NSW Fishing Monthly January 2018

MID-SUMMER MADNESS • FLATS FISHING FUN

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Features

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Boating and Kayaking • • • • •

Impoundment bass edge bite tactics • Stalking estuary flats • Topwater trout learning curve • DIY Lure making: Glidin’ Doc

Getting started with kayak fishing Danjera Dam in the yak Sea Craft Xtreme 5.2 CC Formosa 550 Tomahawk Offshore Stacer Crossfire 509 with Mercury 115hp January, 2018 Fishing Monthly G R O U P

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January 2018, Vol. 23 No. 6

Contents BYRON COAST The Tweed 30 Ballina 31 Yamba 32 COFFS COAST Coffs Harbour 34 Coffs Game 35 Nambucca 36 South West Rocks 38 South West Rocks 39 MACQUARIE COAST The Hastings 40 Forster 42 Harrington-Taree 45 HUNTER COAST Hunter Coast 46 Port Stephens 47 Swansea 48 Erina 49 SYDNEY The Hawkesbury 16 Sydney North 18 Pittwater 20 Sydney Harbour 22 Sydney Rock and Beach 23 Botany Bay 24 Sydney South 26 Western Sydney 28 ILLAWARRA COAST Illawarra 51 Nowra 52 BATEMANS COAST Narooma 54 Merimbula 55 Batemans Bay 56

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From the Editor’s Desk...

We fought and we lost.

More than six years ago, we raised the price of Fishing Monthly magazines (all states) to $5.95 from $4.95. I honestly believed that it would be our last price rise. Ever.

After all, it’s our readership that makes this magazine what it is.

We have lots of readers all loving to hear about their own state. Reports on what’s going on in places they fish is more relevant than exotic species in exotic locations.

So, when our newsagent distributor dictated that they needed a bigger chunk of the pie, we were left with no choice but to add a dollar to the cover price.

This issue is the first time a Fishing Monthly magazine has cost you $6.95. Well, not if you count the old Annual magazines

($9.95), Catch magazine ($19.95) or Tournament Angler Guides ($9.95), but you get what I mean.

It’s not an easy road for publishers at the moment.

In recent years we have encouraged anglers to sign up for subscriptions, with the result that over 7000 copies of Fishing Monthly are mailed each month to loyal readers. However, in the last few years, Australia Post has raised postage prices by over 50%. Couple that with increasingly poor service in the same timeframe, and there’s no wonder that I have much less hair that I did in 2013!

We have been left with no choice but to pay a premium to Australia Post to send our subscriber magazines via Priority Post. It grinds my gears to pay a company extra because of how poorly they do their job. But we will,

because we owe it to our supporters.

A DIGITAL SOLUTION? Concurrently, we’ve quietly launched a digital subscription to Fishing Monthly in the background.

Delivered via the issuu. com platform, we now have a way that you can read the magazine only hours after it goes to press. That’s a couple of WEEKS earlier than you’d get it in your mailbox.

And, in the light of the Australia Post dilemma, we’ve made the deal irresistible. You just have to read the magazine on your desktop, tablet or handheld device.

For the standard subscription price of $65, you now will have access to not just your home state, but ALL THREE Fishing Monthly titles – the day they go to the printer!

If you value being the

first to read the monthly issue, then this solution may very well be for you.

As an added bonus, all of the video boat tests, tackle reviews and other content we create is embedded and clickable in these editions.

I’m not a massive fan of reading magazines online, but even I think that the speed of publication and the experience is pretty cool.

Are we giving up on print? No way. I’m the world’s biggest fan of unwrapping a magazine that the postie has delivered, and enjoying the contents without the clutter that you’re bombarded with in social media. So no matter what hurdles that distributors and the postal service put in our way, you have my assurance that if you’re a fan of print, we will satisfy your need for years to come.

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Brent Hodges holds up some elbow-slapping whiting taken on an estuarine flat.

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SPECIAL FEATURES Impoundment bass edge bite Stalking the estuary flats DIY lure making: Glidin’ Doc Topwater trout tactics Daffodil Cottage

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Fishing Diary Angler: Paul Lennon Date: May 31st 2015

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BASS

Impoundment bass edge bite NEWCASTLE

Jacko Davis

As we move through summer it’s not only the weather that will heat up.

The end of spring represents the prime time of year to target Australian bass in our NSW impoundments.

As the temperature rises the fish become more active and move up into the shallower margins of lakes, particularly where there is weed present.

Weed beds hold an abundance of attributes that the bass find appealing; most important is the food.

Weed beds are at the start of the food chain in our impoundments, they absorb light and produce food for

the tiniest aquatic life. From there the food web begins and a range of species will be present. The bass are at

A lovely bass around 40cm.

BASS LODGE

the top of this aquatic food chain and their best chance of sourcing a full belly is in these areas.

The weed also offers significant protection and habitat small invertebrates, small fish and crustaceans,

and also the bass. They use this habitat as cover to hunt throughout the day and at night. The cover gives them the confidence to ambush prey without being recognised by larger terrestrial predators such as birds. Add some wind to distort the water’s surface and impoundment bass will venture right up into the shallowest margins of the lake.

For long periods throughout the year, impoundment bass school up in temperature thermoclines and can be frustratingly hard to entice. Fishing the edges is a more active approach and a lot more rewarding. You are searching for fish that are aggressively feeding and pound for pound they would go close to being the best fighting fish around.

PRIME TIMES Although fishing the edges at the start of

Bass can come in all shapes and sizes like this guy. summer can be productive throughout the entire day, low light periods present

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A big bass taken from the weed bed in the background.

the best time to tangle with some of these steam trains. Like a lot of fishing scenarios, the low light is the prime time to be on the water, because the fish are more eager to move into the shallows and often feeding frenzies can occur.

Early summer can throw up some interesting weather including large afternoon storm systems that build up and often don’t last long. Don’t be shy if these conditions are forecasted, as the build-up before a storm can produce some of the most dynamite bass sessions.

The fish can really turn it on as the barometric pressure rapidly fluctuates, and often once the storm has passed the fish will shut down.

I remember one late November afternoon last year where a large storm system was rolling in right on dusk.

The fish lost their marbles and the surface action of the impoundment exploded right across the lake.

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• All-around activities • Natural contrast

A bag of average-size bass caught along the edges. These fish were kept in the livewell and are ready for release.

BASS As this system triggered many bug hatches, the abundance of food brought the fish to the surface.

It was a very surreal feeling watching the dark clouds roll in from the northeast as the sun faded in the west, sitting in the middle of the lake as it bubbled from the surface bass explosions. It was one of the most amazing fishing experiences I have had and a fish a cast was achieved for a good 30 minutes.

MATCH THE HATCH The biggest cliché in fishing ‘match the hatch’ is very applicable when bass fishing, no matter the terrain. I’ve found it quite productive when fishing new water to go over a weed patch and scope the bait with a quality pair of sunnies.

The most important feature of the bait you want to mimic is the size and profile. Colour isn’t as important, although the

better you imitate the bait, the more success you’ll have. It isn’t uncommon for bass to regurgitate their lunch after being caught, and looking through the ‘puke’ will give you firsthand vital information about what the fish are doing.

There is a large variety of soft plastics on the market and you will generally find one that will match the bait in your system. Soft baits in the 3” range are popular

Bass are a great freshwater species to get the whole family out chasing.

Adding a jigspin to your plastic can be very effective when the fish are active.

amongst the bass fraternity and they can be cut down to better mimic the size of the bait present. It’s important that your plastic is matched with a jighead weight relevant to the water you are fishing.

You want to be able to slow roll your plastic through or just above the weed without it plummeting to the bottom too quick or rising to the upper water

column on your retrieve.

I’ve often found jigheads of 1/8-1/4oz are the most effective for fishing weed edges.

The same goes for other lures – if you find a lot of bug activity on the surface then give the surface fishing a go, especially in low light conditions. Small shad profile baits like bony bream can be mimicked best with lipless crankbaits.

Sometimes you will find the fish are feeding so aggressively that no matter what you throw, the fish will eat it. When bites like this occur, fishing fast with lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits can be really fun as the bass hit these like freight trains.

OUTFITS If there has been little rain throughout early To page 10

JANUARY 2018

9

BASS From page 9

spring, you can expect to find relatively clear waters within the impoundments.

This clear water requires an adjustment for a successful session. Light lines come into their own in this water and, like most fishing scenarios, the lighter you go the more bites you will get. The terrain you are fishing in is also important.

A lot of timber and other obstacles can be present along impoundment edges and if this is the case

then line compensation is needed. I like to fish braid with a long leader of around 12-14ft starting with leaders of around 8-10lb and moving down to 4-6lb if my presentation isn’t getting any attention.

Around heavy structure 8lb line is a minimum, but with some calmness and good angling fish can be retrieved and wrestled to the net with lighter lines.

As a general guide, when fishing the edges start with 8lb leader and move

down from there if the fishing is quiet.

Rods and reels aren’t as important as line class and spin or baitcast tackle is a common debate among bass anglers. For me, slow rolling plastics, vibes and hardbodies are better suited to spin gear, while slow rolling lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits (heavier lures) is more suited to the baitcast tackle. Each to their own, but baitcast tackle is better for handling fish on heavy lines in deeper cover

and playing a fish on the lighter line is much easier with spin tackle.

GET OUT THERE November can be one of the most rewarding months of year to be on the water, especially on our freshwater impoundments. The days are warm and the nights are still crisp – perfect conditions to camp or just head out for a morning or afternoon session.

To top it off, the bass fishing can be electric.

Get out there this summer and enjoy these feisty freshwater natives, and also the beautiful New South Wales impoundments they call home.

Mark Donnelly with a pair of bass any tournament angler would be proud of.

NSW offers some great impoundments to target Australian bass; make the most of them.

Louise with a lovely fish extracted from the laydown in the background.

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Stalking the estuary flats GEELONG

Brenton Hodges

The arrival of warmer weather signals increasing water temperatures, which is good news if you’re

engages a number of our human senses. Observing fish behaviour and the changes in body language when hunting and feeding is interesting enough; being able to actually see the take unfold in water barely deep

slurping and popping sounds as a bream or whiting attempts to suck down a prawn imitation amplifies the experience, resulting in further engagement. All this information, transferred via our eyes and ears, stimulates

foot, the more details are exposed. At an initial glance, some areas may seem devoid of life. Closer observation, aided by a pair of polarised lenses to block out glare (as well as perhaps a more diligent and purposeful approach, which we’ll cover later), can be telling.

Try to look through the surface and watch for shadows and signs of movement, as opposed to actual fish shapes. It’s generally quite easy to see fish darting away in fright once disturbed. The challenge is to spot them well before they become spooked by your presence. Sunlight reflecting off the flanks of a

The more time spent drifting over shallow flats from a vessel or wading on foot, the more details are exposed. Try to look through the surface and watch for shadows and signs of movement, as opposed to actual fish shapes.

The ability to visually locate fish and execute a plan to deceive and coerce one into eating an artificial (and then repeating the process over and over) is the ultimate sport fishing challenge. keen to get into some ultra shallow lure casting action. At this time of year,

enough to cover your knees is truly captivating.

Hearing the splashes,

In terms of tackle selection, stalking bream, whiting and flathead on the flats requires some attention to detail. In ultra-clear conditions, semitranslucent lure patterns, which allow sunlight to pass through, are far more realistic options. bream, yellowfin whiting and dusky flathead can all be found casing the flats in the lower to middle reaches of various east coast inlets, rivers and creeks.

Here prawns, shrimp, crabs, yabbies, marine worms and small baitfish all become fair game, which brings lures such as shallow diving minnows and surface presentations into play.

ENGAGING THE SENSES Exploring the shallows, and in particular sight casting on the flats, is highly intriguing and incredibly exciting. Indeed, anticipating the moment of impact as a fish homes in on a lure

the brain well before any contact is made through the line, rod and reel handle.

Setting the hooks into a bustling blue nose bream, a whopping big whiting or lizard-like flathead and feeling the weight, headshakes and every flick of the tail finally brings our sense of touch into play.

Most species seem to find another gear on the flats, running further and pulling harder all the way to the net, which really gets the adrenalin flowing.

POWER OF OBSERVATION The more time spent drifting over shallow flats from a vessel or wading on

JANUARY 2018

bream, for example, stands out like a beacon to the trained eye.

Likewise surface disturbances caused by, say, a fleeing prawn or nervous

Bringing the boat to shore and walking or wading the shallows adds another level of stealth.

THE AUTHOR’S PREFERRED FLATS TACKLE Bibbed Minnow Outfit: Abu Salty Stage 6’10” (1-3kg) / Revo MGX 20 Surface Presentations Outfit: Abu Salty Fighter 7’ (1-3kg) / Revo ALX 20 Line: Berkley Fireline 4lb Leader: Vanish Fluorocarbon 4-10lb Bibbed Minnow: 3B Puppy Dog and Fat Dog (shallow) Surface: 3B Prawn Dog (45mm) and Scum Dog (68mm) 12

Bream will turn up regularly when fishing the flats, even when you’re chasing other predators like whiting or flathead.

baitfish, become more obvious (even in windy conditions) to the skilled observer. Listening for the sounds of bait skipping hurriedly across the top or indeed a predator rising to engage prey at the surface

also helps to identify targets outside of our immediate line of sight. Over time, experienced eyes soon become trained to recognise more of the subtleties, such as traces of bream and whiting rummaging below in the sand in search of tucker.

These dinner platesized dig-holes can usually be identified from quite a distance by several darker grey or brownish coloured silt stains spread across an otherwise sandy bottom.

When actively foraging, there may even be signs of discoloured or cloudy water in the surrounding area, which is a dead giveaway.

Evidence of fish feeding in this manner is also available when walking the flats at low tide.

Again, take note of the holes or digs, as well as markings where flathead have been lying up. Areas of hardened or corrugated sand, due to continuous strong tidal flow, tend to hold very little in the way of burrowing bait. Instead, look for the richer soft sand or silt dotted with yabby holes or crawling with crabs when exposed at low tide.

Slightly deeper runs, formed

as a result of sand shifting in the prevailing winds and tidal run-off, are also likely to hold fish. Flathead, in particular, use these subtle changes in depth as ambush points.

Likewise, bream and whiting congregate along these lines, especially during the later stages of a receding tide. Other forms of more obvious structure such as patches of rock, weed beds or perhaps a solitary log, which might have come to rest on a shallow sand bank after being washed downstream during a previous flooding event, have the potential to attract and hold fish on the flats.

Interestingly, the feeding habits of stingrays, which involve digging in the sand and sucking up crabs, worms, yabbies and the like, act as a mobile attractant for scavenging bream hoping to snare an easy meal. These indicators (and many more) vary from one day to the next according to the local conditions. It’s a matter of absorbing as much detail as possible and quickly processing the information to develop a stealthy plan of attack.

STEALTH MISSION Prior to even making a cast, perhaps the greatest challenge is concealing your presence. Once a fish becomes spooked on the flats, all feeding activity will immediately cease. Bream are especially sensitive in this regard and it doesn’t take much for panic and preservation mode to set in, which usually involves bolting erratically for the safety of deeper water.

Whiting and flathead seem more tolerant in this regard, but once on high alert, they certainly won’t chase an artificial either.

There’s generally a barrier surrounding the boat within which fish have become aware of our presence

any sounds from the boat, so we can get closer without them realising.

It may be uncomfortable and near impossible to retie knots or take a decent photograph, but (as long as it’s safe for boating) drifting the flats in the wind can be

epic. By contrast, when the wind is light (<5 knots) or perhaps non-existent, we don’t cover as much ground, casting distance is reduced and fish are quickly put off by boat noise, which is amplified under a glassed-out surface or calm

It can be well worth experimenting with leader length and diameter. A shorter length of 6lb monofilament is a good starting point for surface presentations intended for whiting.

These cracking yellowfin whiting fell to a surface

STA16051-449half_Layout 1 6/07/2017 PM Page 1 presentation twitched across 5:38 the flats.

and are almost uncatchable in most instances. Weather, water clarity and the ability of those on board to adopt a stealthy approach determine the parameters of this invisible boundary. Wind is both friend and foe. Too strong (>20 knots) and the drift speed becomes way too fast and conditions difficult for lure casting.

Even so, the fish are likely to be on the chew, taking advantage of wind lanes and surface chop, which bring both food and cover.

Periods of strong wind push warm water and loose ribbon

weed (which also carries food) to one side of a lake or inlet and the fish follow. This is particularly pertinent in systems periodically closed or separated from the ocean.

Constant wave action stirs up the bottom and encourages fish to feed in the shallows for longer. It also muffles

Most species seem to find another gear on the flats, running further and pulling harder all the way to the net, which really gets the adrenalin flowing. Aaron Hassett carefully puts the finishing touches on a respectable dusky in just centimetres of water.

SIGHT CASTING TIPS Make the longest wind-assisted cast possible.

Wear polaroid sunglasses and a peaked cap.

Look through the surface and watch for shadows or signs of movement.

Concentrate your efforts either side of high tide.

Minimise boat noise to increase stealth.

conditions. Ideally, moderate wind speeds of about 8-12 knots are preferable, though fish can most definitely be taken outside of this range by varying your approach.

A drogue is helpful to To page 14

The Stacer 449 Nomad is a budget, fishing friendly boat, offering plenty of handy features.

Surprisingly spacious and beamy with the new Shark carpet which is soft underfoot providing excellent grip. This model includes all the standard features and you can option her up with a stainless steel telescopic rear boarding ladder and electric motor bow mount plate. Visit www.stacer.com.au for more details.

JANUARY 2018

13

A quiet approach, be it from a boat or on foot will always result in more enquiries. Boat noise can be minimised by cutting the engine early and gliding into position under electric power.

Trim the outboard up so that it doesn’t scrape across the sand, and switch off the depth sounder, recirculating livewell and automatic bilge pump.

Once a drift line has been established, try to avoid overusing the electric motor

From page 13

slow the drift in strong winds.

Some circumstances may even warrant the use of an anchor, stake/power pole or electronic spot-lock function to hold position. More often than not, drifting silently with the breeze behind you is the go. Bringing the boat to shore and walking or wading may provide another level of stealth. Either way, long wind-assisted casts bring the most consistent bent rod action.

to continually correct or reposition the boat. Although relatively quiet, even a short pulse of the propeller is likely to spook any nearby fish, therefore lengthening the ‘no catch’ zone. Avoid knocking or banging the hull with items such as rod tips, landing nets, lures, keys and so forth.

Lastly, stay light on your feet when moving about the deck, carefully opening and shutting storage hatches and placing items such as scissors

Taryn Hodges was all smiles when this whopper whiting slurped a prawn imitation off the top.

or pliers down gently after use. It may seem trivial, but it all counts when working in less than 1m of gin-clear water. It’s no surprise and no coincidence that when my young daughters (aged 3 and 5) are on board and clanging things about while playing as kids do, fishing the flats becomes far more difficult…

FLATS TACKLE In terms of tackle selection, stalking bream, whiting and flathead on the flats requires some attention to detail. In ultra-clear conditions, semi-translucent lure patterns that allow sunlight to pass through are far more realistic. It’s also well worth experimenting with the leader length and diameter. About 2-4 rod lengths of 4lb fluorocarbon is the norm when pitching shallow divers at bream.

A shorter length of 6lb monofilament is a good starting point for surface presentations intended for both whiting and bream.

Upgrading to 8-10lb leader is theoretically a better option when specifically chasing flathead to combat their raspy teeth. In reality, all three species can turn up in the same areas where they can be coerced and played out on the same gear.

THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE Flats lure casting can

Larger dusky flathead use subtle changes of depth to ambush prey in the shallows. be dangerously addictive – dangerous in that you’ll become completely mesmerised by fish that simply won’t eat a lure! Over the years I’ve been guilty of wasting away hours in this fashion. When all the elements align and everything clicks in terms of your approach and presentation, however, there’s some incredible fish-a-cast action on offer. Knowing how exciting and satisfying it can be makes it tough to move away, even when conditions are clearly unfavourable.

Despite the fickle nature of sight casting on wide open estuary flats, the ability to visually locate fish and execute a plan to deceive and coerce a fish into eating an artificial (and then repeating the process over and over) is the ultimate sport fishing challenge. Irrespective of the environment, be it a high-country stream, inland lake or – as discussed in this piece – coastal estuary flats, stalking your quarry and watching the action all unfold is about as good as fishing gets.

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Funds Funds raised raised fromfrom the recreational the recreational fishing fishing licence licence are placed are placed into into special special trusts, trusts, and and spentspent on projects on projects to improve to improve recreational recreational fishing: fishing:

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A really good summer for pelagic fishing THE HAWKESBURY

Dan Selby dan@sydneysportfishing.com.au

I hope you all had a wonderful, safe, fishingfilled Christmas and New Year. It has been a great summer on the pelagics with good schools of bonito, Aussie salmon, tailor and kingfish moving into Broken Bay, Pittwater and Cowan Creek and feeding on the abundant bait schools. At times there are some fantastic bust-ups with baitfish hurtling through the air after a violent surface hit by a supercharged speedster below.

At the start of the season these fish were feeding on tiny baitfish referred to as ‘eyes’ but that bait has since grown to a larger 3” size,

which makes lure selection a lot easier for us anglers.

Small metal slices, 2-3” soft plastic minnows and t-tail style lures rigged on light jigheads of 1/8-1/4oz are deadly either cast and retrieved across the surface or allowed to sink down beneath the melee where a bigger fish may be lurking.

Alternately, slow trolling live baits of squid or yakkas on the flat line or downrigger will put you in with a good shot at getting a few legal kingfish to cooperate at this busy time of the year.

Bream and whiting have been hitting surface lures when the right conditions present themselves. A bit of wind or early and late in the day will yield better results for those trying out this exciting form of fishing.

Most bays in Pittwater, Cowan, Smiths, Coal and

Candle creeks and Berowra Creek have suitable sand flats with good weed beds that hold fish; it’s just a matter of finding which ones are holding the better concentrations of fish when you get out there.

Flathead have spread right to the upper tidal reaches in search of favourable conditions. You will still find flatties throughout Broken Bay and the main river up to Wisemans Ferry but the better concentrations, if it remains dry, will be in

downstream. This is one of my favourite forms of fishing when the main river is too busy with holidaymakers and the ever-increasing population of wake boats and jet skis. Walking into a tranquil valley, heavily shaded by the canopy overhead and stalking your way up to the next pool to place that perfect cast in a likely area sure gets the heart rate up.

Surface lures, shallow crankbaits, unweighted plastics and small

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Mulloway have been biting well for those fishing the tide changes with live baits and fresh slab baits.

Fishing the prime hours of dawn and dusk and into the night will produce the better results, as the boat traffic

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is greatly reduced at these times, allowing the elusive mulloway to come out and hunt down its next meal.

They are spread right out from the Heads to above Wisemans Ferry and beyond, so try a few spots up and down when you venture out for your big mulloway fix.

Mulloway will be active this month for those fishing the key times around the tide changes at dawn and dusk.

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the upper brackish reaches of the main river and its tributaries. Those willing to explore will be rewarded with EPs, flathead, bream and bass all calling these places home. Fish light and put prospecting casts out to likely-looking structures like rock walls, weed bed edges, larger tree snags and drop-offs.

Unfortunately the dry conditions haven’t allowed most of the bass back up to their sweetwater homes in the headwaters of the feeder creeks. There will still be a few that didn’t migrate

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spinnerbaits or jig spinners are all favourites in the skinny water. Cast your offering in as close as you dare to the abundant tree snags and undercut banks.

Mud crabs and blue swimmers have had a good start to the season, Muddies have been caught up to and past the lower Portland Ferry due to the dry conditions; this is a good indicator for where you might start to try for those aforementioned flatties. The blue swimmers have been caught throughout Broken Bay, Cowan, Berowra and

Big blue nose bream of this calibre don’t come around too often. It measured in at a tad over 49cm and was released after the pic.

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More species patrolling the Sydney waters SYDNEY NORTH

Paul O’Hagan

Sydney fishing has ramped up with all manner of species patrolling our waters.

A large concentration of baitfish has moved into the harbour over the last few weeks, with bonito, tailor and salmon feeding ferociously on what is available. Some very large kingfish are following the schools. While the fish can sometimes be very particular about what they will take, a range of small metals cast in front of the schools should see a hook-up or two.

Fly anglers seem to be having a lot of good results while using a range of small epoxy-style minnows fished on an 8wt fly rod; they’re picking up salmon and

bonito with every couple of casts. With whopper kingfish on the prowl around the schools, there is always a chance of one taking a small offering and putting any angler to work.

Mulloway are on the bite in the harbour in the middle of the day taking small cuttlefish. While many of these fish are on the small side, it’s still a lot of fun if you are fishing with some light gear.

Along the headlands and the rock ledges we have a lot of anglers getting up very early to pick up some live bait in the dark before making the trek into their favourite locations in the hopes of hooking up to some of the very large kings that are available.

Fishing a live bait from the rocks under a balloon or float is a very good way to pick up one of these Estuary perch have been a good target for anyone looking to throw lures into snags, and there are plenty of chunky specimens like this one getting about.

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monsters. If there isn’t enough excitement in that, you could start throwing a range of poppers and stickbaits, as the kingfish love a bit of surface action.

Using medium-sized metals can also get you a feed of the smaller pelagics that are in abundance.

With our inshore reefs from Palm Beach to Long Reef firing, a feed of some description is always available.

Kingfish seem to be increasing in numbers and size and are willing to take live baits and trolled lures in close to the reefs. There are lots of the smaller fish being taken and some very good catches of fish over the 1m mark, giving anglers the fight of their life.

Decent snapper are still available on a range of fresh baits and soft plastics lures fished in a good current with a good berley trail.

With lots of berley being put into the water there is always the possibility of bigger predators turning up like the mako shark.

This acrobatic fish will put any angler to work as they sommersault and leap to get themselves free.

Most anglers use light lines for the snapper, so it doesn’t take long for a mako to chew through the leader and get its freedom.

Narrabeen Lake has come alive with whiting taking worms and surface poppers through the day. In

the evenings it’s a mixed bag from flathead to estuary perch and a chance of a small resident mulloway patrolling the area.

One of the keys to catching these fish is to use very a light outfit like a 1-3kg rod and reel setup filled with about 4lb braid and a fluorocarbon leader.

Being under gunned for some of the bigger flathead and mulloway can be a lot of fun when casting small hardbodied lures and plastics around the shallows on a warm evening or an early morning.

Manly Dam is a beautiful spot for the family to have a day out or a picnic and is also a great little

fishery with bass, redfin and carp on offer. With the cicadas singing in the trees the bass will be firing very shortly.

If you want to take the kids out for a fish at the dam to catch some carp or redfin, the outfit is very simple. Fishing with a light outfit with bread under a float can be very successful and can keep young anglers amused as they wait for the float to disappear under the surface. For the more advanced anglers, casting artificial cicadas and surface lures should see a bass or two hitting the surface.

With this style of fishing, it’s good to walk around the edges and see if there is any activity. Stay back from the edge, as fish can see a shadow and it will drive them further out into deeper water.

Queenscliff Lagoon is also a very educational fishery for the novice angler as it is a nursery for a lot of small fish that come in and out with the tide.

While working the sand flats with small hardbodied lures can be very productive for picking up flathead and whiting, the most responsive method would be to fish some prawns or worms as the tide starts to come in. A lot of the fish can be very small but you will always be watching the line as bream and whiting fight to pick off the bait.

Another very good way to fish this area is with a fly rod and some prawn imitations in and around the weed beds or up near the road bridge for an estuary perch in the evenings.

As always, stay safe and enjoy the fishing.

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I hope everyone had a great silly season and you’re all ready to get your arms stretched when going fishing along Pittwater. Over the last month fishing along Pittwater has certainly picked up. We have been lucky enough to experience calm mornings on most occasions, lots of surface activity and bust-ups along the length of Pittwater.

Finally the kingfish are responding well to freshcaught and live squid.

Unfortunately the surface activity has died off a little.

Anglers with a keen eye who can spot the working birds will find schools of tailor and amongst the tailor there are a few decent kingfish.

There have been a lot of kingfish following in hooked tailor, which has given us a chance to present a fresh squid directly to the fish instead of having it chopped to bits while downrigging.

Poppers are also seeing a few kings being caught around the edges of the working tailor. The idea is to use poppers too big for the tailor to hit and still small enough to tempt kingies.

The 6” poppers seem to be about the right size to use, even though there are still a few small tailor being caught on them.

The amount of baitfish along Pittwater at the moment is staggering.

If the bait netters leave Pittwater alone for once, it should see a great season ahead. If they do what they normally do every year and wreak havoc on our beautiful waterway and all the baitfish, we may have another difficult season.

Those baitfish are so important to Pittwater, as they bring in the predators.

With good schools of baitfish for them to eat, they stay in Pittwater for longer.

If there is no surface activity when you’re out on the water, most of the bays at the moment seem to have a lot of baitfish and these are the areas to start your downrigging.

Hopefully you are good at reading your sonar, as this will greatly help when the surface activity is absent.

Watch your sounder – when you see the tightly-packed bait balls and decently sized arcs mid-water around those schools, you have found yourself some kingfish. We have been catching a lot of our kingfish in the bays along Pittwater. Finding the above-mentioned scenario and using small live squid on the downrigger is the

Terry loved hooking into this king. way to tempt the kings.

Squid can be caught in all the usual places in summer; try the weed beds along most of Pittwater, especially in the bays. The best colours to use at the moment seem to be the natural colours. It won’t be long before the fluoro pinks, orange and pilchard colours take over for the summer.

The sizes to use have been 2.0 if tucked out of the way of the wind and 2.5 is working well if you have to fish a windy area.

Remember to cast ahead of the boat when fishing over shallow ground. If you find squid before the boat gets to them, hopefully there is another angler casting ahead to the same area to pick up a few of the squid’s friends.

The areas to try are most of the bays. Watch for baitfish over the shallows, as quite often squid won’t be far away.

Mackerel Beach, the Palm Beach weed beds, Careel Bay, Towlers Bay and West Head have all had a decent amount squid to play with. Please only take a couple of squid for each person; often when the kings have been found the followers have been pouncing on Sluggos, poppers (use small ones if there are no tailor about) and even small metal 10g lures.

By only taking a few you can always go back and catch more if you run out.

Taking 20 squid in case you get onto a hot bite isn’t the

thing to do nowadays. If you get the hot bite, you can usually hook up good up fish with frozen squid.

When a kingfish is hooked-up, it will often throw up its stomach. When this happens, his mates will eat it gleefully and most of what comes out is white if

it has been in the tummy for a while. Frozen white squid can work quite well if you spur them on with a couple of live squid first.

Unfortunately, yellowtail may still be required, however, lately squid has been the bait to use.

Recently we were lucky enough to have some wonderful young anglers on board, and all fished well above their weight.

One young fellow that stands out is Royce and this little fella was one of the keenest fishers that I have had on board for a long while, young or old. On the charter this 11 year old fishing dynamo managed to catch most of the squid, the biggest kingfish and – as he told his family quite often – he caught the most too.

It is so good to see so many young kids and families out on the water enjoying Pittwater and with the fishing being as good as it has been there is no better place to spend the holidays.

Pittwater and Broken Bay are also seeing quite a few large flathead being caught and there have been some stonker mulloway landed by anglers as well.

Juno Point, Eleanors Bluff and Flint and Steel are just a few places to anchor up with a few fresh baits and wait for the fish. Have a variety if possible of fresh live squid, fresh squid heads, yellowtail and legal tailor fillets.

Drifting for flathead between Patonga and Lion Island is seeing quite a few

There are some great flathead around at the moment.

being caught, and the deeper hole towards Flint and Steel near the reef has seen some crackers. The area seems to be loaded with baitfish and it won’t take too long for the predators to show up.

Offshore there have been lots of flathead and snapper being caught around the 50-60m mark. The bluespot flathead seem to be quite decent with most fish between 45-55cm.

The reefs are fishing well both in close and out wide, providing you can find some baitfish first.

There seem to be a lot of small snapper but with persistence the odd platesize fish can be found.

The areas where we have been finding fish are Boultons Reef, Avalon Reef, Mona Vale and Long Reef drifting grounds. Use the freshest bait possible.

That can mean when you do find baitfish, drop down a couple of bait jigs first to use the same baitfish as they are munching on. If you don’t have the time to catch the live bait, don’t despair – pilchards and

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FISHING NEWS

squid are both working very well.

I hope this report has got you excited and keen to get out on our wonderful part of the coast. Join me for a charter – the knowledge that you gain can jump you years ahead with getting to know this beautiful waterway.

• Peter Le Blang operates Harbour and Estuary Fishing Charters, phone 02 9999 2574 or 0410 633 351, visit www. estuaryfishingcharters. com.au

Insinc Marine moves After 18 months of searching, Troy and Lee Durham where delighted when they found a new location for their successful family business, Insinc Marine, in West Gosford.

The hard work was only beginning though; the team had to spend considerable time, money and effort to convert essentially a warehouse space into the dealership it is today.

“It was a big investment,” Troy said. “We had to knock windows, doors, roller doors into existing walls, create internal walls and offices, do all the flooring. Then outside there was the driveway, drive-through drop off point, wash bays and fencing.”

The final outcome was worth it, however, with the new showroom effectively twice as large as the previous one.

“The new boat display is much larger,” Lee said.

“Along with Quintrex and Bayliner we’ve started selling Baysport fibreglass halfcabins and now we have room undercover to show them all properly. We simply outgrew the original site.”

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The fishing dynamo, Royce with his kingie.

dealership, the new location also boasts a brand new, fully equipped workshop, a drive-through for customers dropping-off or picking-up boats, a large outside display area for used boats, as well as a well-stocked parts section and chandlery.

“The new site is just under a kilometre from the old site so our customers haven’t been inconvenienced at all, which was a major consideration, of course,” Troy said. “And the feedback we’ve been getting from people has been pretty impressive. There’s nothing else like us around here. Over the years we’ve worked hard to earn a good reputation and I think our new site supports that.”

You can find Insinc Marine at 20 Dell Rd, West Gosford or visit their website at www.insincmarine. com.au. - FM

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Sydney summer mulloway making a show SYDNEY HARBOUR

Craig McGill craig@fishabouttours.com.au

Mulloway have made another great showing this season, backing up last year’s fantastic run.

School mulloway in the 3-9kg class have been in very good numbers from the headlands right through to the upper reaches of the harbour and middle harbour.

precise feeding periods.

They prefer the deeper harbour holes by day but don’t discount the shallows, especially at night and especially if there are high concentrations of mullet, like you might find at the weir at Lane Cove River, or creek junctions like the ones above Roseville Bridge.

Bridges at night are top mulloway spots. Mulloway are an open water ambush predator. This means that they use dirty or dark water to hide

The scenario goes like this; bait swarms in the light water, mulloway hide in the dark water and every now and then burst into the light water to grab a feed.

The mulloway and the bait will always face into the current and the bait at night is generally on the surface.

From all this we can see that the best way to catch mulloway around a bridge at night is with surface lures and poppers on the side of the bridge where the current is flowing onto and right along the line where the bridge casts a shadow on the water.

TIDES The turn of the high and the first hour and a half after it is the prime time. The turn of the low and the first hour and a half of the run-in is

make their move out. You will catch good mulloway during the day if all the conditions are right.

BAIT There are a number of baits you can use for mulloway but the most important factor for all of them is freshness.

We picked up a 52lb mulloway the other day and a few minutes later a kingfish of about 60cm or 2.5kg. Out of interest, I wanted to see how the king fitted into the mulloway’s mouth and was surprised to find that it didn’t even touch the sides. Don’t be scared to put out really big baits if you are after big mulloway. They have a huge mouth so they can eat big prey.

If you want to catch quality mulloway

Don’t be scared to put out really big baits if you’re after mulloway. They have a huge mouth so they can eat big prey. are also gun squid fishos.

Don’t make the mistake of trying to find a way around this. Sashimi-quality squid go for about $40/1kg and

Mulloway have made another great showing this season, backing up last year’s fantastic run.

Kings backed off a bit for their spawning run as usual in mid-November through to Christmas, and will be back on the bite by now.

They should stay strong right through to at least June. The surface action has been good with salmon, bonito, tailor and small kings spread right through the lower reaches and into middle harbour.

Mulloway are one of the tougher fish to catch. They are shy and don’t feed often compared to the likes of kingfish and other gamefish.

They like dark and/or dirty water and have short,

in. This differs from structureoriented predators, like flatties which bury themselves in the sand or bass who hide in a snag or weed bed. Streetlights on a road bridge throw light onto the water next to the bridge and cast a shadow of the bridge under it.

This sets up three ideal situations for mulloway to feed. The light water attracts bait like squid and mullet, the shadow gives the mulloway a place to hide and mount their attack and the pylons create a pressure wave for the mulloway to rest in while they are not attacking.

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Plenty of spots in the main harbour and middle harbour are worth a try with live squid on the turn of the high tide. your next best bet. This is the time of least tidal flow and reflects the mulloway’s lazy nature.

Mulloway have two areas where you might find them: their holding grounds and their feeding grounds. As an example of this, imagine a wreck sitting on barren sand or mud bottom in the harbour, where mulloway are holding. On the turn of the tides they will come out of cover and make their way to food-rich kelp beds or a breakwall to feed. The wreck is the holding ground and the kelp bed and breakwall are the feeding grounds.

Being in the vicinity of holding structure gives you your best shot at these fish. They will pass by your offerings as they make their way out to the feeding grounds and again as they make their way back. Obviously, they will be hungrier on their way out than when they return after a feed, therefore the ultimate time to be near holding cover is right on the turn of the high or low, when they first

consistently, you are going to have to master squid fishing.

Squid are the number one bait and all the really good mulloway fishos that I know

they are the closest you will get to an alternative.

My formula is that the squid must be back in the water, as bait, a maximum of six

hours after it was caught – not bought.

Even on the beach, where you wouldn’t expect to find squid, they still rate it as the top bait. Other good baits include large live baits like tailor and mullet, but you will need to come up with a good method of controlling them or you can end up in an awful tangle, especially at night.

Big fillets of the abovementioned fish (leave the head on one side and the tail on the other) are also good.

Most of the bigger mulloway and kings that I catch have silver biddies or whiting in their gut, so if you can catch them then they are obviously great bait too.

Spots worth a try in the harbour include Blues and Balls Heads in the main harbour. Seaforth Bluff, Killarney Point and Pickering Point in middle harbour would be great places to be sitting with live squid on the turn of the high tide.

• If you are interested in doing a guided fishing trip on Sydney harbour with Craig McGill please call 0412 918 127 or email craig@fishabout.com.au.

A couple of gun mulloway anglers with some awesome fish.

Guide to keeping your resolve this New Year SYD ROCK & BEACH

Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au

Happy New Year! If you’re the kind of person who likes New Year’s fishing resolutions, that’s great – just try to make your goals realistic and achievable. If you shoot too high you’ll soon realise that time is not on your side!

Let’s say you want to catch your first beach mulloway. Being a Sydney resident, you should be prepared to put in the hours.

Sure, there’s a chance that on your first outing you’ll land a great fish. However, it’s much more likely that it will take a number of outings to catch the silver ghost of the beach.

Alternatively, your ambitions may be more towards getting your first lure-caught king. You might think that this is relatively practical and realistic, but you can actually easily be distracted by things like your mate catching them on bait.

If you want to achieve your New Year’s resolution, just focus on a specific target species, or a specific method, and stay true to your goal.

Stick it out, and success will come.

your line? Getting snagged on the beach! Before you fish I recommend that you go to a higher vantage point and look closely at the dark patches, to figure out whether they are kelp or rocks. If you observe the area that you want to fish for long enough, you will see the dark patch of kelp moving with the current. If you don’t see the dark patch move, and it seems to be quite stationary, it’s probably a big rock.

Remember that beach sand erosion is sporadic, and the sand will regenerate in the area, so don’t discount fishing that section of beach in the future.

Fishing Sydney beaches has another problem from time to time. There may be surf carnivals, surfing schools, and the holiday revellers this month that may make your favourite beach gutter more difficult to fish.

But hey – that’s the adventure of fishing. If you move to another section of the beach with fewer people, you may discover that there are fish to be caught there.

Now is a great time of the year for tailor. You should fish in fairly close for them, as they will be feeding on the whitebait, small whiting or whatever small fish that they can terrorise.

The author managed to get out for a rock trip for kings, and nailed this great 107cm fish on an eastern sea gar. January is a cracker month for this species.

BEACHES Whiting are being caught on a number of beaches at the moment, rather than a select few. There’s a variety of other species on offer as well, including quality flathead to 70cm, and bream to 35cm.

The whiting are up to 35cm.

Some beaches are producing better than others, for a variety of reasons. One reason is the sand erosion on some beaches, which has exposed underlying rocks.

You know what’s more annoying than beach kelp on

There will also be some bream in close, and another predator on some beaches: big dusky flathead. They will pick up a whole ganged pilchard meant for tailor.

Occasionally some sizable bream have been caught on ganged pillies, but it is not the favourite method.

Now let’s look at where you should fish this month.

Starting at Manly Beach, try to keep away from the South Steyne to the beach volleyball area when the surf carnivals/competitions are

keep your bait down at the depth you want to fish.

When it comes to artificials, the Rapala Silstar Slapstix soft jerkbait in white has produced a couple of fish. The Daiwa Saltiga Dorado Slider 18S stickbait is also working well.

That’s it for this month.

Just remember, if you’re into New Year’s resolutions

Everyo

fresh mullet fillet soaked in pilchard or tuna oil. It’s good to have a carry bag with all of your accessories and bait while you wade around in the shallows, as it gives you better mobility.

Kings off the rocks have been good one day and slow the next. Spear fishers and inshore boat traffic can make a big difference on your outcome, along with the variable swell size and variations in water temperature. A shift in as little as 2°C in water temperature can determine whether or not your day will be productive or slow. There are just so many factors to take into account with this species.

If you want to try catching kings off the rocks, try to get yourself some sea gars. They are a little difficult to find, so when you spot them in a shop you should grab some before they’re gone. Buy couple or more kilos and pack them down into packs of four or five gars. If you have a vacuum sealer that’s the best option, but wrapping them in cling wrap is also good.

Using swivels in between your ganged hooks will make it much easier to bait up your gar. Use a set of sturdy hooks such as Mustard 7766Ds with very strong, small swivels in between them. For maximum attraction, put an occy plastic skit over the bill of your gar.

Live baits like live yellowtail are practical for the average angler to obtain off the ocean rocks. All you need to do is suspend your livey under a turnip float or torpedo float, and fish it approximately 2-6m deep, depending on the depth of the location. Unweighted is preferred, unless conditions are really washy. If that’s the case, add a sinker weight to

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Hills Kassem all the way from Melbourne with his dream fish: two great rock blackfish to 2kg. Even though rock blackfish are regarded as a winter time species, they can still be caught in good numbers in January. on. North Steyne Surf Club north towards Queenscliff is preferred. Curl Curl Beach does not get hammered by swimmers, surfers and anglers as much as some other beaches, and there are all the species mentioned above. The North Narrabeen Beach Lagoon entrance to the Pines near Octavia Street is producing as well.

ROCKS On the ocean rocks, the diversity of species that can be caught could make it difficult for you to decide on what you want to target. Still, targeting a species doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll catch nothing else. For example, when you target snapper off the rocks you may catch bream, tailor, salmon, small kings, groper, rock blackfish and more. The majority of fish caught on that outing will normally be snapper though. And when you’re targeting species like groper or luderick, it’s even more likely that the only species caught will be the targeted one.

So what’s been on the chew lately? For a start, bream numbers have been good of late, especially in the shallows of places like Long Reef. Your beach whiting outfit or luderick outfit is perfect for this. Bream to 38cm on a 3-4kg outfit is a lot of fun! Mixed in with the bream is the odd luderick and rock blackfish.

For this type of fishing I recommend using light sinkers from 00 to 2 ball size with a no. 1 to 1/0 short shank hook. The Mustard 92554 is a good robust hook for the powerful jaws of a bream.

Peeled banana or Endeavour prawns are good, or a Hawkesbury prawn unpeeled is great. Half pilchards, especially from 150mm size fish, are also good, as is

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Take every opportunity to fish this month BOTANY BAY

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

For many of you in holidaymode the fishing will be in full swing this month.

There will so much on offer this month that finding the time for some may be really hard, but if you set about getting your tackle ready for when the chance comes up to go for a fish, you can just pick up your gear and go.

edge and into the deeper water on a run-out tide.

If lure fishing isn’t your thing, try getting a few live baits like poddy mullet and yellowtail or buying a few fillets of mullet, slimy mackerel and tuna from your local bait and tackle shop.

Bream, whiting and trevally will be on the chew at the end of the third runway, Mono Point, Yarra Bay Artificial Reef, the oil wharf, the Sticks and Towra Point. If you’re after a few pink nippers, you could

Bryce locked onto a solid drummer on luderick gear.

Bryce was targeting luderick and along came a pig of a drummer that took the cabbage.

January will see plenty of dusky flathead hanging around the entrances to creeks and rivers waiting for that unsuspecting baitfish to come over the edge. This is when you could try working soft plastics, hardbodied lures and blades over the

try pumping them at Dolls Point; if you don’t have a nipper pump, you can buy them from the tackle shops at Brighton and Blakehurst.

They will also have tube and beach worms for sale.

For those of you only able to fish from the shore,

try Silver Beach at Kurnell during a southerly wind and Fishermans Beach at La Perouse during a northerly wind. The beach from the Cooks River entrance to Dolls Point is always good for a shot at bream, whiting, flathead, trevally and tailor.

Further upstream you could try drifting the channel upstream of the Como Bridge and the entrance to the Woronora River for bream, flathead and whiting. Mulloway have been feeding at the bases of the bridges on the Georges River, so try working those large soft plastics during the slacker parts of the tide.

Bass and estuary perch have been taking surface lures upstream of the Milperra Bridge and right up to the weir at Liverpool.

The freshwater side of the weir has also been producing bass and carp for those fishing from the shore or out of a kayak.

The rocks from Kurnell

to Boat Harbour in the south are worth a shot for bonito, salmon, tailor and kingfish on a rising tide. Small to medium metal slugs and poppers are the go.

Luderick and drummer are still about and will be there throughout the year.

Recently a mate of mine gave me a call and it didn’t take long before I was in my car and we were at Kurnell chasing luderick and drummer on a falling tide. It doesn’t take much tackle for the luderick and drummer; all you need is a rod, reel, float, swivels, line, knife, pliers, float stoppers, spit shots, ball sinkers and hooks. Did I say hooks? Make sure that you don’t forget the hooks like I did. Thanks goodness Bryce had some.

January is a great month to get out on the beaches north of Botany Bay to target whiting and bream during the day, and tailor and mulloway during the night. Bondi, Coogee, Mackenzies, Tamarama and

Maroubra beaches will all be worth a shot for bream and whiting on beach worms during the day and tailor and the odd mulloway

while using either squid or whole pilchards and garfish at night.

Scotty Lyons reports that out off Coogee in about 50m there have been snapper, morwong, trevally, trag and the odd pearl perch being caught.

The peak will be holding kingfish, leatherjackets and very large trevally. Live yellowtail, slimies and jigs would be the go.

If you’re after a feed of sand flathead, try working the 35-50m area off Little Beach and Little Bay. Trolling for kingfish, salmon, tailor and bonito off the coast would also be worth a try early in the morning, as you are working your way north to Coogee. Marlin will also start to show up out wide.

Don’t forget if you have a photo of a fish that you have caught, you can send it to me at gbrown1@ iprimus.com.au with what you caught it on and I will add it into my column.

Oliver Gregorio went fishing with his dad Richard and outdid him with a very nice silver trevally.

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So many great choices to start the year off SYDNEY SOUTH

Gary Brown gbrown1@iprimus.com.au

Decisions, decisions, decisions! What to target and where to go during January? There are just so many options that it can be hard at times.

Do I go chasing whiting with surface lures in the estuary or do I get some beach worms and chase them off the beach? Maybe I can grab some live bait and target dusky flathead in the back of Gymea, Yowie or Gunnamatta Bay. Chasing them with lures would be a good way to go,

whether you are fishing off the shore or out of a boat.

On the other hand, You could go trolling for kingfish off the coast south of the Port Hacking or troll a squid or two around the southwest arm. Maybe you could pump a few nippers and anchor up at Lilli Pilli on a run-in tide and berley

When the cold currents come in close the barracouta can be a pest at times.

The author just loves whole snapper cooked on the BBQ.

up trevally and bream. What about chasing drummer off the rocks or watching to see if a luderick pulls the float down while fishing Kitcheners Reef in the Port Hacking?

You could even try for leatherjackets in the main channel near the ballast heap or try catching a few blue swimmer crabs. And

who could forget chasing bream on one of the many flats found in the Port?

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a decision that I am going the leave up to you; as for me, I am going to try and do all of the above and some more as January is a month when you can target just about everything the Southern Sydney area has on offer.

As the Port Hacking River is a small waterway, the boat traffic on the weekends can get a bit busy. This is where I will get to the ramp just as the sun is about to come up late in the afternoon, when most anglers are getting off the water. During the week I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have that problem as many anglers are at work,

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but remember January is the school holidays.

For those of you with a young family looking for

somewhere to take them for a fish, BBQ and a play, you could try the area at the end of Swallow Rock Drive.

Carol with a decent pan-sized snapper that was caught in 65m of water off the Sea Cliff Bridge on a pilly tail.

Here you have a chance of catching bream, whiting and flathead. Nippers and worms are the best baits.

Further upstream at Audley in the Royal National Park you have a number of picnic areas on the downstream side of the weir where you could set up and fish from the shore.

There is plenty of room for the kids to run around.

Other places you could try are Bundeena and Maianbar in the RNP. If you are going here, you won’t have to pay the park entry fee and there are a few beaches here that you have a chance of catching bream, flathead, whiting and the odd trevally.

Boat Harbour through to South Cronulla have been producing whiting and bream on the rising and falling tides on beach worms, pink nippers and tube worms.

Marley, Wattamolla, Garie and Stanwell Park beaches will be producing bream and whiting. Just remember if you are going to fish any of the beaches in the Royal National Park, you will need to either have a yearly pass or pay an entry fee.

Luderick can still be caught inside the Port Hacking and off the rocks.

All you need is good fresh green weed or cabbage.

Tailor, salmon, kingfish, frigate mackerel and bonito are worth a shot in the main basin and the north and southwest arms with squid, metals and deep diving lures. Keep an eye out for terns and seagulls working as they dive into the water to get the leftover pieces of baitfish. Surface lures would be worth a shot.

NSW Fisheries have put in a new set of John Dunphy artificial reefs off the southern side of the entrance to the Port Hacking River. Scotty and I checked them out recently and there were literally hundreds of slimy mackerel schooling up around them.

It won’t take long for the kingfish, salmon, tailor and snapper to find them.

More than two years in the making, the reef is the largest of its kind in Australia, comprising of 36 reef modules at a total size of 3600m3.

Check out their website for the GPS marks at w w w. d p i . n s w. g o v. a u / fishing/recreational/ resources/artificial-reef/ southern-sydney.

Don’t forget if you have a photo of a fish that you have caught, you can send it to me at gbrown1@ iprimus.com.au with what you caught it on and I will add it to my column.

James Blair and his mates drove to Narooma to try their luck at some kings, and ended up with a tasty mixed bag for the table.

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A great season of fishing in Western Sydney WESTERN SYDNEY

Peter Jacovides

We are right in the middle of a great season of fishing in Western Sydney. The fish have been absolutely going off over the last month or so. Monster bass have been caught in the Hawkesbury/ Nepean system and I’m very happy to say most of those have been released and are probably ready to be caught again.

I realise many of those big fish are actually estuary perch, but who cares what

you call them; I call them a tonne of fun.

The bass are still being caught on surface lures at the moment, though they can be caught on every lure from a small Celta to a big spinnerbait, or a tiny floating minnow, or a swimbait you’d expect to throw at a Murray cod. By far the most rewarding is to throw a bait resembling a cicada or cricket. For me that means Megabass Sigletts or Tiemco Soft Shell Cicadas. My old standby is the tailor-made Basscada and last year’s newcomer, the Jackall Micro

Now is a great time for yellowbelly and Murray cod in most stocked lakes and rivers.

Hobie kayak to avoid the ‘slitherers.’

It’s still holiday season and many Western Sydney anglers are travelling to the briny to get into some big blue water critters. Many

duty here at Australian Bass Angler to help you.

• Peter Jacovides has been the owner/operator of the Australian Bass Angler tackle store in Penrith for more than 20 years and is available to

Monster bass have been caught in the Hawkesbury/Nepean system recently.

Pompadaur, has quickly made its way into this elite group.

Great bass haven’t been limited to the Hawkesbury.

Great catches have come from the Parramatta River above the weir swimming amongst schools of big carp. Some thumpers have come from Lake Lyall near Lithgow, Glenbawn Dam and my favourite Lake St Clair near Scone.

While I’m talking lakes, some memorable trout catches can be had around the Blue Mountain lakes like Lyall, Oberon, Wallace and Thompson Creek have all produced some great fish lately. I prefer fishing from my kayak instead of walking the banks in the

hot summer months. It’s probably not because I hate sharing my path with a heap of snakes, which the locals here say won’t bother me as long as I’m a bit wary, but maybe it is.

Now is a great time for yellowbelly and Murray cod in most stocked lakes and rivers. Angus (one of our casual staff) and his brother were out cod fishing a few weeks ago and simply walking the banks. They landed 39 fish in three days and dropped many more, so to say it’s worth arranging a Murray cod trip soon is an understatement, but you know my thoughts on walking the banks in mid-summer regarding ‘Joe Blakes.’ Get yourself a beaut

We are right in the middle of a great season of fishing in Western Sydney. The fish have been going off over the last month or so. have been successful on marlin, tuna, cobia, giant kings and more, and I’m stuck here at the shop hearing stories and being very green with envy. If you’re in need of local info or supplies, I will be on

offer advice or have a chat most days. If you want to know about the latest tackle or technique, kayak fishing, or tournament bass boats, drop into the store at 105 Batt Street, Penrith or phone (02) 4721 0455.

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Water temperatures rise and so do fishy appetites THE TWEED

Anthony Coughran

We’ve had a great month for fishing on the Tweed. High ocean temperatures saw an early start to the pelagic season. Good numbers of kingfish, mahimahi and the odd wahoo, marlin and mackerel are starting to show up and they are putting anglers’ skills to the test.

High river temperatures have been turning the jacks on and they are really starting to wreak havoc throughout most systems as they feed up for their spawning season.

Some quality whiting are up on the flats this month feeding up on yabbies, worms and crustaceans.

You will normally find big flathead up in the shallows chasing these whiting and they can be a rewarding by-catch of whiting fishing.

Bass have really come on the bite with the high temperatures and the insect invasion. Surface lures are fishing really well in the back creeks and upper river systems.

The author with a nice feed of summer snapper. skills and gear to the test.

Whether it’s live bait, jigs, metals or stickbaits and poppers, they are smashing just about anything and everything put in front of them. Trolled baits and floating pilchards are catching the odd mackerel around Nine-Mile, FiveMile and Fidos, but no real numbers yet.

Leon McClymont looks proud with his school-sized mahimahi.

OFFSHORE It’s definitely a different season to last year, that’s for sure. Water temperatures of 26°C or more and clear blue water has graced us with its presence this year, which has seen good schools of kingfish hanging around Nine-Mile, Five-Mile and the Windarra banks feeding up on bait schools. These brutes are putting anglers’

Mahimahi are on the FADs, 24s, 36s and the 50 fathoms with the odd wahoo and marlin shadowing these speedsters. Look for current lines and floating structure.

Trolling skirted lures is working best this month for these speedy acrobats.

Bass groper and bar cod are out in 300-500m of water. Electric reels are a must for one of these barrels.

There are still yellowfin and marlin out on the shelf and the odd larger mahimahi shadowing the yellowfin.

Mixed reefies have been caught on close reefs using drift baits and plastics – this is a great way to get a feed.

Look for large concentrations on your sounder and then position yourself so you drift back through these concentrations.

Using berley while drifting will get them up off the bottom feeding. We call this style of berleying ‘seeding the grounds’ and it’s a great way to get a feed on these close reefs. Yakkas and slimies can be found on Ten-Minute Reef, yakkas at the sand pumping jetty, bonnies on Point Reef and snapper, yakkas and pike at Kirra Reef. Yakkas, bonnies and mac tuna can also be found at Kingscliff Reef.

ESTUARY With water temperatures of 27-30°C, the jacks have really fired and are feeding up with most anglers only landing one in every three fish. Live baits on a two-hook rig of a night around most bridges and rock walls are fishing really well. Lures work just as well during the day; targeting key structures is the key.

Try Boyds Bay Bridge, Barneys Point Bridge, Cobaki Bridge and rock wall and Chinderah rock walls, which have all produced good fish recently.

The whiting have moved up onto the sand banks and are starting to feed up.

Worms, yabbies and poppers are still the best way to get a feed of these ghosts of the flats.

Try Terranora, Cobaki, the golf club, the houseboats, the Piggery, the Cudgera Creek mouth and the oyster racks in Brunswick. Flathead have been up on the sand flats chasing the whiting and are quiet often a great by-catch of whiting fishing.

Your best bet for catching these big girls is still 2.5-5” plastics. Being up in the shallows you can go right down to a 1/12oz jighead.

This will give your plastics more hang time in the crucial strike zone.

Matching the hatch is just

as crucial and is the key to really nailing these fish in skinny water. This is great fun on light rods and reels and you can get away with lighter leader. Some 6-12lb fluorocarbon normally does the trick.

GTs and bigeye trevally have been chasing bait in the river and along the rock walls on a run-in tide. Find the bait and find the trevally. Blades, vibes and surface lures are catching these speedsters.

Bullies are starting to wreak havoc for anglers that are live bait fishing for jacks in the upper reaches of the Tweed. If you’re chasing these brutes, try freshwater eel, stingray flaps or large whole live mullet up around Condong Sugar Mill, Murderers Creek and around Stots Island for the best results and a bit of bully fun.

The crabs are running well; Stots Island, Rous River, Bilambil Creek, Duroby Creek and Cobaki Creek have all produced some quality can openers.

BEACHES Dart have moved into most gutters along beaches, around most headlands and along the surf side of all the rock walls of the Tweed region. White bait, small metals and small plastics are all catching fish. Kirra Groin, Snapper Rocks, Tweed rock walls, Fingal Headland, Kingscliff rock walls and the gutter on the south beaches are all holding great small schools of dart.

Whiting, bream and flathead are sitting in these gutters and are great

Andrew Strong with a nice Cobaki red dog.

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by-catches while fishing for the silver dinner plate. A few GTs and bigeye hang around the ends of the rock walls in the current. Slugs, stickbaits, poppers and plastics are your best bet for a good-size trevally. There are beach worms and pipis on the south beaches if you need fresh baits.

FRESHWATER It’s great to see the insects out and active; it really gets the bass fired up for surface strikes. Cicadas, frogs, shallow diving bugs, walkthe-dog lures and poppers are all fishing well this month.

Dusk and dawn are the best times to get a big fat bass to slurp your lure off the top.

Deep-diving lures, jig spins, hardbodied lures and vibe lures are fishing well once the sun is up. Aiming for shadows and under overhanging trees is the key during the day. Clarrie Hall Dam is fishing well this month. Working vibes and shallow diving lures over the top and alongside the weeds and lilies produces some great fish.

We should see similar conditions this month, with most anglers chasing mackerel with troll baits and float lines. The pelagics should move in closer to feed on bait schools and you will see more people trolling skirts over the next month.

Jacks will be feeding up and putting on fat so they can spawn. Structure is the key for a big red dog.

Whiting and flathead will still be prolific on the sand flats and a great way to get the kids involved. Trevally will push further into the systems to feed up. Finding bait schools is the key.

Crabs will move through the systems as they fatten up and shed their shells.

Hopefully we will get a run of school prawns this year, which hasn’t been seen in the Tweed for a few years.

If you would like any additional info on any form of fishing, send me a message on our Facebook page Fishing Fun Gold Coast and I will be happy to help you out, or if you would like to see the weekly fishing and weather reports for the Tweed and Gold Coasts check out the page.

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It’s still a really busy time to be on the water BALLINA

Joe Allan

Happy New Year, readers.

I love this time of year. The cricket is on almost every day, the fishing is red-hot

and you can eat as much as you want and not get in trouble from anyone.

The downside at this time of year is there is more traffic on the water than normal, so take care. Be patient and make sure you

Noah Rampling caught this beautiful 96cm flathead all by himself; it was released to swim away.

have done your preparation with all your equipment.

Take your time at the boat ramp and above all, be courteous to all other waterway users.

Crabs have turned up in patches around the middle reaches from Pimlico to Broadwater. Hopefully we get a bit of rain to stir them up a bit more. Give the pots plenty of time to settle and let the crabs find the bait.

The lower reaches of the Richmond have produced some great catches of bream. Try casting noisy crankbaits at the walls early in the mornings while the tide is running. Straightthrough fluorocarbon line is best suited for this. The best lures to try are deep diving hardbodies and the colour I pick depends on the clarity. Dark colours work for low light, solid and bright colours for dirty water and more translucent and natural finishes are best for bright sun and clearer water.

Bass have been quiet around Coraki and Woodburn, as the fish have well and truly moved upstream. You may find them in patches but for good numbers, try the upper reaches around Lismore and Casino. If you’re out early or late and the cicadas are deafening, remember to tie on your surface lures to imitate these tasty snacks for bass. The trick

with these is not to do too much. Just shake your rod tip slightly every now and again, like a cicada that’s fallen out of a tree.

Offshore has been patchy, with the best results on the mahimahi coming from around the FADs. Make sure you get a long drift on these. Live yakkas have been best with almost no weight. If you’re getting bites and not hooking up, try putting a treble hook as a stinger hooked into the fish’s tail. This has helped a few local anglers turn those bites into fish.

Mackerel will come in towards the end of December and should be really thick through January.

There have been good reports around the Gold and Sunshine Coast early in December, so as the water warms up these beauties will come along with it.

Beaches have been producing good catches of whiting and flathead.

Look for the main gutters around South Ballina, along Patches Beach and Boundary Creek. Fresh bait is always better. Try digging a few pipis or getting a few beach worms – that’s a skill I have not yet mastered.

Neil Bauer caught this great hapuka out wide off Ballina.

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Predictions for the mid-summer fishing YAMBA

Dave Gaden

This month Yamba and Iluka on the northern side of the river should be overflowing with people holidaying in what we call ‘paradise.’

moment. Water will be warm and clear, so try to find somewhere that offers a bit more cover for the fish; deeper or darker water can sometimes be the answer. The Broadwater upstream of Maclean is a favourite of mine.

If you know how to

possibly already know where the fish are. If not, sit at the mouth and ask someone if you can follow them in to find the channel.

Sometimes just drifting across the mouth will be enough to catch a bag of fish, and it’s a beautiful place to fish.

The North Arm behind Goodwood Island and the entrance to Lake Woolawayah are also worth a serious look.

Whiting have had another good year and will be around this month.

Pumping some live yabbies is a must for these tasty little critters. You can quite often catch whiting in bigger numbers if the weather is terrible. They really like to have a go when its windy and even raining – it must have something to do with them feeling secure enough to come into the shallow water.

Crabs should be a given at this time of the year. Mud crabs have been great all year and all things being fair and equal, the blue swimmers should be

A nice Venus tuskfish for Johnny.

Brian is all smiles showing off his second lobster for the day caught on a line.

The river should be producing a heap of summer flathead at the

navigate the narrow channel to get into the Broadwater itself then you

Kendal Dowley with a 9.9kg snapper from Black Rock.

everywhere. There are a couple of things to keep in mind if you are crabbing; laws are different from state to state, so make sure you know the requirements for traps and how to measure your catch.

Ty not to set the traps in the navigation channels.

Some of these are very narrow – trawlers and even our charter boats are restricted by the lack of water either side of the channel. Maritime will collect traps left in the navigation channels.

Also please use sinking rope. This is actually a requirement, but too often you see a buoy and 20ft of floating rope hanging of it

just waiting for some poor bugger’s propeller.

Offshore in January is a heap of fun, with pelagics like spotted and Spanish mackerel around as well as longtail tuna, yellowfin and even a good spattering of wahoo and small black marlin a little further out.

The mackerel are the easy targets. Trolling the basic pink squid skirt is a no-brainer, so throw a diver lure out with it. My favourite at the moment is the Zerek Speed Donkey in redhead.

There are some days the mackerel feed just that bit deeper and the diver takes a lot of fish. I use the same lure for the wahoo

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further offshore.

Mahimahi are everywhere at this time of the year. Although trying

to keep a float bait out the back for them can be hard with the mutton birds being able to dive almost 6m to

mulloway. This is a good place to fish at this time of the year, as the northeast wind predominately picks up just before noon and will push you back to Yamba.

You also have the bonus of being able to troll through Woody Head and Shark Bay at first light to get a few mackerel in the box before the rest of the trip.

The reef in front of Brooms Head to the south will be a good drift for Venus tuskfish and pearl perch in around 40m of water. There is literally a hundred acres n Boflareef here a Praw b es” “Yam to fish and it can dproduce up to a dozen different edible species a day.

Just a basic paternoster rig with some cut baits of mullet and pilly will be the go, but a mate of mine always fishes green prawns for the tuskfish and he can catch up to 10 in a session, so there might be something in it.

As always, the holidays make everything busy. Boat ramps especially can be a bit testy and the waterways will be full of boats going in all directions.

A little patience will go a long way to making the holidays more pleasant.

Call into the shop at the marina if you need any up-to-date advice or would like to join one of my deep sea charters.

YAMBA BAIT & TACKLE “Yamba’s Leading Tackle Shop” “IN THE MAIN STREET” Shop 3, 8 Yamba St, Yamba There are good snapper available on the wide grounds this month.

Alan Johnson from Tamworth with a nice pearl perch.

steal the bait. Try to have a rig ready for when you see the bright yellow tails cruise past the boat. A trip to the FAD will definitely find these fish, but they are touchy.

Some days they won’t touch anything you give

them and two hours later you are catching them on bare silver hooks.

The Italian Grounds on the south side of South Evans Reef (approximately 12nm north of the bar) will have nice trag most days as well as snapper and

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Summer pelagics are moving in this month Use long casts, fast retrieves and when the hits come don’t stop. Keep them chasing and fighting for the bait. Trailing hooks will help on the hook-up rate. If you can snag a session where they’re really keen, it can be some of the most enjoyable fishing you can do with light and easy gear to fish with, wide open easy casting, exciting hits and fighting fish, and a great feed on the plate if you decide to a keep a few at the end of it.

Our freshwater rivers and creeks have been fairing

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The height of summer and the start of a new year is upon us. We have seen an early start to the summer pelagics this year with spotted mackerel making their first appearance in the last few days of November. This month we should see them become more consistent, especially inshore. Their bigger Spanish cousins should become more dominant over this month.

Slimy mackerel and yakkas are the go-to bait for most anglers, with the former being the most irresistible to the mackerel.

If you want to really target a bigger Spaniard though, it’s a big live bait that you want. Large, dead or live

enjoyable places to fish as well as the most productive, in terms of big bass.

On certain beaches in our area this month you will find thousands of tourists sunbaking and bogged 4WDs on the one off-road adventure they ever get used for. Most anglers will be avoiding those beaches this month, but on those beaches and most others there will be reasonable fishing for your bread and butter species. Bream, flathead and whiting are most active in the gutters close by to the estuary mouths.

Garry Hambly having fun with the resident kingfish in this secret location. mullet and bonito do well at attracting larger fish but a legal-size tailor will stay

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alive and kicking really well; these have been very tempting to big barries.

As mackerel fever sets in most anglers can’t get their eyes past the surface fishing. There is still good fishing to be had closer to the reef. Snapper and trag have been plentiful from the 40-60m mark. The current has been running hard on the outer limit though, so it can be hard work fishing on the bottom. If you can get your baits down to a school, there will be any number of takers ready to snatch a not-so-free lunch.

The schooled-up snapper are mostly on the medium size; you will need to search more thoroughly to find the bigger fish. Live baits, plastics and slow jigs have been the most successful on the larger snapper with the slow jigs being the easiest to work in the deeper water and faster currents.

Out wider the mahimahi can be found on any of the structures sitting in water

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over 24°C. They do shut down once they’ve been targeted each day, though.

There is a race every morning to be the first to the fish traps, waves buoy and FAD. First one there is very likely to pick up a decent fish, but after that they are much more cautious about what they will pick off. A berley trail and small cube baits can get them back to biting, as will a well-placed live bait. In regards to lures, it’s usually the mahimahi colour baits that work best.

Around the headlands the school mulloway have been present, and the estuaries have been the most consistent. The breakwalls, bridges and deep water dropoffs in the lower estuaries have been the most the most productive. Live baits do well at night. Soft plastics are doing most of the work, and getting most of the results.

These same areas have been producing good flathead and the whiting have been very active on the flats. Now is the time to be targeting whiting with surface lures. Fish the upcoming tide with clear poppers and surface walkers like the Bassday Sugapen and Zipbait Skinny Pop.

There have been plenty of flathead around in the estuaries. Jordon Voglsinger got this one on a soft plastic during the Urunga Flathead Tournament. far better than last summer.

We have had a reasonably wet spring and – other than some extreme hot weather in September – the mercury has stayed down in the ‘mild’ range. With these conditions the big bass have had free reign to find the best parts of the river systems and stay there. The biggest bass have mostly taken up residence in the rainforest lined holes, far upstream. In the height of summer, these are the most

School mulloway can be found anywhere there is a bit of cover close to the gutters.

White bait has been one of the most popular baits if you can get them, otherwise catching some fresh beach worms is great summer fun and should end in a decent catch come high tide.

Whether you decide to fish with the crowds or get out on your own this month, I hope the fish are on and your hooks are sticky.

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The gamefishing season hasn’t really reached any spectacular heights just yet, but the late spring to early summer reports suggested good things were just around the corner. After last season’s complete lack of action on the bluewater front, the fishing gods better be looking our way this time!

Of course we’ve all been reading and hearing about the spectacular blue marlin fishing at Fraser Island this past spring, and impatiently wondering when it will be our turn.

Well, all it will take is for some of that biomass to drift south and it should be game on. We need current to do that, and lately we have that in spades. With 3 knots of current ripping straight down the continental shelf, this might be good when it loses strength at Port Stephens, but it makes gamefishing life a little hard here.

A roaring current is a common complaint though, and it happens at the start of every summer. As soon as it breaks up or slows down though, it should develop into a steady bite, particularly for those soughtafter blues. Bait along the shelf has been quite scarce with few skipjack schools

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Don Cummings with a cracker mahimahi taken in late spring. and a distinct lack of flying fish activity, but it is still early days yet.

There have been a few

John Stafford with one of the rarer billfish species to visit Coffs waters – a shortbill spearfish.

nice mahimahi riding the big blue highway south as well. Disparagingly called ‘golden sea carp’ over the border due to their numbers, we’re well overdue for a good mahimahi season here. Ditto for wahoo – despite the damage they can do to lure skirts, those tiger striped speedsters are always welcome.

Whether there’s a run of little blacks inshore this summer remains to be seen, but a couple have been caught further down the coast, including one reasonable mid-ranger from South West Rocks. Just about every reef in the Coffs area has been loaded with slimy mackerel, and plenty of open water ripplers have been breezing about as well. They’re big ones too – what we used to call ‘Bermi-sized’ where they’re as wide as a house brick behind the head.

Seemingly in response to baitfish numbers, there was also a burst of early spotted mackerel action at the start of summer, which had a few of the die-hards out for a look the second word got out.

Unfortunately, they are here today and gone tomorrow at best. Apparently there’s an advance run each season, before the main body works their way down the coast, with the Spanish following close behind.

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Beating the crowds to find some trophy fish let that stop you from giving this area a go. The butterbream and toads will decimate a prawn in seconds, but that will all forgotten when a school of kingfish rolls through and grabs your whiting bait and your reel makes a noise like a strangled cat. Although the aforementioned scenario is not overly common, it does happen, so always bring a heavier outfit with the ability to cast at least a chrome slice or hefty popper, and that way you can prospect around with a lure and hopefully sight a king. Once you see one them, you can focus

NAMBUCCA

Riley Wilson

This month is a time many anglers in the Nambucca Valley are very keen to get out on the water, as the pelagics are here! There may be crowds of people and more boats than ever, but there is a reason, and that reason is Spanish mackerel, and the action is as hot as the weather!

Big Spanish mackerel are the drawcard for most and we all know why. With their growth potential up towards 60kg and models commonly encountered above 20kg, they hit hard and run like a rocket, and it’s no wonder they are a major target around Nambucca.

Not to be ignored though are the spotted mackerel, which arrive in giant schools and are brilliant on a plate.

When it comes to getting a good feed versus losing lots of tackle to the razor gang, it can be a tough mission sometimes, especially when they get wire shy and will only eat baits tied to silly string with no hope of holding them, let alone withstanding those horrible teeth!

Getting back in the river

on them, watching the way they react to your offering and then you can tailor your approach accordingly. Don’t worry, they will let you know when you get it right.

Up in the freshwater, the bass have well and truly had enough rain to get them into their summer homes and the cicadas crickets and frogs are all doing their thing. Night time sessions up in some secluded pools that don’t see a lot of fishing pressure are what we are all chasing, but some are new to the area or here to have a holiday adventure away from the crowds, and they don’t have

a far flung long lost relative with a bean farm in the middle of nowhere. What do they do? Get online, check out Google Maps and hunt for likely bodies of water that you could get a kayak or canoe into. The hardest part is finding where the brackish water ends and the freshwater starts, but then once you nail that down your adventure begins. Just watch out for the brown snakes, forests of stinging nettle and rogue bulls willing to defend their herd against bass anglers!

Happy fishing everyone and enjoy your New Year!

Luke Ryffel has been hard at it, this time with a PB flathead of 86cm. amongst the paddle brigade and the horde of jet skis can yield some good fishing, but once you get into the skinny water around the inner harbour, Belwood and the western side of the golf course, all sorts of stuff will turn up in around the weedbeds, rocky outcrops and mudflats. In these areas,

try fishing the top half of the tide if you are in a boat, because it can get very skinny sometimes. If you are on foot, you can access the last of the deeper holes on the bottom of the tide where some big flathead will lie.

The V-wall at the river mouth is tourist central at this time of year, but don’t

Prospecting a bass creek in the upper Nambucca Valley.

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Good signs for the month ahead SOUTH WEST ROCKS

Mark Bird

Offshore is fishing quite well at the moment, with some good size kings caught out at Fish Rock. The odd spotty mackerel is around too, although at the time

gar. You can maximise the appeal of your dead bait with a pink skirt.

When using bait for mackerel, it’s recommended to use a little bit of wire on the front or you’ll get a lot of snip-offs. On spotties you fish with wire from 27-45, and for Spanish mackerel

There are a few pearl perch being caught at the moment, mixed in with the snapper and morwong. of writing they haven’t arrived in force. Hopefully the Spanish will soon move in with the spotties as they come down, although we can’t count on them being in good numbers. Some years there are plenty of them, and other years there are very few.

You can get mackerel on chrome lures or trolled divers, livebait, ganged pillies or

you’re looking at anywhere from 45-105.

If you’re using livebait, rig it with a 4/0 livebait hook through the nose, and to maximise your chances you can run a stinger treble down near the tail.

Out wide anglers have been picking up a few marlin, and we’ve had a few yellowfin poking around too. There are also mahimahi (dolphinfish)

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being caught around the FAD, which has been put back in after being washed out. The mahimahi are readily taking livebaits, and are also coming up to smash poppers and surface stickbaits. Anytime you see something floating in the ocean, throw a bait or a popper to it because there could be dollies under there.

Even a bit of rope can be worth a cast; I once got three Spanish and four dollies off some floating rope.

On the bottom anglers are getting the usual snapper and morwong, and a few pearlies as well. Some anglers are changing up the traditional two-bait paternoster by using a bait on the bottom and a surf popper on the top. Often it’s the popper that gets hit rather than the bait. The buoyant poppers want to float, and their feather provides extra resistance, so they waft around enticingly.

Unfortunately there are a lot of sharks around, and if they move in your only option is to leave, otherwise you’ll just keep feeding them. The only upside is that there are a few little black tips amongst them, which aren’t bad eating.

Off the beaches we are starting to see a few more whiting turn up, and by far the best bait for them is live beach worms. There’s a sprinkling of bream and flathead in there as well.

There’s a heap of whiting upriver at the moment, and they’re a really good size as well. Anglers are also getting some nice flathead while fishing the drop-offs and the sand bars on the last of the run-out and the first of the run-in. The flathead are taking live baits, whitebait, strips of mullet, soft plastics and bibbed minnows. As the tide is running out last of the run out and the first of the run-in.

With the river being so clear, anglers chasing bream are starting to use fish finesse with light fluorocarbon to

fool the fish.

Down at the river mouth, along with the usual scattered mulloway, there are a few yellowtail kingfish moving in and out. Fishers are picking up the odd black king (cobia) as well, but nothing of any size.

The big ones are outside; one caught at Black Rock went 20kg. Cobes will take fresh cut slab baits, and I suspect the larger crab imitations on the market will be effective too, as these fish are known to eat a lot of crabs.

The rock hoppers are getting a few bream off the rocks. In the clear water you’ll want to fish in close for bream, with very little lead.

Try to keep it in close and let it move around in the wash.

Along with the usual odd mulloway off the rocks, there have been some nice kingies coming in close as well.

THE MONTH AHEAD The early catches of mackerel in December mean that the mackerel run should start early, kicking into gear in January.

The river is very clear at the moment, so finesse fishing is required for consistent bream catches.

We’re also seeing good signs for a great black marlin season. In November off Fraser Island there was a great run of little blacks, with one boat getting 100 marlin in one month, so everyone

More black kings should move in this month. They will readily take dead bait such as strips of mullet.

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is looking forward to their arrival. That’s provided we don’t get any floods spewing out dirty water, which will cause everything to take a wide berth.

In the New Year the whiting season will increase, with more good catches of whiting on the beaches as summer progresses. In the rivers, the bream, flathead and whiting will be the staple.

The tailor will hopefully stick around after their traditional Christmas run.

A few more yellowtail kingfish should start featuring in catches, and the black kingies will begin to move in as well.

Finally, make sure you cover up in the summer sun with long-sleeve shirts, plenty of sunscreen and a hat.

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Find some free time to get out on the water SOUTH WEST ROCKS

Brent Kirk kempsey@compleatangler.com.au

Happy New Year to all and I hope this year frees up some time to get out and enjoy the outdoors, whether it be fishing with family or mates or just simply enjoying what is on offer at this time of year, especially for those visiting the Macleay Valley during the holiday season.

It can be quite hectic and crowded at times around boat ramps during the holiday season, but it’s

all worth it in the end as there is some seriously good fishing to be had on the Mid North Coast throughout the summer months.

Kingfish numbers have been good for a couple of months now and there have been some quality fish being taken from the headlands and the usual haunts like Fish Rock, Black Rock and Green Island, as well as along the face of Gaol Wall. There have also been a few cobia in the mix in these areas.

Big kings have also been found out in the deep water out around the FAD on those days when

ever and the average size is around the 5-6kg mark, making them well and truly legal size if you are after a feed.

The river is teeming with live bait with tonnes of herring and small pike are present. If you can get a tank full of these livies and set yourself up in an area holding bait, there is a good chance a big flathead or school mulloway isn’t far away. The sand flats and weed bed edges up Clybucca Creek are fishing well for whiting on the surface and there are plenty of flathead being taken on the surface from these

ROCKS

School mulloway like this are on the cards year round if you actively target them.

Marty Nichols with a nice sand flat whiting taken on a surface lure.

shallow areas too.

The headlands have been plagued with bronze whaler sharks lately, which makes fishing for other species hard at times. If you can get away from them, there have been some good mulloway and cobia coming in.

The upper reaches of the river system are turning on some quality bass fishing with the Macleay showing once again its potential as one of the best bass rivers in the country.

Bass fishing in January is all about surface luring and at this time of year the bigger, the better.

the current lays off a bit and allows access to the bottom. Mahimahi have been on and off, depending on this current; if you troll out wide in the vicinity, it’s always worth a pass.

Hopefully this month the mackerel will start to make their presence felt.

Both spotted and Spanish mackerel become one of our main target species from now until about early June, so make sure you have wire ready.

Beach fishing is warming up, with a good amount of whiting in the gutters. Along Smokey Beach school mulloway have been rampant, especially if you’re fishing until after dark. The odd tailor and plenty of bream are coming in for those anglers who are fishing into the night.

Flicking plastics off the beaches during the daylight hours has been producing

plenty of flathead and this should get even better as we progress through the month. Try using as light a head as you can to get the distance you require and select a tail that moves erratically in the wash and keep in contact with your lure and wait for the strike.

Mud crabs and blue swimmers have been throughout the main river and Clybucca Creek as well as the other creeks in the area. Flathead are absolutely everywhere and responding to just about everything thrown at them.

The bigger fish seem to be along the rock walls hanging in tight against the rocks, laying in wait to ambush. School mulloway have been as prevalent as

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All signs point to a great start to the New Year THE HASTINGS

Mark Saxon castawayestuarycharters@bigpond.com

Welcome to the new year.

Let’s hope Santa bought you some special fishing

gifts that can be put to good use as the summer holiday fishing season gets into full swing. This month promises to be a beauty with fishing options that are endless. Let’s peek at what’s on offer.

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OFFSHORE Anglers heading out this month will have varying fish to target, but the spotlight will be on Port Macquarie Game Fishing Club’s Golden Lure event.

Game boats come from all over to chase the marlin, tuna and other gamefish on offer. Over the last few years some very respectable marlin have been captured, tagged and released.

For the fishos chasing some demersal species, it pays to hit the water early and beat the northeasterlies that spring up around lunchtime.

Snapper, flatties, kingfish and mowies will be on offer and fresh bait or lures will be the best options.

Live bait can be secured from the bait grounds off north wall and if you’re heading north, you can get livies in Plomer Bay. There are plenty of patches of reef between Lighthouse and Cathie that can see you catch snapper, mulloway and pearl perch. For the flathead enthusiasts, the grounds off

Howie Ellis with a bream that took a liking to a Sugapen.

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Mandy Saxon with some good whiting caught kayaking around Lake Cathie.

North Beach produce some nice blue-spots.

BEACHES It’s a great time to be a keen beach fisho with whiting, bream and school mulloway all on offer this month. Most beaches have been fishing well with North Beach, Lighthouse and Grants Beach all worth trying.

Beach worms are a very reliable bait at this time of year and catch a lot of our target species; whiting and bream love them and by going up in hook size and putting a few worms on your hook, you should be in with a very good chance of a decent mulloway. In years gone by I have caught quite a few of them from the local beaches around the new year period.

40

JANUARY 2018

RIVERS This month will see an explosion of boat traffic on our waterways, so it pays to plan to hit the water early, especially if you have an early morning high tide.

Hastings River, Camden Haven, Maria and Wilson rivers are all in great shape this season.

Surface lure fishing is a favourite at this time of year, be it chasing bream, whiting, bass or even flatties.

There will be cicadas singing and prawns moving, so you will have to decide on which surface imitation you prefer.

Casting a Sugapen or similar walk-the-dog style lure over the flats and weed beds will see whiting, bream and flatties on the go. A Tiemco soft shell or similar cast into the structure will produce

bream and bass.

Flathead get highly aggressive at this time of year and a soft plastic cast around the shoreline should see you getting into some action. For those chasing a feed of crabs, this month is certainly worth the effort and mud crabs should be around.

Prawning at Lake Cathie will be in full swing, and getting a feed or some excellent live prawns for bait shouldn’t be a problem, so grab your scoop net and preferably an underwater light and get into it.

Make the most of the holiday season and stay safe on the water. Make sure all the safety gear is on board and remember everyone wants to have fun, so courtesy to other water-users is important.

Mandy with a cracking bass. These fish will be worth targeting in January.

Fishing Fill-its

Fish-friendly structures Marine infrastructure includes structures such as pontoons, jetties, marinas, boat moorings and seawalls.

While usually installed to provide access to and storage for boats, to control erosion and to protect coastal assets, they can have a negative influence on the health and productivity of

The term ‘fish friendly’ covers not only fin fish, but other marine creatures and plants such as invertebrates (e.g. shellfish, sea squirts, starfish, crustaceans, sponges and corals), saltmarsh, mangroves, seagrasses and marine algae. This group of plants and animals grow in areas affected by waterfront

which provides guiding principles for ecologically sustainable design of marine foreshore development.

Complementing this report is the Fish Friendly Marine Infrastructure program by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries). This project has been assisted by the NSW Government

CREATE YOUR ADVENTURES

Woollahra Seawall – not a fish friendly structure. Photo courtesy of NSW DPI. local fisheries. Many of these structures have created increased shading effects and resulted in widespread loss of key fish habitat, such as seagrass meadows, mangrove forests and saltmarsh. This impact has had a long-term negative influence on marine plants

and marine development – estuaries, rocky shores, beaches and near shore coastal environments.

Structures that are ‘fish friendly’ help these plants and animals to survive in modified waterfront and near shore environments.

You could also call them

through its Environmental Trust, with the aim of encouragig infrastructure owners to modify, upgrade or retrofit existing marine infrastructure and to incorporate new fish friendly designs when installing new infrastructure. The project has assembled information

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A more fish-friendly approach at Claydon Reserve, Botany Bay, NSW. Photo courtesy of NSW DPI. and animals which inhabit the shore, including the health and productivity of local fisheries.

New concepts in marine infrastructure design, and alternatives to traditional construction and management techniques, provide opportunities to enhance habitat for marine life in and around these structures. Structures that are ‘fish friendly’ help these plants and animals to survive in modified waterfront and near shore environments.

‘biodiversity friendly’, as they are helping to restore some of the lost ecosystem function, and are also helping to preserve the diversity of organisms able to live in those modified environments.

Some examples are provided at www.fishhabitatnetwork. com.au/projects/fish-friendlymarine-infrastructure (e.g. erosion protection, and fishfriendly roads and weirs).

The University of NSW has released a report titled ‘Guiding Principles for Marine Foreshore Developments’,

Boardwalks with glass panels (left) or metal grills (right) allow the passage of light to the pilings and water column. Photo courtesy of Katherine Dafforn.

about new on-ground works, research and design options to ensure marine infrastructure is fish-friendly.

These new concepts lessen the disturbance and impact on marine life, incorporate design features that provide enhanced habitat in which marine life can live, and help support more fish.

Organisations that have been a part of the Fish Friendly Marine Infrastructure Project include the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW DPI, NSW Transport, NSW Local Land Services (Greater Sydney and Hunter), Port Stephens Council, Marina Industries Association, Sea Life Trust, OceanWatch Australia, The Nature Conservancy Australia, NSW Fish Habitat Partnership, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, and Lake Macquarie City Council. For more information visit the Fish Habitat Network website.

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41

Beat the crowds, find the fish FORSTER

David Seaman dseamo@bigpond.com

There is no doubt in my mind that Forster Tuncurry is one of the most popular holiday destinations within 4 hours

one of the most popular with swimming, jet skiing, boating and fishing all high on the list. In fact, the sand island under the bridge can look like a Where’s Wally scene some days, and as the tide rises the pyramid of people searching for dry sand is just too funny.

slalom marker in a jet ski race. RMS do a fantastic job on the water over summer, but they can’t catch every wrongdoer. If you intend to fish The Paddock or bridge area, you will need to do it early. In past years I have found if you are on the water at first light and off by 10am, you’ll be pretty much immune to the bulk of the boating traffic.

If you find yourself out on the water after the crowds have set sail, it will pay to head further afield and look for wider areas such as The Step or even the flats down around the Palms area. The sand flats down past the Sailing Club can be a great source of fishing, with bream and whiting on surface lures or bait, and flathead from pesky small to 5kg plus fish, so it would pay to investigate

generally fishes well in January, with bream and flathead being the primary target. The upper end of the river fishes particularly well with surface lures. A crab pot in the river for a muddy while you fish is a good idea and apart from the Darawank Park area, the river should be clear of wake boats and water skiers. Wake boats are second on my list, after jet skis, for the most annoying watercraft and why they are allowed in a narrow river is beyond me.

A small boat ramp at Nabiac will avoid all the travelling and manoeuvring hassles of coming up the river, but it is for boats up to 5m in length.

KIDS FUN If you are looking for some entertainment for the kids, try mixing up some bread berley and floating it

Bream are everywhere at the moment and surface lures account for some great action. of Sydney. The summer school holidays transform the usually slow-paced twin towns into a hive of people and activities.

Water sports are certainly

With the influx of holiday-makers through the summer holiday period, you will need to fish smart if you want to enjoy a feed from the lake and avoid being a Rock fishing is one way to enjoy a fishing session and escape the crowds. the area. If the northeaster starts to blow, you can come back to the weed flats and fish for bream on plastics and hardbodies. The further you travel from the bridge and centre of town, the more likely it is that you will find a quiet spot to fish and you’ll have a better chance at catching a fish.

The Wallamba River

MANNING RIVER MARINE N TACKLE

over a weed bed with the slightest current. In no time you should have garfish and mullet teeming behind the boat. The sand mullet fight hard and are a great source of bait, as are the garfish, for a late afternoon beach fish.

Of course, the small bream will get involved, so use long shank hooks to allow easier hook removal.

Spots to look for mullet are the eastern edge of Wallis Island, where a squid bait will also attract the local

Even in January, the odd pig shows up and makes the session worthwhile. leatherjacket population.

They are great fun for the kids and good eating too.

Any of the weed beds that fringe the islands in the system, especially Wallis on the western side, will be good for a mullet or two.

Sandy Island (Miles), that forms Breckenridge Channel against Little Street is my favourite area and fishing the weed beds around The Paddocks is another top spot.

For the visiting anglers, there are a few areas where you can find yabby beds.

The shallow bay that starts at Native Dog Island and runs toward the Wallamba River has heaps of yabbies and the back of Little Tern Island has a good population of yabbies as well, but you will need a low tide. At Native Dog Island, the water is shallow enough to pump the yabbies on the run-out and is so vast it can be done with a floating sieve or a net of some kind. Using the yabbies during the evening or late afternoon, when the boat traffic noise has subsided, you should pick up some good bream and whiting around the leases and bridge area.

ROCK THE CROWDS The only other way to escape the crowds is to do a rock fishing session.

Early morning spinning can produce tailor, mac tuna, bonito and rat kings while a prawn bait will still stir up a pig or too, even in January. Black Head to Seals Rocks has some great rock fishing locations, with a variance from shallow reef to deep channels and edges, so take a look at Google Maps and pick one.

OFFSHORE Offshore the kings are on the hunt, as are the snapper and trag. You’re more likely to come in with a mixed bag of reef fish if you prefer to bottom bounce though the gravel and inshore reefs.

The FAD off Forster has been deployed, and its GPS location can be found on the DPI.nsw.gov.au website. With a bit of luck, the mahimahi will be all over it by now, and you can share in some great action and even better table fare.

So, as for the crowds, love ‘em or hate ‘em, this month is about dealing with it as best you can, but there are spots you can hide.

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JANUARY 2018

You can never be sure what you’ll catch from the rocks. Tarwhine, silver trevally, kings and other unexpected species can turn up.

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Fishing has shown a sharp improvement over the last couple of weeks. We have had several nice falls of rain recently and the farmers are just about satisfied. It could be a little more or a little less here and there but most are happy.

excellent for the New Years holidaymakers.

ESTUARY The Manning estuary has it all at this time of the year. Bream are being caught along the full length of the river on baits and lures. Luderick are on the bite from the river wall, Manning Point and further upriver near the wharves and along the drop-offs. Green weed is the bait to use.

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Bream are being caught throughout the river on bait and lures.

Things aren’t going so well up in the freshwater areas of the Manning. Very little rain has fallen in the upriver parts and there still isn’t flow in the Manning.

However, the prospects for some good soaking rain look good lately. The clouds are building up and it looks like it could storm pretty soon. A run in the river would stir up the fish and make the fishing

Flathead are starting to congregate in the lower parts of the estuary and most people trying for flathead have been managing to bag 4-6 fish a trip. The big mothers haven’t shown up yet but by Christmas Day they will be schooled up on a sand spit somewhere in the mouth of the river.

Mulloway have moved into the river and fish from 3-10kg have been caught

from the river wall on soft plastic lures. A couple of larger fish around 20kg were also landed early in the week. Craig McCartney scored his first decent mulloway the other day.

We can’t work out if the mulloway was unlucky or Craig just fluked it.

Anyway, it was a good fish around the 36lb mark taken on a live mullet bait.

BEACH AND ROCK The beaches haven’t fished well for weeks, but at last some reports are coming in. Good-sized bream were caught from the sand spit on worms and a tailor of 550g was weighed in. This could be a sign of things to come. The Christmas chopper tailor should show up next month.

OFFSHORE The water has been cold for this time of the year with temperatures of 17°C. Luckily the snapper don’t mind a bit of cold water and they have been biting well on the northern grounds. No big fish have been captured, only fish to 3.5kg. When the water warms up and the bait schools come in close there will be plenty of pelagic fish to chase.

January is the time to chase a big flathead. A live bait on a bobby cork rig is the way to go. Anywhere along the river wall, upstream near Harrigans, on the Manning Point side and in the backwater are the best areas to fish.

Besides flathead there are luderick to catch during the day on weed and on fresh yabbies at night.

Bream can be caught in all parts of the river on bait and soft and hardbodied lures. Tailor can be fished from the beaches and headlands on pilchard baits or with chromed lures. There should be some salmon on the beaches to provide some fun as well. There is plenty to do at Harrington in the holiday time.

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JANUARY 2018

45

Flashy fish showing up in good numbers HUNTER COAST

Gary Earl earlybird13@optusnet.com.au

I missed an issue of this great magazine due to an incident out of my control, but being back now has landed me right in one of the best months to fish this area.

The first word is ‘whiting’ – both trumpeter and big sandies are all over the beaches and in the estuaries. Some big ones have been caught lately.

Popper lures were all the rage for catching these for a while, but interest has faded a little. There aren’t a lot of anglers still doing this.

It’s mainly sight fishing and throwing the popper or very small red lures close to them.

Blades also work well if you are into this. The best method is to drift slowly across sand and mud flats with blood or beach worms as bait – if you can’t get hold of them, peeled prawns are quite good. I leave a middle segment of shell on the prawn, making it easier to attach to the hook and harder for the whiting to rip it off. Wind can be a problem if you are drifting too fast;

you can tie a bucket to a cleat and throw it in the water and this will slow you down.

The best days have cloudcovered skies. Fish in the afternoons and mornings.

Flathead are in big numbers and moving up the Hunter River. This area has had little rain recently, so they can get way up to Patterson and Morpeth at times. Many years ago a good friend of mine was hit by what we both thought was the bass from hell – it

peeled line from the reel at a great rate. This was up just past Tocal, so we never thought it was anything except a huge bass, then the headshakes started and we landed a 45cm flathead.

You have never seen two more speechless fishers. We couldn’t believe it and let it go, as it was going to taste a bit muddy being near 50km from the sea and about 10km from saltwater.

Tomago, Raymond Terrace and Hexham (if

you can put up with the mozzies) are the places to be throwing lures from shore for flathead. Also try near the Hexham Bowling Club and all along that bank on the inner side. Boaties can try the main river on the other side, the Sandgate area and Koooragang Island.

Hardbodied diving lures in the deeper areas and soft plastics in the shallow sandy stretches are good ways to get connected. Don’t disregard bait – a pilchard and fillets

A bright silver herring rigged live and ready to go in off a bridge. Flathead, sharks, mulloway and huge bream will take them. They can be filleted and used as bait. Both methods work well, as they travel in massive schools.

Most of the flathead have been around 40-55cm and in big numbers. Fish this size taken from clean water are great cooked on the barbecue in tinfoil with a touch of pepper and lemon. of mullet and slivers of squid can work as well. Like whiting, you can drift long areas and also anchor near drop-overs where they sit in ambush.

There are massive schools of bait entering the Hunter River, so a live bait session could see you hook up to a mulloway or an oversized flathead.

Herring are everywhere and they make a great

bait, as do yellowtail and slimy mackerel.

Cut herring fillets (as fresh as you can get) are one of the bream’s best-loved baits.

Throw them around areas where bream hunt, like the pylons, or drop them in the holes around both the north and south channels. I think the herring are one of the most silver fish you can get around this area; they reflect and shine under the water and attract fish to them.

Offshore is firing with schools of bonito. Mediumsized stripped tuna – a bit out of season – are mixing with the bonito. Kingfish are being picked by anglers trolling offshore. The bigger ones are way out near the farm reef, so you need a decentsize boat. Marlin, mahimahi,

and the odd yellowfin have all been around, so hopefully this season is going to be a good one out there.

The bottom bashers have been getting nannygai, juvenile snapper, morwong, and an array of fish from Redhead through all the reefs off Bar Beach and Merewether. Off Stockton the reefs are holding the same above-mentioned fish and if you get in close behind the breakers in a good safe area, sand flathead on the drift are in huge numbers and by-catches such as flounder and whiting are also available. Fillets of mullet are the best. Fresh slivers of bonito, which you can troll on the way out, are also great. This year looks as if it’s coming to a good start.

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If you can get hold of these, they make great live baits for bream, whiting, mulloway and almost any fish in the estuary.

Endless options for every visiting angler PORT STEPHENS

Paul Lennon

You’ve got to love Port Stephens at this time of year with the endless amount of options on offer, It doesn’t matter whether you’re fishing outside, in the estuary, off the beach or off the rocks – there is something to chase.

Mulloway are a possibility from the rock walls as well as the Corlette wreck and the deep holes around Soldiers Point. Live bait or fresh squid will greatly increase your chances of success.

OCEAN BEACHES Whiting have been excellent on the ocean beaches and should continue right through

over the calm shallow bays between Rocky all the way to Fingal with size 3.0 jigs in natural colours working best.

OUTSIDE As predicted last month, we got that early bite of marlin, however there were more blue marlin then stripes caught!

Hopefully they stick around a bit longer this year.

The inshore marlin bite should fire up this month and if reports up from up north are anything to go by it should be a good one. Slow trolling live baits around the inshore

reefs and looking for areas holding schools of slimy mackerel or yellowtail is the trick to catching the inshore fish.

They can also be quite leader shy too, so don’t use anything above 80lb for them.

The FAD has been holding plenty of mahimahi and while most have been smaller fish there has also been a few crackers there too. Those bigger fish will tend to be the first caught so get there early and live baits are also a major weapon when it comes to catching those bigger ones.

Port Stephens Estuary Charters

James with a cracker 70cm flathead.

Black marlin should start turning up this month in good numbers.

ESTUARY There is a good spread of flathead throughout the bay right now and most of the shoreline between Jimmys Beach all the way through to Karuah holds good numbers of lizards. Slow rolling a pilchard or casting a few plastics is the best way to land a few, particularly on days with early morning and late afternoon high tides.

There have been some real crocodiles around too, with fish well over 90cm.

It’s great to see so many being released back into the system.

The whiting fishing in the bay has been excellent, with Jimmys Beach, Shoal Bay, Little Beach and Nelson Bay all holding quality specimens to 40cm. Use live worms and light leaders and you should have no problems getting a feed of these tasty suckers.

Further up the estuary whiting are also thick over the intertidal zones; they are aggressively feeding on prawns and small baitfish.

Whiting in these areas are a prime target for anglers throwing surface lures that will mimic a fleeing prawn or small injured baitfish.

The surface bite is also happening with bream; the best fishing to be had is around the racks, rock bars and points anywhere from Middle Island through to Tahlee.

summer. When it comes to fishing for them, live worms are always the key and often the difference

between you coming home with an empty bucket or a full bucket. Bream, salmon and even mulloway love worms, so you also usually end up with a mixed bag of species when using them.

Speaking of mulloway, it could be well worth targeting them after dark this month with Stockton, Samurai, or Hawks Nest beaches all regular mulloway producers.

ROCKS While it’s still too early for bluefin and cobia, you won’t be wasting your time sending out some live baits under a float with species like bonito, mac tuna and kingies hanging around the deeper points and headlands.

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What’s in store for anglers this New Year SWANSEA

Jason Scerri coloratolures@hotmail.com

Another year is gone and we now move into 2018.

Who knows what lies ahead. I certainly hope that for myself much more fishing is in order, as 2017 was too hectic for my liking and unfortunately not enough fishing was done.

For me the plan is simple – less work and more fishing.

I hope that all you readers had a fantastic Christmas/ New Year’s period with your families and loved ones and I hope that there are many happy days on the water in store for you all in 2018.

As for the fishing, it’s looking promising to say the least. The water temperatures should be on the rise, the days are longer and the weather is warming. The Fisheries staff have been busy deploying the state’s FADs, so that means that we will hopefully see a nice influx of mahimahi this summer once again, and with them more than a few marlin will also be lurking beneath in the same areas.

Rod maintaining his hot streak with another nice pair of Lake Mac reds.

Every summer sees many offshore anglers heading as far and wide as they can on the day; more often than not these crews are heading out to fish no man’s land and driving over fishy waters in the process.

Offshore gamefishing is no different to all other forms of fishing – it’s all about the structure. The type of structure may be different but the regularly successful crews know full well that it

may be something as simple as a tiny temperature break that could mean a busy day.

Inshore reef systems, FADs, floating debris and drop-offs can all mean big fish waters.

Sure there are good fish to be had on the wide grounds on the Shelf and canyons but don’t be feeling sorry for yourself if you can’t get out that wide. There is plenty of action to be had inside 60 fathoms, so check the water temperatures,

Generally crews will rig their baits in a few ways.

Some will be free swimming basically with the boat tapped in/out of gear while others will chug around the bait balls with their livies rigged and a snapper lead attached to their rig that they will bust off when they hook up. This is a great method for keeping the baits down in the strike zone when they are hanging a little deep or the currents are raging a little quick.

As for the estuary anglers, things are looking promising on this front as well. The lake is still producing some fantastic reds and some anglers are now targeting them regularly and see consistent results now. Soft plastics are proving effective and 3-4” plastics are working well. These reds are about in reasonable numbers and the sizes are certainly on the increase with some good reds into the 60cm range being landed.

Mulloway are also about in great numbers with plenty of fish being landed. Lots of mulloway in the 80-90cm bracket are around at the moment with the odd larger one. Soaking a live squid will see you find a few but there is no better way or more enjoyable way to hook into some mulloway action than soft plastics. The hit just takes you completely by

surprise and on the right gear even smaller fish around the 80cm mark can provide great fun.

The bread and butter species like bream and flathead are also on offer throughout the lake. Lure anglers are having some great sessions. I’m seeing bream to 40cm and flathead up into the 80cm range, which is certainly very good fishing.

Bait anglers are also finding good numbers with some solid mixed bags coming into the cleaning tables. I’ve had some sensational evening trips over the warmer months bait

it doesn’t get much better than that.

As I’ve mentioned in previous reports, this time of year can be difficult and frustrating for local anglers with the big jump-in boaties on the water over the summer holiday period. My best advice is to get out there very early or alternatively fish in the afternoons and evenings – the crowds will be way down, the temperatures far more pleasant and generally the fishing is far better, not to mention the boat traffic at the ramp is much more bearable during these early and late sessions.

One of many solid bream on the cockle beds at the moment. Photo courtesy of Dan Guilfoyle. fishing around the Swansea Bridge and although the currents can make the fishing difficult, there are ways to work with it and make the most out of the great fish that are on offer.

It’s also great to see some good hauls of blue swimmer crabs. It’s often a bit of effort to go to by the time you get some quality trap baits, rig the traps and get them set, but at the end of the day when you relaxing with a feed of fresh blue swimmers and washing it down with your favourite beverage,

Remember that even if you do come across some traffic at the ramps, stay calm and don’t let it ruin your day on the water. We all know there are anglers that take their time or rig their boats in the wrong spots but it really isn’t worth getting worked up and getting into a confrontation. Take a deep breath, offer to lend a hand (if it gets them out the road more quickly) and then get on with enjoying your day on the water or getting home to enjoy the rest of your day.

Dan Guilfoyle and a 66cm Lake Macquarie snapper. This fish ate a 70mm Samaki Vibelicious cast into 1m of water on 3lb braid, and was released – a great example of what can happen to a waterway when nets are taken away. Photo courtesy of Dan Guilfoyle.

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check FAD locations, find a good spread of quality skirted game lures and give it a go this summer – I’m sure you won’t regret it.

It’s not all about skirts and marlin this month, though. Loads of marlin are landed off our waters each year by crews slow trolling live slimies around bait balls.

This can be a super effective method when the baits are balling up and the marlin are active.

There aren’t many months of the year you can’t drum up a few mulloway after dark on live bait. Photo courtesy of Dan Guilfoyle.

Find the bait, find the trophy ERINA

Aaron Donaldson

Baitfish have certainly arrived in great numbers along our beaches and large predators have been following. It’s amazing to see some of the footage captured by people using drones above these schools.

Everything from salmon to great white sharks have been seen ripping into the bait.

Both Avoca and Copacapana beach have been well worth a fish lately. Plenty of anglers are capitalizing on the action, landing numerous salmon and tailor using both metal casting lures and whole pilchards presented on a gang hook. Early mornings and late evening have been the prime times.

The estuary is really firing up as we speak. One thing of interest has been the arrival of schools of

Attomic PRINT.pdf 1 31/08/2017 3:03:53from PM An excellent bream

large kingfish into Brisbane Waters; the fish that have been spotted have to be seen to be believed. Local charter operator Ron Osman has had a bit of luck lately landing some impressive fish – it sure did fire up the fisher grapevine big time!

Bream fishing has been awesome lately with some bigger fish moving right up in the shallows to feed on the top of the tide. Surface lures and shallow diving cranks have been getting the

the shallows.

bites. You definitely don’t need a boat to access these fish, either. Wading is the best way to connect to the larger bream that are usually spooked at the first sign of a boat.

Flathead have been going nuts, which isn’t unusual for this time of year. Most have been caught while drifting in the channels with live prawns and poddy mullet or soft plastics rigged with 1/4oz heads. Small lifts and pauses off the bottom are all you need to get the bite.

Don’t worry about colours too much, because the fish will eat every one of them.

I find the last part of the run-out to be the best time to try, as this is when all the bait has to leave the shallows and the flathead just sit and wait.

Rockfishing should be starting to improve this month and the old Central Coast favourite – the bonito – will usually show up some time in January. These fish are a fine sportfish and not too bad on the table from what I hear, if you cook them fresh. I like using lighter tackle on them as they are generally clean fighters, and 4-15lb line will get you in the game. The lures to try would

Dean Pateman with a great yella from a local farm dam. be flashy metal casting lures in the 10-20g size range, and in recent years white ZMan StreakZ have been proven absolutely deadly.

Offshore bottom fishing has been relatively quiet.

From most reports I’ve heard there have been a few snapper, morwong and kings about. I prefer to bottom fish in shallower water during the summer months.

The gamefishing is starting to fire with a really hot blue and striped marlin

bite. This should continue to improve as the summer kicks into gear. Lures are the go when the bait is hard to come by and most experienced anglers will change to live baits when bait schools are found. Generally you have a better chance of landing the fish when hooked in the jaw on a circle hook, compared to hooking on a lure.

Anyway, get out there and enjoy the warm weather.

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Offshore going nuts ILLAWARRA

Greg Clarke clarkey1@westnet.com.au

This month the fishing really starts to hit its straps and gets even better over the next few months. The land-based game anglers start to get itchy trigger fingers as the hot water pushes in hard against the coast, giving them that elusive shot at a marlin from the stones.

The legendary rock platforms of Jervis Bay will be chock a block with anglers jostling for positions on the ever diminishing deep water ledges they are allowed to fish these days, so a good alternative is to head a little north to the deeper ledges around the Kiama area.

The marlin aren’t as prolific as they are at the JB ledges, but they still produce their fair share of good fish every summer.

Places like Marsdens, the Blow Hole Point, Bombo and the Boneyard Point all have good deep water right at the edge that is live bait fishing friendly.

They are nowhere near as crowded, although they do attract their fair share of anglers. Live baits can be caught at these locations, but are more often caught at places like the harbour and transported to the preferred platform taking the chance of not catching bait out of the equation. Yellowtail and slimy mackerel are good baits of choice, but small bonito and live frigate mackerel caught on location and put straight back out are number one.

Billies from the stones are on the cards, but not guaranteed anywhere ever, but to keep things interesting the hammerheads sharks are always willing to crash a fresh bonito or frigate and there are plenty of kings from rats up to solid bandits of 20kg and better on any given day, along with those live bait stealing bonito, salmon, tailor and even mackerel tuna as the summer gets on, so there are other options.

If you set your sights a little lower, those salmon and bonnies will grab pilchards or lures cast from the same ledges, just make sure not to cast over the lines of the guys with live baits out. Throw in a bit of berley and there are plenty of summer bream and a few trevally around too, and not just on the deeper ledges, but all along the coast on any of the headlands.

Towards the end of the month, those little green bullets in the shape of frigate mackerel will be zipping around the harbours and breakwalls hunting tiny baitfish. Crowds gather at some spots when they are

on, as they are great bait for the rocks and beaches – mulloway love them and they are fun to catch.

Many holiday-makers will be heading to the beaches for a throw and for good reason, as the whiting are right on the chew at the moment all along the coast.

Beach worms are a must for best results, and if you can’t catch them, a few tackle shops do sell them, but they go quickly.

Some of the better beaches are Windang and Warilla at the lake entrance, MM beach at Port, then take your pick all along the coast. There is always good by-catch when whiting fishing, as every fish that swims up along a beach loves beach worms and they are pretty much all out there at the moment. Dart, bream, salmon, trevally, flathead,

Soft plastics in prawn patterns seem to be the go-to option. The prawns have been running too, so a feed will be on the cards this dark moon as well as some fresh live prawns for bait, which are even better than plastics.

Live poddy mullet has been doing a bit of damage as well, particularly on bigger fish.

The odd mulloway has been on the prowl around the bridge, so a live mullet fished along the breakwalls after dark could be worth a try, they have to go past to get to the bridge.

Whiting are all over the sand flats from the entrance all the way into the lake. Nippers and worms are the bait of choice.

Chopper tailor and a few trevally are in the mix in the lake proper, with some solid salmon and tailor chasing bait down around the entrance on the top of the tide.

Sometimes they die, and a 90kg fish doesn’t leave a whole lot of room in a small boat. school mulloway and even some descent mullet are all in the mix, so you never know what you will hook on the next bite.

The flathead are a bit of fun and a good target for a well-placed plastic fished along the edges of the deeper gutters, as is the odd school mulloway and salmon. For better results on the mulloway and much larger fish the top of the tide during the hours of darkness is a better bet. Any beach with a good deep gutter is worth a shot as they move about a bit, with a nice live mullet or fresh slab of tailor hard for them to swim past.

The lake is firing too, right on time for the holidaymakers. Flathead are all over the place, so if it gets a bit crowded in the main channel and around the drop off into the deeper part of the lake, do a bit of prospecting around the sandy edges of the weed beds all around the perimeter of the lake. They seem to be everywhere.

Then there are the feeder streams where a live unweighted prawn flicked in around the snags will score some solid bream, and there are heaps of mullet to keep the kids entertained, just add bread.

As always at this time of the year when motoring in the lake proper, never take your eyes of the water in front of you. It is almost impossible to travel in a straight line without running into a crab trap marker. They tend to pull you up really quickly if your prop picks one up at speed, and they can cause damage to your motor. So when you are out chasing fish, why not add a few more markers to the mix as there seem to be plenty of crabs to go around.

Minnamurra is fishing well too, with flatties all along its length and good bream around the bridges at night on live prawns. Whiting are on the flats with the odd nice trevally down around the entrance rocks at high tide.

The kingies are getting more numerous over the reefs around the ‘Gong this month.

Offshore it is really starting to get moving with mahimahi moving onto the FADs, with the arrival of the hot water from the north.

Small live yellowtail cast in the area will get you best results and pilchards will keep them going once they are on the chew.

Striped tuna and a few yellowfin tuna have made an appearance out around the shelf, but the long-awaited marlin will be the main attraction this month. The blacks will really hit their straps towards the end of the month with the Australia Day long weekend always marking the time when they move onto the close inshore reefs.

Boats looking for the big schools of mackerel will target the Hump, Bandit, Wollongong reef and the South East grounds. Find the bait and the marlin will not be far away. Large live slimy mackerel are the number one bait slow trolled around these schools and it is not a matter of if you hook up, but when you hook up. It gets even better next month.

Better still there is there is every chance a marlin will pop up just about anywhere over the coming weeks, so no matter what you are fishing for, always have a live bait out and you are in with a chance. There is plenty of by-catch with mahimahi and spearfish out wide, and some big kings over the reefs.

There will be kingfish on all the recognised spots, with

downrigged live baits the way to go, before dropping knife jigs to pick up extras when your live bait is eaten.

Some nice snapper are coming in from most of the reefs in 30m or so of water, taking both plastics and bait, with samsonfish, trevally,

mowies and pigfish for the drifters. Flathead are over every patch of sand with some quality fish among them and even a couple of trag have come in, but they did last season and didn’t go on with it so maybe they will show in better numbers this summer.

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Summer lovin’, fishing the flats NOWRA

Johnny Nolan straydog1974@gmail.com

This is the time of year when our waterways become a very busy place to be.

Not only are our rivers and estuaries inhabited by hundreds more fishers than usual, but we also have to contend with an influx of ski boats, jet skis, sailing vessels, divers and people in general out doing what they love doing on the water. This being said, it is something our area and economy needs, especially when we go through winters like the one just gone.

So welcome to all the tourists in town, and I hope you catch some fish while you’re here. Here’s a quick rundown of what you can expect to catch and where over January.

Let’s start with going to catch a feed of prawns. Lake Wollumbulla at Culburra is well worth a look again this year, and although it didn’t open during the winter and spring months, it seems there was enough prawns in there to carry us

through to another season, and there’s some good size ones amongst them. There are two main access spots, those being either up near

the entrance or further in at the sailing club. Both places produce, but the first is more popular. If you’re taking the kids, make sure you keep

Paul Cheney with his own trophy class flatty.

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an eye on them, as there are some quiet steep dropoffs close around the edges.

Whether you are dragging or scooping, you should be able to catch a feed in a couple of hours.

SHOALHAVEN RIVER It’s been a good flatty season throughout the river, with the soft plastic fishers catching good numbers on 70-100mm plastics. Spots to try include west of Broughten Creek along the rocky bank on the north of the river, or east of the creek mouth and fish the southern bank in around 4-5m of water on a run-out tide. A spot to try for mulloway is where the water comes from around the back of Numba Island and spills into the river.

Upstream around the reef just east of the bridge, there have been some good bream on the high tide. Throwing surface lures across the flats around the back of the reef early in the morning should get you some good bream as well as some nice whiting.

If you head another 5-10km upstream from here, you get into some good water for throwing lures at perch and bass, which are both biting well on the top of the tide. If they’re not biting on the surface, try either spinnerbaits or curly-tail grubs in dark colours.

Paul Cheney’s kids with a nice basin flathead.

ST GEORGES BASIN The whiting have really fired up on the sandflats over the past month, with

some really big specimens around the 45cm mark being caught. The southeastern flats right up to the mouth

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The author testing the water as the sun goes down over the lake

Sunset over Lake Woolumbulla.

52

JANUARY 2018

of Sussex where it spills into the basin is a good spot for surface fishing for whiting.

There are plenty of weed beds, undulations and bait amongst these flats, making it perfect for not only the whiting, but also for big dusky flathead, which are now recognized as a trophy fish in these waters.

Fisheries is trailing the basin as a trophy flathead fishery. Now, although not law, any fish over 70cm you catch fisheries would like released, as these are usually big breeding females producing lots of eggs. It is also preferable that the fish be released in the same area you caught it, as there is often several male flathead hanging around these larger females waiting to do the business.

JERVIS BAY AND INSHORE REEFS The bay and close in reefs have had good numbers of reds and kings on them so far. The kings can be caught early morning on poppers and stickbaits before they head to the bottom where they can then be taken on live or fresh squid on the downrigger.

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Dean Atkinson with a land-based king over the metre mark.

The reds are taking 5-7” plastics, with the tide change preferable. Anchoring and fishing lightly-weighted baits in a light berley trail as the tide begins to run-out is another option.

There have also been some nice kings around the ledges of Beecroft if you’re into the land-based scene.

Just be prepared to lose

some tackle when the big models show up.

Enjoy the rest of the holidays and remember to be patient with people at this time of year. We have limited good boat ramps in our area, so you do get a bit of a queue up at times. If you see someone struggling with their boat or trailer, maybe give them a hand!

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FISHING NEWS

Illegal fishers lose boat A 46-year-old man from Fairfield and a 37-year-old man from Dee Why, found in possession of more than the permitted quantity of deep sea fish species, have had the boat they were using forfeited to the State.

NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Director of Fisheries Compliance, Patrick Tully said Fisheries officers spotted the men in the Parramatta River near Kissing Point.

When approached, the men told the officers they had been fishing offshore at Browns Mountain and had caught a lawful amount of fish.

“Fisheries officers searched the boat and found over 250kg of fish on board, much of it hidden in concealed compartments under the deck,” Mr Tully said.

“A total of 17 gemfish weighing 75kg, 13 blue eye trevalla weighing 165kg and other fish weighing 10kg were found in the boat.

“Officers seized the boat, motors, trailer, fish and fishing gear on the spot. The men were each charged with possessing more than the legal limit of fish in circumstances of aggravation.”

The two men appeared before the Downing Centre on 25 September 2017 and entered guilty pleas.

The boat, valued at over $35,000 and owned by another man who wasn’t present at the time of the offences, was forfeited by the Court and the men received $20,000 in fines.

There is a daily bag limit of five deep sea species per person and only two can be gemfish. Other deep sea species include

hapuka, banded rock cod, Bass groper and blue eye trevalla.

A boat limit of 10 gemfish applies, if more than five anglers are fishing from the same boat.

“Illegal fishing risks the sustainability of the resource for legitimate recreational and commercial fisheries and presents serious food safety issues,” Mr Tully said.

“People found illegally fishing can expect severe consequences.”

Anyone with information on suspected illegal fishing activity is urged to contact their local Fisheries office, call the Fishers Watch phone line on 1800 043 536 or report illegal fishing activities online at www. dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/ compliance/report-illegalactivity. – DPI Fisheries

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For more information visit www.stessl.com.au JANUARY 2018

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Summer beach fishing is a good option MERIMBULA

Stuart Hindson stuart@ausfishing.com.au

It’s a busy time with holidaymakers everywhere around the Merimbula area, but don’t let this fool you; there is still some excellent fishing on offer.

On the beaches both bream and whiting numbers have really increased over recent weeks. This should continue right through the month and with the recent rains it should only get better. Anglers using a lightly weighted rod with

live beach worms or pipis will catch plenty with most local beaches holding fish.

Look for those slightly deeper gutters close to shore, as this is where most of the fish have come from. Using a little berley will help but don’t use too much or the banjo and shovelnose sharks will drive you nuts.

The rockier corners like North Tura towards Bournda Island are definitely worth a look, especially for bream.

After the recent rough seas these corners can really fire at times. If you’re after the pelagic species like salmon, you’re in for some serious

fun. These fine sportfish are in great numbers with the usual haunts all producing like North Tura, Tura Main and Haycock all producing at times.

On the inshore reefs the action has been steady with snapper, morwong, kingfish and striped tuna keeping most boaties happy. The flatties have been quiet, but this will change this month as the water warms. The area off Pambula River mouth should produce results over coming weeks with the 40-45m line the go-to spot.

Some decent reds have

been encountered in the deeper water off Lennards Island (30-40 fathoms) with kingfish to 20kg at both Long Point and Horseshoe Reef.

All this action will continue over January; if one reef isn’t firing, move to another until you find the fish.

The kings are there in good numbers at times and have been extremely frustrating for anglers, as 95% of the time they’re not interested in anything.

When one does make a mistake, live bait and big sinking stickbaits have been the best way to tempt one.

These are big kings too with a local nabbing a 20kg fish off Merimbula Wharf

and some cracking blacks).

Both these species are taking surface lures around the weed-fringed margins.

This type of visual fishing is stacks of fun that everyone can do.

There’s the odd big whiting succumbing to the same method, especially around the back of the airport in the very shallow water. This area is really only accessible by boat on higher tides but it does fire from time to time – it’s worth a look for sure.

The flatties have been excellent with 6-10 fish a session the norm, with the odd croc over 85cm being caught too. These

trevally as most people know them. They are thick in the channels with 20+ sessions readily available to those fishing the correct styles. Casting softies across the channel on the draining tide has been best with thinner profile plastics getting better results.

Off the rocks the salmon fishing is excellent with anglers casting metal shiners and surface stickbaits catching plenty. It’s late for salmon to be around in these numbers, though the water has taken a long time to warm, so that may be why.

What is exciting is the kingfish, which are patrolling the northern end

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a few days back, so they’re certainly there.

Early mornings are definitely the go if you’re targeting these greenback hoodlums.

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bigger fish have responded well to bigger soft plastics fished slower than normal.

Targeting them in water depths of 4-6m is ideal.

In the channels, whiting, bream, flounder, luderick and flathead are all there for the taking with bait and lure throwers getting results.

The species most anglers are having fun with is the humble ‘blurter’ –

of Merimbula Bay near the big wharf and Long Point.

There have been some substantial fish caught; as mentioned earlier there was a 20kg fish a few days back.

This fish isn’t a loner either with plenty more seen and a few hooked, also. Let’s hope these brutes stay around and if the bait stays there I can’t see it changing anytime soon.

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The summer action is heating up quickly NAROOMA

Stuart Hindson stuart@ausfishing.com.au

January is a busy time around the Narooma region, and visiting anglers are hitting our shores with gusto. With the recent rains the fishing has picked up considerably just in time for the tourists.

At Montague Island things are hotting up nicely with the kingfish turning it on. They are belting jigs with the northeast corner around the saddle the place to fish.

Anglers have been getting their bags with relative ease though the seals are playing havoc at times. Most fish are around the 4kg mark with the odd better fish to 8kg. A few of the bigger models are being caught on live slimy mackerel. Please be wary of where you fish with the marine park rules, as the rangers will be certainly be about.

If you’re live baiting, the Fowl House Reef on the western side of the island has been good with the kings on top some mornings, so casting

live baits into the schools will produce great results at times. This should continue throughout the month. Expect some thumping big bonito when fishing like this as well.

Anglers fishing the bottom are happy with snapper to 2kg plentiful on the inshore grounds. Both Tuross and Potato Point are worth a look and the 60-70m area is a good starting point.

Drifting with paternoster rigs is all that’s required with fresh squid or tuna the top baits.

Mixed in with the reds are morwong, pigfish and heaps of flatties on the sand/gravel edges. The flatties have been thick off Kianga with the 40m line loaded recently.

If gamefishing is your go, you will be happy.

Marlin, yellowfin tuna, albacore and a host of shark species will be chewing; it’s just a matter of what you want to target! The shelf is the place to fish when the weather allows. Trolling a mixture of skirted pushers and bigger bibbed minnows will work. It’s exciting times on the gamefish front –

we just need some decent weather to have a serious crack at them.

The rock hopping fraternity are doing well, especially on salmon and bonito. Both these species are thick close in and are a stack of fun on spin tackle. Casting smaller shiners around 40g is the go. Anglers casting ganged pilchards on heavier tackle have also fared well.

I’d expect to see some solid kings in the next few weeks, especially down at Mystery Bay and the golf course rocks in town.

Both these platforms are quite deep and easily accessible with ample bait.

Use a little berley to keep them around. Drifting a live bait is certainly the go if a king is what you’re after.

There have been a few bigger fish lost recently, so if you have the right tackle, you may be in business.

On the beaches, with the warmer water that has pushed in, both bream and whiting are high on anglers’ lists. These bread and butter species can be found on almost every

local beach with a half-decent gutter close to shore. Long casts aren’t required here, so a light outfit with a running sinker rig baited with live beach worms or pipis will see some nice fillets for the pan. Better beaches to try include Narooma main, Tilba and Brou Beach just north of Dalmeny.

Brou Beach has been a standout lately with salmon, tailor and gummy sharks all succumbing to baits fished on heavier tackle. Fishing three or four days before the full moon on a flooding tide into the evening was excellent last month, so if a gummy shark or mulloway is on your agenda then this month’s full moon lead up is certainly worth a look.

The local estuaries have all been fishing well depending on what species you’re after. Wagonga Inlet, Corunna, Tuross and Dalmeny Lakes have been firing; flathead are the main species being targeted. Fish to 90cm have been caught regularly, with most flatties averaging 40-45cm. All methods are working with smaller soft plastics, live poddy mullet and strips of striped tuna all producing results.

Croc-sized flathead like this big girl are a welcome capture for many visiting anglers to the region.

The fish are widespread, but the bigger models are coming from the shallower sections of the river and main basin, especially up at Tuross. Whiting are around in big numbers too. Anglers using bass yabbies and squirt worms are getting the best results. Again the shallower sections are the place to fish; anglers fishing surface presentations this month are getting amongst them.

Wagonga Inlet is firing up nicely with whiting, bream and mulloway all chewing at times. The mulloway will be widespread; the bigger fish tend to hold deep under the tailor schools, which are prolific at the moment in this system. Fish larger

soft plastics and live mullet in this situation and be prepared to get hammered by the tailor. Yes, they can become a nuisance but if it’s a bit of silver you want then this method is the best for this system.

The bread and butter species like bream and whiting will start to feed on the sand flats looking for nippers, squirt worms and small prawns. Live bait will definitely work better here, and small shallow running hardbodies fished on a high tide around the mangroves will certainly fool a bream or two. Depending on conditions after the rain, surface presentations should work for a whiting or two as well.

Some very big tailor have been working the deeper parts of Wagonga Inlet.

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Estuaries are great but look out offshore!

BATEMANS BAY

Anthony Stokman

The estuaries were in full swing all spring and into summer and now we have had some much-needed rain. Some lakes opened like Wallaga and some are still closed like Coila.

There are some prawns in the lakes, but it has been up and down depending on where you go. There are some massive prawns in Coila, but very few.

Further up the coast has had better options.

The estuaries have also been producing great numbers of mud crabs and blue swimmers. With the clear water there has been a good run of blue swimmers and many have been caught in the traps set for muddies, so the prawns may not have been as good as the last couple of years but the crabs have made up for it.

The fishing in the estuaries has been going great since winter really.

The Clyde flathead have been a good species to target right into summer with some 70-80cm fish and some 90cm+ specimens getting caught and released.

Mark had never used micro-jigs or caught a fish on plastics until this day; now he has converted.

Soft plastics are still the favourite presentation for Clyde flathead for anglers of all ages.

If you want to spice things up a bit this summer then find some shallow sand flats where you know flathead lie and slowly twitch a popper across the surface to get a surface ‘boof’ from a big girl. Tuross is famous for its flatties and that system

hasn’t disappointed either.

The bream bite continues to be better than average this summer; the Clyde can be tough for bream fishers but coming into this summer it is producing the goods. Lures like the ZMan 2.5” Grub in motor oil and Shimano Squidgies Bio Tough are the best plastics for bream.

It’s hard to pick a favourite at this stage because they

are all great. If I had to pick one, the 100mm Bloodworm Wriggler is deadly and could be the next estuary go-to lure.

What’s amazing about these lures is they are virtually unbreakable.

We have given them to customers in store and

The hardbodies of choice have been the Atomic Hardz, Nories Laydown Minnow Chigyo, Daiwa Double Clutch and Daiwa Cranks. Again, if you’re looking to spice up your summer then use an OSP Bent Minnow on the surface with a wounded baitfish action then watch the show from the casting deck.

You may now think it’s all about surface action in summer – you thought right. Another surface lure that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon – a must-have for your back pocket all summer – is the Bassday Sugapen.

The 70mm HF-119 colour used to be the biggest seller at Compleat Angler Batemans Bay; now after many years fishos find great success on all the colours and even the new ones.

Replacing the back treble with single assists, especially with the red strands, is old news by now.

If you’re after whiting this summer and want surface action, then you know what to do. Bream

and it looks as though there are bigger fish up the Deua.

AusSpin 1/8oz spinnerbaits in black and purple have been great and the Kokoda Bats are still a good cheapy.

Tiemco Soft Shell Cicadas are still the best pricier lure. Not much has changed there, but we are eagerly awaiting the new River2Sea Chasebait Frogs, which have a lifelike action and super tough. They should arrive in store soon.

Off the stones has been looking promising all December and going into January with some good kings swimming around.

Further south and around Eden has been good over the last couple of months, which has inspired fishos from these parts to venture down for a crack with some success. Off here it isn’t as consistent however, and you have to put in the time and the casts to get connected.

Pretty Point and Snapper Point are very popular haunts and have had some kingy traffic with some good 10kg+ models getting around. If you want

Brian Stacy with a nice little yellowfin caught off Batemans coming into summer. have asked them to try and break them; they struggle and can’t believe it. These lures are also biodegradable – it’s amazing to have both qualities.

Most dedicated bream fishers use hardbodies and when they struggle they resort to the above plastics.

56

JANUARY 2018

also love a Sugapen with assists. Just keep the lure moving for whiting and pause for bream.

Before we leave the estuary and head out off the stones, keep in mind that upstream bass the are on and Shallow Crossing beyond has been producing,

to give these guys a crack over summer, then get down there before sunrise and berley up for live bait and put the livies in a rock pool; don’t forget your scoop net to scoop them out. As the sun starts to rise, put a livie out under a biodegradable balloon attached to a setup

capable of wrestling a 10kg king.

Put it in a rod holder and start casting metals, stickbaits, poppers and more on a 7’6”-9ft rod that is light, strong and expensive.

Generally expensive rods cast beautiful, feel beautiful and they’re strong. If you would like some advice on rods and lures then come into the shop and we’ll help you out.

Heading out reef fishing, January is usually the worst month of the year unless you find a good school of kings and if you don’t then keep moving until you do, or at least until you find something.

Sometimes the snapper are in close in the shallows in the middle of the day and sometimes they are out deep.

The flathead can be schooled up anywhere and good schools of kings could be off any headland or buoy. January is all about moving and trying different things. In the process you’ll always come across a big mako, hammerhead or black marlin and sometimes the odd stripy if you are out there often enough over summer.

January is all about marlin for me. The bait so far seems good, so the food source is there.

The marlin numbers were slow and steady as usual

throughout December and this month we will start to see the bite improve.

We hope so, because this January see’s the Tollgates Classic turn 80 years old; the oldest gamefishing club in NSW, the Batemans Bay Game Fishing Club hosts this event and it looks to be a great little event that shouldn’t be missed.

There is boutique villa style accommodation available for the entrants that boasts a swimming pool and restaurant/bar for all your family needs. They serve breakfast early each morning for the entrants.

The price is more than 60% off for the entrants thanks to Andrew Johns the director of Corrigans Cove Batehaven Beach Resort.

There is plenty of cash and prizes to be won and even if the weather is bad or the fish are slow, the event is built up to be enjoyable anyway. Keep 19-21 January free for the tournament and go to the webpage for entry forms.

See you there!

• For more up-to-the-minute information on what’s biting where, drop into Compleat Angler Batemans Bay and have a chat to Anthony or one of the other friendly staff. They’re located at 65A Orient St, Batemans Bay (02 4472 2559).

FISHING NEWS

New season of Big Angry Fish

The latest series of Big Angry Fish is back on Australian TV – and this time there’s an Aussie aboard.

Milan Radonich and Nathan O’Hearn sharing epic fishing moments (both good and bad), stunning scenery and amazing wildlife, all while

Kiwi boys, bringing with him his passion for chasing all manner of big, shallow water fish particularly large kingfish and snapper on lures and Australia’s largest freshwater fish, the elusive Murray cod.

“Lubin’s a brilliant addition,” said Milan. “He really knows his stuff and his passion is infectious.

“Big Angry Fish certainly started out as New Zealand fishing show, but now we’re in Aussie as well which gives us the best of both worlds.”

recorded in Vanuatu where they take viewers through a range of new techniques.

This series also sees Nathan beachland his biggest bronze whaler shark (BIG) and Milan catches his first ever marlin.

Mercury Marine is a proud supporter of Big Angry Fish, providing a 300hp Verado for the team’s off-shore machine, a Tristram 701, as well as a 150 for the Tristram 600 they use for ‘inshore

Big Angry Fish hosts Milan Radonich and Nathan O’Hearn.

Series 6 of the New Zealand-made show, which has developed a strong following both there and in Australia, is being shown at 4.30pm on Saturdays on 7mate.

The show is already a favourite, with hosts

focusing on their speciality – showing people how to get big fish in shallow water.

Season 6 features 13 episodes, with the BAF crew at their best fishing in New Zealand and Vanuatu.

An Aussie, Lubin Pfeiffer, has joined the

The show’s new Aussie representative, Lubin Pfeiffer.

Season 6 also sees the boys heading out of home water again with two spectacular episodes

stalking’.

For more information or to check out the earlier series, visit bigangryfish.tv. – MM

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Wallaga Lake has finally opened to the sea BERMAGUI

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

Great news – Wallaga Lake was opened to the sea recently following rains that flooded the road. With this fresh, migrating fish stocks are moving in and out of this system on a regular basis. Over the flats bream, whiting, luderick and mullet are dominating the catches.

These fish are also being encountered in the channels along with flathead, trevally, tailor and salmon while up the back reaches towards Narira Creek flatties are responding well to soft plastics. One fish that has

moved back in to the lake are those tasty, feisty garfish.

Using a little berley, anglers can easily catch them from the shoreline south of the bridge over the weed beds.

January is usually the start of the marlin season, however it is all in the currents; they determine what gamefish arrive along the east coast and where they concentrate. It all starts with a food source with the minute organisms such as krill and plankton attracting small predators in the form of massive slimy mackerel schools feasting on this rich food source, which in turn brings in the largest predators of all, such as marlin, sharks and tuna.

Studying the water

Already it is looking like a good whiting season around Bermi.

currents on BOM’s BLUElink site over the past few months, a series of several eddies have formed along the coast, drifting south to our part of the world and they just ooze fish. If these currents keep coming south as predicted, we should have water temperatures around 22°C for the holidays – perfect for striped marlin.

Baitfish will often congregate along or inside the edge of the Continental Shelf where up-welling currents bring in the food source. This is where you find the marlin; one of the best areas is the TwelveMile Reef, 8nm southeast of Bermagui. Lure fishing early in the season may be best until you find where the fish are in numbers and then change over to baits.

Sharks in the form of hammerheads, makos and whalers may have a liking for your baits, while various species like yellowfin, striped tuna or mahimahi may be a welcome by-catch on the lures. Something to remember is that there has been more big blue marlin caught in the first month of the year than any other time, so if it’s a big marlin you seek, this may just be the month.

Wallaga Lake opened recently and fish stocks soon recovered.

Up at the rock, Montague is producing reasonable amounts of kingfish. These are being taken using various methods, with jigs or live baits being the most consistent fish-producers, however don’t be afraid to try some fresh squid.

On the way back you can stop off east of Tilba to try for sand flathead, gurnard or maybe a gummy shark over the sand. There have been good numbers of these fish there to top up a bag on the way home. The reefs southeast of Bermagui like the Four-Mile, Six-Mile and those east of Goalen Head

are producing reasonable snapper, plenty of very large blue morwong, plus quite a few jackass morwong thrown in. Once off the edge of the reef, tiger flathead will take over and it has been one of the best seasons for a long time for these lovely table fish.

On shore the beaches are alive with many different species moving along the coast. Mullet, bream, whiting and mulloway have been a regular capture along our coast while salmon are around in many numbers, making for easy fishing of a night time, especially

around the moon. Expect to encounter sharks in the form of whalers and gummies.

Tailor will keep you entertained between strikes from the larger fish.

Fishing from the rocks is similar to that of the beach, where passing schools of salmon are allowing anglers some good lure fishing.

Mixed in are the odd bonito and kingfish, and tailor are also a common catch.

Luderick and drummer are another common catch recently for anglers using bait, with the occasional blue groper appearing to make things interesting.

Bega re-opens to the ocean TATHRA

Darren Redman djsxstreamfishing@bigpond.com

Following recent rain, the Bega River system needed to be manually opened to the ocean. Having done so successfully, what does this mean for us anglers?

It allowed fresh stocks of fish to move into the

system and now providing some exciting angling. So what’s on offer? Well, just about everything. Whatever estuary species you wish to target, this estuary has them all, from mulloway and flatties, bream to luderick, whiting, mullet and garfish.

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species is thriving as a result, that being estuary perch. Anglers are now encountering them on a regular basis, and for some exciting news, Brogo Dam is now the first impoundment in NSW to have estuary perch stocked in it. These fish were released in early December, and hopefully within a couple of years it should start producing even more great angling in Brogo.

One area that is very popular in the holidays is Tathra Wharf. There is always plenty of action to keep the kids and us older anglers entertained. What is on offer there at present is plenty of slimy mackerel and yellowtail. These are the main species to grace the bottom of fisher’s buckets and will supply a bait source for future outings, or even off the wharf itself. Using these fish for bait by making long casts and fishing the bottom will often produce a bag of reasonable sand flathead and floating the same baits out of a night will likely produce tailor and salmon of a good size.

If there is not a lot of the tailor or salmon to be found on the wharf, you may wish to go and try your luck on the surrounding beaches.

Using these fresh baits off the beach and you can be

assured to find plenty of salmon patrolling the suds.

High tide is the best whether it be of a morning, evening or through the day. Of an evening and into the night, expect tailor, mulloway and gummy sharks to join in, and if you combined this on a full moon, you will improve your chances. Other species frequenting the beaches at present are schools of whiting, bream and mullet, with the north end of Tathra Beach fishing well.

Daylight over the Pacific Ocean is a beautiful time place, and to witness the sun rising while casting a lure or bait from the rocks makes it that much more special.

Early mornings may be essential to beat the wind at this time of year, where those casting a lure are likely to encounter passing species like kingfish, bonito, salmon, tailor and maybe some frigate mackerel.

Using baits such as pilchards may also produce some of these species while other baits like cunjevoi, crab, cabbage weed and prawns will attract a wide variety to keep anglers guessing.

These may include groper, drummer, leatherjackets, bream, trevally, blackfish plus many more.

Around in Kianinny Bay, using some of that mackerel

The Bega River is producing plenty of flatties in a range of sizes. for berley is likely to attract schools of garfish, and these tasty morsels will respond to a bait under afloat only too easily, and for a handy little tip, try using prawn or nippers for bait rather than fish, as it will keep the less desirable species at bay.

Offshore, the good news for the bottom bashers comes in the form of plenty of flathead. Out from most beaches in moderate depths of water, there is some very

nice sand flathead and mixing with them you are likely to find a few very nice gummy sharks while out deeper in water depths around 50m. Tiger flathead will chew your head off, and these fish have been of a very big size this season and are in extremely good numbers. There are also the regulars on the reefs with snapper, morwong, perch plus more providing food for the table.

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SPOT THE

10 DIFFERENCES

GEORGE & NEV by Michael Hardy

ORIGINAL

FIND-A-WORD

Congratulations to Simon Cameron from Tyndale, who was last month’s winner of the Find-a-Word Competition!

Monthly winners receive a sponsor prize.

Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – NSWFM

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE

The subscriber prize winner for November is P Blasi of Balgownie, who won a Gunnel Rod valued at $370.

All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – NSWFM

of Echuca, T Maroney of Gunnedah, J Drummond of Moe, J Thompson of Ermington, J Smith of Kelso, B Bailey of Ulladulla, N Webster of Bilpin, B Bell of Wodonga , C Cooper of Boorowa, B Hall of Balgownie , S Ayre of Denman, D Sullivan of Aberdeen, C Colley of Mount Panorama, G Wade of Empire Bay, I Dando of Tuggerawong, L Gorham of Toronto, D Collister of Hillvue, R Wheatley of Baulkham Hills, M Markham of Singleton, F Bubas of

Albion Park, A Lees of Raymond Terrace.

Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – NSWFM The Major prize winners for the Coastal Black Logo competition are: 1st T Ryan of Wagga Wagga, who won $1000 Rapala VMC prizes; 2nd R Morgan of Dingley Village, who won $500 Rapala VMC prizes; 3rd B Halberstater of Yeppoon, who won $200 Rapala VMC prizes.

Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – NSWFM

LAST MONTH’S ANSWERS

FIND THE COASTAL BLACK LOGO

GUESS THE FISH?

This month’s Guess the Fish Answer: Coral Trout

The answers to Find the Black Coastal Logo for November were: 8, 13, 16, 24, 30, 32, 35, 49, 54, 68, 73, 78, 83, 103, 111. – NSWFM The Find the Coastal Black prize winners for November were: G Smith of Werris Creek, P Doherty of Mudgee, P Threthewey of Unanderra, H Morrison of Forbes , L Comesford of Penrith South, G Tasker of Belfield, D Miller of Cobar, C Dillon of Wyoming, L Cupitt of Goulburn, S Cook of Seven Hills, R Kroll of Minnie Water, D Martin of St Andrews, M Donnelly of Bungendore, P Dever of Pampoolah, I Harpley of Gundagai, J Mulcahy of Taree, J Nott of Barnsley, J Malcolm of Warners Bay, C Engelbrecht of Wagga Wagga, R Crossman

Answer:

Hot northerlies and hot fishing MALLACOOTA

Kevin Gleed captainkev@wildernessfishingtours.com

Well summer is upon us, with hot days much to everyone’s liking. Unfortunately with summer comes the wind, and it has been blowing the northeasterlies, which at this

time of year are relentless.

If fishing offshore, get out there early and you should be able to get back before the wind makes things too unpleasant.

Fortunately, when fishing in the lake you can nearly always find somewhere out of the wind. The water temperature inshore is around 16°C, and over the next few

months it will rise to around 20°C. The lake, however, warms a lot quicker than the ocean.

The wind has not allowed too many boats to head offshore, but when the weather allows, fish will be caught. Flathead, both sand and tigers, are on the menu, and as the water warms there will be some big tiger flathead

There’s plenty of eating size flathead on the bite, but the bigger fish are a bit harder to come by.

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caught as well. Those in the know will be catching a feed of pinkie snapper along with gummy sharks.

Over the next few months, plenty of people will be trying to head offshore For those new to the area, it pays to watch the locals navigate at the boat ramp, as the sand is constantly moving, so don’t head out if there is a bit of a sea rolling, as you can be sure it will be worse when you return.

Remember over the busy period that you can guarantee there will be police and fisheries officers on the water, so make sure everything is in line like your fishing licences, boat registration and so on, otherwise you will be going home with some fines.

Fishing the beaches has seen some good fishing for salmon, with all the good gutters on all the local beaches seeing salmon caught, particularly around the high tide. As the water warms, yellowfin bream and sand whiting will be caught.

Anglers chasing gummy shark at night along Quarry Beach are also coming up trumps.

This time of year sees plenty of boats fishing the lake and plenty of fish being caught, and dusky flathead are spread throughout the top and bottom lake and right upstream to Gypsy Point. Remember to stick to bag limits, as this is not an infinite resource.

Yellowfin and black bream are also being caught, with fish moving around the edges of both the bottom and top lakes. The fish are moving quickly, so if you find fish one day, don’t be surprised if they have moved the next. Silver trevally are also being caught, and these fish are often found close to the baitfish schools and

Matching the hatch goes a long way when targeting flathead. can be caught on a variety of lures, with fresh bait also an option.

With the visitors in the town over the holiday period,

everyone’s hoping for a decent prawn run, as it has been some years since the prawning has been good and everyone enjoys a good feed of prawns.

Yellowfin and black bream are prowling the edges of both the bottom and top lakes.

Visitors to liven up area EDEN

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JANUARY 2018

With the warm weather and Christmas holidays upon us, Eden has come alive with plenty of visitors to the area enjoying the waterways.

The warm water is pushing its way down the coast, with the temperature on the beach nearly 20°C and warmer water out wide on the shelf. Once again the problem with heading out wide has been the strong northeasterly winds, which have been blowing for a while. There was some reports coming in of yellowfin tuna before the wind started blowing, and with the warm water it shouldn’t be long before the marlin make an appearance.

Closer to shore there are

plenty of schools of slimy mackerel and there have been reports of kingfish lurking in the same area. The warmer water has brought the sand and tiger flathead on the bite, and all the flathead spots have had reports of fish.

Once the warm water pushes into Disaster Bay, you can be sure of some good fishing.

Snapper are also being caught along with morwong, with some good size fish reported down off Green Cape. When chasing snapper, it often pays to start fishing in close using a berley trail, then as the sun rises move out wider.

Plenty of salmon are moving along the local beaches, with anglers tossing metal lures catching plenty, but fishing with bait both whitebait and pilchards is also catching fish.

The local estuaries

are fishing well too. The dusky flathead are on the bite, with a variety of soft plastic lures working well.

Yellowfin bream, sand whiting and trevally are all on the bite, with fresh baits like nippers and beach worm all catching fish. If you can’t get either of these baits, local prawn has also been a good choice of bait.

The coming months should see some good prawning in the local estuaries, and the prawns will only get bigger as each month goes by.

The warmer weather sees the local bass come on the bite, with fish being caught on surface lures around dawn and dusk.

Catch and release is the go with these fish, as they are such a great sporting fish – it just doesn’t make sense to kill them.

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61

DIY Lure Making

DIY lure making: Glidin’ Doc BRISBANE

Greg Vinall support@makewoodenlures.com

Welcome to our fifth lure making project of the series! This month I’ve got a cool little glider for you.

Depending on who you talk to, this style of lure might also be called a sinking stickbait, jerkbait, wobbler or twitchbait. No matter what you choose to call it, the Glidin’ Doc will add a whole new dimension to your hardbody lure fishing.

Gliders are an oftenoverlooked style of hardbody lure, but they can be very effective if fished properly.

Even better, gliders are reasonably straightforward to make. There’s no diving

lip to cut or fit, just get the body shape right and weight it correctly. A coat of paint and some hooks – and voila!

FISHING WITH THE GLIDIN’ DOC Gliders have a lot in common with stickbaits, the main difference being that they work below the water surface while stickbaits work on top. Both styles have very little action if you simply crank them back at constant speed.

Gliders that are designed to be worked fast tend to be heavily weighted, but the Glidin’ Doc is not one of them! This is a finesse lure, designed to sink very slowly. It’s best fished with twitches and pauses, a walkthe-dog style retrieve or other slow and erratic movements.

Template: 1 Square = 1cm

Allow plenty of slack line between twitches and you should get an erratic side-toside action.

It’s perfect for imitating foraging baitfish that are unaware of an imminent ambush, or an injured baitfish that’s easy pickings.

Bream, bass, ‘toga, flathead, trout and sooties are all fair game! Work it alongside fallen timber, through standing timber or around weedbeds for the best results.

Balsa is a natural material that can vary in density, and no two handmade lures are the same, so you might find that your lures vary in their sink rates. No problem!

By switching between lightweight and heavy-duty hooks and rings you can adjust the sink rate, or use

100% Scale

the small stick-on weights you’ll find in good tackle shops to adjust the sink rate to suit your needs.

Glidin’ Doc can be fished on whatever bream, bass or trout gear you might own.

As for stickbaits, a rod that’s a little soft in the tip will get more action from your lures. It just seems to soften the twitches and smooth the lure movement.

I prefer a braided line with a fluorocarbon leader for fishing the Glidin’ Doc. The lure is often worked slowly, so the low visibility of fluorocarbon is an advantage, because fish have plenty of time to inspect it.

MAKING THE GLIDIN’ DOC All the lures in this series have been pretty simple, but this one is about as easy as they come. The usual tools

TOOLS AND MATERIALS Tools Utility knife, battery drill and bits, hacksaw, pliers.

Materials • 12.5mm x 75mm balsa plank • 1-1.2mm stainless steel wire • 120 and 240 grit sand paper • 240 grit wet sanding paper • Epoxy adhesive (with syringes and mixing sticks) • Ball sinkers (size 000) • Methylated Spirit • Holoscale foil (optional) • 3D eyes (optional) and materials apply: balsa for the lure body, a little stainless steel wire, some size 000 ball sinkers and a good epoxy adhesive like 24hr Araldite are all you’ll need. Add some paint and clear coat to tart the lure up, of course.

PAINTING AND CLEAR COATING For something different, I wrapped this lure with a thin holographic material I’ve developed for lure makers, called Holoscale. This self-

adhesive film stretches over the lure and can be painted and clear-coated to give exceptional flash and brilliance that attracts fish from miles away. You can get some Holoscale for your own lures at my website makewoodenlures. com/product/holoscalemirroscale/.

Of course, you don’t have to give your lure the holographic treatment. It can be painted in the same ways as our previous projects.

1

Visit www.MakeWoodenLures.com/Fishing-Monthly/ to download all the templates in this series.

You should be used to this step by now! Print the template and transfer the side profile onto a piece of 12mm thick balsa wood. Use a utility knife to cut away most of the waste, but stop just short of the lines you marked.

2

3

With your lure blank on a flat surface, square up edges using sandpaper glued to a flat wood block. Use a curved sanding block to clean up the concave edge on the underside of the lure. Work gently to shape the profile down to the guideline you drew on the blank.

4

5

Transfer the top profile to the lure blank using your template then trim away the waste almost down to the line, and square up the blank using your sanding block.

62

Mark a line down the centre of the blank and use your side profile template to mark the locations of the hardware. Carefully drill a 2mm hole into the blank for each of the hook hangers and for the tow point. Use a 5mm drill bit to make a hole for the belly weights. You can use a couple of small sinkers rather than one larger one. It’s important for these lures to stay horizontal while they’re sinking, which is more easily achieved if the weight is spread along the underside a little.

JANUARY 2018

6

The Glidin’ Doc has reasonably flat sides, so the shaping process is similar to the Flat Doc from last month. You can skip drawing a centre line on the sides if you like, and simply draw a line a few millimetres in from the edge, all the way around.

Use a sharp knife to slice away the timber between the carving guidelines. Chip away with light cuts until you’ve rounded off the edge to get a pleasing body shape. A few minutes with some sandpaper will refine the shape and remove the lumps and bumps left by the knife.

DIY Lure Making 8

7

Twist some stainless steel wire to make your hook hangers and tow points, then glue them into the holes you drilled previously. Use plenty of 24-hour (super strength) epoxy for this. While you’re at it, glue the weights into the belly of the lure. You might find that you need to squash them a little with some pliers so that they sit neatly beneath the surface of the wood. Set your lures aside to cure.

Harden the balsa using some thinned epoxy. You can get full instructions for this at makewoodenlures.com/lure-bodies-hardeningsealing/. Then set your lures aside for a further 24 hours minimum before sanding off the gloss with 240 grit wet sanding paper.

FINISHED LURE

9

If you’re going to try the Holoscale lure foil then now is the time to apply it. Make sure the film is nice and warm, stretch it over the lure and coat again with clear epoxy before you move on to painting. If you’re not going to foil your lures then move straight onto painting. You can also use self-adhesive eyes on this lure, rather than painting eyes on.

You’ll find these on the shelves in larger tackle shops, or online.

• For extra information and video tutorials please go to Greg’s website MakeWoodenLures.com/Fishing-Monthly/ and complete the free registration. To check out Greg’s other work visit crazylureart. com and his Facebook page Wooden Lure Making.

for • Sign up updates!

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Trout

Getting onto topwater tactics for trophy trout Daniel Turner

I’ve always loved surface fishing. It started with summer redfin on poppers and eventually progressed to chasing Murray cod on the biggest surface lures I could get my hands on.

Watching a fish rise up and attack your lure is an adrenalin rush like no other.

It’s highly addictive and so much fun that I would happily swap the opportunity to land multiple fish sub-surface for just one fish caught on top of the water.

If the large variety of surface lures that are now available in tackle stores are anything to go by, it seems plenty of people agree with me. There’s a suitable size, design and lure action for almost every species of fish around Australia. However, it recently occurred to me that there’s one species that the surface fishing trend hasn’t caught onto – trout.

I was stumped. It’s hardly a new phenomenon to target trout feeding on the surface. After all, fly anglers successfully fish the surface with dry flies. So why then has the surface fishing obsession not gained mainstream popularity amongst lure anglers?

The author with a cracker brown trout caught on a surface lure. salmon in Lake McKenzie, Arthurs Lake, Lake Peddler and the Great Lakes for over 50 years, and he was kind enough to share some of his wisdom with me.

Doug told me a great story of how he was taught to use fishcakes by the ‘older generation.’ He was told to cast the fishcake out and leave it sitting there while you roll and then smoke a cigarette. Then resume by slowly and gently winding the lure across the surface and start again. It was a lesson in slowly retrieving

any structure or trees where the fish could be waiting for an opportunistic meal. Doug said he has caught fish on fishcakes all year round and at any time of day, and night time was often the most productive.

Doug gave me one final piece of inspiration. He told me that over time you will probably forget catching fish on bait or while trolling lures, but you’ll never forget the fish that you land on the surface. He said the heart-racing thrill of surface strike leaves a long-lasting

over an hour from my house in Canberra, I regularly fish the lake and I decided that I wasn’t going to change my usual plan of attack when I’m fishing with soft plastics, winged lures and hardbodies.

The bottom of Lake Eucumbene is mostly mud, clay and sand – perfect for yabby populations. The water level of Lake Eucumbene was 38%, which forced the yabbies to relocate from their burrows. This provides an easy meal for trout cruising around the edges. The first thing I wanted to do was find a muddy shoreline with a yabby population, which doesn’t take long when the banks are exposed with holes and shells scattered around.

I knew that night would give me the best chance of landing a fish, and I also wanted to test the lures in the middle of the day. Lake Eucumbene is notorious for its gusty winds, which isn’t always pleasant for anglers, but most importantly it can really get the trout into a feeding mood. During windy conditions, waves continually crash into the shoreline, stirring up the muddy banks

and causing the water to dirty around the edges.

The muddy water provides protection for the trout as they hunt along the edges for any insects or terrestrials that have accumulated from the waves.

Muddy water provides a rare opportunity to land multiple fish smack bang in the middle of the day – something usually reserved for dawn, dusk and the evening.

The location I settled on provided the best of both worlds – vast mud banks with remnants of yabbies and, most importantly, I was fishing into the wind. This meant that the concentration of food was being blown in the direction of the wind and the waves were crashing directly in front of me.

If you’re fishing from a boat, you can also target wind and foam lanes that will collect any insects drifting on the surface.

LEARNING ON THE RUN I started by using poppers and stickbaits, however I quickly realised that the rippled water surface caused by the blustery conditions was impairing the intended action of the lure on the surface. The waves were pushing and bouncing the lures around, and thus they were unable to produce a constant action on the surface. Even the larger 75mm models that I tried weren’t heavy enough to stay on the water’s surface.

Fortunately, I had a few of the Dougie’s Handmade Fishcakes to try and I remembered that Doug advised that some chop on the water can actually help with the action of the lure.

The propeller on the front of the lure spins during retrieval, and a combination of some extra weight and a wider profile meant that the lure was in constant contact with the surface of

the water.

I was casting the lure parallel to the surface no more than 5m from the shoreline, where the trout would be feeding. It took some time to get used to the action of the propeller. I found that positioning your rod tip in line with the horizon was more effective than the usual retrieval angle down towards your feet. This allows the lure to sit slightly higher in the water, ensuring that the propeller spins at all times.

I was impressed by the lure’s action on the surface, and was feeling confident that the vibrations and trail of bubbles on the surface would get the attention of any nearby fish.

Some lures to try • Morry Kneebone stickbait (colour 12) • Storm Hopper Popper • Arashi Cover Pop • Morry Kneebone Small Mammal • Arbogast Jitterbug • River2Sea Cicada Pop • Dougie’s Handmade Wooden Lures Medium Fishcake NIGHT TIME At times, we all question our sanity when fishing – and this was one of those times. It was freezing cold and the wind was relentless.

However, I knew that night time would be my best shot at landing a fish, because the usually cautious and wily trout feel safe from aerial predators and venture into the shallow margins for a feed.

Earlier in the day I had prospected the area I was fishing, so I knew that I didn’t have to worry about any snags. However, the reoccurring problem that I faced was not knowing if the action of the lure was correct. Earlier in the day, I could watch the lure and retrieve it at a speed that

The author’s first goal was to find a muddy shoreline with a yabby population, which doesn’t take long when the banks are exposed with holes and shells scattered around.

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS I scoured the internet for an answer, and I quickly became worried that I was wasting my time because I couldn’t find a single manufacturer marketing their surface lures to trout anglers.

Finally, I stumbled across Douglas Poulton, a lure maker in Tasmania who hand-makes wooden surface lures specifically for trout.

As it turns out, surface lures have been used to target trout since the 1970s, especially in Tasmania where the ‘fishcake’ style of lure rose to prominence. Doug has been catching trout and Atlantic 64

JANUARY 2018

the lure, giving plenty of time for any nearby fish to take interest.

Doug had a few theories of what he thought the lure represented in a trout’s diet, but over time he has settled on insects, lizards, frogs, rodents and anything else that might fall into the water from nearby trees or long grass.

Between these great fishing yarns, Doug also made a few important points.

Firstly, the best time to use fishcake lures is in windy conditions when the water surface becomes sloppy.

Cast repeatedly close to the shoreline edges or look for

impression and makes this form of fishing that little bit more special.

Thanks to Doug I was reassured that surface fishing for trout is a productive technique for trout and one of Tassie’s best-kept secrets! It was now time for me to start my surface fishing journey.

I purchased some poppers and stickbaits, the majority of which were designed for bass, bream and whiting, and I ordered some of Dougie’s Fishcakes.

THE PLAN – STICKING TO MY STRENGTHS Lake Eucumbene was the destination for my surface lure mission. Just

If you’re fishing from a boat, you can also target wind and foam lanes that will collect any insects that are drifting on the surface.

Trout allowed me to maintain a constant lure action.

When your casting extralarge Murray cod surface lures, you can feel the lure’s action during the retrieval as the bib darts from side to side. However, these smaller lures don’t give you the same feeling and for much of the night I had that unsettling feeling that the lure wasn’t swimming correctly. While my head torch would have helped me see the action of the lure, I left it turned off to avoid spooking any nearby fish.

trying again in summer when the two common scenarios that trigger surface feeding occur – hatches and falls.

During insect hatches, hundreds of nymphs, midges, caddis, mayflies and other insects represent an easy meal on the surface.

Hatches occur all year round, but are most prominent in the warmer months.

In summer beetles, ants, jassids, grasshoppers, crickets, and cicadas are prevalent. Water surrounded by overhanging trees or long grass is an ideal location for

fish for the day, I elected to wear high visibility clothing – a cardinal sin amongst trout anglers!

Due to the shallow river conditions, the surface lures become more of a necessity than a choice. Minnow, winged or spooned lures would have been a nightmare to use and a costly exercise, as plenty of lures would have been lost to a rock or submerged timber.

Our hopes were high after sighting a few small rainbows spawning in pairs.

We left them to do their thing In fast running water, cast a stickbait upstream and simply wind up the slack line as the lure floats down with the water. Impart an occasional twitch to the lure to give it the walk-the-dog action as it floats downstream. enjoying my surroundings in the high country, so what happened next caught me completely off guard and sent my heart racing.

I was pinpointing my casts tight against the opposite bank simulating a ‘fall’ whereby a terrestrial drops into the water from an overhanging tree. Suddenly I saw a bow wave approach my lure and my rod buckled over with the weight of the fish.

The fish had my reel screaming as it took off

generally during the spring and summer months the river predominantly contains rainbows.

Finally, I had cracked the surface fishing hoodoo and I was hooked! Dougie was right when he said surfacecaught trout are even more memorable – I certainly won’t forget this fish and I’m already planning the next trip to Eucumbene!

POPPERS AND STICKBAITS While there are plenty of

need to draw fish from a further distance, so surface lures with an in-built action such as a bib or propeller are ideal. In-built actions have a larger and noisier presence in the water, and are also heavier, which will help increase your casting distance.

There are plenty of lures on the market that imitate terrestrial insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and cicadas. Small mammal or rodent surface

The author quickly realised that the rippled water surface caused by the blustery conditions was impairing the intended action of the lure on the surface.

A full moon on a clear night would make a world of difference, and calmer, glassier conditions would also allow for a better feel of the lure’s action on the surface. I cast and cast into blustering wind until my hands turned blue and my back ached. With no sign of any fish, I decided to pull the pin.

TIME OF YEAR The available food sources at Lake Eucumbene are always changing due to the different seasons, temperature and water levels. As a general rule, 80% of the year trout will feed predominantly below the surface. The remaining 20% represents the warmest period of the year when surface activity from insects and terrestrials reaches its peak. I was fishing in late September, so from the very outset I knew my timing was off.

I’m looking forward to

falls, which occur when a strong offshore breeze pushes the terrestrials into the water, where they become stranded.

Terrestrials make up a substantial portion of a trout’s diet in summer and it goes without saying that surface lures are most effective when trout are feeding on the surface. The vibrations emitted by terrestrials when they kick and struggle on the surface attracts trout from metres away, and that is exactly what your surface lure is trying to emulate.

FISH ON! After a donut day fishing the lake, we decided to give the river a try. The river had settled after the winter flow with lots of shallow, steady water; these are typical conditions for the river after it reopens to fishing over the October long weekend.

My fishing partner was an inexperienced angler, so in fairness to our wager over who would land the most

Watching wild brumbies can be great while you wait for your lure to be smashed. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t catch a fish straight away. Once you break the surface hoodoo, you’ll keep coming back for more.

and went in search of some deeper pools to target.

After experimenting with the various lures during the previous day, we decided to use small poppers, mainly because we knew that they would make less of a splash when casted. We modified the traditional retrieval method, consisting of a sharp jerking of the rod tip to create the disturbance on the surface and the blooping sound, to a more slow and steady retrieve.

This prevented spooking the trout with an overly aggressive retrieve, while still allowing the lure to disturb the surface and emit vibrations. We also adopted a common surface fishing technique for natives – an occasional extended pause during the retrieve.

The countless casts that I had made over the two days had drained my sense of anticipation. I was in a state of trance, relaxed and

A beautiful stream location that would be worth a fish. downstream, and it was determined to free itself against any structure that it could find. Every time it came within netting distance, it would find another burst of energy and distance itself.

After one hell of a fight, I had myself a solid brown trout in the net!

It was a nice surprise, as

In shallow river conditions, surface lures become more of a necessity than a choice. Minnow, winged or spooned lures would be a nightmare to use and a costly exercise, as plenty of lures would be lost to a rock or submerged timber.

poppers and stickbaits on the market, none are specifically designed to target trout.

The surface lures that are marketed for bass, whiting and bream are generally the ideal size and weight.

Poppers and stickbaits up to 75mm in size are ideal for shallow water streams and rivers where the trout are easily spooked. Their lightweight design will make minimal splash when cast.

In fast running water, cast a stickbait upstream and simply wind up the slack line as the lure floats down with the water. Impart an occasional twitch to the lure to give it the walk-the-dog action as it floats downstream. In still water or deeper, slower runs that sit alongside the rapids, poppers are preferred.

TERRESTRIAL IMITATIONS AND FISHCAKES In lakes and dams, you

lures are also very popular.

The action and size of the lure is more important than colour choice, but if you are fishing at night time, a black lure will produce a strong silhouette and contrast, which will be easier for a fish to see from beneath the surface.

Fishcake lures are the only surface lure on the market designed specifically for trout. Fishcakes have a propeller on the front of the lure that rotates when retrieved, creating a gurgle sound and a trail of bubbles on the water.

In-built actions do most of the work for you. Simply adjust your retrieval speed until you find the sweet spot for that particular lure.

When using fishcakes, elevate your rod tip so that the lure sits higher in the water. This will ensure that the propeller spins freely.

JANUARY 2018

65

Rustic and fishing-friendly – Daffodil Cottage FMG

Peter Jung pjung@fishingmonthly.com.au

Part of the Currango Homestead, which lies not far from Tantangara

accommodation in unique fishing-friendly locations.

I was asked to go and spend some time there and provide feedback on the experience and whether or not accommodation like Daffodil Cottage is viable

1890s. While all of the buildings have been restored, there is no doubt they provide a feel and give a true insight into how people on this pastoral station dealt with the hardships of the location

Although restored, everything is in keeping with the original style from the 1890s.

From the first time you see it you can’t help but be taken in by Daffodil Cottage’s rustic charm.

Dam in the Kosciuszko National Park and the NSW Snowy Mountains, Daffodil Cottage has been set-up as part of an initiative to provide anglers with comfortable

when it comes to a fishing destination.

HISTORIC Daffodil Cottage was once the overseer’s residence of the homestead and was built in the late

during the times when these buildings were built.

You also get an amazing insight into the beauty of the area, with its snow gum-lined views and many forms of wildlife. Kangaroos fed

peacefully in the grounds and we were visited by brumbies, possums and saw numerous lizards and snakes.

It must have been an amazing effort to get to the location all those years ago and it still is today, although now there is a wellmaintained track, which makes access achievable in a 2WD vehicle. I would

homestead. There is plenty of information provided on its history and there are also a couple of picnic tables and a long drop toilet (you need to provide your own toilet paper) for you to use.

RUSTIC AND ECO-FRIENDLY I would call the accommodation that Daffodil Cottage provides

sleep up to six people and is heated by a beautiful open fireplace.

Although the facade is from the 1890s, there are some modern eco-friendly touches, with solar power for lighting and to run the fridge provided, as well as running water (untreated) and a gas cooking facility out the back of the building. The toilet is

It is amazing to see the brumbies and wallabies on the grounds of the homestead. recommend a 4WD vehicle, purely because the weather in the region can change so quickly and it would provide you with some piece of mind.

Visitors are welcome to roam the grounds of the

Above: The cottage is a comfortable place to base yourself to explore the area. Below: Although you need to bring all of your own linen and bedding, the beds were comfortable and it sleeps up to six people.

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JANUARY 2018

as comfortable and rustic.

The building itself is set-up as I am sure it would have been at its inception. It has a wood-fired stove, an outhouse, a bucket shower, a couple of bedrooms that can

a long drop rather than the bucket or pale they may have used in those times.

You need to provide all of your own linen/bedding, toilet paper and food. You also need to ensure that you

You can either cook on the wood-fired stove in the cabin or on the gas cooking station off the rear verandah.

clean up before you depart and leave the cottage as you found it. This includes taking any rubbish you have with you.

There are plenty of cooking utensils, plates, cups and more, and firewood is provided for the open fireplace and stove. Although it was only mid-March when we visited, the nights were still cold and we lit the open fire.

It was great and I can only tip

Mosquito Creek Arm of the dam, which is on the Port Phillip trail. It was just a matter of finding a bank that had a bit of depth to it to base ourselves from and start fishing. Our plan of attack was to walk the shoreline casting lures, broken up with a little bit of bait fishing. We also had kayaks with us if the first two failed.

Although we caught a few fish on bait (scrub

the opposite bank in the afternoon.

After a comfortable night’s sleep in the cottage, the following morning’s weather was a complete contrast to the previous afternoon. Heavy fog was followed by crystal clear skies and not a breath of wind. We continued our assault, casting from the shoreline and had great success early. As the fog

There are many trails that give you great access to the shoreline of the dam and some great fishing. Just look for a bank with deeper water off it.

The cottage itself is wellmaintained and the cooking and toilet facilities are more than adequate. The beds were comfortable and the open

you will experience, if you happen to have a clear night like we did, take the time to go out and look into the night sky. The star show we

continued along the Port Phillip trail and fished the Murrumbidgee River Arm, as well as the many other banks in the area.

The drive in through the snow gums to get to Currango Homestead was part of the appeal of going there. my hat to those pioneers that braved this environment in the early days.

FISHING-FRIENDLY Access to the foreshores of Tantangara Dam is only a short drive away. There are numerous tracks that take you to the shoreline from the Port Phillip trail or the Tantangara trail; these are the two main tracks at the top at of the lake. Take care when driving along the shoreline, as the dam’s water levels fluctuate quite a bit.

If you are unsure, walk it, because if you get stuck, there isn’t a lot of structure to assist you to get out and help is far away.

We decided to fish the

worms), most of our success came from casting minnow-style lures from the shore. The key was to find areas that had a deeper edge (there was plenty of shallow shoreline). These proved to be the highways that the fish travelled along and we got more than a dozen fish on what was a drizzly and sometimes windy afternoon.

Most of the fish weren’t huge (the larger fish were just under a couple of pounds), but they were certainly legal.

As the afternoon progressed the weather had improved and we were looking forward to heading out the following morning. We wanted to fish

cleared, the fishing tapered off and we had caught just under 20 fish with a few on ice for a feed.

The fishing was simple and easy. The only other tip I could provide (other than the water depth) is to take care as you walk around.

The shore can be very slippery in places (I found out the hard way) and this can result in a sore backside and hurt pride should you come unstuck.

CONCLUSION Daffodil Cottage is a great base to explore this area. It’s not just fishing either, with many walking trails, riding trails and things to explore nearby.

Casting minnow-style lures from the bank proved to be very rewarding. fire was gold. It made the experience that much better.

I couldn’t force myself to use the shower, as it was too cold and I was only staying one night – I will leave that for next time. Other than the snow gums and the wildlife

had was simply amazing and something I will certainly remember.

I felt the fishing was excellent and we only fished a small portion of the dam.

If we had a few more days I am sure we would have

To find out more about Daffodil Cottage, Currango Homestead and the other opportunities available to anglers go to www. nationalparks.nsw.gov.au. I am sure you will enjoy the experience as much as I did.

Left: The gas cooking station off the rear verandah. Centre: The rustic charm continues with the shower and outhouse. Right: The open fire in the cottage will warm you even on the coolest of nights.

JANUARY 2018

67

Suss out the techniques working this season ‘Blue Chair’ is a popular spot for land-based anglers but it is also a great spot to fish from a kayak – the point can produce good-sized goldens and enormous redfin.

The Murrumbidgee River has been flooded a few times since December and this has meant that a lot of snags have moved a long way down the river. Areas

CANBERRA

Toby Grundy

Canberra received a lot of rain throughout late November and December.

This rain has affected the Murrumbidgee River and has caused a lot of headaches for cod fishos trying to get on the board to kickstart their season.

Fishing fast water requires a different approach with surface lures packed back in the box and some old favourites brought into rotation. Spinnerbaits and large divers are a good choice when the river is high and dirty, because they send a lot of vibrations through the water. With spinnerbaits, you don’t even need to wind to initiate the lure’s action. It can literally float with the current and still get a strike.

I like using brighter colours

discoloured due to heavy rain. The fishing has been mixed with many anglers unable to find the larger golden perch that cruise around the snags chasing redfin schools holding close to the bank. Lures like the Jackall TN50 and Savage Gear vibes have accounted for some solid fish while those chasing cod

Golden perch have been harder to find recently. occasional day of outstanding fishing but on the whole giving very little away.

I have started to go back to basics when fishing LBG and am now running shallow

also in the bay near the skate park. Big, loud paddlers seem to be getting the most attention and the Evergreen Timber Flash has also accounted for some solid fish. Wait for

surface hit from a cod near Diddams Close but that’s it.

That said, hopefully the surface action starts to heat up as we head towards February and March. If you’re fishing from the bank, try the reedlined banks heading towards the bridge with a small black plastic like the Berkley Gulp. There are some decent reddies lurking in this area and you are always in with a chance at a golden.

While Yerrabi Pond is fishing well for redfin, the goldens remain elusive and so do the cod. Fishing plastics rigged weedless is the best way to approach the pond, as it is infested with weed.

Lake Ginninderra continues to fire. that were producing fish last year are now quiet. However, isolated rocks that survived the flood are a great place to cast a spinnerbait. I like to cast onto the rock and then let the lure slip into the water before drifting it past the eddy behind the rock. This is a more subtle technique that the fish can’t resist.

SURROUNDS Googong is low and certain sections are

have caught the occasional monster using spinnerbaits fished deep.

That said, there are plenty of redfin on offer in close and these can be targeted using a variety of techniques from slow rolling divers to hopping plastics right on the edge of the bank.

The bigger reddies are sitting in the timber, so be prepared to lose a lure or two if you’re after 45cm+ fish.

Fast and murky water require a different a approach to connect with fish like this. in discoloured water and oversized spinnerbaits like the Westin Monstervibe, which gets a lot of attention even in the most muddy backwaters of the ‘Bidgee.

LOCAL NEWS Lake Burley Griffin is still hit and miss. This is a shame, as many anglers (myself included) thought the lake would really fire up after the heavy rain. Disappointingly, this hasn’t been the case with the lake providing the

divers and brightly coloured vibes along the flatter areas.

I have caught a couple of goldens and a few reddies using these lures with most of my better captures coming from around the back of the museum.

Lake Tuggeranong is fishing well for surface cod.

Though these cod are not particularly big, they are hitting topwater and often close to high traffic areas like behind the college; they are

overcast conditions and focus your fishing time around dusk.

Lake Ginninderra continues to fish well for redfin but not much else. It is a kayak fisher’s paradise with double and even triple hook-ups on offer for those fishing near the police jetty and along the dam wall.

The redfin are responding to all manner of lures from plastics to small divers and will also take small topwater presentations. I have had one

Jo Hancix with a solid Googong goodoo.

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Top ups for the streams keep trout happy CANBERRA

Bryan Pratt

Fishing last month got well underway for several reasons, after a nervous start. We had some very

enabled some of the more adventurous anglers to put their hunting skills to work.

The perch were taken mostly on bait, especially yabbies, shrimps and scrub worms and were most busy in the late afternoon. Others

and adjacent to major cliff faces.

There was also mounting excitement about the impending opening of the Murray cod season on 1 December. Most anglers had done the right thing

With dedicated stocking programs, trout cod numbers have bounced back in recent years, and there’s been more and more by-catches while targeting Murray cod. timely rain – lots of small, intense rains and thunderstorms, which kept the streams topped up and created conditions that the trout loved.

It’s been a long time since we have seen the mountain streams bubbling and gurgling in pure picture-book fashion, especially when there is a good daily accompaniment of moths, midges, damsel and dragonflies and other insects to keep the fish busily feeding. The insect activity has been so intense we have had some excellent dry flyfishing much earlier in the season than usual, in addition to the normal wet.

There have been plenty of browns and rainbows in the 0.5-0.8kg range – a fun size for catching and perfect for the table. I’ve eaten quite a few from the streams and from Eucumbene and the taste and texture has been excellent. I also enjoyed a brook trout and several small Atlantic salmon from Jindabyne, which were satisfactory but not spectacular.

The second feature of the month was that golden perch came on the bite nicely in Burley Griffin, Googong and Burrinjuck.

They also became active in many of the small stocked pools scattered around Canberra, which

were taken on mid-range deep divers, especially when worked amongst flooded trees, around broken rock formations

during the closed season, trying to abide by the law and leave the fish alone to spawn in peace, but it’s difficult when the fish are so

Catches vary greatly at this time of year. Bardi grub fishers Dave and Bert Folkard were happy with this bag of large browns, small rainbows and some typically skinny Atlantic salmon from an early morning session at Lake Jindabyne.

frisky that they will snatch at anything that moves, and that includes almost every lure you put in the water.

Helpfully, though, most fish caught accidentally are released unharmed and straight away. It’s funny that we have to protect the fish against themselves – November would be the busiest cod month of the year.

It’s also interesting to note that because such a large proportion of Murray cod are released, the average size of the fish has increased markedly.

Just a few years ago, for example, a 1m cod was a spectacular catch. Today it is relatively common.

Redfin have become more active. Lately they are mostly individual fish, scattered around the waterways. They spawned from August through to November and millions of new fish should be showing by now. Typically they form into major schools from now on and catching them is easy. Once you catch one fish, you work that site until hopefully a school turns up and you can take as many as you like.

Don’t feel shy about taking cricket score catches.

Due to their propensity for over-breeding and exhausting the available food supply, for proper environmental management you should catch and remove as many as possible in order to maintain some suitable food and population balance.

If I was going to fish seriously in early summer, here’s where I would head, given that I am spoilt for choice. If I was flyfishing I would head straight to the higher country trout streams and fish upstream wherever possible, with small wets mostly and small dries whenever there appears to be sufficient insect activity.

Trout typically sit facing upstream in the flowing water and lately conditions are ideal for the larger fish to sit in the best position to snatch food coming downsteam.

That would provide some good opportunities for daytime fishing and if I was still keen I would move to one of the larger lakes and fish the evening rise. Typically I would work a selected beat with larger wet flies – Mrs Simpson, Hamills Killer, Craigs Nightime and red and black matuka for example, until it became too cold or until fish stopped moving.

As an alternative, drown yabbies or scrub worms in Burley Griffin in search of a golden perch. Try big spinnerbaits or wakebaits for a cod or work the

Browns on the evening rise are sometimes surprisingly easy to take on large wets such as Mrs Simpson, Hamill’s Killer and Craig’s Night Times. They are pretty much the standard patterns worth a try in all of the big mountain lakes. shallows with Celtas for redfin. You can do the same in Burrinjuck or Gogong, just select the clearest water.

It’s a pleasing situation

to be spoiled for choice like this. I just hope I have enough leisure time available to make the most of it.

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Murray cod on the brain WAGGA WAGGA

Rhys Creed

Like all the other freshwater reports, the topic of talk for the Wagga Wagga region is the Murray cod open season! That’s right, spring is over, the heat is here and so is our favourite freshwater fish!

channels and storages west of Narrandera for crops, and by the time it reaches the Murray River there is little left.

That means around Wagga Wagga, we have a high and fast flowing river, but… the fishing is still good if you know where to look. Luckily, when there is more water the temperature

Bait fishing in these areas is well worth a crack, just make sure you are fishing close to some form of structure like logs or willows. Yabbies, bardi grubs, shrimp and worms are the best options.

During summer, the best time to fish is first light and throughout the morning, as the water is cooler for the

Tallis was all smiles with his first surface Murray cod caught on an 80mm Strike Force Boof Bait. preferred method is casting large soft plastics parallel to the bank in 4-6m of water on the flatter grassy banks.

The grassy banks are our preference on a dark night because they are easy to fish, but if you have a full moon, casting tight to sloping rocky banks with timber is another great option.

4-5m, as the hungry fish will be up feeding on carp.

Don’t forget first light either, as this is a great time to make the most of a short bite window. On the first hour of light the cod will switch on and will take to a cast soft plastic or spinnerbait. The rocky banks towards the wall end

hardboy lures will work well for the spin fishers, but if you’re keen on the fly then dry flies are a must! The bug activity in summer is amazing and the trout will rise to a dry fly throughout the entire day. In the small streams, I like to use Royal Wulffs, Royal Stimulators and Red Tag patterns.

Even during the morning hours, the surface fishing is good in the shadows.

MURRUMBIDGEE RIVER Starting right on the towns doorstep with the Murrumbidgee River, as always at this time of year the river is running high due to irrigation demand out in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA). The majority of this water is diverted into

doesn’t get too hot and therefore the fish are still happy to feed. If you’re casting lures, you want to concentrate on the slow water in close to the banks.

Look for swirling eddies and still patches of water behind large structures. Both 5/8oz spinnerbaits and hardbodies up to 100mm will work well.

fish. In the afternoon, the sun heats right up and the water can become extremely hot, shutting the fish down.

BLOWERING DAM Blowering will be a hype of activity, but this doesn’t mean you should avoid it.

Fishing during the night is the best option, as this is when the cod are most active. The

Dry flies in small creeks is such a fun and visual style of fishing.

Tallis with a pretty brown trout that took his dry as soon as it hit the water.

Trolling is a technique we turn to in summer, as the fish push deeper and large lures between 120-200mm work best on the metre plus fish. My favourites are the 150mm AC Invader and the 190mm White Crow Warthog. Dark colours are always the best, but don’t be afraid to mix it up. We like to troll between 6-8m early in the night and once it gets past 11pm, I push into shallower water and troll

of the dam are the best spots at this time.

SMALL TROUT STREAMS Only a short drive from Wagga Wagga up into the hills will bring some great small trout stream opportunities.

Some recommended locations are Jounama Creek, Yarrongabilly River, Gilmore Creek, Adelong Creek and even Tumbarumba Creek.

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Summer is loaded with plenty of opportunities for all! Just be cautious of snakes throughout the region as they are prolific and can be fatal to you if you’re bitten in remote areas away from help. Wear long pants with gators (snake protection) and solid boots. Also be careful of the sun, because it is more dangerous than we think, so always wear sun protection and enjoy your summer fishing.

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Topwater terrors in January HUNTER VALLEY

Peter Phelps

January is shaping up to be a dry and hot month again this year. The consistent hot dry weather has brought the dam levels down, with evaporation and water being let out to keep the rivers flowing.

By January the fish will have transitioned into their summer patterns. Lowering water levels and hot water

giant bass lately.

Lures around 75-120mm that are typically used for cod have been getting some explosive reaction strikes.

These large lures seem to draw them in from a great distance and the big bass just want to destroy them.

Glenbawn’s weed beds have not really held up this spring and summer, so if you are going to target the edge, I would stick to the front half of the lake. The heavy timber lining the banks here will

Surface lures will produce a lot of fish in low light this month. temperatures will drive the majority of fish off the edges. Deep water fishing will be the key to catching consistent numbers of fish during the daylight hours this month.

GLENBAWN Lake Glenbawn’s fishing will be primarily a deep bite at this time of year. There will be some surface action if you are willing to fish into the late of the night or be out before the sun gets on the water in the morning.

Large topwater baits have been accounting for some

give the fish something to hold on since there is little to no weed.

Once that sun starts to get up you may catch a fish or two targeting heavy timber and laydowns with a skirted jig. Casting very tight to the timber, work the jig super slow along the bottom.

Crawl it ever so slowly up and over the timber branches and let if fall under semi slack line waiting for strikes on the drop. Generally, these shallow water fish are very hard to catch during the daylight hours and you are

better off heading out deep.

The clear water at Glenbawn lets the light penetrate a long way down, warming the water right up.

This can drive the fish really deep and catching fish off the bottom in 80ft is not uncommon. A good sounder is essential for deep fishing and you should be able to tell pretty quickly which depth the fish are holding at. When sounding around, there will be a thermocline located somewhere in the water column. This will come up as a constant grainy section all at the same depth on your sounder. The fish will relate to this temperature change over any actual structure like trees and rock. This is their comfort zone, and they should be located throughout the whole dam at this depth.

The bass will spread out everywhere from flats to even suspended in mid water in the middle of nowhere. These can be anything from single fish to massive schools.

The golden perch will however will relate to trees more at this time of year.

A vertical deep plastic will be your main lure for catching these deep fish.

With the fish being located this deep, it is easier to drop your plastic straight down instead of casting. By doing this it allows you to carefully bring plastics up and down around trees that

calm hot conditions. If you are faced with some windy overcast conditions and the bites aren’t happening on the plastic, try something with vibration and flash.

A heavy blade, tail spinner or even a deep spinner bait fished through the same fish will work when the plastic bite doesn’t.

ST CLAIR Lake St Clair’s weed beds have suffered over the last six months and are struggling to keep up with the dropping levels. There will be a lot of fish out wider in deep water escaping the heat, but there will be still enough on the edge to target them.

Very early morning and late evening into the night will be the main time to catch some bass around the weed. Surface fishing will be your best bet to find active shallow water fish. Unless you have found areas holding good weed, I suggest a fastmoving style of topwater bait.

A lure that can cover a lot of water while still looking for active fish would be my pick, such as a quick walk-the-dog style, a paddler, prop bait or buzz bait. Once some thicker weed is found such as the back of bays or any calm water, try slowing down. A popper or cicada imitation worked super slow or shaken on the spot along weed edges and holes will work.

If there is some wind

Ethan Martin with a Glenbawn bass caught on a walk-the-dog style topwater lure. either. By slowly sounding around any flats, points or bays you should find some scattered fish come through on the sounder. Once you find these, drop a curly-tail grub down through the fish and you will notice more fish seam to appear from nowhere. Work your plastic straight up and down with a slow wind up and free spool back down to the bottom or through the fish. Experiment with different retrieve speeds, and you can even

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Dom Jordan caught this bass on a curly-tail plastic next to a deep rock wall. are littered throughout the dam without getting hung up. Also, by fishing vertical and with the fish relating to the temperature change, this retrieve acts in a similar way as casting to an edge.

As you wind your lure up, it is getting further away from the fishes’ comfort zone, like your lure would when casting over a snag. The fish has to react or let the meal go.

By concentrating at these depths, you should be able to catch some fish. Lake Glenbawn can really fire this time of year on a deep plastic bite. A curly-tail plastic on a 1/4oz or 1/6oz jighead is the most consistent producer in

or overcast conditions and surface lures are not producing, try a jerk bait.

Work these around that same shallow weed where you would throw surface. Once the sun gets up, you can try pitching a weedless plastic or skirted jig into holes or along the edges of the weed.

The bigger fish will be in the weed, but once that sun gets up these fish wise up quickly and pretty much get lock jaw. The best bet is to move out deeper and look for schooled fish.

Anywhere from 25ft down to 60ft of water you should find fish and you don’t need to find mass amounts

put in a little twitch here and there in to see what the fish want. It will take some patience, but eventually one of these fish will bite.

When you get a bite or catch a fish, take note of what you were doing at the time, as this will help you replicate the retrieve and catch more fish. Once you have found some deep fish they, can still react to a lure with a stronger action.

Blades, tail spinners, deep spinnerbaits and a jighead rigged beetle spin will work if the plastic is not getting a response. Casting these lures through the schools and concentrating on keeping the

lure at the depth the fish are holding will work.

When fishing deep over summer, just remember every fish will suffer from barotrauma. If you are not planning on keeping any fish, a quick photo before sending them back should be fine.

If you are keeping some for eating, I suggest dispatching them straight away and putting them onto ice. If you are going to keep them in a live well, they will need to be needled to deflate the swim bladder. Also, the water in your well will be the surface water temperature. This will be a lot hotter than where you just caught the fish from.

Try cooling the water down with ice and using the live well pump on recirculation so as not to draw in more hot surface water. As these fish do not breed and every fish is hand placed into the lakes, we need to ensure their survival for the future.

All the upper flowing tributaries from the Hunter River will be holding good numbers of bass this month.

Surface lures are my top pick over summer. With it being so hot and dry, the insect life will be active and the bass will be focusing on these for their next meal. Some are so attuned to looking above they see lures before they even hit the water! Those surface strikes you get as soon as your lure splashes down are when the bass has most likely tracked it above the water. In this situation, there is most likely several bass sitting on the same piece of structure, it then becomes a race to the food. These types of catches certainly make it exciting and nice and easy. Don’t be afraid to try several casts to the same spot in this scenario. Sometimes multiple fish can be caught from the same location!

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The Murray cod season is now in full swing TAMWORTH

Adam Mears

promising, with Split Rock Dam and Chaffey Dam fishing exceptionally well.

Trolling diving lures in the 50-70mm around the rocky points and tree-lined banks

is a great option to find these hard-fighting natives.

Fishing the prime times of

adam.mears@hotmail.com

Welcome to 2018. The silly season is done and dusted and I’m sure if you’re like me, you have been taking every chance you get to be out on the water. The Murray cod season is in full swing and plenty of cod have been caught on all the usual techniques; spinnerbaits and surface lures are the usual favourites with a splash of swimbaits and divers accounting for some good fish.

The golden perch numbers have been

Cod on the fly is about as cool as it gets.

dawn and dusk is by far the most productive.

Lake Keepit has been a little quiet compared to how it usually fishes at this time of year. With the right bait (shrimp) bags of fish are still common for those willing to put in the effort. Lure fishing in the dam has been tough; slow rolling grubs up the trees is the best method with black 3” minnows the local favourite.

Carp numbers seem to be as thick as ever, with almost all creeks, rivers and dams holding populations of these pests. They are great fun to catch and certainly help you become a better angler. These days

I prefer to chase them on fly. Using baits of corn, worm, bread, shrimp or a dough mix will see plenty of action.

Kayaking is a great way to explore our township of Tamworth. From the town right through to Summerton and Carol the fishing is very productive. Attunga and Manilla are both great areas to explore, and there are plenty of access points in the forms of bridges, stock routes and crown land, so it pays to get out there for a run.

That’s it for January; if you’re out on the water and catch some good fish, send them to me via email at adam.mears@hotmail.com.

A great start to the season TAMWORTH

Jackson Faulkner

We have had some memorable sessions since the cod opening, and the signs are good for more great action in the coming month.

Just after the opening we managed to get out for a fish on the Saturday afternoon, and took the kayaks out for some river fishing. It was quite weedy, so we had a little trouble to keep the lures clean, but it was necessary to fish around the weeds as that’s where the cod were hiding; in narrow rivers the cod like to hide under willows in the weed in the shade during the day. At night or in the early morning you’ll find them hunting in the shallows for the baitfish pushing up into shallower water away from structure; they feel more confident in the dark.

The best success came from sinking spinnerbaits

into really deep water and slow rolling them back.

Really slow retrieves got the best response, and we ended up with 10 fish over a couple of hours. The biggest was 80cm, and catching a cod that size from a kayak is a great experience.

It’s worth mentioning that that day was quite overcast and rainy. Although it’s not the most comfortable weather for anglers, it’s good for cod. They love sudden changes in weather.

The next day we decided to take the boat to Copeton Dam for a morning fish. We got there at about 4:30 in the morning and started fishing surface and large swimbaits.

We missed two good fish, including one I’d estimate at around 1m.

As the sun came up around 8am, I switched to using a 7” Jackall Dunkle soft plastic hybrid swimbait, casting it to steep, rocky banks. The best retrieve seemed to be a really slow one, letting the lure sink to the bottom before following

the bank slowly back to the boat. We ended up landing three cod, two on the Dunkle and one on a spinnerbait.

Also caught a yellowbelly as a bycatch on the big cod spinnerbait.

One thing in common between the river and the dam was that the fish were all fighting very well for their size. They were very fat and healthy fish, pulling good line. It’s a good sign that they’re getting plenty of food and have finished breeding. And the fact that the river fish were so active means that most people must have done the right thing and left them alone in the closed season.

FORECAST FOR JANUARY As the water heats up and we get more hot days in a row, the cod like to head for the cooler depths.

Most of the time you’re best off focussing your efforts on steeper rocky banks and deeper water. The exception is in low light conditions and night time, where they can be

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found in shallower water.

At this time of year I recommend fishing the last hour of darkness and the first few hours of daylight.

We also do a fair bit of night fishing in summer as well. While it’s true that low-light times provide the most consistent fishing, it is possible to catch cod at any time of day, if luck is on your side. Summer storms can switch the cod on or off, and can make for some great sessions – and some tough times as well!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR My name is Jackson Faulkner, and I’m joining the Fishing Monthly team as a reporter for Tamworth. I grew up in the rural areas around Tamworth, and have spent every spare minute fishing the freshwater rivers

You can get good results in the rivers by sinking spinnerbaits into deep water and using a super slow retrieve. and dams. I love cod fishing, and have been doing it all my life. I fish with a few different die-hard anglers, and enjoy constantly learning new ways to catch these iconic fish. Everybody

has a different way of catching cod, and I believe we all have something to learn from each other. I’ll be sharing my experiences and perspective in these monthly reports.

Change things up ORANGE

Darcy Scherger

The fishing around the Orange NSW region was very productive over December and January with many decent reports being heard around the town of hefty catches.

The trout, redfin and golden perch fishing has been exceptional and there are definitely no signs of it slowing down over January. Anglers chasing trophy golden perch should definitely be targeting the large lakes and dams including Lake Burrendong and Windermere Dam north off Orange. Lake Windermere is located 30km from Mudgee and is considered to be the best golden perch fishery in Australia.

Windermere has a

reputation justified by anglers who regularly catch golden perch over the 60cm mark, though before you race up to Windermere Dam to target these fish, Lake Burrendong should be considered.

Lake Burrendong’s golden perch fishing is first class, although anglers don’t hear about it as much as Windermere. At the moment the fishing has been consistent and many sizeable golden perch have been caught up to 64cm.

Sometimes the redfin in Lake Burrendong can make life hard and filtering through these can become frustrating, though using your sounder correctly, identifying a school and knowing where to cast your lure can make catching these large golden perch easy.

Wyangala Dam has experienced high numbers of fishers over December and

January chasing the elusive Murray cod over the metre mark. Wyangala Dam is well stocked with rainbow trout, brown trout, golden perch and Murray cod creating a diverse range of species that can be targeted.

Anglers chasing the large Murray cod over the metre mark should be casting large paddle-tail soft plastics around 120mm, large swimbaits or trolling hardbodies. The large Murray cod don’t always want a large feed, so don’t be scared to persist with smaller lures as well.

Changing things up on the day based on the conditions is one of the most important parts about targeting these large fish.

Don’t get stuck in a rut or lose confidence. Change things up, move spots and keep putting in the time and it’ll pay off.

Hunting for green and gold NEW ENGLAND RIVERS

Adam Townsend

The New Year is now upon us and so is the mid-summer heat, and this makes for some very exciting fishing.

Christmas beetles and other creatures alike are out in force. These are all perfect snacks for our Aussie natives and if you can replicate them with lures, you should be in with a chance for a good native this season.

The Severn River has

Golden perch have been active in the dams lately, and this one was tempted by a ZX blade.

It’s usually around this time of the year that with the water warming up, the baitfish are back in healthy numbers and the yabbies are free roaming out and about from the mud. Frogs are also enjoying the downpours from summer storms and the

been fishing well in recent weeks, with only a handful of people doing the wrong thing during the closed season.

The cod have had a fairly long rest from lures and are being caught consistently on separate occasions. Casting shadowed areas during the

middle of the day has still been catching the odd fish, but spending more time during the low-light periods in the morning and evening while the water has been cooler has been the most productive. Surface lures that replicate frogs, lizards or birds will be the best bet for an active fish in these conditions.

The Beardy River has also been fishing well of late. A recent session just a few weeks before the Murray cod open season, I managed to go fish a stretch of property I’ve been lucky enough to be granted access to and caught a healthy 43cm redfin casting a small profiled spinner-bait into some rock structure. Other local anglers have also reported catching decentsized redfin and also trout as well in recent weeks.

With the Murray cod season open, Pindari Dam has been open to targeting Murray cod for the past month, although there have been not many reports from anglers getting big cod on lures of late. The bait fishers have been getting some good-sized yellowbelly and cod on worms and small crayfish. Blade style lures

have been getting some quality golden perch as well.

Casting at rocky points or big old iron-bark timber trees is a good place to start, and if this doesn’t work, than I like to go try look for water running into the dam, as this might be a bit cooler and the fish might be willing to hunt for food in these areas.

Copeton Dam hasn’t seemed to slow down, with plenty of action and quality fish coming out of there of late. A couple of Inverell and Copeton Dam locals, James Makim and Jackson Haussler, have been smashing the cod scene

A healthy cod off like a rocket upon release! and getting multiple metre cod in sessions including four metre plus fish fish in five trips for James, all on his own handmade Cod King Chatterbaits. Surface

Another Copeton Dam sunset.

lures and swimbaits are still accounting for some very good fish aswell.

Just a reminder that both Copeton and Pindari dams are still on high algae alert, so be careful if swimming in these waters during the hotter days.

Also, please keep in mind if fishing deeper water this summer for Murray cod or yellowbelly that they are not the hardiest of fish and they do suffer from barotrauma, as they don’t have time to adjust to the different water pressures and temperatures when brought up quickly from depths. Proper handling skills and minimal time out of water can help with better release rates.

Happy New Year, good luck and tight lines!

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Anglers concerned about future cod numbers ROBINVALE

Rod Mackenzie codmac@bigpond.net.au

In the run up to the Murray cod open season anglers fishing the Murray River around Swan Hill reported good numbers of cod amongst the perch.

Of course the cod were simply by-catch as the season was still closed at the time. According to locals they were all but impossible to avoid.

the perch have been running hot at Robinvale, no reports of Murray cod of any size were reported in the run up to the open season.

It’s a similar story downstream through Wemen and beyond with heaps of golden perch on bait and a mountain of carp to wade through. Will we see a few cod landed at these locations this season?

You might think that with so many fish lost to our rivers in the past two black water floods that those that

Carp are about in plague proportions along many sections of the Murray River and some of them are quite large.

This is great news, especially when you consider some of these cod were up around the magical metre mark. The Murray at Swan Hill will be a popular destination this season, and rightly so with anglers rediscovering a fishery that is first class for cod.

Anglers fishing the Murray River below the Murrumbidgee Junction will notice that cod numbers are all but non-existent. While

govern these waters might consider the future of this once great fishery and the communities and businesses that rely on it. Sadly this is not the case, as the next environmental disaster looks primed and ready to go.

With construction of the $467million pipeline from the Murray River to Broken Hill set to start this month, anglers and riverside communities should be clear on the real cost it may bring

long after the job is done.

Many may not realise that recreational fishing is one of the largest contributors to the towns and communities along the Murray-Darling Basin.

With approximately 430,000 fishers in the basin it’s estimated that recreational anglers spend a whopping $1.3billion each year wetting a line in our local waters. With the growing popularity of native fish amongst anglers it’s estimated that Australia wide there are more than four million anglers that regularly fish for Murray cod and golden perch.

With the construction of the Broken Hill pipeline we look set to potentially see reduced flows into the Menindee Lakes and the Lower Darling River, which will spell disaster for native fish numbers. The past two black water events have been devastating for Murray cod stocks and in order for things to turn around we rely on future breeding to reintroduce and increase cod numbers.

The Lower Darling River downstream of

Dean Norbiato with a ripper Murray cod from the Darling River.

Could the Murray to Broken Hill pipeline see future stocks of golden perch and Murray cod all but disappear?

Menindee supports one of the strongest populations of breeding-sized Murray cod in the basin. If these fish are affected or potentially lost because of reduced flows caused by the building of the pipeline then it could spell the end Murray cod in our local waters.

Compound this with

Golden perch have been biting well at most locations on both bait and lures.

the simple fact that most of the excellent golden perch fishing being experienced these past few seasons is largely thanks to productive breeding in the Barwon Darling Rivers.

Recent science looking at ear bones of perch to find out where they come from shows that the majority of golden perch from Echuca down to the Murray mouth at Goolwa in South Australia were first spawned up north in response to floods in 2009-10.

Once the eggs hatch they then drift with the flow as far as the Menindee Lakes, which act like a giant fish nursery where small fish grow strong enough to ride the next flow down the Darling and into the Murray River. From here they traverse into all the anabranches of the Wakool, Murrumbidgee, Edward

and so on, populating some of our favourite fishing destinations. The big floods in 2011 delivered a payload of these young fish to the Murray, which now at six or seven years of age are chasing our lures and bait.

I have the luxury of seeing things in a simple manner without getting caught up in the greed of politics and the profits of water. If this pipeline has the cause to see reduced flows into the Menindee Lakes and Lower Darling River then we will all suffer the loss of what was once a mighty fishery. Is this truly the price we are willing to pay when other alternatives were put forward? I fear if we continue on the current path we will all but wipe these iconic fish from our rivers.

Thank cod the season is finally open for all YARRAWONGA

Tony Bennett codclassic@bigpond.com

This month you are probably looking for what’s firing where and when and who has caught what so far, but

this report was penned only days before the season opened! I can guarantee next edition’s report will be a beauty.

Looking at the new Murray cod season, you can’t help but get excited about the possibilities at the home of the Murray

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cod, Lake Mulwala. If the 2016-17 season is anything to go by, it will be amazing.

The latest craze of topwater fishing has sure produced plenty of big cod. Swim, wake and glidebaits along with 100mm+ surface lures will be the go-to weapons of choice for those looking to top the magical 1m mark.

Low light and cloudy periods at any time of the day will be your best option.

D o n ’t discount throwing around smaller hardbodied lures, spinnerbaits or crankbaits as the old ‘an elephant will eat a peanut’ theory proves itself time and time again.

With cod seeing more and more big lures recently, it may be a case of presenting them with something they haven’t seen for a while. Depths ranging from 1.5-4m with areas holding some good weed patches tend to hold larger quantities of Murray cod.

Don’t overthink things; the harder you work, the more you will be rewarded.

Fishing below the weir early in the season generally

produces plenty of undersize Murray cod, the protected trout cod and the fun-tocatch silver perch. Throw in numerous carp and good

Ben Lawless with an 82cm Mulwala beauty taken off the top. There will be plenty more like this on offer this season.

numbers of yellas. The Murray cod is, more often than not, a better option for the family if you’re looking to put the kids onto a fish or two.

Looking back, November’s yella action was hit and miss compared to other years. The best thing to see around town was the large amounts of young kids haunting the local hotspots. While they have a rod and reel in hand they are not causing you any dramas.

The most outstanding and rare capture for the month came in the form of a 44cm brown trout taken by Pete Ceri underneath the train bridge on a cast Daiwa TD Woofer. Over the past 25 years I have heard of only half a dozen trout taken in Lake Mulwala.

I wish everybody all the best for the upcoming season. May all your fish be big and green!

Trout feeding everywhere JINDABYNE

Steve Williamson steve@swtroutfishing.com.au

Happy New Year from all of us at Steve Williamson’s Tackle Shop and Fishing Adventures. Up until now we have had some quite unusual weather and some reasonable falls of rain, so the area is looking fantastic.

The rivers and streams are now fishing much better, the lake level is still quite high and the water is cool enough to keep the trout happy and the fishing consistent.

Normally what happens in summer is the trout feed around the edges of the lake at sunrise and sunset when the insect activity is at its peak. This is the time for the shore-based angler with bait, lure or fly.

Boat trollers might like to fish with surface lures close to the shoreline. Later in the morning, the trout retreat to cooler deeper water, so for

shore-based anglers, you also need to think about looking for some deeper water.

Boat anglers will go from using surface lures to using deep divers, lead core lines and even to using downriggers in the late morning and early afternoon.

On the rivers and streams the trout have been waiting very patiently for a feed, and they are now very hungry and with only a few more months before the cooler weather settles in once again, they are going to take every opportunity to grab something to eat. This means that with plenty of water still running off the mountains with the last of the snow melt from last winter and overflowing springs, the river trout will also be feeding longer and we are to see some of the best trout fishing for many years.

River spinning has now fired up finally with some good trout being caught by those prepared to walk a little further away from the holiday

crowds. Find some deep pools or some deeper running water where the fish may lay under cover.

Small minnow style lures like CD Rapalas work very well and the old favourite green and gold Gillies spinners and Trollcraft spinners will also be worth trying. Change lures often and never work one area of water over any more than about a half a dozen casts.

January is ‘hopper season’ for fly anglers, and there are various grasshopper patterns available, but just have a look around and see what the size and colour the real ones are and find a fly to match. In the early stages of hopper development, we like to use smaller patterns, and even flies like a yellow Humpy will imitate the local hoppers, but as the hopper develops wings then the Snowy Mountains Hopper pattern or a larger yellow Stimulator are a couple of flies you should have in your box. Also keep your eye open for evening hatches of other insects, such as the mayfly. I love the dry fly fishing at this time of year, and again with a later season there is now plenty of insects about for trout to eat If you are a lake fly angler, nights are the best time to fish the lake and bigger dark or black flies like a Woolly Bugger or other dark streamer patterns are good flies to try.

Craig’s Nighttime is also another Snowy Mountains favourite, not to forget my own Snowy Mountains Gold Fish where fishing the bays and the inlets will be best places to get results.

Lake spin anglers will also do best in the first hour or so of light, and again I like to spin with lures that are dark coloured early, and when the sky becomes brighter, move over to bright colours like greens and gold, which are summer colours for trout.

Other lures that have been proving themselves very effective on the trout are the Bullet lures, with some excellent colours in

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the range that also look a lot like the goldfish, as well as the little trout fingerlings that have recently been released into the lake from the Gaden trout hatchery.

Trolling lures from a boat is a very effective way of catching trout any time of the day, but you must vary the depth as the fish go deeper in the middle of the day. This season with cooler water I would expect no more than 35ft will be all you will need for lunchtime fishing.

When trolling from a boat in January, we start the day off by surface trolling lures like Tasmanian Devils in green colours like the number 111 Willy’s Special or my special red nosed yellow wing is also great when the sun starts to get higher in the sky.

On the overcast days the holographic and number 48 brown bomber or other darker lures will be best. Other lures I would recommend over the coming month for trolling would be StumpJumpers in greens and golds, Gillies Natural Vibes and 5cm Bullet lures in goldfish colours that will always attract a trout when they are lazy.

The best areas to fish have been Hayshed, Hatchery and Rushes Bay and the South Arm into Stinky Bay. Later in the morning, the best fishing will be deep using either lead core lines, paravanes, trolling sinkers etc. But the best way to achieve results is to use a downrigger, so as you know exactly what level you are fishing. At the moment the depth continues to vary from 35ft early in the day to 45ft later in the morning.

Bait fishing early and late in the day is another great

Early morning has produced some great results for those trolling on the lake. way to fish the bays, just remember to move to deeper water as the day brightens up. The cooler weather this year has made it hard to find mudeyes, and so if that is the case, you can’t go past a local scrubworm fished off the bottom. Scrubworms are going to catch that big brown trout that you have always wanted to catch, and they are best fished unweighted.

The shallow bays are the best nighttime fishing locations, however look out for the snags. If you want to bait fish in the middle of the day, then you are best to look at bottom fishing using either a scrubworm or one of the artificial baits.

The secret at the moment to catching trout on bait is to also grease up the line to stop the drag on the water and to stop it sinking to the bottom into the weed and

getting caught up. You need a trout to run with the bait without feeling any resistance and greasing the line will help catch more fish and always fish with the reel bail arm open so the fish can run with the line. The best line grease is Silicone Mucilin as it will not harm the line.

• If you would like some personal guiding, I will be available over the coming months for fly-fishing tuition and lake trolling trips.

Lessons can be booked from 2 hours’ duration, and trolling trips from 3 hours to a full day. If you want to know more about the latest in fishing conditions, just give me a call on (0264) 561 551 or check out my website at www.swtroutfishing.com. au. You can also see our daily Facebook updates at https://www.facebook. com/LJTFA.

DAM LEVELS brought to you by w w w. b a r g a i n b o a t b i t s. c o m . a u

Dam............................... % Full

Dam............................... % Full

Dam Oct. Nov. Dec. Blowering 75 63 57 Brogo 85 74 102 Burrendong 74 68 66 Burrinjuck 59 60 66 Carcoar 91 90 87 Chaffey 91 90 89 Clarrie Hall n/a n/a n/a Copeton 50 52 49 Dartmouth 84 87 87 Eucumbene 35 38 40 Glenbawn 87 85 84 Glenlyon 72 72 72

Dam Oct. Nov. Dec. Glennies Creek 79 78 77 Hume 87 83 76 Jindabyne 62 68 75 Keepit 62 58 53 Lostock 90 87 82 Oberon 83 82 78 Pindari 97 100 100 Split Rock 30 30 29 Tantangara 16 18 28 Toonumbar 95 101 101 Windamere 48 47 47 Wyangala 83 81 81

(All levels correct at time of going to press. Dam levels can change at any time, so please check with local authorities to ensure safe boating and fishing.)

JANUARY 2018

77

Multi-species mid-summer BATLOW

Wayne Dubois waynedubois@westnet.com.au

The middle of summer can be very rewarding for freshwater anglers.

This is especially true at Blowering Dam, where it

catch and they can be caught quite easily around the margins of the dam at this time of the year.

Bait fishing either from a boat or the bank around submerged snags, spindly trees, weed beds, rocky points or drop offs is a very good way of getting a feed

a chance of catching two fish at the same time, but it also takes a lot longer for the rats to find the second hook, which gives the bigger fish a chance to take one of your baits.

Casting or trolling lures is another great way of targeting the redfin during

A big trout from the Tumut River fooled by the Insanity Tackle SS0 Minos. Even in the highest of flows these lures have been landing big fish all season long. is possible to catch three different species of fish or more on the same day, sometimes within minutes of each other.

The resident redfin will make up most of an angler’s

of redfin. The best baits are small yabbies and garden worms, and I like to use them on a two hook paternoster rig when specifically targeting the redfin. Using the two hooks obviously gives you

the summer months. When the redfin are really on it doesn’t matter what type of lure you use or what colour it is, as when they’re firing they will hit pretty much anything that moves

anywhere near them. I’ve even caught them on bare jig heads while they’re in this frenzy mode and we have also caught them on bare hooks while bait fishing. In saying this, they do have their days where it can be hard to tempt them. I find on these days that it pays to regularly change the colours, retrieval speeds and action of your lures until you find one that works, then stick with it.

Some of our most proven redfin lures include lipless crankbaits, and traditional crankbaits for trolling. Small soft plastics vibes are also good, and 1-3” soft plastics and spinners with a buck tail can have their day.

When trolling it pays to add a small 1-2 inch soft plastic to your line around a metre or so above your hard bodied lure when targeting redfin, as this can trigger their competitive nature and will produce much better results.

Blowering is very popular over the holiday period and at times there can be thousands of water users on and around the lake, and this can make it a bit difficult at times with water skiers and fishers whizzing

There have been some very good Murray cod captures already this season, but not too many during daylight hours. Stick to low light conditions when targeting these iconic fish and you will increase your chances tenfold.

Quite often during January the natives can become very hard to catch due to the amount of boat and fishing activity, but like

at ease and the temperature is much more comfortable for anglers as well.

The Tumut River, even when flowing at full capacity,

The amount of big trout encountered from the Tumut River this season has been insane.

The golden perch were a bit hit and miss at Blowering this spring, but now that it has really warmed up there will be plenty of good yella action to be had from late afternoon through until early morning.

past almost constantly. If you look hard enough you should be able to find a bank or bay that isn’t too busy, and it is in these areas that the best fishing is to be had.

I said if you can find an area that isn’t getting to much boat activity the fishing can still be good. Alternatively, leave your fishing until after dark where the fish become more

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Low light levels are the key this January LITHGOW/OBERON

Glen Stewart stewie72@bigpond.com

Dusk and dawn are magic times to be on the water in summer.

When it’s early morning the cool overnight temperature lingers, in the east just a hint of glow has started to appear and you know that the clock is ticking. Those first few rays of sunshine are a trigger, I’m

will keep things very brief in the shallows before heading back to deep water thermoclines.

You can still target these fish if you’re limited to shore-based angling by choosing steep banks that plunge into the depths. Metal spoons, blades and heavy jigheads rigged soft plastics are the key in the hardware department; keep your leader line size to 4-6lb max.

Cast out and count down your lures to the desired

find a needle in a haystack – with just so much water in between, but it’s worth the effort sometimes.

My approach is usually to move over close to where the action took place – not too close. I use a big long cast (downwind to assist) with a large flashy blade, jighead-rigged soft plastic, tail spinner or soft vibe. I let the lure sink and then work up and down erratically to catch the attention of any lurking fish; line contact on

Dusk and dawn are magic times to be on the water in summer.

Cloud cover can extend the bite window a little, so keep this in mind when fishing these waters for trout or natives like this chubby golden perch. sure, especially if the night’s food gathering has been slim pickings – any hungry fish seem to throw caution to the wind, chasing and chewing on just about anything you throw at them. A real bite window can open up.

Cloud cover can extend the bite window a little, so keep this in mind – ditto for the late afternoon bite window, which is normally a little slower in my books but still worth the time and effort, especially for native species.

If you’re targeting trout in Lake Lyell or Thompsons Creek Dam, it’s definitely better to work on that early morning bite window. Look for shallow weedy edges close to deep water and rest assured, any trout feeding

depth, and mix it up until you get some action. Keep in contact with the lure, as all three of these lure types will get eaten on the fall.

WATCH FOR BIRDS If you’re targeting native fish in impoundments such as Windamere, Burrendong, and Wyangala, pay very close attention to cormorants, pelicans and the like, as they are a dead giveaway of baitfish schools and the possibility of predators lurking nearby in the form of golden perch and silver perch.

More often than not this happens in deep water well away from cover; the fish are there, usually in loose groups of 4-6 fish – sometimes more. The approach is a little hit and miss – like trying to

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the drop is critical, as this seems to be when you get bit the most.

If the birds aren’t working, it’s still worth using your depth sounder to look over large flats. Zig-zag across in a grid pattern and note the depth of any fish. If a pattern starts

to form and you see numbers of fish spread across an area in 25-35ft of water, then this could be a band worth targeting. Set up a drift or troll, then move back through the productive zone watching the sounder as you cast, or troll.

Mix it up and if you’re two-up in the boat, try something different on each outfit.

SURFACE ACTION It would be totally amiss of me not to mention the opportunities present in regards to a topwater bite on our native fish this month, particularly cod and bass.

Fishing any of these waters with lures and not taking at least two or three surface options is akin to leaving a reel behind – they can be that

deadly after hours.

Pick your fights though; casting surface lures in heavy cover can be costly when you’re losing them to fish. In relative terms, your odds are way better a little further out away from cover where you’re

more likely to be running into an active fish rather than one holed-up tight to cover with the grumps, because someone ticked him off earlier in the day.

I hope to see you on the water soon. Until then, tight lines.

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Both units are compatible with the webbased MapShare portal, which lets you send your trip data to friends and family and exchange messages with them.

Every inReach device has free access to a cloud-powered portal. They can also sync with the free Earthmate smartphone app, which lets you access unlimited maps, aerial imagery and other data. Optional weather updates are available.

The battery lasts from 100 hours to 30 days, depending on the setting. To access the Iridium network and communicate with an inReach SE+ or inReach Explorer+, an active

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satellite subscription is required. You can opt for a month-to-month plan, which allows you to pay for service only when you need it.

Price: from SRP AU$599, subscription plans from AU$20 per month explore.garmin.com/en-AU/inreach/

TT LURES NEDLOCKZ 4 JIGHEADS

Designed for the US market as a heavy duty jighead for the ‘Ned Rig’, a finesse rig that has blown up in the states, TT Lures NedlockZ jighead was soon being requested by Aussie anglers for applications on home waters.

The flattened head of the NedlockZ jighead combines perfectly with the buoyancy of ZMan’s 10X Tough ElaZtech plastics to create a presentation that is either fleeing when retrieved or rapidly standing up vertically in a defensive pose when paused, much like a crab, shrimp or yabby throwing its claws up to defend itself, and in turn triggering a strike from predatory species.

The NedlockZ also features the ‘head lock’ grub keeper to better secure your soft plastic in place.

Available in two natural colours, black and green pumpkin, the NedlockZ are available in four weights of 1/15oz, 1/10oz 1/6oz and 1/5oz, with five per pack.

Price: RRP of $9.95 www.ttlures.com.au

DEPS SLIDE SWIMMER

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Japanese tackle giant DEPS are world renowned for quality and attention to detail, and the DEPS Slide Swimmer is no exception to this. It’s very easy to see why these cod magnets are now one of the most sought after glide baits in the country!

You simply won’t find anything else like it in the Australian market place. Featuring a superbly crafted ABS plastic body, which is then encased by a soft plastic material, this bait has a more realistic look and feel not matched by any other manufacturer.

The bait also grips well in the mouth when hit by species such as Australian bass and Murray cod. You will get much more time to set the hook and to ensure your catch is well and truly hooked up.

Available in two different sizes (250mm and 115mm) and some great colour patterns, the DEPS Slide Swimmer is truly unique and should feature in any cod angler’s box! www.dogtoothdistribution.com.au

BASSDAY SUGAPEN 120

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The iconic Bassday Sugapen family has been expanded with a new larger 120mm model. It’s perfect for larger estuary fish as well as the offshore species.

The 120 has all the fantastic attributes of the hugely popular 70mm and 95mm models.

This new bigger brother has excellent casting distance, thanks largely to its slimline profile which produces minimal wind resistance to get the lure out further. The Sugapen’s most famous feature has always been its slanted cup face, and the 120 still has that spitting action while being walked, which is a big part of why this lure is so unique and effective.

Coming in six great colours, including some more specialised offshore or barra colours, the Sugapen 120 is a must-have for any keen surface lure angler. For more information visit www.bassday.com.au, or for the latest news and photos check them out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BassdayAus. Price: SRP $33.95 www.bassday.com.au

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING TICA ZATARA LBXT REELS

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The new TiCA Zatara range of reels is outstanding for the budget conscious angler, boating strength, versatility, durability and smoothness.

The Zatara reels feature a high tensile strength thin body design with an aluminium alloy spool, solid bail arm wire, an intelligent oscillating system, computer-balanced rotor, instant anti-reverse and feature 5 rust resistant bearings.

The Zatara reels offer a smooth drag system with plenty of drag washers and an oversize line roller.

The Zatara reels come in 4 models, a 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 so they have most fishing situations covered and look smart in their black and turquoise finish.

If you’re in the market for a new spin reel and are after a smooth but hard-wearing spin reel and don’t want to break the bank, make sure you give TiCA’s Zatara range of spin reels a look. www.jurofishing.com

Available in either a twin spin or a single blade construction, Australian made Obsession Spinnerbaits Mini Baits are a must-have if you are a avid bass, golden perch or redfin angler.

Mini Baits come in 1/8oz, 1/4oz, 3/8oz and 1/2oz sizes and are built on Eagle Claw hooks. Each Mini Bait ait also includes a size 4 Gamakatsu stinger hook. They come in various jighead colours and are matched with either a hot tip or turbo-flared skirt. There are also seven blade colours in the range to further enhance their appeal.

To find out more about Obsession Spinnerbaits you can contact Ray on 0428 462 397, or to find your nearest stockist go to the Obsession Spinnerbaits website. www.obsessionspinnerbaits.com

CHASEBAITS BOBBIN’ FROG

Land-based anglers are loving the new Daiwa Hip Bag, which provides a sturdy, reliable option when it comes to storing essentials around your waist. It is the ideal choice for anyone who’s tired of stuck zippers and ripped seams on their waist bags.

There are two models, and both have a heap of compartments to hold all your essential tackle when you’re wading and hiking. The smaller version measures 14 x 30 x 19cm, and the larger model measures 16 x 34 x 23cm. Both are made from heavyduty denier with a padded back for maximum comfort. Other features include YKK zips, lots of pockets, a plier holder, bottle holder, belt loop and more.

To see the full list of features visit the Daiwa Australia website. For all the latest news, photos, videos and competitions check out the Daiwa Facebook page at www.facebook. com/daiwaaustralia. If you want to see more great catch photos and videos from Daiwa, follow them on Instagram @daiwaaustralia. www.daiwafishing.com.au

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The Chasebaits Bobbin’ Frog is designed to bob up and down and move like a real frog. It has retracting arms and incredibly lifelike legs, presenting an incredibly realistic presentation to the fish.

Made of super strong 10X material, the Bobbin’ Frog is robust, flexible and soft enough to ensure an easy weedless hookup when fishing around lilies and weed beds.

The hole around the hook ensures air can escape from the lure on the strike, making for solid hook sets. Before you cast out again, simply squeeze the lure to remove any water, and start twitching it along the surface.

Alternatively, you can let it sink for a different swimming action.

The Bobbin’ Frog measures 40mm, weighs 11g and has twin custom weedless hooks. It comes in a range of colours, including some natural patterns which match common native frog species. It’s set to be a hit with freshwater anglers chasing bass, barra, cod, trout, mangrove jacks, sooty grunter, jungle perch and more. www.river2sea.com.au

KOOLERGEL ICE EXTENDER 11

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KoolerGel is an ‘ice extender’ – a clever product that makes ice last up to 50% longer.

KoolerGel was scientifically formulated and developed to be mixed with water. To use, you just take a container (such as an empty soft drink bottle), add water, and then add the KoolerGel powder. The powder will turn the water into a gel, and when frozen it will be 25-50% colder than ice, and can last for days. One packet of KoolerGel will make 6 x 2L bottles.

Your frozen containers of KoolerGel can be used to keep your esky cool either with or without ice. You can also keep them in your freezer to improve its overall performance.

KoolerGel is non-toxic, non-hazardous, and environmentally safe. This product is also reusable and refreezable, and can last for years.

To see videos of how to use KoolerGel, check out the KoolerGel Australia website.

The site also has an online store where you can buy both KoolerGel powder and KoolerKube freezer bricks.

Price: SRP $29.95 www.koolergel.com.au

DAIWA HIP BAGS

SQUIDGIES BIO TOUGH RANGE

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For the first time, Squidgies has teamed up with Shimano to develop a synthetic bioplastic that is highly durable, stretchy and more environmentally friendly: the Bio Tough range.

The series is manufactured in Japan and has taken Squidgies’ most reliable lure shapes and redeveloped the design to improve their already great fish catching ability. With the Bio Tough Wriggler (100mm and 120mm), Fish (80mm and 100mm) and Flick Bait (75mm and 100mm) now all featuring in the range, anglers have a range of baits to suit a variety of estuary and freshwater applications.

With six UV enhanced colours in the range, there is a lure to match most conditions and species, whether it be bloodworm for bream or pink glitz for flathead.

These new soft baits combine UV enhancement with responsive actions that work effectively when twitched through the water column but also at rest in low current conditions. When a fish is caught, the Dura Stretch properties ensure the lure remains in top condition and ready to catch another.

Squidgies Bio Tough lures are verified to be 50% biodegradable within the first three years.

So if you happen to snag a lure or get busted off, the environmental impacts are reduced when compared to traditional plastic waste. www.squidgies.com.au

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au JANUARY 2018

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING TIDE APPAREL SUMMER RANGE

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The creative guys at Tide Apparel have just released the second part of their summer range for 2017. This new range features over 20 new products, with everything from trucker hats to longsleeve fishing jerseys.

Earlier this year Tide also teamed up with their good friends from Daiwa Australia and released a collaboration range called The Collab Collection. The whole range has been extremely popular and is selling fast. The Collab Collection includes a longsleeve fishing jersey, head sock, cap, shorts, boardies, spray jacket and T-shirt. All Tide apparel is made from top quality materials to provide the most comfortable fit possible, and the shirts and tees feature a flattering cut that allows you to look your best both on and off the water.

The new ranges are available from selected tackle shops and from the Tide Apparel online store.

Price: SRP $24.99-$89.99 www.tideapparel.com.au

NEW TEMPT COLOURS

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There are two brand new colours in the Tempt Powder Paint range: galaxy and red toad.

Galaxy is made up of an abundance of holographic colours from every angle you look. Set on a base coat of black, it is sure to match a wide variety of colours and conditions.

Red toad is a super realistic natural colour designed to tempt those really fussy bites.

With a gloss olive green base coat and a distinctive red fleck to catch the attention of anything in sight.

Tempt Industries offer a comprehensive range of high quality Powder Paints designed to powder coat your jigheads. The colours have been chosen to best suit Australian conditions, giving you the flexibility to custom match your jighead to your favourite soft plastic colours.

Also available are a range of UV colours, including a clear coat that can be applied over the top of any colour, giving an intense UV glow.

Tempt Powder Paint is easily applied and gives a professional smooth powder coat finish.

It’s available in a 60g net jar or bulk orders on request.

Price: RRP $16.50 www.temptindustries.com.au

MARIA RAPIDO

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One of Costa’s latest models is named after a popular fishing destination: Reefton. With 12 different river systems less than an hour’s drive from town, it’s no wonder New Zealand’s Reefton is worldrenowned for its freshwater fishing.

These size large frames are the perfect companion to explore any body of water.

They will stay put on larger heads under any condition, thanks to their co-moulded temples, Hydrolite nose and temple pads, and cam action spring hinges.

All Costa lenses have 100% UV blockage for maximum protection and 100% polarization to kill reflected glare. Their 580 lens technology effectively blocks the harshest light waves in the visible spectrum, and enhances the portions that help you see more clearly into the water.

Costa’s Bio Resin frames now come available in four new colours, including two new brilliant matte teak finishes. To check out the full range of Costa sunglasses, plus their range of apparel and accessories, visit the Costa Australia website or look them up on Facebook. www.costadelmar.com.au

SAMAKI STARGAZER SHIRT

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Samaki Stargazer shirt brings you one of Australia’s most iconic fish species for the ladies. The barra’s beauty is so striking you’ll want to take a moment to admire each and every scale as she launches from the depths to attack the Samaki Vibelicious. Running off the success of the ladies Dreamcatcher shirt, the Stargazer sports a warped scale design in the colours of the ocean.

The lightweight fabric is perfect for all outdoor elements, protecting you from the harsh sunrays with our UV50+ resistant technology, the soft touch 100% polyester material is comfortable on the body plus has the added feature of being breathable keeping you cool and dry.

Samaki designs are brought to you by Australian anglers who love to design Australian species. Stargazer shirts are available in adult, youth and kids sizes from a size 2 through to a 2XL allowing the whole family to get in on the action and out onto the water.

With an RRP $59.95 in adults and RRP$49.95 in youth and kids. www.samaki.com.au

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DAIWA TD 18 SOL III 15 Our December issue featured an editorial

The Rapido is the latest stickbait from Maria, and its strong wire through body and ribbed construction give it extreme strength.

Maria Rapidos feature a slim profile and a natural swimming action which makes them ideal to use when your target fish are not aggressively chasing poppers or other more aggressive stickbaits like the Maria Loaded.

These great new floating stickbaits are available in three sizes: 130mm, 160mm, 230m. The 130 model weighs 30g and is fitted with ST-66 #1 trebles, the 160 version weighs 50g and has ST-66 #1/0 trebles, and the 230 model weighs100g and is fitted with 230lb oval split rings.

For more information on the Rapido and other models in the range, check out the EJ Todd website or like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Yamashita.Australia. www.ejtodd.com.au 82

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on the Daiwa TD Sol III with incorrect pricing. The correct pricing is MSRP $479.

In case you missed the December issue, here’s the low-down on this innovative new reel.

Daiwa’s TD Sol III is the first reel to feature the design concept LT or ‘Light Tough’.

The new LT Zaion body is the lightest, most compact and strongest body frame Daiwa has ever produced. It’s composed of carbon resin and long carbon fibres, and far exceeds the strength of magnesium in strength per unit weight. It transmits vibrations efficiently, and is lighter and stronger than conventional reels made with similar resins or graphites.

Other features include Air Rotor, ATD, Magseal, Tough Digigear, aluminium Airspool ABS, Perfect Line Stopper and more. You will feel more connected to lures, detect more bites and fight fish with ease. www.daiwafishing.com.au

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WHAT’S NEW FISHING

Testing the slick CFS PE8 Fish Floss – how sweet it is Wading your way through the multitude of braided fishing lines on the market can be quite a task for any angler.

There are products that cover all price points, and price doesn’t always relate to quality.

When it comes to choosing a braided line, there are a number of questions to ask yourself before you purchase. I will take you through this process while I test Fish Floss PE8 from Custom Fishing Solutions.

Line Diameter Line diameter affects a number of things.

First, and most importantly, it determines how much line you will be able to get on the spool of your reel. If you need to maximise your line capacity, thinner diameters at higher breaking strains can be your friend.

Additionally, if your requirements relate to finesse and minimum visibility, finer diameters allow you to top shot spools rather than fill spools, maximising your dollar spend.

Is fine always your friend? I don’t think so.

Super fine diameters create their own evils.

If you are using fast retrieve ratio spin reels, wind knots are inevitable – and fine lines and wind knots tend to end in disasters.

The same can be said with baitcast gear.

Backlashes happen, and fine lines reduce the ease in which you can untangle what your lack of thumb control has created.

Knot tying is another thing that needs to be considered with fine lines. Many an angler has come unstuck when the knot they have been using for many years just doesn’t work, or gives way at the most inappropriate time.

CFS Fish Floss Although Fish Floss is marketed as one of the world’s finest and thinnest lines, I would not consider it to be in the super thin category. It is certainly fine for an 8 carrier braid though, and this PE8 construction provides extra strength for its diameter. It also provides the line with a bit of weight, and because of this it lays on your spool better and reduces the wind knot and backlash issues. Even when they occur, they tend to be less terminal than the ones you get with really fine, lightweight lines.

Fish Floss is also rounded in construction rather than flat, which reduces the line digging into itself on the spool and helps with castability. It does impact a little on line capacity, but this is far outweighed by the positives that a rounded construction provides, especially if you have not used braid before.

Colour and production quality Colour is and will remain a big debate amongst anglers. I believe colour relates to the fishing application you are going to use it for. Fishing with lures, particularly soft plastics, is about knowing what your lure is doing, and the braid becomes a strike indicator or a visual guide for this. Bait fishing is less about line colour and more about the low stretch and sensitivity that braided lines offer.

I am a firm believer that not all braids are created equal. Production quality can vary from spool to spool, and I have had a couple of cases where a section of a spool of line was brittle to the point where you could break 20lb line between your hands,

but couldn’t 10m further into the spool.

What made it worse was that I discovered it when a metre-plus barramundi was on the end of the line!

CFS Fish Floss is available in hi-vis yellow and green, so you can pick the colour that suits your needs or your preference. The PE fibres are impregnated with a Teflon coating and this has a number of effects, one of which is that it reduces water intrusion into the fibres, which can compromise the colour and the strength of a line. The Teflon also allows the line to run through the rod guides with less friction, to improve castability. I received a spool of each colour to test and there is no question which reel has the hi-vis yellow line on, even after six months of use.

It is difficult to test production quality, however it being a 8 carrier braid gave me the peace of mind that I wasn’t going to

ATC Combat baitcaster – a reel for many occasions a couple of days fishing could mark the end of a inferior reel. However, eight months down the track I have no hesitation in picking up the rod with the Combat on it first up, every time.

The other extreme is the ability to cast light lures and jigs with accuracy and good casting distance. Maroon has large pockets of lily pads and weeded areas, and bass in these areas are best targeted with jigs or surface lures. Accurate casting is a must (hence a baitcast outfit), but too much weight

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Steve Morgan slung XOS plastics on the ATC Combat for a couple of weeks on the ZEREK BARRA Tour and found it his ‘go-to’ combo for the big baits.

ATC is a brand best recognised for its spin reels in recent years, which are made with quality components, look great and don’t break the bank. The Valiant and Valour reels have proven that this brand is a viable alternative to the major brands.

Enter the ATC Combat baitcast reel. It has a larger hand feel than a standard low profile reel, which translates to better line capacity, an 8kg drag system and heavyduty gears. For me this is a crossover reel. It has all the casting attributes any baitcast reel has, as well as the capacity to deal with offshore jigging applications (ATC provide a second handle which is ideal for jigging).

A reel well travelled My ATC Combat has seen a lot of places and many different fishing scenarios. It has ranged from casting seriously big surface lures for Murray cod at Glenlyon Dam to 1/8oz jigs for bass at Maroon Dam. The extremes didn’t stop there either, as I also explored places like Lake Eildon (casting 2oz and 3oz spinnerbaits as well an assortment of hardbody lures), Somerset Dam (casting metal slugs and drone fishing) and back to Maroon casting buzzbaits for bass. Each time the reel performed the task required of it.

Casting heavy spinnerbaits and big surface lures put a huge amount of strain on a reel’s components, to the point where

The ability to cast lures that weigh a little or a lot is a great feature of the ATC Combat reel. will have you fighting the structure instead of the fish. Fortunately, casting light lures is not a problem with the Combat, and the magnetic cast control system has a lot to do with this. With minimal tweaking it assists your casting by reducing the error rate of an uneducated angler’s thumb control. I tested this to the point where I was casting 1/4oz buzzbaits with little or no thumbing of the

TESTED

have any problems with the Fish Floss.

Final thoughts Custom Fishing Solutions Fish Floss braid comes in 150m and 300m spools in the two colours I have mentioned. Line classes range from 10lb to 50lb in the 150m spools, and 20lb to 50lb in the 300m spools.

For the fishing I do and the reels I do it with, Fish Floss ticked the right boxes.

The line diameter was fine but not to the point that I had to change the knots I use. Its castability has been what I would expect from a PE8 braid, and in six months of use I have not had any line failures.

My preference is the hi-vis yellow colour, as most of my fishing is with lures, and surprisingly the line colour has held up well.

Check it out at your local tackle store or go to www.jurofishing.com for more details. Peter Jung

TESTED reel. It’s great to spend more time fishing and less time unpicking bird nests.

It survived Steve Morgan One of the best tests we can put a reel through at Fishing Monthly is to give it to Steve Morgan and see if he can break it, and the Zerek BARRA Tour provided a great opportunity to put it through its paces. Steve said that when he tests a reel, there are two main factors that matter the most.

“The first one is, does it survive the experience?” he said. “There’s probably no greater test for a small baitcaster then the rigors of a casting-only BARRA event.

There’s no let up. Every minute the reel is firing out another cast and the baits can be big – up to 25cm long.

“But the other, more subtle test is this: do you find yourself picking up the outfit as a matter of preference? We all have the outfit that becomes the ‘favourite’ for the trip. If you lose a lure, you end up re-rigging it rather than picking up a new outfit and starting there.

“I fished the ATC Combat on a Venom Swimbait rod and for big baits, it was by far the most comfortable rig to deliver the 130250mm soft plastics we were throwing.

“Landing metre-plus barra on the outfit was the final test. Loaded with 48lb Mustad braided line, I wasn’t shy screwing up the drag and trying to bully the fish a little. The drag was smooth, even if my fish fighting technique with the swimbait rod wasn’t!”

Check them out The ATC Combat is available in left and right hand wind, and for under $250 you get a lot for your money. To find out more go to www.wilsonfishing.com.- Peter Jung

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Black Magic

Tough enough for trevally: Black Magic popper Topwater fishing is considered by many to be the most exciting way to catch a giant trevally. For popping or stickbaiting, my lure of choice would be the Black Magic 180mm popper. It’s great for long casts and the amazing thing for me is the cupped face, which creates the noise and bubble trails.

Admittedly, you have to work some poppers hard to make them bloop to call the fish in but with the Black Magic 180mm popper, this is not the case; a firm pull and the lure will do the work for you.

I have enjoyed using this lure for three years and still have my first

one. There are so many teeth holes in it but I still have the confidence to throw it out and know it can handle a big giant trevally.

I’ve changed the hooks on it countless times.

That’s one thing you don’t want – a bent hook. You never know when that next fish will be the fish of a lifetime. There are no second chances with a big giant trevally, and if there is a weakness in your gear, this fish will find it. It’s as simple as forgetting that one hitch on an FG knot through to split rings with fatigue. I take my hat off to these creatures – they are my favourite fish in the ocean.

Three main things I look for when I’m

You can catch some big fish with this lure.

trevally pushing the bait up, all you have to do is put the Black Magic 180 popper to the side of the bait school and get ready to watch that surface strike.

I don’t like to throw the lure directly into the bait school, as it spooks the bait; the trevally end up herding the bait back up instead of hitting your lure. Birds are a good indication of where the bait is, so it’s good to pay attention to your surroundings.

Poppers are a great lure for the splash, but to me they are much more than that, especially the Black Magic 180mm popper.

On every retrieve the noise is what calls the

After three years and a lot of bite marks, the Black Magic 180mm popper still works wonders. searching for giant trevally are current, bait and birds; as all anglers know, no run, no fun. Watch the surface and once you see the commotion on the top of the water from giant

This popper really makes some sound to attract big GTs. You have to work some poppers hard to make them bloop but with the Black Magic 180mm popper it’s just a firm pull and the lure will do the work for you.

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Giant trevally are great fun to catch. Watch the surface and once you see the pipping on the top of the water from giant trevally pushing the bait up, all you have to do is put the Black Magic 180 popper to the side of the bait school and get ready to watch that surface strike.

These lures are great for their casting distance.

fish in, so the harder the retrieval, the further the noise goes to attract a fish in and the odds are a lot better for hooking these beautiful creatures.

I rig my Black Magic 180mm poppers with a Shimano Stella 14000 SW with 80lb YGK Castman down to my leader (100lb Black Magic tough trace) to a solid ring to a size 9 split ring.

That now brings me to the Black Magic 180mm popper. I like to have two different size hooks so there is less chance of fowling up.

I use a size 4 hook on the belly and a size 5 on the rear.

If you would like to follow me and see the different styles of fishing I do, find me on Facebook, twitter @ lollo_eric or instagram @eric.lollo.

– Eric Lollo/ Black Magic

The Riverina Classic is on again next month!

The Darlington Point Riverina Classic Catch and Release Fishing Competition is not your average fishing competition. It offers

and food stalls. An array of fishing tackle will be also be on offer from some of the leading suppliers for the fishing enthusiast, as well as

Bring along the family and enjoy a great weekend out in Darlington Point at the Riverina Classic. a family fun weekend filled with markets, entertainment for kids, helicopter joy flights, river train rides, merchandise

one of the largest prize pools for inland fishing competitions in NSW. The Riverina Classic is held on the banks of

the Murrumbidgee River at Darlington Point in the Riverina NSW. It’s a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers of the community.

They concentrate their efforts on restocking the waterways of the Murrumbidgee River with fingerlings of Murray cod and golden perch, in order to help secure a sustainable fishing future.

Plans for 2018’s competition are off to great start, with the committee again set to release over 12,000 Murray cod and golden perch fingerlings into the Murrumbidgee River. The competition has successfully run as a photoentry-only event for the last two years.

This is designed to minimise any negative effects on fish welfare and ensure anglers have maximum opportunity to chase that elusive big one. This year the committee have turned their focus to the cancer support network CAN ASSIST. All profits are going to the local Griffith and Coleambally branches for assistance and practical support for cancer treatment.

The competition area spans 24km of the

Every single junior that enters is guaranteed to go home with a prize.

Murrumbidgee River – a thriving water system with an abundance of fish caught over the summer period by keen anglers using bait, spinnerbaits and hardbodied lures. Four state national parks line the boundaries of the fishing competition, making it an ideal location with plenty of river access from the bank to camp and fish. The river is also easily accessible by boat and it isn’t an odd sight to see 5m fishing boats getting around the river system.

Prize categories in the competition include: Biggest Yellowbelly, Biggest Cod, Biggest Carp and Cumulative Length.

Each category has both

junior and senior sections and every single junior that enters is guaranteed to go home with a prize.

Included in the prize pool is $8000 cash, a Stacer 409S Proline Angler running a 30hp, 4-stroke mercury motor complete with trailer for the big kids and a kayak for the juniors. Early bird entrants that register online also go in the draw to win an Adventure Kings Big Daddy Double Swag, Single Swag, campfire BBQ plate and Sumo Stretcher Bed. The competition will again be held over three days this year, commencing on the afternoon of Friday 9 February with presentations and prizes to be drawn

Sunday 11 February. Bring along the family and enjoy a great weekend out in Darlington Point.

To register online visit www.riverinaclassic.com or visit the headquarters tent at ENTRY FEES Adults................. $50 Juniors............... $25 Family Pass....... $120 the Darlington Point Sports club on the day. For more information check out our Facebook page Riverina Classic Fishing Competition, or call Chris Sutton on 0427 516 197 or Shaun Roche on 0447 727 697.

– Riverina Classic

There are tonnes of prizes up for grabs.

Presentations will be held on the Sunday.

The Riverina Classic draws a great crowd each year.

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Franklin crabs for GF win Graham Franklin claimed the biggest title in bream fishing, the Costa BREAM Grand Final, with the Sydney breamer hitting the ground running on day one.

He showed the field a clean pair of heels as he powered to a wire-to-wire victory in the Lake Macquarie event.

Pinpointing his Grand Final winning location and technique in a pre-fish weeks before the final, Franklin was confident about his spot and the fish it had to offer, but he knew success depended on being able to get there first.

“It’s no secret the bridge at Swansea holds good bream but I needed to get

THE FUTURE IS HERE Self-contained Electric Outboards

Graham Franklin and Neil Kelly with their 5.44kg day two limit.

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Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888.

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Rod: Samurai Reaction 201, 203 and 302 Reels: Daiwa Certate 2500 and 3500 Line: 10lb Sunline Castaway PE Leader: 6 and 7lb Sunline FC Rock Lures: Cranka Crabs – 65mm (9.5g) in brown, cockle, and olive colours, 50mm (5.9g) in brown, cockle, and olive colours, Jackall Chubby Deep and Shallow in brown suji and ghost gill colours, OSP Bent Minnows, and Megabass Dog X Junior. there before other anglers did, and I needed there to be deep enough water on my shortcut to be able to get there as quick as I could and before anyone else,” explained Franklin.

It all fell into place and a clean run on his chosen stretch of pylons at the bridge awaited him when he arrived at the bridge on day one.

With the tide in the final stages of running in, Franklin positioned himself upriver and back from the pylons and cast a Cranka Crab towards the bridge and the waiting bream.

With the boat positioned in about 7-8m of water Franklin would sink his Cranka towards the bottom, drifting it back with current towards the boat.

“The bream would hold on the bottom, and once the crab was down there and a fish was showing signs of interest, I’d shake the rod tip to make the lure quiver in front of them and entice them to bite,” explained Franklin.

As the incoming tide started to ease and the current started to back off Franklin would position himself closer to the bridge. He fished in under the bridge tight to pylons that he couldn’t reach previously due to the fast flowing water.

“Once we were under the bridge, you’d occasionally see the fish flashing and moving high on the pylons and at times you could cast your crab close to them and get them to take it,” explained Franklin.

While Franklin admits he didn’t catch as many fish as Jamie McKeown who was fishing close by, he got the big bites that he needed to win. He dropped a 5.20kg limit on the scales on day one, showing

that he had the fish to the win the final. Would they last for three days?

Day two showed that day one wasn’t a one-off, with Franklin and his day two partner Neil Kelly bagging out early and bagging out with big fish.

At their heaviest, Franklin ran running ball sinkers on his leader above the crab and sticky weights stuck to the underbelly of the crab.

His approach on day two was the same as the day before – hang back when the tide was strong then move closer and under the bridge as the tide eased. Once the tide started to run out, Franklin would reposition himself on the downriver side of the bridge and fish the back eddy as long as he could until the run-out tide was too strong and made the area unfishable.

“Once the bridge became unfishable we went and fished the flats, biding our time until the end of the session,” explained Franklin.

The Costa BREAM Grand Final victor and his spoils.

“I modified my Cranka Crabs on day two, adding weight to them to get them down when the current was running really hard, then progressively taking the weight off as the current slowed,” explained Franklin.

Each day by the time Franklin left the bridge the work had been done and he could rest easy.

Breaking the 5kg mark again on day two (5.44kg) Franklin headed into the final day with a 2kg lead over Jamie

McKeown, a comfortable, perhaps insurmountable lead, that had Franklin very relaxed for an angler leading the ABT BREAM Grand Final.

Day three started the same way – fish back from the bridge with weighted Cranka Crabs, then move in closer and pair back the weight as the tide eased. Once again Franklin filled his limit early, but as the current eased and he moved in under the bridge, the bite turned on but not to the extent of the first two days.

“The bridge started to show signs of the fishing pressure it had received over the last three days and while we caught fish, we couldn’t get the last big bite to upgrade the smallest fish (32cm) we had in our limit,” explained Franklin.

The last angler to hit the stage, the results were in reality a fait accompli and despite the fact that Mark Healey had weighed in a 6kg limit on the final day, Franklin actually extended his 2kg and his 4.82kg final day saw him claim the Costa BREAM Grand Final by a 2.30kg winning margin.

Fresh off the weigh-in stage Franklin was humbled and perhaps still in shock of what he’d just achieved.

“Having your name on the BREAM Grand Final shield is everything. To know I have my name on it, and achieved it with a lure – the Cranka Crab that has been so good to me since I came out of retirement – is very special,” explained Franklin.

RESULTS – BOATERS Place

Anglers

Fish

Weight (kg)

Payout

1 Graham Franklin 15/15 15.46 Boat prize package 2 Jamie McKeown 15/15 13.16 Lowrance Sounder 3 Mark Healey 15/15 12.74 Diamond Deck 4 Craig Greenaway 15/15 10.31 Diamond Deck 5 Ross Catnnizzaro 15/15 9.75 Diamond Deck 6 Todd Riches 14/15 9.60 7 Anthony Wishey 15/15 9.33 8 Mario Vukic 15/15 9.28 9 Warren Carter 14/15 9.26 10 Charlie Saykao 15/15 9.12 For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

PRESEN TED BY

McKeown goes heavy and deep for second Jamie McKeown claimed the runner-up title at the Costa BREAM Grand Final with the Queensland bream gun fishing a deep water Cranka Crab at the Swansea Bridge to catch his fish.

McKeown’s approach was the same as event winner Franklin – fish back from the bridge when the tide was its strongest then move in closer to the bridge as the tide eased.

Fishing the Cranka Crab in the heavy 50mm and 65mm models, McKeown used mainly the olive colour, but caught fish on others as well.

“I primarily threw the olive, but on three days my kicker fish fell to a spotted crab colour. On day three, however, I was low on crabs

and pretty much threw every crab colour available and caught fish on them all,” explained McKeown.

Weighting the crab to get it to the bottom in the strong current was key and McKeown was prepared and used an assortment of different weights.

“For most of the session each day I had my crabs weighted with a drop shot sinker connected to the split ring. I had three sizes pre-rigged: a 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2oz. I matched the weight to what was needed depending on how strong the current was flowing. I only had about 20 minutes each day where an unweighted crab could be used,” explained McKeown.

McKeown generally caught his bigger fish as

the tide slowed when the fish ventured away from their hidey holes to feed.

The key, regardless of the current flow and the weight being used, was to stay in touch with the crab to feel the nibbles and when one did come simply wind them on.

The approach paid dividends each day with McKeown catching his limit in the first 30-45 minutes.

“The fish were super active each day there was one period on day two when I caught three fish in three casts. It was a bridge that delivered plenty for the Grand Final, and big credit to Franko for getting the biggest fish off it. He’s a very deserving winner, I couldn’t be happier for him,” concluded Jamie.

Tani Konsul and Jamie McKeown were all smiles with their Swansea Bridge bream.

Kelly bridges his way to victory Southern NSW breamer Neil Kelly claimed his biggest tournament win to date with the quietlyspoken angler fishing with Chris Gates on day one and catching a 5/5, 2.94kg limit to kickstart his Costa BREAM Grand Final.

Sitting in equal 19th place at the end of the day, it was his day two pairing with Graham Franklin and their Swansea Bridge Cranka Crab assault that would spearhead his charge for the Grand Final.

Fishing the upriver side of the bridge on the

incoming tide, Kelly’s approach involved casting his Cranka Crab towards the bridge then letting it sink down and drift back to the boat with the flooding tide.

Kelly would feel and watch his rod tip for the bites, twitching the rod tip then allowing the bream to take

Event winners Graham Franklin and Neil Kelly stood proudly with their prize boat packages.

the crab before loading up on a hooked fish.

The approach paid dividends with Kelly boating a string of fish for the session and together with Franklin weighing a 5.44kg limit for the session.

The heaviest limit for the tournament so far, Kelly’s XOS bag catapulted him into 1st place.

With the leading boater paired with the leading non-boater on day three, Kelly once again found himself standing shoulderto-shoulder with Franklin at the Swansea Bridge on the final day.

It was a crab attack once again with Kelly casting up-current, landing his Cranka tight to the bridge then drifting it back to the boat and into the path and the mouth of waiting bream. The pair caught fish upstream of the bridge as the tide pushed in, then as the tide eased and current backed off on the tide change the pair moved closer and in under the bridge to catch their fish.

The moment a new champ was crowned.

While Kelly and Franklin caught plenty of fish for the session, it was the smallest fish in their well at 32cm that they couldn’t upgrade that held them back from weighing another 5kg bag.

Weighing in a 5/5, 4.82kg limit for the session, Kelly finished the tournament with a total of 13.20kg for his 15 fish – an impressive 880g average that delivered him a 550g win over the strong finishing Louie Wardini who weighed in a 5/5, 6.05kg

Cranka Crab

limit on the final day.

For the win Kelly collected himself a Bluefin Boats Estuary Pro hull/ Mercury 4-stroke outboard, Garmin sounder, Power-Pole Micro Anchor and Marine Dynamics tournament boat package.

The Costa BREAM Grand Final at Lake Macquarie wraps up the ABT tournament calendar for 2017; visit www.abt.org. au to check out the calendars and events for 2018. – ABT

Bridge

RESULTS – NON-BOATERS Place

Anglers

Fish

Weight (kg)

Payout

1 Neil Kelly 15/15 13.20 Boat prize package 2 Louie Wardini 15/15 12.65 Diamond Deck 3 Russell Winters 15/15 12.52 Diamond Deck 4 Simon Johnson 15/15 10.18 Diamond Deck 5 Jonathan Thompson 15/15 9.48 Diamond Deck 6 Scott Wilson 15/15 9.45 7 James Morgan 15/15 9.42 8 Anthony Hassarati 15/15 9.18 9 Brenton Madaus 13/15 9.11 10 Justin Reeves 14/15 8.99 For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

Current

Shake rod tip

JANUARY 2018

87

Hobie Series 9 Australian Championship Round The Hobie Kayak Bream Series 9 Australian Championship commenced in Mandurah, Western Australia with the Lowrance pre-fish day on Friday 17 November in hot, dry conditions and a light breeze blowing across Peel Inlet.

The field of 45 qualifying anglers competing in the tournament came from Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, the

of anglers had experienced their first taste of the system and offered comments that suggested that there were fish about the canals and bridges.

The same areas were plagued with blowfish, but there were bream among them and they were catchable with persistence, patience and a lot of lost and damaged lures.

Reports pointed to being a difficult competition, but there were large fish about in specific locations; the

was their first experience in a 2017 Hobie Pro Angler 14 with their forwardreverse MirageDrive 180 pedal system.

Local angler Alex Greisdorf from Halls Head in WA, runner-up in the championship, said after pre-fishing, “I had a bit of a fish to get used to the yak. I managed to pull a few fish and lose a few. It was a fun little day on the water, nice and warm. The yak went well, so bring on a big three days. I won’t go the same direction tomorrow; I’ve got something up my sleeve.

“Today it was about trying out the kayak and pedalling for a few kilometres and just kind of having a fun day. I’ve done well in a couple of WA comps, but unfortunately, those results didn’t come at Mandurah, where I’ve found it a bit tough of late. Maybe she’ll come good for me this

weekend. You’ve got to be in it to win it; anyone’s in with a chance, so we’ll see how I go.”

Day one of the Australian Championship kicked off early the next morning from inside the Mandurah Quay Resort Marina in a 12-15knot northnorthwesterly breeze with cloudy skies creating optimal conditions for fishing.

The anglers pedalled out into Peel Inlet with most chancing the hour-long pedal to the mouth of the rivers.

Some anglers travelled for nearly an hour further upstream. The 13 anglers headed up Mandurah Channel towards the township and the canal systems just 20 minutes away.

Reports from sceptics of no fish were soon laid to rest when by around 8:30am three of those anglers had already filled their Hobie Livewells with their bag

limit of three fish.

At the end of the day one session the leaderboard

The field of 45 qualifying anglers competing in the tournament came from all over Australia.

From the event launch site, the anglers ventured in different directions across the arena. was extremely close at the top end; Paul Burton (WA) was leading the field with three fish for 2.17kg. He was

The new 2017 Hobie Kayak Bream Series Australian Champion Paul Burton.

ACT, New South Wales and Queensland. From the event launch site, the anglers ventured in different directions across the arena sounding out and throwing lures at the shallow weedy flats, canal systems, two channels and two feeding rivers (the Serpentine and the Murray).

On returning to shore mid-afternoon, the majority

expressed fear of those that found them was that they would shut down reasonably quickly.

Most had a good day and found it interesting having never fished in WA before, and despite the difficulties of bagging bream, they enjoyed their first day navigating and testing out the waterway. For many, it

followed by Alex Greisdorf with three fish for 2.15kg, just 20g short of Burton,

Anglers prepping for a day on the water on day two.

and Sean Higgins (WA) was a close third with three for 2.11kg.

Burton who, had been hitting the canals, was concentrating on the older canal in the system rather than the newer ones. He threw lures in most of them and all of his fish were caught on rock structure close to pylons. He found a shorter rod more advantageous when fishing around and close to structure.

The average weight of fish caught on day one was 520g but Higgins smashed that mark, netting the monster of the day – at 1.29kg – in the canals and finishing his three fish bag by 8:40am. He caught the fish throwing a

TOURNAMENT CALENDAR 2018 JANUARY

19-21 Jan

Tollgate Islands Classic Batemans Bay

batemansbaygfc@gmail.com

FEBRUARY

9-11 Feb

Riverina Classic Fishing Competition Murrumbidgee River

Chris Sutton 0447 727 697

10-11 Feb

SCFCA Beach Competition Gerringong Hotel

southcoastfca@yahoo.com.au

25 Feb

ABT BASS Electric Series Round 1 Richmond River

www.abt.org.au

10-11 Mar

SCFCA Deep Sea Competition Kiama Bowls Club

southcoastfca@yahoo.com.au

10-11 Mar

Tuross Head Flathead and Bream Tournaments Tuross Head

www.facebook.com/flatheadandbream

10-11 Mar

Round 2 Hobie Kayak Bream Series Foster / Wallis Lake

www.hobiefishing.com.au

7-8 Apr

Round 3 Hobie Kayak Bream Series Sydney

www.hobiefishing.com.au

22 Apr

ABT BASS Electric Series Round 2 Clarrie Hall Dam

www.abt.org.au

MARCH

APRIL

Add your tournament or competition to this list by emailing jthomas@fishingmonthly.com.au or calling 07 3387 0800 in office hours.

Just supply a date, venue, tournament name and a telephone number and contact name.

88

JANUARY 2018

ZMan GrubZ in watermelon with a green Pro-Tec painted jighead at a boat hull. That Atomic Big Bream won him $250 and at the finish of the event it turned out to be the biggest fish landed in the tournament. Massimo Salomone (WA) managed 1.89kg and Simon Morley (NSW) bagged 1.72kg to round out the top five.

There had been some excellent fish caught on the day in various locations across the arena. Many anglers, from the top to the bottom of the field, reported being busted off by some huge fish.

Like Higgins, a lot of other anglers who did well

The field split 50-50 at the turning buoys at the start, with the ‘river risk takers’ once again chancing the long journey to the Serpentine and Murray rivers. At the same time, a much larger number than on day one headed to the canals. The canal group had their lures wet before the ‘river riskies’ had even got a third of the way to their destinations.

It was a huge gamble to head to the rivers, especially for those who go way upstream; getting back on time could be difficult, particularly in a strong headwind. There was a chance of incurring a time penalty or even

with six for 3.30kg after pulling in a 1.19kg bag on the day. Shane Owens (WA) moved up into fifth on 2.71kg and Luke Rogan (Qld) who had moved into the eighth position won the day two Atomic Big Bream $250 with his 960g bag kicker.

In ideal conditions, tournament leader Alex Greisdorf was among the leaders of the pack that headed straight to the Murray River on the final day of the championship.

Third-placed Simon Morley and fifth-placed Shane Owens were also river risk takers. Second-placed Paul Burton let that group go their way, and turned away to the

The rain poured down on day two as anglers headed to the start. Fortunately it cleared and excellent conditions appeared just moments later. also had their three fish bag limit in their Hobie XL Livewells in the early hours of the session. Most found it much tougher to attract the bite later in the day.

Some locations were stocked full of squeakers lingering among the blowfish, but the right locations, if you could find them, had fish around the 700g mark.

The rain poured down on day two as anglers headed to the start. Fortunately it cleared and excellent conditions appeared just moments later.

After assessing their day one performances, many competitors adjusted their strategies and took off in a different direction to day one.

Others who bagged out, and had deliberately left numbers of large fish in areas they had previously worked, headed back hoping to bag out early on the solid fish they had sighted and left alone.

disqualification if they were to get back after the 3pm deadline.

Nevertheless, many chose to travel the distance hoping to reap the riches that won Chris Burbidge (Vic) the 2014 Australian Championship in that same location.

At the close of the day, Alex Greisdorf – who concentrated his plan of attack in the Murray River and the small canal system attached to the river – had moved from second to the top of the leaderboard with a 1.79kg bag, accumulating a two-day total of six fish for 3.94kg. Paul Burton dropped to second with his day two bag of 1.73kg and now had six for 3.9kg over two days.

Simon Morley with the biggest bag of the day at 1.83kg moved up to third place with a six-fish 3.55kg total, knocking Sean Higgins into fourth. Higgins finished

RESULTS Place Angler 1 Paul Burton 2 Alex Greisdorf 3 Sean Higgins 4 Simon Morley 5 Massimo Salomone 6 Joseph Gardner 7 David Shanahan 8 Danny Jobson 9 Shane Owens 10 Glenn Allen

Total Weight (kg) 5.81 5.54 4.89 4.70 3.47 3.27 2.97 2.94 2.71 2.60

left and powered straight to the canals for the third day straight – a decision that would ultimately pay huge rewards at the 2pm weigh-in.

Fourth-placed Sean Higgins also chose to continue his assault on the

The top three anglers – Paul Burton, Alex Greisdorf and Sean Higgins. with a steady retrieve.

Greisdorf took on the black bream of the Murray with a Duff Rods 7’0” 1-5kg rod matched to a Daiwa Ignis 2505 reel with Daiwa Evo 8 8lb PE line and Sunline FC 3lb leader.

His go-to lures were ZMan SwimZ 3” in bloodworm and hologram shad rigged on TT Lures Hidden Weight 1/16oz and 1/28oz jigheads (for shallow water) and TT Lures HeadlockZ 1/16oz (for deeper water) with stinger hooks.

On day three Paul Burton bagged 1.91kg up in the canals towards the Mandurah township by fishing unweighted slow-sinking lures. The bag weight took his total to 5.81kg, 270g ahead of second-placed Griesdorf. After an epic battle, an ecstatic Burton – the first Hobie Fishing Australian Champion from WA – proudly hoisted the perpetual trophy over his head to an ovation from the large crowd of proud Western Australians.

The official tournament dinner took place in the evening. Chosen by his fellow

who were such an integral part of the organisation of the event and Tanya McFarlane, Mandurah Quay Resort were both presented with trophies and jerseys signed by the competing anglers.

Specially designed Hobie trophies were awarded to the three Atomic Big Bream winners, followed by sponsor prize pack and souvenir placard presentations to the tenth to fourth-placed finishers in the championship.

A $100 Donut Dough consolation prize was presented to raise the spirits of an unlucky angler who

had caught no legal-sized bream each day.

Tameika Purnell took the money on day three, day two went to Greg Cooper, and on day one Kevin Boese won the money.

The Australian Team to compete in the 7th Hobie Fishing World Championship in Amal Sweden in May 2018 was then announced.

Congratulations to Simon Morley, Mark Young, Jack Gammie, Steven Pryke, Richard Benson, Tony Pettie, Glenn Allen, Richard Somerton, Chesney Fung (reserve) and Mitch King (reserve). – Hobie Cat Australia

WINNING TACKLE Rod: Reel: Line: Leader: Lures:

NS Black Hole Amped 6’6″ 1-3kg Abu Garcia Revo ALX High Speed Sunline Bream Special 3lb Sunline FC 3lb Ecogearaqua Bream Prawn 40mm in salt and pepper

title from the same area he had fished for the previous two days, and where he had caught his 1.29kg fish on day one. He was rarely sighted fishing outside a 300m radius over the three days of the event.

Higgins finished in a creditable third place; he landed three more fish on day three for 1.59kg and totalled nine black bream over three days for 4.89kg.

After a massive battle for the top spot, second place fell to local Alex Greisdorf who bagged 1.5kg up-river on day three giving him nine fish for 5.54kg. He had travelled over 80km by the end of the tournament heading to the Murray each day where he had fished slowly, twitching

anglers, Simon Morley’s camaraderie, sportsmanship and dedication to the Hobie Way of Life won him the Anglers Choice Award. He was presented with a trophy and will have his entry fee refunded.

In recognition of his volunteer assistance to his fellow angler’s travel plans to the championship resort, Geoff Alford was presented with the Mortgage Corp Movers and Shakers Award, a power pack and a Hobie jersey. Michael Halliday won a Lowrance Elite-5Ti sounder, the same fish finder mounted on the 2017 Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayaks used in the championship.

Matt Williams from the Getaway Outdoors Group,

www.fishin.com.au ONLINE TOURNAMENT TACKLE STORE

ZX BLADES ZMAN GRUBZ CRANKA CRABS

BENT MINNOWS

JACKALL CHUBBY

FREE EXPRESS SHIPPING

0425 230 964 – info@fishin.com.au SHOP 18, 29 KIORA RD MIRANDA NSW 2228 JANUARY 2018

89

Just what does it really take to win?

SUNTAG

Stefan Sawynok

Why would anyone watch golf? That was what I was asking the service staff at the Darwin Airport Lounge. Given the expressions on their faces as they politely rebuffed the line of people asking for a change to the cricket, there was plenty of tension in the room – just not the sporting kind.

Nonetheless, sporting tragic that I am, golf was better than nothing. Fishing, test cricket, and golf have one thing in common – most of the time not a lot happens.

fishers in competitions.

The ABT Barra Tour has just finished and given that it’s a short, punchy event with a mix of venues and formats, it’s an excellent dataset to work with to explore that theme.

A TEST OF CHARACTER The Barra Tour is split into four rounds: one at Lake Kinchant, one at Lake Teemburra and two at Lake Proserpine. All the events are night affairs (4pm to midnight) with the last an all-nighter. Round three is held over two days, so effectively there are five fishing days in total – six if you count the final round as two days.

Speaking as the guy who was up until 3am for most of

Team BARRATRAUMA, Peter (left) and Zac (right).

A lack of action provides something of a challenge to commentators who must provide a constant stream of anecdotes to fill in the gaps. On this occasion one of the commentary team remarked of a golfer I had never heard of: “We know he can win with his A-game, but not with his B-game. Until he can win ugly with his B-Game, he won’t go to the next level.”

Hearing that little gem, I rummaged through my bag for my notebook and noted the comment down, knowing I had the topic for my next article. I am very interested in the 1% fishers – the anglers who stand out from the rest as the ones you expect to win. A-B games are one of the elements that I have observed make the difference between the 1% 90

JANUARY 2018

that getting the scores done, there is no doubt in my mind this is an endurance event.

The endurance aspect adds a twist because competitors are fighting the fish and other competitors, and by the end they are fighting themselves.

Best of all, the Barra Tour is a team event and having looked at the results, that is a crucial element. Teams are only as good as the weakest link.

These are the sorts of conditions that will quickly divide the field and are as such perfect for uncovering the 1% fishers.

FISHING AND SPORTS SCIENCE It’s at this point I want to bring in an introduction to sports science, especially as it relates to fishing. Sports science is a huge part of professional sports and falls

into four basic categories: • Physical training regimes – tailored to the role of the individual • Human performance – making sure that the player is mentally peaking at the right time • Sports statistics – the ability to measure an athlete and their progress • Injury management – rehab and prevention.

Elite fishers are like all elite sports people; they work to a plan, have a consistent preparation routine and execute with high skill. They seem to be able to perform miracles and operate in a league of their own. I have talked to enough fishers that have in one way or another ‘cracked the code’ and know that a more systematic approach to improving performance does deliver results.

If there is a barrier to the use of sports science in fishing, it’s prize money.

Sports science is feasible in sports like cricket, AFL and rugby league because there the difference between success and failure can be many millions of dollars of income to a club. When it comes to fishing, the stakes are much lower, and like all amateur sports, much of the focus is on pride.

That said, there is a dawning understanding that there is an audience for fishing and a need to capture that before someone else does. Improving the overall skills of our fishery is part of that, so I am always willing to share things I have learned.

PHYSICAL TRAINING Physical training is a tricky one with fishing.

Some fundamental elements are required to maintain peak concentration, but that doesn’t extend to aerobic activity.

Running, for example, won’t make you a better fisher, but if you enjoy running, don’t stop. Some weight training (without going crazy) and activities that improve core strength, flexibility, balance and fine motor skills are essentials.

The one area that people don’t consider is casting technique. If you’re going to be a competition fisher in a high casting environment, your back, shoulders and

Team FISHTEC/EJ TODD, Craig (left) and Karim (right). arms are going to get a work over and here is where there is a risk of long-term injury. I have spent time with professionals looking at casting technique, and while we need to spend some time with biomechanical modelling, this is the one section of the body all highintensity fishers need to look after.

While there is no official program, I recommend spending a bit of time with a quality personal trainer or sports medical group who understand the exercises that will build up a balanced muscle through the back, shoulders and biceps. The risk comes if you have a casting technique that favours one muscle group, which creates weaknesses in others, leading to injury or arthritis later in life.

I do have exercise regimes that I have worked through with experts; there should be no need for anything other than bodyweight training.

HUMAN PERFORMANCE Human performance

management is focused on efficiency. Think about driving; when a learner first starts driving they are conscious of everything that’s happening, but as skills develop a twentyyear driver can have a journey and not even remember getting in the car. This process is called ‘unconscious competence.’

Elite fishers have repeated the tasks in fishing to the point where they don’t have to think about them. Having analysed the performance of high-end competition fishers with experts in human performance, they can be broken down into five key areas.

Planning – planning is not about merely having a plan of attack. Careful planning means working out all the issues that are likely to come up. There is no room to be focused on anything other than execution during the competition.

Casting – this is a no-brainer and is just muscle memory. The thing about muscle memory is it works for both good and bad

technique. While it’s a given that high-end fishers have proper technique, that is not true for all fishers. All new competition fishers should get input from a casting clinic or other high-end fisher early on and address any issues before building muscle memory. It’s always much harder to fix poor technique than develop the proper form from the start.

Tackle – the interesting thing about tackle is the important element is map building. As fishers spend more time on the water, they build up a larger range of circumstances under which a combination of tackle should be used. Top fishers have a surprisingly narrow map, in that they have worked out the specific combinations that work best for them most often. That is not to say they don’t have tricks up their sleeves, but their best techniques deliver results, so they don’t need too many alternatives past plan B. Emotional state – all high-performance athletes manage their emotional

FIG. 1 FISHTEC/EJ TODD VS BARRATRAUMA VS JACKALL Team Min bag Max bag Average bag Total weight Highest place Lowest place Average place Top-five placements Top-three placements Wins Five-fish bags Zero-fish bags

FISHTEC/EJ TODD 40.690kg 70.470kg 58.944kg 294.720kg 1 4 2.5 4 3 1 5 0

BARRATRAUMA 0kg 86.630kg 46.364kg 231.820kg 1 17 6 3 2 2 3 1

JACKALL 24.840kg 69.810kg 54.814kg 274.070kg 2 6 3.5 3 2 0 5 0

state well. That is not a case of always being neutral, but rather knowing when to lift the intensity. The other trick to managing your emotional state is handling the tough times – being resilient and positive in tackling challenges rather than being reactive.

Secondary strategy – this is the B-game, the ‘win ugly’ method. Simply put, the best fishers can be off their game, or make a bad call, and still make sure that a bad day doesn’t see them dropping down the leaderboard. Fish in the boat is always the first goal.

SPORTS STATISTICS AND FISHING Most of the best fishers know their game well, and most people can read a scoreboard. The thing that is most often missing is a real underlying understanding of how close or far away an individual is and how to get there. Fishing more won’t help if that practice is not focused on fixing up the gaps in performance. This is where digging into data

contention. Here we have a great example from the most recent Barra Tour comparing the team that won with the hottest team on form.

FISHTEC/EJ TODD is the elite combination of Craig Griffiths and Karim DeRidder. As a dynamic duo, they are the well-established team to beat; Craig is the most successful of the current barra tournament fishers in Queensland. I believe Craig is the number one in the country.

BARRATRAUMA are the Mackay local dynamos, Zac Hunt and Peter Laine.

With two first placings, an eye catching maximum bag of 86.63kg, one night totalling 338kg and an overall total of 649.86kg, BARRATRAUMA had the A-Game to compete. To put things into full perspective, they boated 355kg more than FISHTEC/EJ TODD over the course of the events. That is the kind of red-hot form you bet your life on.

for stats.)

Katy Perry might tell you that you are a firework, but over the long haul, you need to make sure you that your fuel doesn’t burn out.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND The two top teams at the event included FISHTEC/ EJ TODD and JACKALL, the combination of Dan Curry and Ash Simms.

Over the course of the tour, only 20kg separated the two, which amounts to one solid fish.

JACKALL managed five-fish bags on every night and had the A-game to match the leaders with only a half kilo separating their maximum bags. Here is where the differences in B-games come to the fore, and the ‘win ugly’ factor comes in.

In the last two events JACKALL marginally outfished FISHTEC/ EJ TODD, meaning they nullified the ‘Griffo effect.’

However, in the first two impoundments, where

Team JACKALL, Dan (left) and Ash (right). is useful. The purpose of developing sports statistics is to accurately model the standards of ‘high performance,’ contextualize individual performance relative to the ‘high performance’ state, and to break down the actual strengths and weaknesses of the competitor and measure progress towards goals.

THE FIVE-FISH BAG There is an endless set of competition formats out there, and regardless there is always a number that is a minimum you need to achieve to be positioned for victory. For multi-day events or multi-event circuits like the Barra Tour, there is a second number – the worst performance that will take you out of

On the other side of the ledger, a no-fish bag in event one and then a one-fish bag on the first night of the two-night third event told on them. When they were hot, they were hot, but their B-Game left them with far too much work to do.

In contrast, the strength of Craig and Karim was the ability to share the load and make sure they always managed a bag. In the first two events, Karim made the running on the scoreboard while in the last two Craig dominated. The ability to get five-fish bags every day ensured they never finished lower than fourth, even though they only managed the biggest bag on one night. (Check out Fig. 1

Craig wasn’t as productive, Dan and Ash failed to match Karim. In this case, their B-game let them down, conceding more than 20kg in the smaller impoundments.

SCIENCE-BASED ADVICE TO BARRATRAUMA AND JACKALL I might point out that neither team likely feels the need to be taking advice from a guy who would be happy to walk off the lake with any fish in the boat.

That said, there are lessons for those that might find themselves in a similar situation. It’s important to remember that this is one event in isolation and from a sports science point of view, ignoring history is a big no-no when providing

advice. That said, where is the fun in saying nothing?

Given there is no history to examine, let us proceed with hypothetical advice, assuming similar results in the recent past. In this case, we have two teams with very different problems.

One team has that X-Factor brilliance while the other is just short of the top.

BARRATRAUMA have X-Factor in spades. They managed to boat more kilograms of fish than FISHTEC/EJTODD and JACKALL combined. In a series like the Barra Tour, there is only one night you can afford to have a bad night on, which is the first night on Lake Proserpine.

A big second evening may recover placings, as BARRATRAUMA managed on their second evening going from near last to fifth.

All the other events are sudden death. It seems tragic that they were done on night one. Of the two, they are the trickiest to advise.

There is a risk of damaging the things that make them unique in the search for consistency. Second, on the performances, it’s not as simple as addressing a specific weakness.

My advice would be to focus on form.

With all practice, it’s important to simulate event conditions. Stop fishing upon completing a five-fish bag, and stay on the water past time to finish off a five-fish bag. Additionally, to spice that up, the team can set specific bag weight targets for additional challenges, which will make good use of that ability to get numbers.

JACKALL have the much better problem to solve. In this case, their small impoundment game is not as potent as their big impoundment game. For JACKALL, the challenge is to find the time to spend on the Mackay impoundments, refining their tactics until they can turn a weakness into a strength.

If they can focus on practice in event conditions (same fishing times, same tides), improving bag sizes in the smaller impoundments, they can target a move into the top three for the first two events.

Assuming they maintain their high standards at Lake Proserpine, they have a real chance of becoming a force.

For all the guys back in the pack, the challenge is simple. Get to the point where the A-game is consistent enough that achieving a five-fish bag becomes second nature. It’s at that point they can start tweaking up their B-game.

Lots of practice in event conditions and paying attention to the results are the only way to go.

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2018 2018 2018 Local Time

SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – NEW SOUTH WALES SYDNEY – NEW SOUTH WALES SYDNEY(FORT (FORTDENISON) DENISON) – NEW SOUTH WALES LAT 33° 52’ LONG 151° 13’

LAT LONG 151° 13’ LAT33° 33°52’ 52’ LONG 13’ Waters Times and Heights of High 151° and Low Times and Heights of High and Low Times and Heights of High and LowWaters Waters MARCH FEBRUARY JANUARY MARCH JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH JANUARY FEBRUARY Time m Time Time m Time m Time m Time m

Local Time Local Time APRIL APRIL Time TimeAPRIL m

m m Time mm Time mm Time mm Time mm Time mm Time mm Time mm Time mm Time Time Time Time Time Time Time Time 0213 0.53 0214 0.51 0311 0.46 0212 0.40 0241 0.34 0141 0.34 0315 0.30 0213 0.34 0.53 0.51 0.46 0.40 0241 0.34 0141 0.34 0315 0.30 0213 0.34 0812 1.96 0213 0943 2.04 0311 0837 1.94 0214 0846 1.72 0832 1.69 0936 1.75 0819 1.68 0851 1.74 0212 0213 0.53 0214 0.51 0311 0.46 0212 0.40 0241 0.34 0141 0.34 0315 0.30 0213 0.34 0812 1.96 0943 2.04 0837 1.94 0846 1.72 0832 1.69 0936 1.75 0819 0851 1.74 1451 0.19 1618 0.11 1511 0.17 1525 0.39 1459 0.37 1605 0.34 1428 0.36 1502 0.33 0812 1.96 0943 2.04 0837 1.94 0846 1.72 0832 1.69 0936 1.75 0819 1.68 0851 1.74 TH TU FR MO TH FR SU MO 1.68 14512049 0.19 16182220 0.11 15112114 0.17 15252116 0.39 14592100 0.37 16052203 0.34 14282043 0.36 15022115 0.33 TU FR MO FR MO 1.33TH 1.50SU 1.44TH 1.79 1.73 1.48 1.54 1.58 0.19 0.11 0.17 0.39 0.37 0.34 0.36 0.33 TU 1525 TH 1511 FR 1459 MO 1451 TH 1618 FR 1605 SU 1502 MO 1428 2116 2100 2203 2043 2115 2049 2220 2114 2116 1.33 1.33 2100 1.50 1.50 2203 1.44 1.44 2043 1.79 1.79 2115 1.73 1.73 2049 1.48 1.48 2220 1.54 1.54 2114 1.58 1.58 0327 0.36 0348 0.44 0256 0.36 0233 0.32 0250 0.51 0304 0.30 0251 0.45 0407 0.30 0327 0.36 0.44 0.36 0233 0.32 0.51 0407 0.30 0304 0.30 0.45 0904 2.04 0250 0922 1.75 0926 1.94 0251 0909 1.72 1032 2.00 0348 0934 1.65 0256 1012 1.75 0903 1.65 0327 0.36 0348 0.44 0256 0.36 0233 0.32 0250 0.51 0304 0.30 0251 0.45 0407 0.30 0904 2.04 0922 1.75 1032 2.00 0926 1.94 0909 1.72 0934 1.65 1012 1.75 0903 1544 0.12 1559 0.37 1555 0.17 1531 0.34 1705 0.14 1538 0.40 1638 0.33 1505 0.38 0904 2.04 0922 1.75 0926 1.94 0909 1.72 1032 2.00 0934 1.65 1012 1.75 0903 1.65 MO SA TU 1.65 TU WE FR SA FR 15442144 0.12 15592152 0.37 17052310 0.14 15552200 0.17 15312135 0.34 15382155 0.40 16382239 0.33 15052124 0.38 SA TU TU WE SA 1.55 1.50 1.35FR 1.62 1.57MO 1.73 1.47FR 1.84 0.12 0.37 0.17 0.34 0.14 0.40 0.33 0.38 MO 1538 SA 1638 TU 1505 TU 1544 WE 1559 FR 1555 SA 1531 FR 1705 2310 2144 2152 2200 2135 2155 2239 2124 2310 1.55 1.55 2144 1.50 1.50 2152 1.35 1.35 2200 1.62 1.62 2135 1.57 1.57 2155 1.73 1.73 2239 1.47 1.47 2124 1.84 1.84 0427 0.44 0412 0.41 0344 0.34 0326 0.32 0327 0.50 0459 0.33 0354 0.29 0330 0.41 0412 0.41 0326 0.32 0.50 0.44 0354 0.29 0.41 0.34 0459 0.33 1047 1.72 1016 1.54 0344 0950 1.60 0956 2.07 0327 0958 1.76 1120 1.91 0427 1014 1.89 0330 0946 1.72 0412 0.41 0427 0.44 0344 0.34 0326 0.32 0327 0.50 0459 0.33 0354 0.29 0330 0.41 1016 1.54 0956 2.07 0958 1.76 1047 1.72 1014 1.89 0946 1.72 0950 1120 1.91 1712 0.34 1613 0.48 1545 0.42 1636 0.09 1633 0.35 1750 0.21 1636 0.21 1604 0.33 1016 1.54 1047 1.72 0950 1.60 0956 2.07 0958 1.76 1120 1.91 1014 1.89 0946 1.72 SU TU WE 1.60 WE TH SA SA SU 16132233 0.48 16362238 0.09 16332229 0.35 17122316 0.34 16362244 0.21 16042211 0.33 15452208 0.42 17502358 0.21 WE TH SU SU WE 1.50SA 1.70 1.86 1.50 1.36SA 1.54 1.64 1.62TU 0.48 0.34 0.42 0.09 0.35 0.21 0.21 0.33 TU 1613 SU 1712 WE 1545 WE 1636 TH 1633 SA 1750 SA 1636 SU 1604 2233 2238 2229 2316 2244 2211 2208 2358 2233 1.70 1.70 2316 1.50 1.50 2208 1.86 1.86 2238 1.50 1.50 2229 1.36 1.36 2358 1.54 1.54 2244 1.64 1.64 2211 1.62 1.62 0456 0.47 0419 0.34 0404 0.50 0508 0.45 0443 0.32 0411 0.39 0434 0.35 0550 0.39 0.45 0456 0.47 0.35 0419 0.34 0.50 0443 0.32 0.39 0550 0.39 1058 1.44 0434 1047 2.05 0404 1033 1.75 1126 1.67 1059 1.79 0411 1026 1.70 1041 1.53 1207 1.77 0508 0508 0.45 0456 0.47 0434 0.35 0419 0.34 0404 0.50 0443 0.32 0411 0.39 0550 0.39 1126 1.67 1058 1.44 1041 1047 2.05 1033 1.75 1059 1.79 1026 1.70 1207 1.77 1645 0.56 1728 0.12 1708 0.36 1746 0.36 1716 0.29 1638 0.34 1630 0.48 1833 0.30 1126 1.67 1058 1.44 1041 1.53 1047 2.05 1033 1.75 1059 1.79 1026 1.70 1207 1.77 WE TH FR MO SU MO TH 1.53 SU 17462357 0.36 16452311 0.56 16302255 0.48 17282331 0.12 17082305 0.36 17162327 0.29 16382249 0.34 1833 0.30 TH TH FR MO 1.65 1.48 1.36SU 1.51SU 1.63 1.66WE 1.85 0.36 0.56 0.48 0.12 0.36 0.29 0.34 MO 1746 WE 1645 TH 1630 TH 1728 FR 1708 SU 1716 MO 1638 SU 1833 0.30 MO 2311 2357 2255 2331 2305 2327 2249 2311 1.65 1.65 2357 1.51 1.51 2255 1.85 1.85 2331 1.48 1.48 2305 1.36 1.36 2327 1.63 1.63 2249 1.66 1.66 0542 0.54 0514 0.38 0444 0.51 0553 0.48 0531 0.38 0455 0.39 0530 0.39 0045 1.51 0542 0.54 0.48 0.39 0514 0.38 0.51 0531 0.38 0.39 0045 1.51 1139 1.97 0444 1109 1.72 1206 1.60 1143 1.66 0455 1107 1.64 1135 1.44 1140 1.34 0530 0643 0.48 0553 0542 0.54 0514 0.38 0444 0.51 0553 0.48 0531 0.38 0455 0.39 0530 0.39 0045 1.51 1206 1.60 1135 1139 1.97 1109 1.72 1143 1.66 1107 1.64 1140 1.34 0643 0.48 1818 0.18 1743 0.37 1824 0.40 1754 0.38 1715 0.37 1718 0.56 1720 0.65 1254 1.61 1139 1.97 1109 1.72 1206 1.60 1143 1.66 1107 1.64 1135 1.44 1.44 1140 1.34 0643 0.48 TH FR SA TU MO TU FR MO 1824 0.40 17182346 0.56 1818 0.18 17432345 0.37 1754 0.38 17152330 0.37 17202350 0.65 12541916 1.61 TU FR FR 1.37MO 1.69TH 1.80 0.41 1.59 0.37 0.37 0.56 0.65 1.61 TH 1720 FR 1818 0.18 SA SA 1743 TU 1824 0.40 MO MO 1754 0.38 TU TU 1715 FR 1718 MO 1254 2345 2330 2346 1916 2350 2345 1.37 1.37 2330 1.69 1.69 2346 1.80 1.80 1916 0.41 0.41 2350 1.59 1.59 0040 1.52 0631 0.60 0630 0.43 0025 1.46 0524 0.53 0009 1.60 0542 0.41 0134 1.48 0631 0.60 1.52 0.43 0025 1.46 0.53 0134 1.48 0009 1.60 0.41 0642 0.51 1226 1.26 0630 1235 1.37 0609 0.45 0524 1146 1.68 0619 0.46 0542 1151 1.57 0738 0.57 0040 0631 0.60 0040 1.52 0630 0.43 0025 1.46 0524 0.53 0134 1.48 0009 1.60 0542 0.41 1226 1.26 0642 0.51 1235 0609 0.45 1146 1.68 0738 0.57 0619 0.46 1151 1.57 1250 1.51 1800 0.72 1815 0.64 1230 1.84 1819 0.39 1225 1.52 1754 0.43 1341 1.45 1226 1.26 0642 0.51 1235 1.37 1.37 0609 0.45 1146 1.68 0738 0.57 0619 0.46 1151 1.57 WE FR SA SA SU TU WE TU 1800 0.72 12501905 1.51 1815 0.64 12301909 1.84 1819 0.39 13411959 1.45 12251830 1.52 1754 0.43 WE SA SU WE 0.45TU 0.27 0.48 0.50 1.51 1.84 1.45 1.52 FR 1800 0.72 SA WE 1250 SA 1815 0.64 SA 1230 SU 1819 0.39 TU TU 1341 TU 1225 WE 1754 0.43 FR 1905 1909 1830 1959 1905 0.45 0.45 1909 0.27 0.27 1830 0.48 0.48 1959 0.50 0.50 0120 1.44 0128 1.53 0052 1.56 0035 1.53 0045 1.75 0026 1.38 0015 1.69 0226 1.45 0128 1.53 0035 1.53 0120 1.44 0052 1.56 1.75 0026 1.38 0226 1.45 1.69 0838 0.64 0706 0.52 0738 0.55 0709 0.55 0015 0726 0.65 0045 0739 0.47 0608 0.56 0634 0.44 0120 1.44 0128 1.53 0052 1.56 0035 1.53 0045 1.75 0026 1.38 0226 1.45 0015 1.69 0838 0.64 0738 0.55 0726 0.65 0706 0.52 0709 0.55 0739 0608 0.56 0634 0.44 1431 1.31 1321 1.69 1342 1.41 1308 1.38 1320 1.21 1345 1.32 1226 1.61 1240 1.47 0838 0.64 0706 0.52 0738 0.55 0709 0.55 0726 0.65 0739 0.47 0.47 0608 0.56 0634 0.44 SU TH WE SA SU MO TH WE 14312045 1.31 13421952 1.41 13201851 1.21 13212000 1.69 13081907 1.38 13451921 1.32 12261858 1.61 12401837 1.47 TH SU SU MO TH 0.78 0.70 0.42WE 0.50SA 0.58 0.36 0.51WE 0.57 1.31 1.69 1.41 1.38 1.21 1.32 1.61 1.47 SU 1321 TH 1342 WE 1308 SA 1320 SU 1345 MO 1226 WE 1431 TH 1240 1851 1921 1858 2045 1837 1952 2000 1907 1851 0.78 0.78 1921 0.70 0.70 1858 0.42 0.42 2045 0.58 0.58 1837 0.50 0.50 2000 0.36 0.36 1952 0.51 0.51 1907 0.57 0.57 0215 1.42 0111 1.39 0136 1.51 0103 1.67 0320 1.43 0223 1.53 0130 1.48 0152 1.70 0215 1.42 1.39 0136 1.51 1.67 0320 1.43 1.53 0130 1.48 1.70 0806 0.60 0111 0658 0.60 0803 0.62 0103 0732 0.49 0945 0.69 0223 0845 0.58 0829 0.67 0152 0850 0.48 0215 1.42 0111 1.39 0136 1.51 0103 1.67 0320 1.43 0223 1.53 0130 1.48 0152 1.70 0806 0.60 0658 0.60 0803 0.62 0732 0.49 0945 0.69 0845 0.58 0829 0.67 0850 1415 1.53 1310 1.53 1356 1.27 1335 1.37 1531 1.21 1445 1.32 1428 1.18 1501 1.33 0806 0.60 0658 0.60 0803 0.62 0732 0.49 0945 0.69 0845 0.58 0829 0.67 0850 0.48 0.48 MO TU TH FR TH FR SU MO 14152049 1.53 13101941 1.53 13561948 1.27 13351928 1.37 15312136 1.21 14452050 1.32 14281958 1.18 15012038 1.33 MO TU FR FR MO 0.45 0.66 0.45TH 0.58SU 0.64 0.56TH 0.82 0.71 1.53 1.53 1.27 1.37 1.21 1.32 1.18 1.33 MO 1415 TU 1310 TH 1356 FR 1335 TH 1531 FR 1445 SU 1428 MO 1501 2049 1948 1941 1928 2136 2050 1958 2038 2049 0.45 0.45 1948 0.66 0.66 1941 0.45 0.45 1928 0.58 0.58 2136 0.64 0.64 2050 0.56 0.56 1958 0.82 0.82 2038 0.71 0.71 0201 1.41 0200 1.64 0313 1.42 0419 1.44 0327 1.55 0226 1.46 0235 1.45 0305 1.67 1.41 1.64 0419 1.44 1.55 0235 1.45 1.67 0313 1.42 0226 1.46 0754 0.63 0841 0.52 0913 0.66 0201 1057 0.69 0327 1002 0.57 0904 0.67 0200 0934 0.66 0305 0956 0.46 0201 1.41 0200 1.64 0313 1.42 0419 1.44 0327 1.55 0226 1.46 0235 1.45 0305 1.67 0754 0.63 0841 0.52 1057 0.69 1002 0.57 0934 0.66 0956 0913 0.66 0904 0.67 1400 1.45 1443 1.29 1513 1.39 1643 1.16 1602 1.26 1453 1.18 1542 1.21 1612 1.39 0754 0.63 0841 0.52 0913 0.66 1057 0.69 1002 0.57 0904 0.67 0934 0.66 0956 0.46 0.46 WE SA TU FR SA FR MO TU 14002029 1.45 14432030 1.29 16432235 1.16 16022200 1.26 15422114 1.21 16122154 1.39 15132140 1.39 14532040 1.18 WE SA SA TU TU 0.48FR 0.64MO 0.52 0.67 0.58FR 0.72 0.82 0.68 1.45 1.29 1.39 1.16 1.26 1.18 1.21 1.39 WE 1400 SA 1443 TU 1513 FR 1643 SA 1602 FR 1453 MO 1542 TU 1612 2029 2030 2235 2200 2114 2154 2140 2040 2029 0.48 0.48 2030 0.64 0.64 2140 0.52 0.52 2235 0.67 0.67 2200 0.58 0.58 2040 0.72 0.72 2114 0.82 0.82 2154 0.68 0.68 0519 1.46 0437 1.61 0345 1.46 0415 1.68 0411 1.43 0257 1.44 0324 1.43 0306 1.62 0411 1.43 0519 1.46 1.61 0324 1.43 0345 1.46 1.68 1.44 1.62 1205 0.65 0437 1122 0.51 1034 0.62 0415 1055 0.43 1023 0.68 0257 0900 0.64 1014 0.69 0306 0958 0.52 0519 1.46 0437 1.61 0345 1.46 0415 1.68 0411 1.43 0257 1.44 0324 1.43 0306 1.62 1023 0.68 1205 0.65 1122 0.51 1014 0.69 1034 0.62 1055 0900 0.64 0958 0.52 1752 1.17 1724 1.28 1645 1.27 1711 1.48 1615 1.29 1501 1.37 1604 1.15 1602 1.27 1205 0.65 1122 0.51 1034 0.62 1055 0.43 0.43 1023 0.68 0900 0.64 1014 0.69 0958 0.52 SA SU TU WE WE TH SA SU 16152230 1.29 17522334 1.17 17242312 1.28 16042146 1.15 16452222 1.27 17112301 1.48 15012124 1.37 16022146 1.27 WE SU WE TH SU 0.50SA 0.67TU 0.66 0.56SA 0.78 0.61 0.56 0.75 1.17 1.28 1.27 1.48 1.29 1.37 1.15 1.27 SA 1752 SU 1724 TU 1645 WE 1711 WE 1615 TH 1501 SA 1604 SU 1602 2124 2146 2230 2334 2312 2146 2222 2301 2124 0.50 0.50 2146 0.67 0.67 2334 0.66 0.66 2312 0.56 0.56 2222 0.78 0.78 2301 0.61 0.61 2230 0.56 0.56 2146 0.75 0.75 0615 1.51 0546 1.70 0445 1.50 0515 1.70 0508 1.47 0358 1.51 0430 1.43 0420 1.64 0508 1.47 0615 1.51 1.70 0430 1.43 0445 1.50 1.70 1.51 1.64 1300 0.59 0546 1232 0.41 1124 0.57 0515 1145 0.40 1133 0.67 0358 1016 0.61 1123 0.66 0420 1112 0.48 0508 1.47 0615 1.51 0546 1.70 0430 1.43 0445 1.50 0515 1.70 0358 1.51 0420 1.64 1133 0.67 1300 0.59 1232 0.41 1123 0.66 1124 0.57 1145 1016 0.61 1112 0.48 1851 1.21 1835 1.34 1735 1.35 1801 1.58 1720 1.23 1615 1.32 1721 1.17 1722 1.31 1133 0.67 1300 0.59 1232 0.41 1123 0.66 1124 0.57 1145 0.40 0.40 1016 0.61 1112 0.48 SU MO WE TH TH FR SU MO 17202320 1.23 1851 1.21 1835 1.34 17212257 1.17 17352319 1.35 1801 1.58 16152225 1.32 17222303 1.31 TH TH FR MO 0.70 0.58 0.50SU 0.75 0.63WE 1.23 1.17 1.35 1.32 1.31 TH 1720 SU 1851 1.21 MO MO 1835 1.34 SU SU 1721 WE 1735 TH 1801 1.58 FR 1615 MO 1722 2320 2257 2319 2225 2303 2320 0.58 0.58 2257 0.75 0.75 2319 0.70 0.70 2225 0.50 0.50 2303 0.63 0.63 0028 0.63 0018 0.49 0534 1.56 0001 0.53 0600 1.52 0501 1.60 0533 1.47 0531 1.69 0600 1.52 0501 1.60 0028 0.63 0018 0.49 0533 1.47 0531 1.69 0534 1.56 0.53 0702 1.57 0648 1.80 1205 0.51 0001 0609 1.70 1237 0.62 1133 0.53 1222 0.61 1217 0.41 0600 1.52 0028 0.63 0018 0.49 0533 1.47 0534 1.56 0001 0.53 0501 1.60 0531 1.69 1237 0.62 1133 0.53 0702 1.57 0648 1.80 1222 0.61 1217 0.41 1205 0.51 0609 1346 0.52 1331 0.30 1815 1.44 1230 0.38 1820 1.22 1731 1.32 1824 1.22 1827 1.40 1237 0.62 0702 1.57 0648 1.80 1222 0.61 1205 0.51 0609 1.70 1.70 1133 0.53 1217 0.41 MO TU TH FR FR SA MO TU 1820 1.22 17312329 1.32 13461938 0.52 13311933 0.30 1824 1.22 1827 1.40 1815 1.44 12301847 0.38 FR TU 1.26 1.43MO 1.67 0.47MO 0.52 0.30 0.38 1.32 FR 1820 1.22 SA MO 1346 TU 1331 MO 1824 1.22 TU TH 1815 1.44 FR FR 1230 SA 1731 TU 1827 1.40 TH 2329 1938 1933 1847 1938 1.26 1.26 1933 1.43 1.43 1847 1.67 1.67 2329 0.47 0.47 0114 0.59 0118 0.42 0006 0.62 0054 0.47 0009 0.58 0603 1.71 0000 0.70 0011 0.55 0009 0.58 0114 0.59 0.42 0000 0.70 0006 0.62 0.47 1.71 0.55 0745 1.63 0118 0745 1.89 0617 1.61 0054 0658 1.68 0647 1.57 0603 1244 0.42 0628 1.52 0011 0634 1.76 0009 0.58 0114 0.59 0118 0.42 0000 0.70 0006 0.62 0054 0.47 0603 1.71 0011 0.55 0647 1.57 0745 1.63 0745 1.89 0628 1.52 0617 1.61 0658 1244 0.42 0634 1.76 1425 0.45 1424 0.22 1243 0.45 1312 0.39 1329 0.56 1841 1.35 1311 0.54 1313 0.34 0647 1.57 0745 1.63 0745 1.89 0628 1.52 0617 1.61 0658 1.68 1.68 1244 0.42 0634 1.76 TU WE FR SA SA SU TU WE 13291913 0.56 14252018 0.45 14242026 0.22 13111912 0.54 12431852 0.45 13121930 0.39 1841 1.35 13131921 0.34 SA WE SA SU WE 1.32 1.51TU 1.53 1.74 1.24 1.29 1.50FR 0.56 0.45 0.22 0.54 0.45 0.39 0.34 SA 1329 TU 1425 WE 1424 TU 1311 FR 1243 SA 1312 SU 1841 1.35 TU WE 1313 1913 2018 2026 1912 1852 1930 1921 1913 1.24 1.24 2018 1.32 1.32 2026 1.51 1.51 1912 1.29 1.29 1852 1.53 1.53 1930 1.74 1.74 1921 1.50 1.50 0048 0.54 0053 0.56 0029 0.43 0155 0.54 0051 0.64 0111 0.47 0142 0.43 0155 0.54 0048 0.54 0.43 0053 0.56 0.43 0051 0.64 0.47 0658 1.65 0142 0730 1.63 0029 0702 1.83 0824 1.68 0715 1.59 0111 0729 1.81 0744 1.64 0155 0.54 0048 0.54 0142 0.43 0053 0.56 0029 0.43 0051 0.64 0111 0.47 0824 1.68 0658 1.65 0744 0730 1.63 0702 1.83 0715 1.59 0729 1.81 1317 0.40 1411 0.49 1345 0.29 1500 0.40 1351 0.48 1400 0.29 1349 0.41 0824 1.68 0658 1.65 0744 1.64 1.64 0730 1.63 0702 1.83 0715 1.59 0729 1.81 SA SU MO WE WE TH SU 15002054 0.40 13171928 0.40 13492009 0.41 14111958 0.49 13451943 0.29 13511951 0.48 14002009 0.29 SU SU MO WE TH 1.62 1.27 1.41WE 1.36 1.37 1.59SA 1.78 0.40 0.40 0.41 0.49 0.29 0.48 0.29 WE 1500 SA 1317 SU 1349 SU 1411 MO 1345 WE 1351 TH 1400 2054 1928 2009 1958 1943 1951 2009 2054 1.36 1.36 1928 1.62 1.62 2009 1.78 1.78 1958 1.27 1.27 1943 1.41 1.41 1951 1.37 1.37 2009 1.59 1.59 0134 0.55 0233 0.50 0134 0.57 0130 0.46 0127 0.38 0204 0.39 0227 0.41 0130 0.46 0134 0.55 0.38 0233 0.50 0134 0.57 0.39 0.41 0810 1.68 0127 0900 1.72 0755 1.65 0204 0738 1.68 0227 0758 1.94 0819 1.83 0827 1.58 0134 0.55 0127 0.38 0233 0.50 0134 0.57 0130 0.46 0204 0.39 0227 0.41 0738 1.68 0810 1.68 0758 1.94 0900 1.72 0755 1.65 0819 1.83 0827 1449 0.44 1533 0.36 1426 0.42 1351 0.37 1440 0.19 1445 0.27 1425 0.46 0810 1.68 0758 1.94 0900 1.72 0755 1.65 0738 1.68 0819 1.83 0827 1.58 1.58 MO TH TH SU TU FR MO 13512004 0.37 14492038 0.44 14402038 0.19 15332129 0.36 14262027 0.42 14452053 0.27 14252047 0.46 MO TU TH FR MO 1.30 1.40 1.44 1.71 1.47TH 1.66SU 1.80 0.44 0.19 0.36 0.42 0.37 0.27 0.46 MO 1449 TU 1440 TH 1533 TH 1426 SU 1351 FR 1445 MO 1425 2004 2038 2038 2129 2027 2053 2047 2038 1.30 1.30 2038 1.47 1.47 2129 1.40 1.40 2027 1.44 1.44 2004 1.71 1.71 2053 1.66 1.66 2047 1.80 1.80 0221 0.33 0254 0.35 0221 0.33 0254 0.35 0851 2.01 0906 1.80 0221 0.33 0254 0.35 0851 2.01 0906 1530 0.12 1525 0.28 0851 2.01 0906 1.80 1.80 WE SA 15302130 0.12 15252135 0.28 WE SA 1.52 1.71 0.12 0.28 WE 1530 SA 1525 2130 2135 2130 1.52 1.52 2135 1.71 1.71

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 Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2016, Bureau of Meteorology Copyright Commonwealth ofofAustralia 2016, of Meteorology Copyright Commonwealth Australia 2016,Bureau Bureau Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide of Meteorology Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide Datum of are Predictions is Lowesttime Astronomical Tideor daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect Times in local standard (UTC +10:00) Times are ininlocal standard time (UTC +10:00) orordaylight savings time when Times are local standard time (UTC +10:00) daylightFirst savings time(UTC (UTC+11:00) +11:00) wheninineffect effect New Moon Quarter Last Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon New First Last Moon Full NewMoon Moon FirstQuarter Quarter LastQuarter Quarter MoonPhase PhaseSymbols Symbols FullMoon Moon Tide predictions for Sydney (Fort Denison) have been formatted by the National Tidal Centre, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Copyright reserved. All material is supplied in good faith and is believed to be correct. It is supplied on the condition that no warranty is given in relation thereto, that no responsibility or liability for errors or omissions is, or will be, accepted and that the recipient will hold MHL and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Australia free from all such responsibility or liability and from all loss or damage incurred as a consequence of any error or omission. Predictions should not be used for navigational purposes. Use of these tide predictions will be deemed to include acceptance of the above conditions.

94

JANUARY 2018

boats & kayaks

In the skipper’s seat 97 Yak fishing pointers Inside story...

In 1998, Formosa Marine Pty Ltd became a registered business in aluminium pressed boats. Since then, Formosa Marine has earnt a reputation through word of mouth as some of Australia’s best-designed and versatile range of aluminium boats.

Made for...

Formosa Marine brands are designed with versatility and practicality in mind.

Each boat has the same engineering specifications, so you can be assured that Formosa Marine’s famous strength qualities, spacious layout and freeboard is in each hull regardless of the size or model.

This month...

Wayne Kampe climbs aboard the Formosa 550 Tomahawk Offshore with Suzuki 140hp on the back.

Starlo outlines a few basic things you’ll need to know when starting out fishing from a kayak!

98 Boat backing basics

For any boater, backing a trailer boat is an important skill, and Wayne Kampe provides a few tips.

100 Dam good Danjera

Toby Grundy takes a look at this great little dam, which is stocked with bass and rainbow trout.

104 Sea Craft Xtreme

Wayne Kampe has a run in this beautiful rig, powered by a 90hp E-Tec on Brisbane’s Moreton Bay.

106 Stacer Crossfire 509 with Mercury 115hp

Steve Morgan takes a ride in a pimped-out Crossfire called Hodor.

WHAT’S NEW BOATING NAVICO EXPANDS TRACK OFFERINGS

1

TROJAN BEARING KITS

4

Navico, parent company to leading marine electronics brands Lowrance, Simrad, and B&G, has expanded the range of reporting and connectivity options offered by its Track telemetry system, with the all-new Track HD. Historically Track has provided instant access to vessel location and status via a mobile app and online dashboard.

Now with Track HD, users can take remote control of lights, pumps, HVAC, or other systems. Track HD also enables cloud storage for key vessel documents, and TripReplay to capture and share details of previous trips.

With multiple connectivity options including WiFi and cellular, with satellite coming soon, consumers can choose the option that best meets their needs. These new plans are available now and existing customers can upgrade their subscriptions online.

To learn more about the Track telemetry system, please contact 1300 NAVICO or visit track.gofreemarine.com. www.navico.com

A common cause of bearing failure is foreign matter in the bearing, and Trojan Parallel Bearing Kits come with high-quality seals to limit the entry of unwanted particles. The precision ground matched cones and bearings provide excellent rolling resistance and minimal wear, giving you longer life in your bearings. They are the perfect addition to any trailer breakdown kit.

The first kit is the Parallel Standard Bearing and Seal Kit. It includes high-quality oil seals to keep dust and excess foreign matter at bay.

Perfect for use on caravans, camper trailers and work trailers, the bearings are rated to 1750kg per pair.

The second kit is the Parallel Marine Bearings and Seal Kit. It includes triple-lipped marine quality seals with a stainless steel wear plate, perfect for ocean dips. It’s ideal for boat trailers, off-road campers and where water resistance is necessary. For stockist enquiries visit the Trojan Parts website. www.trojanparts.com.au

NEW MERCURY INNOVATIONS

WHITTLEY ONLINE DEALERSHIP

2

Whittley Marine has launched their new online dealership feature on the Whittley Marine website. It gives potential buyers a unique in-dealership experience on their screen, to make the new boat buying experience as easy and un-confrontational as possible.

New information tools include a virtual tour (you’ll feel like you’re walking around the boat via clicking a mouse or pushing a finger to the screen); and Build A Boat (lets you choose factory options and see a MRRP price, to customize your package).

You can also live chat with Whittley Factory staff, apply for finance and see what the weekly payments would be; check which models are in stock at your local dealer, request a brochure, and access a detailed list of exactly what comes in the standard boat package for each model.

To take a virtual walk around the latest Whittley boats, just select a model on the website and click ‘Build A Boat’ to get started. www.whittleymarinegroup.com.au

GARMIN STRIKER PLUS

The Lowrance HOOK2 series of fishfinders/ chartplotters deliver superior ease of use and affordability. They feature Lowrance’s new Autotuning sonar, which corrects sonar settings for the clearest underwater view so you spend less time manually adjusting sonar settings. Most models also feature full navigational capability and pre-loaded, high-detail mapping.

New wide-angle Broadband Sounder and CHIRP sonar providing more sonar coverage than most other fishfinders. SideScan and DownScan Imaging complete the HOOK2 sonar arsenal on select models, delivering lifelike images of fishing-holding structure to the side and below.

There are three easy-to-install, value-priced sonar categories: 3-in-1 sonar with High CHIRP, SideScan and DownScan Imaging; 2-in-1 sonar with High CHIRP and DownScan Imaging; and proven Broadband Sounder.

There are 12”, 9”, 7”, 5” and 4” display sizes, and most models will also feature full navigational capability and pre-loaded C-Map cartography. HOOK2 fishfinder-only models – with the exception of the sonar-only HOOK2 4x Bullet – include a built-in GPS plotter (without charts).

Price: from $129-$2149 www.lowrance.com/en-au

3

Garmin’s new Striker Plus fishfinders are the perfect entry-level solution for anglers who want superior sonar plus the ability to create and store their own contour maps.

Like the first-gen Striker series, the Striker Plus offers built-in CHIRP traditional sonar and CHIRP ClearVü and SideVü scanning sonar technology. And thanks to the built-in Quickdraw Contours mapping software, it’s easy to create and store up to 2 million acres of maps with 1ft contours, which can be viewed in real-time.

The Plus series comes with a built-in high-sensitivity GPS receiver, and users can also take advantage of the free Garmin ActiveCaptain mobile app that connects compatible mobile devices with a Striker Plus unit.

The Plus series also adds 4.3” and 9” models to the existing line-up, all with bright, sunlight readable displays. With a rugged design, the Striker Plus series is compatible with a wide-range of optional Garmin scanning transducers.

Price: SRP $249-$899 96

JANUARY 2018

1

2

5

Mercury Marine has introduced an ultralightweight and reliable 15 and 20hp EFI FourStroke platform. Features include battery-free EFI for fast, reliable starting, instant throttle response and better overall performance.

The new 15 and 20hp EFI is designed with ease of maintenance in mind. Its clean, no-drip, no-spill oil drain system, fresh water flushing attachment, and water separating fuel filter makes this one of the most user-friendly outboards available.

At 45kg, this platform is also among the lightest engines of its class, improving acceleration, top speed and handling. On top of all that, it delivers exceptional fuel economy.

Mercury has also launched an innovative new Multi-Function Tiller Handle, which offers true ambidextrous operation. This new centremounted tiller is adjustable horizontally – up to 18° to either port or starboard. The throttle grip rotation is reversible to provide an intuitive boating experience, regardless of driving-hand preference. The tiller handle is also adjustable vertically, and there’s a tilt lock feature that locks the tiller angle at 73°. www.mercurymarine.com.au

LOWRANCE HOOK2 SERIES

PRODUCT GUIDE

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Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au

SCAN THE QR CODE!

Getting into kayak fishing NSW STH COAST

Steve Starling www.starlofishing.com

Kayak fishing is booming and more and more anglers are getting into it each year. Here are some tips if you’re considering that path yourself.

second half of that century, the designs and materials used in these lightweight boats developed rapidly.

Aluminium and then fiberglass replaced canvas and timber strips, before being largely superseded themselves by modern plastic polymers, carbon composites, Kevlar and

or more occupants inside the hull, with their upper bodies emerging through an opening that was often partially shrouded with a canvas or rubberized apron. In more recent decades, sit-on-top kayaks have become very popular, especially amongst anglers.

As their name implies,

Just because you’re in a kayak, it doesn’t mean you have to give up the good things! Many keen ‘yak fishers run very sophisticated electronics on their little boats. and whistles. As with most things, you tend to get what you pay for. However, it makes good sense to opt for a more budget-priced model when starting out, at least until you decide if the sport is truly for you.

Later, you can always sell your first fishing kayak second-hand and upgrade to a more expensive and sophisticated model.

(created by the Native Watercraft company).

Both propulsion systems have their advantages and disadvantages.

The flipper-style, stepmotion system is fast, efficient and able to operate in surprisingly shallow water, by virtue of the fact that more experienced operators can easily flatten out and ‘flutter’ the flippers

clear in water shallower than about 30-50cm and a paddle used to traverse this skinny water.

When deciding between the two rival pedal propulsion systems, evaluate the amount of shallow water work you’re likely to undertake, your preference for either circular (bicycle-style) pedalling or step-motion, and your desire

Kayak fishing tournaments are becoming increasingly popular. Here, competitors mill and chat before the beginning of a round.

The watercraft known as kayaks originated in Arctic regions where narrow, double-ended vessels made from animal hides stretched over whalebone or timber frames have been used as hunting platforms for well over 4000 years.

Recreational anglers took a little longer to realize the usefulness of kayaks, but these paddlepowered craft were certainly being employed as sport fishing tools by the early 20th century. Through the

various other space-age materials.

Dedicated fishing kayaks came a little later. They were typically wider and more stable than traditional kayaks, and were often fitted with rod holders and other accessories. Today, the most advanced fishing ‘yaks are extremely sophisticated, and many users trick-up their boats with all manner of on-board electronics and other goodies.

Originally, kayaks were designed to seat one

the occupants sit on these vessels, which typically feature hulls with sealed, watertight chambers.

Sit-on-top ‘yaks offer a higher seating position, giving their occupants better vision into the water and a drier ride, at least in calm water.

You can pay as little as a couple hundred dollars for a basic, rotationally-moulded plastic kayak, and as much as several thousand for a top-of-the-line, pedal-drive model with all the bells

Owning a dedicated kayak trailer like this ripper from Redtide can make it much easier to transport and deploy multiple rigs.

The author battles a feisty little bass hooked from his Native Watercraft Propel kayak.

One of the greatest advances in fishing kayak technology has been a shift away from paddles as the primary means of propulsion. Sails, small outboard motors and electric engines have all been used to push kayaks, but it was the advent of pedal-powered flippers and propellers that really freed up anglers’ hands to fully engage in the fishing process.

There are two primary pedal-power systems in use today: a step-motion design driving penguinlike flippers (developed and made famous by the Hobie company), and a bicycle-style design driving a small propeller

close to the underside of the hull.

On the downside, until recently it was impossible to pedal in reverse and back up using the flipper system.

While this issue has now been addressed, switching from forward to reverse — or using a combination of forward and reverse thrust to hold position — isn’t quite as fast, intuitive or effective in flipper-driven craft as it is in propellerdriven ‘yaks.

On the other side of the ledger, the biggest drawback of existing propeller systems is their inability to function in very shallow water.

Typically, the propulsion leg and propeller must be lifted

for instantaneous reverse or spot-holding.

Finally, I’d stress that ‘yak fishing is potentially dangerous, especially in rough, fast or very cold water. Kayakers should be competent swimmers and wear a comfortable flotation vest at all times, even if local laws don’t demand it.

In addition, ensure that your kayak can be easily seen under all lighting conditions.

In some jurisdictions it’s mandatory to fit kayaks with a pole carrying a small flag, and to display lights after sunset or in heavy fog. Even where the law doesn’t mandate these steps, they make good sense.

Happy ‘yakking!

JANUARY 2018

97

Beat those trailer backing blues BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

Reversing a boat trailer is part of boat ownership, unless of course your craft is stored on a covered hard stand. In that case, you won’t be reading this article at all – probably having a look at the stock market reports or The Financial

but it’s not much chop in the rain. Besides that, depending on your height it can be downright dangerous when leaning, say, half out of a big 4x4. It looks dodgy too!

Being advised by another person walking beside the driver is all right but it can – should things go wrong – lead to less-than-polite comments (with friends giving advice) or a hissy fit leading to a major quarrel

cars (apart from mine) have reversing cameras. These are brilliant in a tow ball to trailer tow hitch connection but are a bit useless at the ramp when a camera full of boat bow leads nowhere at all. Use the mirrors for the best success.

USING THE MIRRORS Taking the scenario of boat to water as an example – the reversing method I’m about to outline will

the ramp. Done properly, the car and boat will certainly be going backwards in perfect alignment, no risk about it.

Once the car and boat are in good alignment on the ramp, it’s dead easy to keep them that way. Naturally, prior to any reversing practice it’s smart to ensure mirrors are equally adjusted so far as looking at the rear of the car is concerned.

The car and boat should be reversing back smoothly in perfect alignment, but what happens if the boat starts to move out to one side or the other? The trick is to make small – note that word, small – adjustments by moving the steering wheel in the direction the boat is heading at the same time keeping an eye on the trailer.

Watching in the mirror, you should see the boat straighten nicely with further rearward movement. It’s important not to overdo things. The beauty of the

The moment of truth – the ramp at Peter Faust Dam is a bit tricky because the sudden slope at the top makes it difficult to see the ramp in the mirrors. It’s also fairly narrow with large rocks on each side waiting to devour wayward tyres.

This method, using mirrors, is by far the easiest once you become accustomed to it. In fact, when moving down a particularly long ramp it’s a pretty neat trick to gently move the steering wheel from one side to another just to get a glimpse of the boat trailer

It’s less vital once you’re accustomed to the mirror reversing system and can judge how necessary it is to move the wheel to make a correction. For the new chum to the game, a good line makes for good easy reversing.

Practice this system where there is sufficient

When there is as much boat showing in the mirror as this some major adjustments will be required to straighten things up.

Times. If you’re like me and need to sometimes back the rig down a ramp – or what passes for a ramp at a particular locality – you might find this small article of some use.

Reversing boats down inclines that may or may not be entirely visible is not a skill humans are born with, yet some seem to master it easier than others. For the record, I have been reversing craft down ramps for over 45 years and have tried several different approaches to the problem with varying degrees of success, or otherwise.

Hanging half out of a car door to see how things are going is a reasonable method of lining things up

(spouse or partner advising) but it can still work.

Ultimately it all depends on the driver’s expertise as to whether the boat goes in on the first or second try.

It’s a classic case of practice making perfect and the more you do it, the easier it becomes to employ correct judgment.

To assist that judgement there are two items on every motor vehicle that can really assist when reversing: the side mirrors. These will assist whether reversing down a ramp with a boat in tow, or simply linking the car and trailer couplings to form one unit. Before I elaborate on using side mirrors, kindly allow me to diverge a little.

I understand that most

work on other situations, naturally – the clue is to rely on the side mirrors of the car and make carefully calculated adjustments as things proceed.

One tactic is to have a look at the ramp first and ascertain whether it is possible to line up the car and boat with the ramp well before starting the descent to the water. This first alignment is very important, so with both car and boat aligned perfectly straight there should be equal areas of boat trailer (mud guards are ideal to line up with) in view in each side mirror.

The idea is to keep these areas as equal as possible while reversing slowly down

There’s a very slight misalignment here with a small surplus of boat showing compared to the other mirror.

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Looking good – the car and boat are in excellent alignment here.

The boat is well placed for a straight run down the ramp. system is that these small corrections can take place on either side with equal ease. As I mentioned, don’t overcorrect; just make a small adjustment and observe the result.

as things progress.

The one thing that makes or breaks the method might be failing to line up the car and boat correctly with the ramp in the first instance.

room to reverse with the trailer on. It’s handy to work out just how little movement of the steering wheel will bring a large result. As mentioned, practice makes perfect.

With this amount of boat showing in each side mirror, things should go well on the way to the water. Note the narrowness of the Peter Faust ramp.

Mahindra

All New Tougher Next Generation Mahindra PikUp The Mahindra Group is excited to announce the launch of their All New Tougher Next Generation Mahindra PikUp. Mahindra’s next Generation PikUp, with its refreshed outer body styling, new six speed transmission, increased turbo diesel power, and stylish new interior is a tough no nonsense ute that is as rugged as ever.

The original Mahindra PikUp, launched in Australia in 2007 has been plying the roads and backcountry of Australia for ten years.

With thousands of Mahindra PikUps sold to Australian customers over the past 10 years, the PikUp has built a trusted and solid reputation as a reliable, rugged and value for money ute for the Australian market.

The All New Mahindra PikUp boasts significant enhancements in its drivetrain to 103KW of power/330Nm torque, and all-new 6-speed gearbox.

Its totally new attractive interiors will appeal to a much wider customer profile with the inclusion of ISOFIX child restraints with top tether standard on all Dual Cab models.

Mahindra products offer, proven reliability, function and premium value for money. The upgrade, with its aggressively-styled exteriors and plush interiors includes a complete overhaul of the Mahindra PikUp’s aesthetics, with specific emphasis on the front-end styling. The vehicle comes in two specification levels, S6, which provides function

genuine tow bar (currently rated to 2.5 tonne braked towing); aluminium trays, galvanised steel trays, colour coded steel trays; genuine winch compatible steel bull bars; genuine fiberglass snorkels; genuine carpet floor mats; genuine canvas seat covers; genuine suspension upgrade with bash plate and lift kit; genuine stainless steel nudge bar with bash plate; and, genuine vinyl floor kit.

PRICING, VARIANTS AND WARRANTY At launch, there were four variants of the new Mahindra PikUp: The Single Cab PikUp is available in 4x4 S6 Cab Chassis from and value and the S10, which offers an SUV-likespecification yet remains within the identity of the Mahindra PikUp’s rugged and reliable legacy.

EXTERIOR: A FRESH NEW LOOK The Mahindra PikUp’s clean, contemporary lines improve the look of the vehicle while maintaining a tough signature stance. The most compelling changes are to the front of the vehicle where the grille, headlights, bonnet and foglamps have all undergone a substantial redesign.

The new grille design is smarter, using a glossy black finish with subtle chrome accents (S10 Models), as well as a more prominent Mahindra badge, while the lower air intake has been reshaped to provide a stronger visual integration with the grille. Black mesh inserts are consistently applied to both the main grille and the lower

air intake, creating a more consistent appearance.

The headlights on either side of the grille are also completely new, with a cleaner, more resolute appearance and a new curved LED Daytime Running Light signature for the S10 Double Cab. Bolder fog lamps are mounted in restyled apertures that are linked to the lower edge of the headlights. The redesigned front-end styling is accompanied by static bending projection lamps.

INTERIOR: THE NEW AGE STYLE The spacious cabin of the Next Generation PikUp has undergone important upgrades as part of the model line-up. Perhaps the most obvious improvements are to the upholstery and the 6” full colour touch screen display on the S10 Double Cab models located in the centre console.

The Mahindra PikUp’s

cabin is also comprehensively equipped. As the flagship model of the range, the S10 Double Cab benefits from useful features such as remote central locking, cruise control, satellite navigation, reversing camera and a multifunction steering wheel.

The upgrade doesn’t end here. With smart features like auto wipers and intelligent headlamps the vehicle promises to take the customer experience to the next level of comfort and performance.

Fully Automatic Climate Control further enhances the comfort of occupants in the S10 variants.

SAFETY: REASSURING PEACE OF MIND Safety features like Hill Descent Control, ESC, ABS, EBD, Roll-over mitigation, Airbags, Crash protection crumple zones and a Collapsible steering column are standard across the range. Strengthening our commitment to safety and comfort, we have added head rests and 3-point lap sash seat belts for all seats along with two ISOFIX anchors in the rear seat with three top tether points for all Double Cab models.

DRIVETRAIN: POWER AND EFFICIENCY The Next Generation PikUp has an updated 2.2L 4-cylinder mHawk turbodiesel engine that makes use of a variable geometry turbocharger to produce 103kw. The impressive torque peak of 330Nm is reached at just 1,600rpm, and sustained

to 2,800rpm, ensuring excellent in-gear acceleration and great towing power.

The turbodiesel engine is linked to a six-speed manual gearbox driving the rear wheels, with 4×4 transmission with low range.

The entire range of the Next Generation Mahindra PikUp is fitted with an Eaton MLD (Mechanical Locking Differential) as standard.

GENUINE FACTORY ACCESSORIES Mahindra Automotive Australia prides itself on working with some of the best global accessory manufactures, many based right here in Australia. Our Genuine Factory Accessory Program, many of which are available from launch, includes but is not limited to:

$26,990 drive away; the Dual Cab PikUp is available in 4x4 S6 Cab Chassis from $29,490 drive away; the Dual Cab PikUp is available in 4x4 S6 with factory wellside tub from $29,990 Drive Away; and the Dual Cab PikUp S10 4×4 with factory well-side tub from $31,990 drive away.

From early 2018 the 4x2 S6 Cab Chassis will also be available from $21,990 drive away.

The pricing includes a 5-year/100,000km limited warranty with 5-year roadside assistance. They are available in four colours – Artic White, De-Sat Silver, Napoli Black and Red Rage. More information go to www.mahindra.com.au and www.facebook.com/ mahindraaus. – Mahindra

JANUARY 2018

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Anglers causing damage at Danjera Dam schools can be anywhere between 1-8m from the bank and therefore can be tricky to pinpoint without a sounder.

LOCATIONS Start by fishing the points near the dam wall. There are plenty of fish around these areas and lots of bait. These fish respond well to plastics

CANBERRA

Toby Grundy

Recently, rangers at Danjera Dam have raised concerns revolving around a small minority of visitors to the dam who have caused significant damage to the campground and to property owned by local farmers.

The behaviour of this small group has gotten so bad that the area is now being patrolled regularly by the NSW police. Sadly, the entry gates will be shut for long periods during January and the area may only be reopened to daytime recreational pursuits.

I visited the dam before the first closure in late November and found a really interesting bass fishery. It’s a shame that this place has been abused, as it is one of the most beautiful spots

A pretty little schooling fish from Danjera. launch a kayak around the camping area and the tracks leading to the water are in reasonable condition.

There is no phone

Cradle the smaller fish in a landing net and release them.

I have visited since I first started writing this column.

FACILITIES Danjera Dam is located just outside the town of Nowra on the NSW South Coast. Make sure you stock up on food and water and plenty of fishing tackle, as the campground has a few toilets and that’s about it.

There are plenty of places to

641 spin stick coupled with a Daiwa Certate 2000.

I lost one really big fish; otherwise it handled the 40cm specimens (standard size) well. I had the reel spooled with 6lb braid and 6lb line, but did switch to 8lb leader after the bust-off and did not lose another.

reception at the dam and I recommend wearing a life jacket.

SPECIES Danjera Dam is stocked with bass and rainbow trout.

I didn’t target the trout and focused entirely on bass and found some good-sized fish.

TECHNIQUES First cast of the morning, I caught a small bass. I was

using a plastic and with one quick twitch, the bass hit. After this first fish, I thought it was going to be a pretty easy day. However, it took a further three hours before I started catching fish of a good size and in good numbers. The larger fish responded far better to slower retrieves than quick flicks of the plastic. Almost dragging the lure across the bottom with the occasional pause brought the big hits. By far the best lure for this method was the Squidgy Wriggler 80mm in gary glitter paired with a 1/8 jighead.

I also caught a lot of fish on subsurface with the Jackall Micro Tappy accounting for big numbers of small fish. I positioned the yak parallel to the reedlined banks and ran my subsurface offering quickly back to my yak. I inserted the occasional pause and this triggered strikes. However, I only caught very small fish using subsurface.

THE KAYAK Danjera is a large dam, which covers an old mining town. It is suited to bigger

yaks, as there aren’t a lot of really tight bays but plenty of wide-open space. I used my Native Slayer 13 and it was perfect because it coped with the chop when the wind whipped up and it has reverse, which means I was able to move back out into open water when I hooked a good fish.

My mate brought along his Wilderness Attack 140

Soft plastics work well in Danjera. and small divers, but make sure you match the hatch.

If you are up for a decent paddle/pedal, you can head up the back of the dam and fish the large bays, which are lined with some good timber.

The fish sit away from this

CONCLUSION I am hopeful that Danjera will stay open during the day for fishos, as it is a beautiful spot and the bass fight really hard. It’s a really dynamic fishing environment that provides really exciting

Smart anglers will move off the school and release the fish away from their friends.

Getting ready for a day’s fishing.

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and this paddle yak also excelled, as it is large and stable. I think either pedal or paddle is fine, provided it has a bit of size to it.

THE SOUNDER A fellow fisher approached us before we set out and explained that he had only caught one fish that morning because he forgot his sounder.

A sounder is an important component in an angler’s arsenal and I think a musthave for Danjera. The dam is deep and there is plenty of structure below. Most of the bass don’t hang out in the traditional snags and would be hard to find without a decent sounder. Also, if you are after numbers, the smaller bass hang off the points chasing bait. These

structure in the middle of the bay, so position your kayak a fair way from the bank and allow your lure to sink to the bottom.

TACKLE I took my Daiwa Harrier

fishing. Fingers crossed that by the time this article comes out, a solution has been reached that allows for this magnificent waterway to remain an option for kayak anglers.

The author’s biggest Danjera fish to date.

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Formosa 550 Tomahawk Offshore with 140hp Suzuki

BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

It’s been a few years since I had the pleasure of reviewing one of Formosa’s Tomahawk craft, but as is always the case with renewing acquaintances with old friends, it was again an enjoyable experience. The Formosa’s eye catching good looks, courtesy of a decent lift in the forward sheer line plus a rakish swept back stern area leading to the engine pod with it’s boarding ladder and side rails, were still as attractive as ever.

Proud as punch on a

tandem Redco Sportsman trailer, the 550 Tomahawk Offshore was certainly a larger rig than I’d previously enjoyed. For a 550 it was a very big boat in every sense of the word! Which, of course, is great for offshore fishing, or any sort of fishing, for that matter. With boats, more for the money is the way to go.

To me, it’s pretty obvious that the new Formosa Tomahawk V2 hull has moved the Formosa line right up to the minute. A sharper 18° deadrise hull has been combined to outer reversed chines for enhanced overall ride and stability.

Increased floor rigidity sees an underfloor construction

that locks stringers and multi cells directly to bottom sheets. The 550 featured Marine 5083 high tensile 4mm alloy sides and bottom, although Formosa craft over 6.2m in length have 5mm bottom sheets as a bonus.

The O ff s h o r e Tomahawk’s self-draining decks range from 4.8-7.4m in size, so there’s certainly a wide range to chose from.

The diversity also extends to design, with side and centre consoles sharing kudos along with centre and half cab rigs, plus a runabout and bow rider to round off the Aussie made line up.

GENUINE OFFSHORE RIG The six-person 550

Main: Sitting easily at rest the Formosa 550 Tomahawk Offshore is a mighty handsome craft. Note the many features easily visible in this image, like the the sensibly-sized console, boarding gate in the transom and big bait station astern.

Above: With a bit of pace on it’s easy to see how freely the Tomahawk runs. Note the big bait station at the transom, a handy bit of kit.

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Tomahawk came equipped with numerous features to qualify it as a genuine offshore craft. Metre high sides linked to a beam of 2.45m ensured huge amounts of work room for five or six to fish in comfort. A 500mm high raised deck up front complimented the big cockpit aft, with both areas being carpeted for comfort and stability. Under floor storage bins up front were designed to cater for tackle, clothing, PFDs and safety gear, while a large plumbed fish box aft was for the day’s catch.

Seating was for five in the test rig, with three floor spigots aft, two more ahead of the console with its Suzuki digital multi-function gauge and switch panel handy to the skipper. A Garmin echo map 955V sounder plotter was console flush mounted above the rig’s five-spoke sports wheel, and while a slightly larger sounder unit might also fit there, a big 16” job would require a RAM bracket to set it up.

I found the standard console, as fitted, was obviously designed to maximise the fishing area, yet was large enough to fulfil its role as a central helming station. Note that an upgrade to a larger console is on Formosa’ option lists.

Aft within the cockpit area side pockets offered storage of items around a metre in length, the pockets being broken into paired segments. This did surprise me, as most craft of this size offer full length side storage compartments in work areas.

I did note that Formosa advertise customisation of their craft and extra long

fishing rod lockers are on the list of options, so no doubt a potential owner wanting larger side pockets could discuss the matter prior to construction.

That small matter aside, there was no complaint about the usefulness of the transom area, with its large bait station, cutting boards, rod holders and a live bait

from wave action around the Jumpinpin Bar area were hardly felt and the hull exhibited a refreshing lack of noise upon wave impact.

Formosa have certainly ticked some boxes, with the design and set up of their new V2 hull, which certainly provides a lot of sea keeping and ride confidence for an owner wanting to use the craft

SPECIFICATIONS Length.........................................................5.7m Beam.........................................................2.45m Hull weight............................................... 760kg Deadrise.....................................................18.5° Engines.......................................... 115 to 150hp Engine fitted..................................... 140 Suzuki Fuel capacity.............................................. 150L Persons............................................................6 Towing.......................4x4 or large family wagon well. At a sensible height for easy use, the bait station was equipped with a hinged lid, a neat and quite user-friendly arrangement.

140 SUZUKI DID THE JOB Engines for the solidlybuilt Tomahawk were rated from 115-150hp, and with a 140 Suzuki on the pod, the rig ran very sweetly indeed.

Is more power necessary?

Only if four or more would be aboard most times.

The craft, two up, planed at 3000rpm at 18.4km/h, 4000rpm saw 36.2km/h on the Garmin 95sv, 5000rpm a speed of 49.6km/h and a quick burst to 6000rpm saw 67.3km/h.

Doubtlessly with the Suzuki 140 fully run in, 70km/h and beyond would be the hammer down pace.

Just like the last Tomahawk, I drove the ride was quite good. Bumps and thumps

for serious fishing pursuits.

OVERVIEW As an offshore fishing rig, the big Formosa 550 Tomahawk makes a lot of sense. About the only change I’d envisage would be to request one section side pockets. I liked the flexible seating layout, the huge amounts of internal freeboard, the vast work areas all around the craft, and last but not least, the great ride and easy handling of the rig mated to inherent stability.

As tested, the craft would come home for $61,950. A 115 Suzuki on the transom would see a base rig come home for around $51,920.

The reviewed Formosa was provided by Australian Marine Centre at Springwood. You can get in contact with them at (07) 3808 7333 or by emailing sales@amcboats.com.au.

You can also visit www. formosamarineboats.com.au.

Even at launch the Formosa 550 Tomahawk Offshore is an impressive sight.

Note the easy release Tow Catch on the winch post, this handy bit of kit provides instant (one person ) release of the boat with the skipper aboard.

A very useful bait station, complete with a livewell, was one of the user-friendly features of the Tomahawk.

The 550 Tomahawkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flexible seating set up means that more work room for anglers is as easy as moving a seat to a chosen area, or leaving it back at base for the day.

Centre consoles vary in size as much as the craft they are fitted to; the Tomahawkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s was obviously designed to optimize fishing room but still do the job.

Variable seating is just one of the really handy features about this craft.

Cockpit side pockets were wide, although of two-part construction.

An option allows for full length unobstructed pockets if required.

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A value package – the Sea Craft Xtreme 5.2 CC

BRISBANE

Wayne Kampe wkff@aapt.net.au

• Last month we ran the following boat test, however we got the name of the boat wrong. We’ve amended this error this month. Fishing Monthly wishes to apologise to any readers inconvinienced by this error.

Boat reviews are always dominated by weather.

Overly calm conditions can make a craft’s ride quality more difficult to assess. On the other hand, it certainly makes taking photos real easy and provides some interesting top performance figures from hull and motor.

In the Sea Craft Xtreme’s case we launched at Manly on Moreton Bay on a day of beguiling calmness, and that’s how things stayed. Ray Dial of R & M Marine (Hemmant) assisted with the launch and review and I doubt I’ve seen many craft leave their trailers – and be driven back on later – as easily as the 5.2 Sea Craft.

The trailer was a custom-made Sea Trail trailer featuring alloy C channel construction SPECIFICATIONS Length: 5.25m Beam: 2.25m Hull construction: 4mm plate alloy all round Weight hull: 655kg Engines: 90-150hp Engine fitted: 90hp Evinrude E-TEC Fuel: 95L Persons: six Towing: Family wagon or a 4x4 ute 104

JANUARY 2018

Main: On the move and doing it well; the Sea Craft’s hull design sees the craft planing very freely and kicking displaced water well away from the hull.

Above: With the its interesting design, the craft rides very freely up on top of the water, not through it, which is a bonus for performance and fuel consumption. which combined strength, a functional design and light weight quite superbly.

A no-nonsense sort of alloy rig, the Sea Craft had a rigid feel about it thanks to 4mm plate all around. I noted that although welds were not smoothed, they were continuous and of a fairly high standard. The wide non-skid decks looked good to sit on in quiet conditions and with check plate on the self draining floor and raised forward deck, the fishing team would enjoy sure footing on the water with the owner having an easy wash-out back home. I love hose-out style boats.

PLENTY OF FISHING FEATURES Full cockpit-length side pockets looked great for stowing long items and with a 60L in-floor kill tank/ storage compartment and a

shelf within the centre console a fair amount of equipment would find a home for a day on the water.

The rail and windscreenequipped centre console offered some breeze protection with a Raymarine Dragonfly 7 GPS/sounder and a compass.

Marine radio, gauges for the 90 E-Tec astern and switches were all handy, and the wheel was linked to hydraulic steering, which was easily reached from the fore/aft bolster seat set onto a big storage box. Bolster seats are great when travelling then easily reversed when watching a couple of baited rods and enjoying a snack.

I noted a 30L livewell aft and a transom-mounted bait station equipped with a cutting board, tackle drawer, four rod holders and side tool compartments as well. A folding rear seat is standard

but was removed for our water test with only the backrest in place. The full transom-height lockable boarding gate to port would be appreciated by an angler hauling in a big one or a swimmer returning to base.

There is a grab rail and ladder tucked into the transom for that latter purpose.

90 E-TEC AMPLE POWER Powered modestly by a 90hp Evinrude E-TEC – top power is rated as 150hp – the Sea Craft Xtreme 5.2 performed quite well. A 15” Viper prop kicked the solid 655kg hull onto the plane at a modest 3000rpm and 13.7km/h. It turned more revs into forward motion at the following rate: 4000rpm for 32.3km/h, 4500 for 38.2, 5000 for 45.2 and 5800 for 58.3.

Although it’s a small engine compared to the maximum 150hp, the 90 E-TEC still had plenty of power given the ease with which it kicked the rig (with two on board) quickly onto the plane and had ample power reserves throughout the rev range. Evinrude’s fuel

injected 2-strokes are like that, of course, and with that sort of get up and go even having four anglers aboard should present no problems.

In the prevailing conditions, fast runs and sharp turns were a breeze. The hull with it’s massive double reversed outer chines tracked like it was on rails and was then rock steady at rest, so it’s good for virtually all fishing pursuits.

Ride assessment was facilitated by some big Moreton Island-bound ferries leaving Manly and I guess the excited youngsters aboard might have wondered why an alloy boat with two grinning persons aboard came zooming in on their wash and jumped straight through it a couple of times. The Sea Craft handled that bit of sport quite well; there were no hard bangs or jarring, just a smooth impact with spray thrown well away.

SUMMING UP Stability’s assured, an excellent and well-controlled ride’s a bonus, and with 1.45m high sides the Sea Craft 5.2 Xtreme certainly had plenty of

freeboard.

The Chinese-made Sea Craft boats are somewhat new to our market and offer a range of craft extending from 5m right up to 7m in length. With everything from cuddy cabs to both centre and side consoles on the books there’s a pretty good choice on hand. Keen anglers and family boaters could enjoy them equally.

For a test run, contact Ausmarine, 128 Carrington St, Revesby, NSW 2212, phone (02) 9772 4857. They are happy to assist potential owners to open the throttle and experience the ride and handling of these Vee hulls.

The price as reviewed was $42, 990 (with high-end C channel trailer) – good value for money.

• Quoted performance figures have been supplied by the writer in good faith.

Performance of individual boat/motor/ trailer packages may differ due to variations in engine installations, propellers, hull configurations, options, hull loading and trailer specifications.

The Sea Craft Xtreme 5.2 CC is a handsome craft with great potential.

Top: That’s a 26° Vee there; those wide reversed outer chines gave the hull terrific stability.

Above: Among the angler-friendly features was a well-equipped aft bait station.

A sensibly-sized centre console makes a decent hub for controls and gauges and still allows plenty of workroom around it. Note those great non-skid decks as well.

The Sea Craft has room for up to four to fish in comfort. The checker plate floor is nice and grippy underfoot and easy to wash out back at base.

Some of the features that make the 5.2 Sea Craft Xtreme 5.2 an excellent fishing or family craft are easily seen here. Note the great freeboard, wide decks, well set-up bait station, console seating for two and neat boarding platform.

While it was a long way from maximum allowable power, the 90 Evinrude E-TEC did a very good job of powering the solid Sea Craft hull.

Top: Useful fishing features here are the long side pockets, great toe rail under the pockets and paired rod holders within decks.

Left and Right: Bolster seats are great in small craft. With their two-way backrest it’s just as easy to watch a baited rod astern as it is to study the sounder at the hotspot. Allocating storage duties to the shelf in the centre console makes sense.

Top: Easy launch and retrieve capability is a great feature of the custom C channel trailer that the Sea Craft Xtreme 5.2 is carried on.

Above: A deep Vee with a difference – those two larger outer reversed chines certainly provide ample stability to the Sea Craft’s hull both underway and at rest.

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Stacer Crossfire 509 with Mercury 115hp PRO XS - SC

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It doesn’t matter what angle you look at it from, this boat turns heads. On the water, at the ramp, at the servo when you’re getting a pie before the boat test. Everywhere.

With its front casting deck transformed and elongated with the drop-in platform centrepiece, the casting angler has access to the 24V MotorGuide and the Garmin 7407 with Front Vu – ample information for any lure angler.

Drop the anchor with the concealed Lone Star winch – which is cleverly concealed under the front

SPECIFICATIONS Length (with bowsprit) ����������������������������������� 5.11m Length (overall) ����������������������������������������������5.26m Beam ��������������������������������������������������������������2.22m Length (on trailer) ���������������������������������������������6.7m Capacity �������������������������������������������������� 5 persons Fuel ��������������������������������������������������������������������77L Max hp ��������������������������������������������������������������� 115 Hull weight ���������������������������������������������������� 460kg Bottom �������������������������������������������������������������4mm Sides ����������������������������������������������������������������3mm 106

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deck – and you can spin around the pedestal seats to lay out some baits for snapper.

The helm-mounted Garmin 7410SV has a full Panoptix transducer to give the angler a full, live view of what’s swimming around under the transom.

And Hodor is just as impressive after dark as it is in the daytime. While at the helm, you have full control of the lighting options, which include under-gunwale light strips and double transom LEDs to attract squid and baitfish while fishing at night.

In the transom itself, there’s a pair of locally fabricated, windowed live bait tanks which are a hallmark of a MMC customisation.

make this boat a pleasure to use. Personally, I loved the modular LED headlights that were mounted to the front of the console. It’s one of the simplest solutions to

DE FOR EX

Melbourne Marine Centre loves pimping up Stacer hulls. We tested one a while back when Andrew Stephen and the guys optioned up a Nomad to within an inch of its life. It was a build that focused on practicality, with plenty of exposed checkerplate amongst the creature comforts.

This build, however (a Stacer Crossfire 509), adds a little more luxury to the options. Its owner – affectionately nicknamed Hodor thanks to his likeness to the Game of Thrones’ burly doorman – decided that it was the time in his life to treat himself to the best Stacer that money could buy. And he pretty much got it spot on.

Guided by MMC’s Andrew Stephen, Hodor’s boat (which is also called Hodor) crams a mountain of options and technology into the Stacer Crossfire 5.09m bowrider configuration shell.

SPECIFICATIONS

Speed RPM (km/h) IDLE...............................4.3 1000..............................6.5 2000..............................11 3000..............................22 4000..............................41 5000..............................55 6000..............................67 6400..............................72

CO

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

Supplied on a drive-on/ drive-off Stacer I-beam trailer, the winch post is fitted with Telwater’s Catch and Release system to allow true, single person operation.

We’d expect nothing less from a rig with all of the options boxes ticked.

From a performance angle, Mercury’s Superlative 2.1L 4-stroke ProXS shoots Hodor up onto the plane in less than four seconds.

It’s propped to rev hard to 6400rpm while delivering a top speed on 72km/h.

The best economy was at 4000rpm, where it delivered a surprisingly generous

R

Steve Morgan

Q

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Economy (km/L) 1.5 2.5 1.9 2.1 2.6 2.0 1.6 1.6

All up, it’s rare that we get to test a customer’s boat that’s as well appointed as this Stacer/Mercury combo.

Thanks, Hodor, for letting us take a ride!

Slide off/drive on. It’s how trailers should be. Hodor is supplied with a Stacer I-beam model with all of the bells and whistles.

2.6km per litre of fuel burned, although it was hard to hold to that speed. This rig just likes to run fast!

It’s the little things that

an age-old problem. I’d be interested to see if there were any problems with reflection from this mounting position when used after dark.

For more information contact Disco Marine on (02) 6643 1199 or visit 160 North St, Grafton or go to www. discomarine.com.au.

Dual live bait tanks are an aftermarket accessory fitted by MMC. The bait board is colour matched and practical.

Left: Even the bung and spray nozzle are colour matched!

Right: Although a little limited in use with a carpeted floor, there’s a deck wash that lets you keep the bait board in mint condition.

Main: Gale force winds on Port Phillip Bay confined the testing to the National Watersports Centre on the upper Patterson River. Left: The Crossfire features a drop-in deck segment for the bow rider configuration. You can see the padding around the inside of the front gunwale that protects the back while bowriding. Right: The passenger seat can fit in several base mounts – next to the driver, for’ard in the cockpit or on the casting deck.

The name was inspired by the burly door-man in Game of Thrones.

Above: With the main bulk of batteries for the 24V MotorGuide amidships, Hodor is quick onto the plane, yet still keeps its bow up.

Below: There’s some waterproof storage in the front side of the console.

There was no other choice – of course Hodor had to be powered by the superlative Mercury 2.1L 115hp ProXS. It delivers a top-end speed of 72km/h.

Top: Telwater’s Catch and Release bracket makes launch and retrieve easy with one person. Above: For the amount of accessories, the console is quite clean. Flush-mounted screens always look great, whether they’re on a tinny or a 200 footer.

How’s the sneaky anchor winch under the casting deck? With automatic anchoring and electric motor options, Hodor is ready to catch anything on offer in Victoria’s freshwater or inshore waters.

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The game has changed… The ALL NEW Mercury 15-20hp FourStroke battery-free EFI range changes the way you will think about portable outboards.

Lighter, more powerful, more efficient, more durable, more intuitive… unlike any other portable fourstroke.

• 13% lighter than previous model • Best in class performance • Battery Free EFI for fast, reliable starting • New exclusive multi-functional tiller handle, adjustable for left or right handed operation

Visit mercurymarine.com.au or your local Mercury Marine Dealer.