Hi Everyone,
For those who attended the talk on soft plastics last night at the Panthers Leagues Club attached are diagrams of the two knots that we use when fishing with soft plastics.
Loop Knot
Albright Special
http://www.netknots.com/html/albright_special.html
The actual knot is showed you last night qwas the improved albright which made the 10 turns down the line, not back up the line as domenstarted in this link i have supplied, but apart from that everything else is the exact the same process. If you have any issues tying these knots just let me know.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Fillet & Release???
Recently the recreational fishing sector has come under intense scrutiny from a number of areas. While we often fight against irrational policy making, lack of funding, the commercial sector and other lobbyists, the number one opposition to our passionate pastime are the dreaded greenies. No surprises there!
Apart from critical issues such as locking us out of our valuable waterways, a recent arguement has raised a fair bit of public commentary. Is it ethical to catch & release fish purely for sport??? On face value the question seems almost illogical, yet on further inspection probably commands some further thought.
Firstly, most fishermen consider themselves to be envirnmentalists. We usually all have a love of the outdoors and do our best to keep it in prime condition. Most adhere to the stringent regulations palced on us and follow the generous bag limits imposed. There are also another band of keen anglers who purely catch fish for the sport. They release everything they catch to help protect our dwindling fish stocks for future generations of fishermen. This band of conservation-minded fishos are growing rapidly. This trend has gained momentum from the catch and release tournamnet scene flourishing across Australia.
The arguement by the 'others' is quite basic. It is cruel to catch fish purely for the sport. It is inhumane to subject fish to pain and stress purely for our enjoyment. It matters little if the philosophy of catch and release actually aides their overall outcome of increased fish biomass, simple fact is they dont want anyone fishing.
Their retort to this actually contradicts what they stand for. They would prefer we keep everything we catch, as it it more ethical to fish for consumption than sustainability. Now, what they would prefer is to abolish catch and release in favour of a more dignified approach...fillet and release!
Apart from critical issues such as locking us out of our valuable waterways, a recent arguement has raised a fair bit of public commentary. Is it ethical to catch & release fish purely for sport??? On face value the question seems almost illogical, yet on further inspection probably commands some further thought.
Firstly, most fishermen consider themselves to be envirnmentalists. We usually all have a love of the outdoors and do our best to keep it in prime condition. Most adhere to the stringent regulations palced on us and follow the generous bag limits imposed. There are also another band of keen anglers who purely catch fish for the sport. They release everything they catch to help protect our dwindling fish stocks for future generations of fishermen. This band of conservation-minded fishos are growing rapidly. This trend has gained momentum from the catch and release tournamnet scene flourishing across Australia.
The arguement by the 'others' is quite basic. It is cruel to catch fish purely for the sport. It is inhumane to subject fish to pain and stress purely for our enjoyment. It matters little if the philosophy of catch and release actually aides their overall outcome of increased fish biomass, simple fact is they dont want anyone fishing.
Their retort to this actually contradicts what they stand for. They would prefer we keep everything we catch, as it it more ethical to fish for consumption than sustainability. Now, what they would prefer is to abolish catch and release in favour of a more dignified approach...fillet and release!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Old school with new tricks
I have had the pleasure over the past 4 or 5 seasons to open the eyes of some very important people in my life to the allure of soft lures. These important people were the cornerstone to my whole outlook on fishing. They fuelled the fire in my infancy, taught me the basics, helped me develop the patience,and gave me the appreciation of comraderie and mateship, beyond what is known outside the sphere recreational fishing.
My dad and grandfather have taken to plastics like any angling challenge in their life. My dad now sports more specialist sp outfits than bait rigs, a hobie to fish out of for his adjacent lake and braid coming out of his ears. He has all the elements in place to be a gun lure fisho. And to be honest he already is. I think it really appeals to his meticuluos nature.
My pop on the other hand is something different all together. Where my father was open to new ideas, listened to the mistakes i made and heeded the good oil to fast track his learning, much like i did when i was in his shoes years before, my pop has really run his own show. We all gave him the basics, told him what gear to use and what lures to use and where but he rarely listens.
I'm not sure if it is part of old age, he is 80 years old now and probably can't be given advice by a snot-nosed thrity-something. He will conceed we are onto a good thing though, but not initially.
I remember our first session together on sp's. It was in Botany. We landed over 30 flatties and good variety of by-catch. I was so excited for him cause he caught his fair share of fish. I was beaming with excitement and all he could muster was "they work ok...but they only catch flathead, no good for anything else". He's is a hard man to please! What made matters worse was he snapped the tip off his new graphite stick i bought him to get into the whole concept. "bloody rods break to easy...not as good as my ugly stick".
From those humble beginings has spawed a love affair for using platics now. He still will never admit it but i know he's keen when he rings me on a wednesday to tee up a session with me for the weekend. He knows i never use bait.
But the remarkle thing is he runs his own race. He used cheap old reels that wobble like a punch drunk boxer on his last legs. His rods are his trusty glass rods that weight more than my Navara. He will not conform. No matter how much i try and talk to him. But in essence this is what i love most. He defys the odds and still from time to time teaches me a lesson or two. It burns!
Last weekend at Botany he did it to me again. He pulled out his rods that barely have enough cotton on the bindings to hold on the guides, out came the DAM reels loaded with braid, probably thick enough to use as anchor rope, a jighead large enough to use off the continental shelf and he kicked butt. Go figure.
As a side note, the bay seems to be firing again. The winter chill has evaporated and the fish are ready to play ball. There a few kings getting around but they are timid. The flatties are VERY hungry and the tailor are a good class. The trevs seem to be a good size too with fish up to a kg roaming all over the bay.
My dad and grandfather have taken to plastics like any angling challenge in their life. My dad now sports more specialist sp outfits than bait rigs, a hobie to fish out of for his adjacent lake and braid coming out of his ears. He has all the elements in place to be a gun lure fisho. And to be honest he already is. I think it really appeals to his meticuluos nature.
My pop on the other hand is something different all together. Where my father was open to new ideas, listened to the mistakes i made and heeded the good oil to fast track his learning, much like i did when i was in his shoes years before, my pop has really run his own show. We all gave him the basics, told him what gear to use and what lures to use and where but he rarely listens.
I'm not sure if it is part of old age, he is 80 years old now and probably can't be given advice by a snot-nosed thrity-something. He will conceed we are onto a good thing though, but not initially.
I remember our first session together on sp's. It was in Botany. We landed over 30 flatties and good variety of by-catch. I was so excited for him cause he caught his fair share of fish. I was beaming with excitement and all he could muster was "they work ok...but they only catch flathead, no good for anything else". He's is a hard man to please! What made matters worse was he snapped the tip off his new graphite stick i bought him to get into the whole concept. "bloody rods break to easy...not as good as my ugly stick".
From those humble beginings has spawed a love affair for using platics now. He still will never admit it but i know he's keen when he rings me on a wednesday to tee up a session with me for the weekend. He knows i never use bait.
But the remarkle thing is he runs his own race. He used cheap old reels that wobble like a punch drunk boxer on his last legs. His rods are his trusty glass rods that weight more than my Navara. He will not conform. No matter how much i try and talk to him. But in essence this is what i love most. He defys the odds and still from time to time teaches me a lesson or two. It burns!
Last weekend at Botany he did it to me again. He pulled out his rods that barely have enough cotton on the bindings to hold on the guides, out came the DAM reels loaded with braid, probably thick enough to use as anchor rope, a jighead large enough to use off the continental shelf and he kicked butt. Go figure.
As a side note, the bay seems to be firing again. The winter chill has evaporated and the fish are ready to play ball. There a few kings getting around but they are timid. The flatties are VERY hungry and the tailor are a good class. The trevs seem to be a good size too with fish up to a kg roaming all over the bay.
Friday, September 4, 2009
South Alligator River
Hi Fisho's,
Just got back from a 3 day stint in the top end. Flew in to Darwin on a red-eye flight and arrived afetr midnight. 3am we pack the car and make the 2 hour drive into Kakadu and subsequently the boat ramp at the South Alligator.
On the weekend there were the year's smallest neaps; tidal variances were only 50mm at stages. The river was supposed to clean up and the fish able to bite freely. I have had a few trips north to trpoical locations that slightly disappointed when you consider the expectation placed on it by eager fisho's intent on catching more fish than at home. As most know though, fishing is rarely like that, fish bite when they bite, whether it's the untouched north or hard fished waters like sydeny harbour.
I had an idea of what i wanted to achieve over the few days i had. I knew we were going to troll for Barra, cast lures at bank-side structure and head offshore for some tastey reef fish. I also wanted to use plastics predominantly against the local techniques and see if my rubber lures could keep pace with the social and cultural norm.
We fished all the likely spots around Little Brook Ck and Mud Island and caught a swag of decent Barra to 82cms, a stack of hard-fighting goldies to 2.5kgs, grunters, queenies, threadfin, blue salmon, a small GT and a juvy balck jew. Not a bad mixed bag of tropical sportfish on the rubber stuff.
Offshore it was a bit tougher. Although the tide was placid I only manageed to hook a small queenie, spanish flag, moonfish, a nice GT that smoked me and a tenacious reef shark. The bait was catching the bulk of the fillets out in the blue.
I guess the key take-outs for the weekend were that our southern techniques using plastics certainly do work north of the border. I basically used bream and flatty retrieves on jerk minnow type lures all weekend and held my own against the hard body brigade. I even managed to convince the locals a spin rod is just as deadly as a baitcaster in the right hands. Mind you i was required to prove it too.
The crocs in the river were noticably absent except for when we stranded ourselves on a sand bank and forced to get out and pull it into deeper water. Suddenly 4 moderately sized crocs appeared out of nowhere for an inquisitive look. Sneaky buggers instinctively know when a cheap meal presents itself.
I can't wait to head back there, run off is my next target. Bring on the rain!
Just got back from a 3 day stint in the top end. Flew in to Darwin on a red-eye flight and arrived afetr midnight. 3am we pack the car and make the 2 hour drive into Kakadu and subsequently the boat ramp at the South Alligator.
On the weekend there were the year's smallest neaps; tidal variances were only 50mm at stages. The river was supposed to clean up and the fish able to bite freely. I have had a few trips north to trpoical locations that slightly disappointed when you consider the expectation placed on it by eager fisho's intent on catching more fish than at home. As most know though, fishing is rarely like that, fish bite when they bite, whether it's the untouched north or hard fished waters like sydeny harbour.
I had an idea of what i wanted to achieve over the few days i had. I knew we were going to troll for Barra, cast lures at bank-side structure and head offshore for some tastey reef fish. I also wanted to use plastics predominantly against the local techniques and see if my rubber lures could keep pace with the social and cultural norm.
We fished all the likely spots around Little Brook Ck and Mud Island and caught a swag of decent Barra to 82cms, a stack of hard-fighting goldies to 2.5kgs, grunters, queenies, threadfin, blue salmon, a small GT and a juvy balck jew. Not a bad mixed bag of tropical sportfish on the rubber stuff.
Offshore it was a bit tougher. Although the tide was placid I only manageed to hook a small queenie, spanish flag, moonfish, a nice GT that smoked me and a tenacious reef shark. The bait was catching the bulk of the fillets out in the blue.
I guess the key take-outs for the weekend were that our southern techniques using plastics certainly do work north of the border. I basically used bream and flatty retrieves on jerk minnow type lures all weekend and held my own against the hard body brigade. I even managed to convince the locals a spin rod is just as deadly as a baitcaster in the right hands. Mind you i was required to prove it too.
The crocs in the river were noticably absent except for when we stranded ourselves on a sand bank and forced to get out and pull it into deeper water. Suddenly 4 moderately sized crocs appeared out of nowhere for an inquisitive look. Sneaky buggers instinctively know when a cheap meal presents itself.
I can't wait to head back there, run off is my next target. Bring on the rain!
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Top End
Hi Folks,
The best part of being a fisho is the sense of adventure inherent in the sport. Invariably you get taken to breath-taking locations far away from the mundane reality that is our normal existence. I love the quiet streams and rivers with the only sounds of life are the sweet hummings of native birds and the rhythmic wistle of russtling leaves. It is a blessing some may take for granted. From time to time i often tilt my head back, gaze at the scenery and and take in a deep breath, tasting the environment through all of my senses. It unwinds the soul and invigorates the mind.
These locations might be local, some spots i fish in the Hawkesbury River have this effect, or it might be in some far-flung location. Booked holidays to exoctic destinations are planned sometimes years in advance. The lead up is usually a crescendo of excitement and nervous energy and BAM...the trip you have anxiously awaited for months on end has dissipated into a historical occurence. The week you have booked flies past with little regard for time. Then it's over!
I have been lucky this week to redefine the process. Instead of months of anxiety and patience,I have been blessed with an impromptu opportunity to the top end; the South Alligator River to be precise. My mate Sean called in Wednesday evening and suggested i should pack my bags and head north immediately. The tides have aligned and time is now. The opportunity too good to miss. Airfare tickets booked next day, pack my gear in a flurry of panic and today i fly. No time to contemplate, no time to assess and no time to lament.
Perhaps impromptu is better. If you look at the time pre trip we usually have, say 12 months and the duration of the trip, say 1 week, we have a disproportionately balanced cycle. 52 weeks to salivate and 1 week to devour. No wonder the time away flies past. Here we have 2 days to prepare and 3 days away. Perhaps the time will trickle in comparison. I hope so. It's times like these that we cherish, and adventures like this all too infrequent in modern times.
I will report of the fishing as soon as i'm back!
The best part of being a fisho is the sense of adventure inherent in the sport. Invariably you get taken to breath-taking locations far away from the mundane reality that is our normal existence. I love the quiet streams and rivers with the only sounds of life are the sweet hummings of native birds and the rhythmic wistle of russtling leaves. It is a blessing some may take for granted. From time to time i often tilt my head back, gaze at the scenery and and take in a deep breath, tasting the environment through all of my senses. It unwinds the soul and invigorates the mind.
These locations might be local, some spots i fish in the Hawkesbury River have this effect, or it might be in some far-flung location. Booked holidays to exoctic destinations are planned sometimes years in advance. The lead up is usually a crescendo of excitement and nervous energy and BAM...the trip you have anxiously awaited for months on end has dissipated into a historical occurence. The week you have booked flies past with little regard for time. Then it's over!
I have been lucky this week to redefine the process. Instead of months of anxiety and patience,I have been blessed with an impromptu opportunity to the top end; the South Alligator River to be precise. My mate Sean called in Wednesday evening and suggested i should pack my bags and head north immediately. The tides have aligned and time is now. The opportunity too good to miss. Airfare tickets booked next day, pack my gear in a flurry of panic and today i fly. No time to contemplate, no time to assess and no time to lament.
Perhaps impromptu is better. If you look at the time pre trip we usually have, say 12 months and the duration of the trip, say 1 week, we have a disproportionately balanced cycle. 52 weeks to salivate and 1 week to devour. No wonder the time away flies past. Here we have 2 days to prepare and 3 days away. Perhaps the time will trickle in comparison. I hope so. It's times like these that we cherish, and adventures like this all too infrequent in modern times.
I will report of the fishing as soon as i'm back!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Fishing World Magazine
Hi All,
As some of you may know i do a little bit of work for Fishing World magazine. I have only been with the company a few years now but in that time i have had the pleasure to meet some outstanding people, fishing with a few of them and befriend a lot more. It really has invigorated my fishing, given me something to look forward to and in the process made me a better fisherman.
The aspect like most is thinking of a possible story and spending time to perfect the species or technique or even the location in question. I seem to enjoy a deadline??? But the writing of the story isn't the hard part. It's getting a fish to co-operate in front of the lens. Any good fishing writer will tell you quality pics are the main game, not so much the fishing or writing.
Anyway, the last month saw Fishing World's 40th anniversary of the magazine, way back when fishing luminaries such as Vic McCrystal were pioneering the sportfishing movement in Oz. It's hard not to feel a sense of pride writing for this mag when you gaze upon the history.
An article was posted on the fishing world website listing in chronological order the writers the boys at the mag feel have done some outstanding work over the years. I was filled with pride to be the last man on that list; number 88 in fact. I could not believe i was on a list of names that outlines the heritage of the cream of fishing writers in this country. Some have passed on from writing, whist some still persue writing to this day. Names such as Rod harrison, John Mondora, Geoff Wilson, John Newbery and the eppervescent David Green just to name a few. I love gazing back on my old issues i pinched from my uncles. This was in a time when Greeny still had some boyish good looks!
It was a proud moment in my angling life. Who would have thought the wharf rat from sydney made it good. Check the link hereabouts for some nostalgic value.
Please support the magazine everyone. It's our patrons that keep the dream alive!
http://www.fishingworldmag.com.au/news/fisho-writer-roll-call-and-40th-tributes
As some of you may know i do a little bit of work for Fishing World magazine. I have only been with the company a few years now but in that time i have had the pleasure to meet some outstanding people, fishing with a few of them and befriend a lot more. It really has invigorated my fishing, given me something to look forward to and in the process made me a better fisherman.
The aspect like most is thinking of a possible story and spending time to perfect the species or technique or even the location in question. I seem to enjoy a deadline??? But the writing of the story isn't the hard part. It's getting a fish to co-operate in front of the lens. Any good fishing writer will tell you quality pics are the main game, not so much the fishing or writing.
Anyway, the last month saw Fishing World's 40th anniversary of the magazine, way back when fishing luminaries such as Vic McCrystal were pioneering the sportfishing movement in Oz. It's hard not to feel a sense of pride writing for this mag when you gaze upon the history.
An article was posted on the fishing world website listing in chronological order the writers the boys at the mag feel have done some outstanding work over the years. I was filled with pride to be the last man on that list; number 88 in fact. I could not believe i was on a list of names that outlines the heritage of the cream of fishing writers in this country. Some have passed on from writing, whist some still persue writing to this day. Names such as Rod harrison, John Mondora, Geoff Wilson, John Newbery and the eppervescent David Green just to name a few. I love gazing back on my old issues i pinched from my uncles. This was in a time when Greeny still had some boyish good looks!
It was a proud moment in my angling life. Who would have thought the wharf rat from sydney made it good. Check the link hereabouts for some nostalgic value.
Please support the magazine everyone. It's our patrons that keep the dream alive!
http://www.fishingworldmag.com.au/news/fisho-writer-roll-call-and-40th-tributes
Sunday, August 9, 2009
The Hex has been Lifted
Hi All,
If you read along to my blogs, you would know there has been a trend lately in my fishing that makes any environmentalist and fishing die-hard a happy camper. The influx of juvenile jewies plaguing our waters is still in full swing. What a great situation as well, our apex predators in our Sydney estuaries are breeding well and in abundance.
My general beef with this whole predicament is that my catch rates on jewies over 3kgs has almost disappeared. There are days were hooking 20 plus fish but all were infants muscling in on big brothers turf. Talking with a few old salts that have lived on the Hawkesbury River as long as adam was a boy, say if the small jewies are around, you can bet your bottom dolar the big ones aren't. Not too sure what the reason might be, but one can guess, based on the voracious attitude to feeding that little might be left for the bigger specimens to eat. One thing is for sure. If you catch a jewie, you can almost gaurantee subsequent fish caught will be of similer ilk. I rarely catch jewies in a short timeframe of drastically different sizes.
Obviously being a schooling fish this pattern makes legitimate sense; fish generally school with others of similar age and size. But what complicates this theory is jewies are known to be canabalistic. They will eat a juvenile jewie. So if a spate of juvenile fish are abundant, where are the big ones ready to eat them??? Who knows, they still may be there but are only dialed in on a particular food source. Therein lies much of the answer really.
The good news is i broke my winter hoodoo. I hooked a beautiful fish last weekend around the old fashioned 16 pound mark. I was flicking around 6" plastics all moring without interest. The moment i switched to a small squidgy wrigler hot tail in white body pink tail, smeared s-factor on it i cam up trumps. As they say, even elephants eat peanuts. While no monster jew, it was hooked on 4lb braid and 10lb leader on a 2-4kg stick and fought in close proximity to a jagged rocky shoreline. To make matters more interesting i hooked it on a Nitro jighead - Bream Series which are a light guage hook for finesse fishing. When the jewie was landed after a dogged 20 minute fight and placed in the environet, the half straightened hook simply fell out. My luck was in last saturday and that fish was meant to model for the camera. After behaving itself it was great to see it swim away. I hope this is the begining of a new trend.
Now the monkey is officially off my back!
If you read along to my blogs, you would know there has been a trend lately in my fishing that makes any environmentalist and fishing die-hard a happy camper. The influx of juvenile jewies plaguing our waters is still in full swing. What a great situation as well, our apex predators in our Sydney estuaries are breeding well and in abundance.
My general beef with this whole predicament is that my catch rates on jewies over 3kgs has almost disappeared. There are days were hooking 20 plus fish but all were infants muscling in on big brothers turf. Talking with a few old salts that have lived on the Hawkesbury River as long as adam was a boy, say if the small jewies are around, you can bet your bottom dolar the big ones aren't. Not too sure what the reason might be, but one can guess, based on the voracious attitude to feeding that little might be left for the bigger specimens to eat. One thing is for sure. If you catch a jewie, you can almost gaurantee subsequent fish caught will be of similer ilk. I rarely catch jewies in a short timeframe of drastically different sizes.
Obviously being a schooling fish this pattern makes legitimate sense; fish generally school with others of similar age and size. But what complicates this theory is jewies are known to be canabalistic. They will eat a juvenile jewie. So if a spate of juvenile fish are abundant, where are the big ones ready to eat them??? Who knows, they still may be there but are only dialed in on a particular food source. Therein lies much of the answer really.
The good news is i broke my winter hoodoo. I hooked a beautiful fish last weekend around the old fashioned 16 pound mark. I was flicking around 6" plastics all moring without interest. The moment i switched to a small squidgy wrigler hot tail in white body pink tail, smeared s-factor on it i cam up trumps. As they say, even elephants eat peanuts. While no monster jew, it was hooked on 4lb braid and 10lb leader on a 2-4kg stick and fought in close proximity to a jagged rocky shoreline. To make matters more interesting i hooked it on a Nitro jighead - Bream Series which are a light guage hook for finesse fishing. When the jewie was landed after a dogged 20 minute fight and placed in the environet, the half straightened hook simply fell out. My luck was in last saturday and that fish was meant to model for the camera. After behaving itself it was great to see it swim away. I hope this is the begining of a new trend.
Now the monkey is officially off my back!
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