I am rushing to run my fingers over the keyboard because we leave for our island adventure in three days… and everything is ready…

In the far north of Western Australia, the town of Kununurra, a busy, bustling community sits on the banks of the Ord River. The topography of the land and the abundance of water makes this area one of the absolute best places to grow crops and fatten cattle. The large fertile plains are home to diverse crops such as grain, fruit, vegetables, nut trees, sandal wood, cotton and stock feed crops amongst others. While land-based angling is very popular with many visitors and locals, adding a boat to the equation opens so many more opportunities. For the most part, the majority of anglers will be fishing live mullet on heavy hand lines “bombing snags”. No doubt because this method consistently produces results. While the locals are fishing for a feed,…

Back in the late 1970s, I was a young fishing grommet and an avid reader of The Australian Angler magazine. It was my bible and still is but back then I read a couple of articles by Rod Harrison and Max Garth on saltwater fly fishing. At the time, SWF was relatively new to Aussie anglers but it was already a huge industry in the US where permit, bonefish and tarpon where targeted and caught on the long wand and feathers. For some reason, the thought of making my fishing even more difficult, frustrating and expensive sounded like a great idea at the time. I built a couple of fibreglass fly rods, found a cheap fly reel and taught myself how to cast in a very crude fashion. I never…

Anyone who has seen a flathead lying on the seabed will agree that they are a superbly adapted ambush predator. Designed to melt into the background thanks to their camouflaged skin, the flattie will wait until a fish, prawn or other prey item passes within range. Suddenly its powerful tail and large pectoral fins propel the fish forward to engulf the target. A cavernous mouth and a raspy set of lips ensure few go free. Flatties are at home on most types of seabeds. Mud, rock, weed, shell grit, and sand bars all hold fish at times. They range from the upper tidal limits of an estuary to the surf break and even offshore. They are found in water barely covering their back through to deep tidal scoured holes. There…

Despite the widespread popularity and even wider distribution of snapper, many fishos struggle to catch them with regularity, especially the larger specimens. For all intents and purposes, this article is based mostly on East Coast NSW and what is divulged may differ to others experiences elsewhere around the country. Now you’re probably used to scrolling the finger or dragging the YouTube time bar to the most viewed section to get all the answers straight away. Sorry, your first lesson here will be patience! That’s right, you will be required to read this in its entirety. For a little perspective, the time it takes you to read this article is only minuscule compared to the time snapper have swum our waters; in fact, a modest snapper over 60cm could be older…

Fishing knots are more than just loops and twists of line, they are engineered solutions that balance strength, friction, and ease of tying. The right knot can be the difference between landing a trophy fish and watching it swim away with your lure. In this column, we’ll explore the science behind fishing knots, focusing on high-performance friction knots like the PR and FG knot, as well as other essential connections like the Uni knot. The Science Behind Knot Strength You can have the strongest, most high-tech line on your reel but if your knot isn’t up to scratch, you’re fishing with a weak link. Literally. A poorly tied knot can cut your line’s strength by 30% or more, turning a trophy catch into a story about the one that got…

Have you ever taken much notice of the fish you catch, and in particular, how they are shaped and coloured? It may sound a bit weird but fish shapes have always intrigued me. Unlike humans, and many other animals, fish are purposely shaped to suit their environment, feeding and existence. Yes, humans come in many different shapes and sizes but we all have the same features such as teeth, eyes, limbs and anatomy. Fish, on the other hand come in many weird and wonderful shapes that nature has given them to simply exist. Some are built for speed. Some have razor sharp teeth. Some have hardly any teeth. Some are flat. All of these features are designed to make each species suited to its food source and environment. Take flathead…

Shimano Grappler Rods THE latest Shimano Grappler rod ranges (TYPE J, TYPE J SLOW and TYPE C) cover the full gamut of highly demanding modern saltwater sport fishing opportunities. There’s everything from conventional knife jigging and slow-pitch jigging to distance casting with poppers, stickbaits and swimbait for the ocean’s fastest pelagic predators, as well as the most pugnacious of its reef dwellers. SPIRAL X and HI-POWER X blank technologies combined with ergonomic grips and the very finest in high tech’ guide trains, fittings and hardware throughout provide the next evolutionary step in jig control (fast or slow), lure casting, and white-knuckled fish fighting strength. All the major parameters required for peak performance in these demanding saltwater arenas have been optimised to reduce angler fatigue, while maximising your chances of a…

There’s a number of interesting and different techniques used in our offshore waters to catch a beautiful sailfish. Trolling natural baits would be the popular technique used by most anglers, but drifting with live baits set on the surface in an area where the sails are spotted feeding will work as well. Sight casting with live baits to the sails when they are in close proximity to the boat is without a doubt the most exciting way to hook up and catch one! My old mate Jack Erskine was a fishing wizard and he was the first guy I ever saw casting live baits to sailfish back in the hey-days when they used to be around in good numbers off Morton Island in southern Queensland. Erskine used to fine-tune those…

Since Christmas 2024, the luderick fishing around Sydney has been unexpectedly inconsistent. Coming on the back of a sequence of quite excellent seasons, this has been a worry for those of us who love targeting these scrappers. Initially we blamed the run of extreme weather Sydney experienced over summer, with lots of really big seas, but even with the occasional ideal conditions we were scratching to put a decent bag together. Reports from further north of the state… Port Macquarie, Forster, the Manning River… also confirmed that the luderick weren’t behaving as expected. Some of the old regulars were reported to have given up fishing for them. We started wondering whether the unseasonably warm water, 24 degrees plus, may be part of the reason. The luderick’s first cousin, the rock…

Previously, if Josh Lewis wasn’t working at one of his three restaurants in Brunswick Heads, NSW, he would have likely been having a flick on the water. These days, as he enters his second winter season as a commercial fishing operator, he is able to service his eateries Roko Ramen Bar, La Casita Mexican and Birds of Paradise Rotisserie with, fresh caught fish under his sophomore business, “Newmoon Fishing”. His passion for fishing is only snowballing. He controls all the processes from the ocean to the kitchen to ensure premium, well-caredfor seafood is served to his customers. This motivates him to implement the best practices he knows without bypassing or ignoring essential steps to save time. His patrons are excited to know that the chef serving their outrageously delicious meals…

You would be a very fortunate angler if, over the last 24 months, you have not encountered a shark in one form or another. Such is the apparent population boom, that many of us are being “sharked” like never before. I’m seeing more sharks than ever, and after a relatively shark-free fishing experience spanning 60 years, I’ve had far more interactions in the past five than the 55 before. Sure, the pre 15-year-old years were confined to Sydney Harbour wharves and the Central Coast’s Brisbane Water, but the rest has been a plethora of shark-friendly locations. Last month I fished with a mate, and he landed one Spanish mackerel from four and one landed zero from three. Another mate fished a Northern River break wall for mulloway during the recent…