We had just left the harbour, passed the channel markers and deployed the spread of 5 trolling lures. Each lure, made of lead and resin and a colourful skirt created an impressive bubble trail underwater and every few seconds would send up a huge spray of water as it broke the surface like an oversized GT popper. After only 10…
Category: Offshore
And then this happened … hooked up to a blue marlin
Game fishing is sometimes described as long periods of boredom punctuated by short moments of excitement or terror. While this quote originally referred to war, the idea of dragging lures around a vast blue ocean for hour after hour hoping to cross paths with the fish of a lifetime makes this an apt and often used analogy for game fishing.…
Leeky Jewfish
Sampan Sunday – that’s what they are calling it, the day that at least 30 meterys were landed at the mouth of the flooded Mary River in the NT. This Barra bonanza happened on the neap tides when the clearer waters allow barra to see lures. From then on Shady Camp became a frenzy of boat traffic on a scale…
Sand flathead basics
I’m not big on meat fishing. My fly fishing addiction means that most of the time, I’m more than happy to go fishless, as long as I’ve got the long wand in my hand. In Eden though, getting dinner is always part of a day out on the boat. After a number of years, me and dad have come to…
Red rock cod, ocean perch and leatherjacket – the neglected reefies
It’s common when we’re fishing inshore to get fixated on so called ‘desirable’ species; the sand/tiger flathead and snapper, and to a lesser extent, redfish (nannygai) and blue morwong. However, a number of the other species we wind up from the depths seem to be neglected by anglers, either because they are perceived as rubbish fish or are seen to…
Cleaning up on the NT bluewater scene
It’s been a long time between post for me, partly due to the dry season ‘cold snap’ where the barra shut down when the water gets below a chilly 26 degrees, and a hectic work schedule. Last weekend made up for my lack of fishing action though. I don’t know if it was the mega full moon, big tides or the remoteness of…
How to Target Monster Kingfish – Royalty of the reefs
There are some huge kingfish biting up and down the coast at the moment. In this (fairly) recent blog, Dan recounts one of his more memorable captures, and gives you the low down on how to apply the same technique to join in on the fun. As I lowered the fat and frisky Bonito through the water column I said…
A few weeks in Eden and a few fish… Holiday recap.
I spent a lot of time in Eden over the holidays. First for Christmas and then for my cousins wedding. It was a pretty perfect holiday, spent balancing family time, girlfriend time, friends time, drinking by the pool time and fishing time. Fishing on family holidays is always a bit of a balancing act, so a lot of my fishing…
Kingfish report plus a few lessons from the holidays
I was lucky enough to spend a recent weekend in Eden. We headed out on the boat on Saturday, with the forecast of an early light northerly turning around to a light, 10 knot sou-easter mid-morning. Almost perfect conditions for Eden, due to the lay of the land and sea. Anyway, on rounding south head we were greeted with a…
When is the best time to catch kingfish?
Another in the Q&A series of posts, where we will endeavour to post commonly asked questions and quick, straight to the point answers. Question: When is the best time to catch kingfish? Answer: Kingfish are easiest to catch when the ocean currents are quite warm, which is generally in late summer and throughout autumn. The best months are arguably February…
Royalty of the Reefs II – How to Target Monster Kingfish
There are some huge kingfish biting up and down the coast at the moment. In this (fairly) recent blog, Dan recounts one of his more memorable captures, and gives you the low down on how to apply the same technique to join in on the fun. As I lowered the fat and frisky Bonito through the water column I said…
Eden fishing and whale report, 21-23 October 2011
Over the weekend, Hamish and I descended on Eden, accompanied by a bunch of Hamish’s lovely Mexican mates. After driving down from Bermagui on Saturday morning, I was keen to hit the water, and was impressed to see the boat hooked up and ready to go when I arrived. After a quick catch-up and a few coffees, we were heading…