One of the things I enjoy most these days is prepping for a trip somewhere new. Unlike fishing locally, going on a destination trip means stepping into the unknown and stepping out of your comfort zone. Many hours are spent pouring over google maps scouting out potential fishing spots. More hours spent reading every bit of information the internet…
Tag: australia
Carp herpes virus: risks and rewards
The fishing media is currently awash with articles about ‘carpageddon‘ and wild claims from all sides. In this post, we want to answer a few of the questions that have been raised about the release of the virus and the potential habitat and ecosystems benefits that may occur, but also some of the risks of the release. What is it? …
Carp in Australia- past, present and future
I was recently interviewed about my carp fishing habits by some researchers at the University of Wollongong. It was an interesting interview and forced me to think a little harder about my relationship to carp. To put it bluntly, the relationship I have with carp is a little quixotic. On the one hand, I think they are one of the…
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…
Hitting the ‘bong
It’s the dry season. The tidal rivers have shut down due to low water temps and the blue water is subject to the relentless south easterlies that blow hard enough to wash mud crabs up the beach. The billabongs are one of the only options left and luckily we have plenty to choose from. Hitting the ‘bongs is a seasonal…
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…
Niko Tinbergen, supernormal stimuli and what we can learn as fishermen…
During the 1950s the dutch biologist Niko Tindbergen came up with the idea of supernormal stimuli. What his work showed was that male sticklebacks would preferentially attack a redder wooden stickleback model over real fish. That herring gull chicks would preferentially beg to a redder, more cartoon like beak over a realistic representation. That male butterflies would preferentially mate with…
“Vary it up”- musings on fishing dogmas
Inspired by this great gink and gasoline post, I decided to write a short little entry on fishing dogmas in general. Firstly fishing dogmas are usually dogmas for a reason, that is they generally work “most” of the time. They provide an easy to remember short hand of what to do in certain situations. Individually, as we become better anglers,…
An encounter with sawfish
As this one slid over my head I couldn’t help but think there is something especially intriguing about Sawfish. What is the go with the saw? Do they need it in case they encounter an underwater forest or was it a simply a hiccup in evolution that resulted in them having to carry around this cumbersome appendage? When you look…
Video – Daly River Runoff Metery
Video – Daly River Runoff Metery A runoff reunion is on the cards for the authors of this here blog. Last trip was an ideal adventure and the stories that came out of it are here. The fish turned it on, we had a good crew and the landscape produced an impressive backdrop for an extended time on the water.…
Swamp sessions
Living in the Kimberley for a short stint took me to some damn scenic fishing spots. I wasn’t expecting to add another one to the list when good mates Snav and Omar suggested we hit ‘the swamp’. Jumping in the back of Snav’s troopy I found a spot wedged between eskys and live bait tanks. We settled in for what…
Crocs! High fives and hisses
Its been a croc filled fortnight. Here’s a selection of pics, stories and science from my recent enounters with these modern dinosaurs. First to Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River in Kakadu where we discovered a new call sign, mullet were mauled and we made a quick exit when we were hissed at by a techno croc. The next encounter occurred on a section of the…