Lured by the Ultra-Trail Running festival I’ve spent a couple of recent weekends poking around the trails (and the waterways) of the blue mountains of NSW. Between leg-debilitating runs there has been some time to explore the local rivers and dams dotted around this amazing landscape. Thompsons Creek Dam – clear water and trophy trout If there is one thing…
Tag: lure fishing
A few days fishing on the Murrumbidgee
Graz and I recently spent a few days fishing the Murrumbidgee west of Narrandera. It was a great chance to catch up with Grazza, who has spent the last year on the sunny shores and tropical mountains of Hawaii. We arrived fairly late after a decent 3.5 hour drive from Canberra. We only had a few km of dirt roads…
Tuross Flathead and Bream Comp 2016
After the enjoyment of the 2015 Tuross Flathead and Bream comp, in which a few mates enjoyed considerable success, to say the anticipation around the 2016 competition was high would be an understatement. However, all the reports were that the fishing had been tough at Tuross, and they weren’t wrong. Graz and I were lucky enough to arrive on the…
The best fishing spots in and around Canberra
Canberra anglers are blessed with access to a variety of environments, target species and fishing opportunities. When assessing the best fishing spots around Canberra, the most important consideration is the species you want to target and the technique you want to employ. There are some spots in which you can target multiple species, but generally, the species you want to…
Blood, Boabs and Barra – A great day in the Kimberley
I could see my heartbeat reflected in each squirt of arterial blood that was gushing from my leg. At the time I pondered the fact that today wasn’t really supposed to be a fishing trip – more a cultural excursion – and then my thoughts went to the problem at hand. I had a treble buried through my shorts and…
Open season: Cotter River Report
October long weekend If you’re fair dinkum, the October long weekend is in your diary for the footy finals. And yes footy is great (a little less great when your team bowed out of the competition weeks ago). If you’re a fishing tragic and you live in NSW or ACT, the October long weekend means the opening of the trout…
‘Fishwalking’ – Keep moving to catch more fish!
If you are a regular follower of this blog you will know by now that we write about much more than “just fishing”. To us, fishing is a lifestyle, an escape from work, a chance to see this great country of ours (and others), and an excuse to turn off the main road for the slim chance of making a cast into…
The basics: rigging and fishing with soft plastics
As part of ‘the basics’ series of posts, I thought it would be important to go through the fundamentals of rigging and fishing with soft plastics. It’s been such a huge revolution in fishing over the past decade or two, but there are many people who still lack confidence to experiment with this versatile and effective style of fishing. The…
Wallaga Lake fishing report, June 2011
Over the weekend, Graham ‘Graz-dog’ Fifield and I went down to Wallaga Lake, accompanied by our much better looking lady friends. On Friday we hooked up the boat and went out to see if we could muster up a few fish. It was a stunning afternoon, with a warm sun and not a breath of a breeze. We went straight…
Fishing the Goodradigbee River – Autumn mission
On a recent autumn weekend I made the hour-long drive to the Goodradigbee River with good mate and keen angler Pat Sherley. After picking up some ales and rugging up with layers of clothing, we spent the picturesque drive through the mountains discussing how many big trout we were going to catch and what the best cooking techniques would be.…
Reflections on lure fishing, a philosophical guide for beginners
Lure fishing can be tough, especially when you are starting out. I remember my first forays into lure fishing as a kid, which were often hard work. It took many many years to finally be able to catch fish on lures consistently. What had got me hooked on it and what made me persist through all those learning years was…