You’ve worked your butt off all day trying to reinforce that you are the fishermen that you say you are. You’ve worked ledges, snags and rock bars but so far the action just hasn’t happened. When it all feels like it has been lost and you pull into one final spot on the way home. …
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This month’s recipe is both simple and simply delicious, particularly when you use whiting fillets. Whiting are possibly the best tasting of all estuarine fish, and presented as boneless crumbed fillets they will find favour with the fussiest. The step by step instructions will benefit those new to filleting and cooking fish, and the recipe…
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Do you head out fishing with a clear plan? I know I used to. I would look at wind, wave direction and tides, choose my target species and devise a plan for my day on the water. The problem with such planning is that I wouldn’t allow much adaptation. As an example, if I plan…
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One of the biggest advantages hardbody lures have over soft plastics is the ability to suspend. Being able to wind a lure down to a desired depth and get it to sit right in the face of a fish is very hard to beat. Barra in particular are an absolute sucker for a suspended lure…
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Following the demand by UNESCO and the ICUN to the QLD Government to ban all net fishing north of Cooktown (Fish and Boat issue August 2023), Fisheries Minister, Mark Furner, announced that a new ‘working’ group has been created to ‘maximise’ fish tourism revue streams for Cape York communities. The11-member group is a non-statutory advisory…
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I only managed to get over to the Wildman a couple of times during the 2023 run-off, but it was well worth the effort. The Wildman has always been one of my favourite rivers to fish. There is a fair effort involved to get there early in the Wet season as it can only be…
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I’m not sure if you’d believe this or not, but working for a lure company has its perks! We like to use the phrase “someone’s gotta do it”, and this year “it” was a trip to Australia’s Northern Territory to do the filming and testing for the brand new Halco TBarra 80. Like proud parents…
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Bearing little, to no, resemblance to the 1975 movie, “Dog Day Afternoon”, which starred, amongst others, one of my most favoured actors, Al Pacino, this above title highlights a productive, and fun’ early morning fishing session on another of my favourites, the Queensland school mackerel; commonly referred to as, ”Doggie mackerel”, or just plain, “Doggies”.…
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So, the first three days of our Hinchinbrook trip were quite tough as we covered last month. I guess it comes with any new destination that it takes time to figure it all out. Honestly, we really do enjoy putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. Day four started pretty much the same as…
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Thai food is regarded as tasty by most people, trevally less so , although smaller specimens of white-fleshed trevors like tea-leaf, bigeye and GT are actually excellent table fish. This recipe combines the exotic flavours of the far east with a middle eastern staple. Koftas are traditionally made with minced lamb or goat moulded into…
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It’s a bit of a shame really, the holiday that we had counted down to for so long has been and gone. Did we have the time of our lives? You bet we did. Did we absolutely slay the fish? Well, not exactly. Just with fishing any new place it takes time to work things…
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Queensland fishers, both recreational and commercial, have just experienced the first of the management changes for the east coast Spanish mackerel. These initial changes were a northern spawning closure above the 22*S line of latitude, from the 22nd October 2022 to the 12th November 2022 followed by a further three week closure in the same…
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How long do we have? A very touchy question that can be answered in so many different ways. To most of us it would be somewhat rhetorical, as nobody really knows anyone’s timeline and when it’s suppose to finish. When fishing with friends and family every trip and every minute should be cherished as you…
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Go barra fishing they say, it’ll be easy they say, or so it seems. 5-6 years ago, my family and I spent a lot of time targeting barramundi and we were able to have regular success. This all changed when I took on a more demanding job, sold the smaller boat to upsize and began…
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If you have contemplated fishing deeper but haven’t yet had the opportunity, or just need a bit of a nudge to get out there and give this style of fishing a go, you will find this article particularly useful. As I have said in my previous deep drop fishing articles, this method of fishing is…
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There are many types of fishable structures in our creeks and estuaries. Whether its timber snags, drains, or undercut banks, my all-time favourite creek structure is rock. One of my favourite species when fishing around rocks is the mighty mangrove jack. Jacks love the pressure points and eddies that are found around rock structure and…
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I’m a bit of a traditionalist in many ways, and when it comes to my fishing, and at the risk of being left behind in the technology stakes, I still love using my eyes and ears to indicate what and where I should cast next. Picking a small gap up in a drain, or skipping…
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I’ve just returned from an epic sweet-water trekking mission and I just had to put pen to paper while it is fresh in my mind and whilst I am still on a high. It was one of the most rewarding and amazing trips I have ever had and unlikely one I will not forget any…
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Everyone has their own idea what a fishing knife should be, and it ranges from proper fillet, boning, hunting and butcher knives. There is no shortage of choice and over the decades I have formed my own idea what a fishing knife is all about, though for most people the choice is a simple filleting…
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First time writer and to be honest I’d have to say that up until tonight I cannot remember the last time I actually read through a full article in any magazine. If I had to guess I’d say it would have been as far back as in my early teens. Fast forward 20 years and…
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