One of the things I love about fishing with lures is the hunt. Trying to work out where the fish are going to be and why. Coastal lakes and rivers are big places and to cover them effectively with lures could take hours or even days. Throw in the variables of tides, cloud cover, recent rain, time of day and…
It’s good to be back!
Our last post was back in 2018, nearly four years ago to the day, and a lot has happened since then. The authors of this site now have 6 new humans to look after, much of Australia has been ravaged by fire and floods, and collectively we have faced an unprecedented pandemic in the form of Covid-19. Also this blog…
Tournament time – a litmus test for us anglers
The annual Tuross flathead and bream tournament is just around the corner. Never heard of it? That’s understandable. This tournament on the south cost of NSW is a relatively low-key event run by the local fishing club to increase visitation to the small town of Tuross during non-peak periods. There are a stack of rods, reels, lures, an electric motor…
Rethinking trout and Australian native fish
An ongoing topic of discussion in fishing circles, at least around the south-eastern Australian region, is the trout vs natives debate. It’s been raging for years — some might even say centuries — so we thought it about time to chip in and throw the proverbial two cents into the fray. Trout aficionados, with whom we often empathise via a…
Carp in Googong Dam
I’ve been fishing Googong a fair bit recently and enjoying good success on the yellowbelly. It has been a lot of fun, and with the lower water levels at the moment it has been possible to explore a bit more water than when the dam is full. I was recently fishing a shallow inlet and came across what I thought…
The value of birds as indicators when fishing
It’s something we read about time and time again: find the birds – find the fish. But what does it really mean, and what should we look for when we’re on the water? There are lots of different birds doing lots of different things, and it’s important to know which birds provide the cues we need in the multitude of…
Trolling up a storm – kayak trolling for estuary staples
Trolling is a really effective way to cover LOTS of water and catch fish. But when you’ve spent years casting lures or flies and constantly hunting and searching for fish as I have, trolling seems like a really passive way to go about our passion. Put the lures out, start moving and wait for the fish to climb on. Trolling…
Secret creek #2
I wrote a post a while ago about a secret creek. The creek I wrote about was secluded, unknown, wild. Or so I thought. I now know that some others have fished it, but it remains as much of a secret for them as it is for me, as far as I can tell. But it’s not really a true…
It’s the vibe of the thing – Bream on vibes
One of the most famous scenes from the classic Australian movie ‘the Castle’ is the courtroom scene. A small town lawyer tries to stop an aussie family’s house from being re-possessed by the nearby airport. He constructs his case around ‘the vibe of the thing’ and a tenuous link to Mabo (a famous native land title case for indigenous Australians).…
Big isn’t always best
A few months ago I was in the mountains doing nice things; things unrelated to fishing, like eating at nice cafes and restaurants, sleeping, reading, doing crosswords, looking in shops and so on. It was really lovely, and I also managed a few hours of fishing. When confronted with a limited window of opportunity the decision can be tough –…
A winter fishing wonderland
It’s winter. It’s cold. The trout streams are closed, the ski fields are open and there is nothing better to do that curl up in front of the fire with a nice glass of something warming and hibernate until the spring. Right? It’s only a couple of months to go … What if I told you the last few weeks…
Fanatik soft plastics: product review (plus a few photos from a recent high country mission)
One nice thing about having a fishing blog is that, from time to time, we are sent a bit of gear to review. We have always been completely honest about this, which I think is great in terms of maintaining a sense of independence and objectivity. It allows us to be really critical of certain things, while others may be…