In this post I wanted to ask the question (as much for myself as for anyone else): ‘to cod or not to cod?’ Part of this relates to my lack of success last season. It went something like this: Around 15 predominantly topwater sessions totalling roughly 24 hours of cod-targeting. Most of this was spent on my local stretch of…
Month: August 2015
A deeper look at “wild” places (and is stocking threatened native fish outside their range a good idea?)
By complete coincidence, me and Graz unknowingly both wrote drafts about a similar topic. You can read Graz’s piece about the “Natural trout stream paradox” here. This piece touches on similar topics, however its not about trout and takes a far broader brush to the issue (and is way longer- if you want punchy read Graz’s piece). Conservation strategies,…
The Natural Trout Stream Paradox
The paragraph below appeared in my email inbox recently, advertising a fishing film festival. “Gin-Clear Media’s Backcountry: South Island is the feature film of the festival. The South Island [of New Zealand] has vast tracts of some of the most intact, undisturbed natural areas left on our planet—these last truly wild places deliver beauty and isolation in spades but it…
Different lures catch fish with different “personalities”
A study has just been published in PLOS one looking at whether certain angling techniques catch fish with different behavioural traits, or more colloquially, “personalities”. The study angled 100 rock and largemouth bass using two separate techniques, actively fished flashy lipless crankbaits or passively fished artificial worm lures and then tested in the lab whether the fish caught using each…
When you cant match the hatch, throw them something juicy: the story of the dry bugger
The story of the dry bugger began on the opening day of last NSW trout season. Myself and Perrin had headed out to a stream to hopefully christen the season opener with a few trout. After a relatively fruitless morning, Perrin spotted a decent trout. He was gracious enough to give me first shot. I slowly and meticulously stalked to…
What does good recreational fisheries management look like?
What started out as me looking at fish stockings has slowly mutated into a series of posts rambling on about recreational fisheries and conservation. So, down the rabbit hole we go once again. This time looking at what “good” recreational fisheries management should look like? To start with, the management of all our fisheries, recreational or commercial or “mixed” should…
The Temptation of Tuross lake – the winter Mulloway day trip
Sitting in the office all week, I felt the itch. And it got worse and worse as the week went on. Sitting inside does something to me. Immersed in a world of computers and email, it makes me feel disconnected from the ‘real’ world – it makes me want to be outside! With an eagle eye on the wind forecast…
Fishers vs environmentalists: is it time we found common ground?
I haven’t been able to get out fishing much over the last month. So instead I find myself thinking and writing about fishing instead. One thing that I have been thinking about for a long time is the seeming antagonism and lack of cooperation between some recreational fishers and conservationists in Australia. I have to admit, it doesn’t make much…
Estuary fishing in winter – find one fish, find em all
Pick the right day and a fishing session on the NSW south coast in the middle of winter can be a beautiful thing. Pick the wrong day and you will wonder why you ever left the comfort of the leather recliner – you know the footy is on right? Fortunately the human brain, or perhaps just an overly-keen angler’s brain,…
Native fish stockings: successes, failures and the future
A little while ago I looked at the effectiveness of trout stockings. One of the things that the research makes clear in the case of trout, is that in many circumstances, stockings are not effective. In fact, under some conditions, they can actually be counterproductive. Rather than helping grow fish stocks, they can significantly hurt stocks, leading to fisheries that…