Having been lucky enough to have been introduced into the fishing industry at a young age, I’ve been very fortunate to have been able to speak to thousands of people in most corners of the country. Of course those conversations almost always revolve around fishing, and to be more specific, lure and fly fishing. I’ve…
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I’ve just relocated from Cape York Peninsula after spending more than half my adult lifetime as a resident. It’s been a bittersweet occasion but I’m sure that my passion for the place will always stay with me. Once the Cape gets in your blood, it’s there forever! As many regular readers will be aware, the…
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It was an early morning run out along the shipping channel to the 3rd buoy. It was April 1986. I had been living and working across the Gulf Country, from the NT border, up into the western side of Cape York Peninsula to as far north as Kowanyama and the Mitchell River, for more than…
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Let me paint the picture on how this story starts. It all started with a post on Facebook from a mate Gavin, back in June – The main line being “Waiting for a mate”. It then went on to say that he had a spot available for the annual NT trip that the he does…
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Here in South East Queensland, we are blessed with an exciting mixture of both northern and southern species both in the estuaries and offshore. Inshore we have big mangrove jack, threadfin salmon, and even a solid population of barramundi these days, and on the offshore grounds we get a good run of pelagics moving down…
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The old saying rolling stones never gather moss is one that perfectly sums up the power of momentum. When you are on the water fishing regularly, it’s not hard to maintain and build momentum, especially if you are catching plenty of fish. Lose that momentum and all of a sudden the thought of wetting a…
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Those of you who have read any of my previous articles from this publication will know that I get to travel rather frequently for work and that those locations I travel to, just so happen to be beautiful, quite often remote and most importantly, fish rich. I’m not going to lie, this is an amazing…
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I started out by using the title to this article as, “Fishing – The Changing Order”, suggested by good fishing mate, Kim Martin. Kim’s suggestion followed a lengthy discussion with a group of younger (and not-so-young) fishos whose opinions I greatly admire, about the relationship between observation and experience versus technology, and the reliance on…
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Do you ever really lose skills once you have earned them? Have you ever heard the expression ‘it’s just like riding a bike?’ Well if you never learned to ride a bike when you were younger then this opening paragraph is going to be all sorts of confusing. Basically what I’m getting at is once…
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There are very few fishermen who haven’t been caught out by the ‘lure of a lure’. It’s not difficult to understand why, as all it takes is a trip to the local tackle store where there are walls and walls of lure bling over stimulating our fishing brains, creating impulse buying. It’s almost like each…
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It’s no secret to those who know us that casting hard bodies and soft plastics at snags and mangroves is our favourite thing to do. The ‘lightning fast’ nature of the snag dwelling jacks is what does it for us. Even when you can see them, their speed gets you by surprise as they often…
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We don’t catch a lot of flathead around my home port of Cairns, but they do turn up from time to time in cooler weather , usually taken as bycatch on lures meant for jacks or barra. I do a lot of whiting fishing over winter, and I always have a butterflied herring bait set…
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It’s one of those rare occasions when the weather decides to drop out for multiple days. Consecutive days of 5-10 knots gets the anticipation nerves jingling. You turn to the minister of fun and finance and she just gives you the nod because we all know that being trophy husbands is bloody hard work. There’s…
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The western river systems of inland Queensland and NSW have always held a vivid fascination for me; one that almost verges on the point of, romance. As a point of example: the downstairs lounge room of our house is dominated by a print of a painting by the landscape artist Rob Wellington. It is titled,…
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With an unexpected very wet August at first put a stop to any fishing plans until a mate of mine told me we’ve had enough run for some run off fun, and combined with a pupil free day followed by a weekend allowed me to get a few days in for some fishing targeting these…
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I guess most anglers have a species that they struggle to fully come to grips with and for me that would definitely have to be mangrove jack. Sure, I’ve caught quite a few of them over the years, including a couple of massive river fish over the magical half-metre mark. If I’m being totally honest…
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Can you remember the very first fish you ever caught? I bet many of you can. Despite the fact this is likely to have been many years ago, it is crazy how that pivotal moment remains etched in our memory banks decades later. Personally, I struggle to remember what bloody happened last week, but the…
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More Crocodile attacks Far north QLD is taken the same direction as the NT did in the 1980’s when regular crocodile attacks happened as their numbers increased because people were slow to recognise the real danger they pose. The problem is that so-called crocodile ‘experts’ tell all and sundry that crocodiles are endangered, that only…
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Friends, particularly long-term ones, are gems who become more precious as the years go by. In the case of fishing friends, there’s the extra connection that only a lifelong obsession with everything scaly can confer. And when you’ve passed the three score and ten mark, an age synonymouswith the attainmentof a high degree of intolerance…
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This is another take on Puttanesca, a pasta sauce traditionally used by Neapolitan streetworkers that uses ingredients that don’t require refrigeration; dried chillies, anchovies and capers etc. It’s a spicy, strong flavoured sauce, ideal for dark meat tunas like mackerel tuna, or the dark inner “barrel” from a light meat tuna that’s usually discarded or…
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