By Mark Gercovich I remember around 15 years ago when one of the children in my class showed me a photo of two kingfish his dad had caught. Now his dad just happened to work on a pro-boat, but still the kings in the picture were two corkers probably somewhere between 12-15kg. What made it even more impressive to me at the time was that the fish had been caught locally, here in cold, old Victoria. I’d always thought that one had to travel interstate to catch such impressive and exciting fish! At the time I would have found it hard to believe that I would end up spending a good majority of my su ..read more

Blade style lures are becoming a popular lure choice for anglers targeting a variety of piscatorial species these days. Cliff Mann has had resounding success on these lures while targeting local barramundi in northern Queensland. He shares some of his hard earned lessons. The ‘dry’ tropics of Queensland offer spectacular sport fishing for a wide range of species. Flood plains and deltas meander through the landscape and are home to one of the most recognised sport fish in Australia – the barramundi. As a species, the barramundi receives prodigious media attention and from the extraordinary dam ..read more

Wild populations of one of Victoria’s most prized recreational species have been given a lift thanks to the fourth year of dusky flathead stocking in East Gippsland. Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) Chief Executive Officer Travis Dowling said the fourth year of stocking would bolster numbers of the much-loved fish, found throughout Gippsland’s estuaries. “We began our dusky flathead stocking program as a result of the Gippsland Lakes Recreational Fishery Plan in 2021 and it was identified as being a big part of returning the lakes to their former glory as a recreational fishing mecca,” he s ..read more

Trevor Hawkins ponders a typical trout season and reflects on the wonderful fishing that can be had for late season trout in lakes and streams. When it comes to trout fishing I seem to be constantly wishing my years away. It didn’t seem that long ago that I was sitting at my desk, flicking through my diary and counting how many days there were till the trout opening and planning all the waters I was going to hit and how many fish I’d catch. That’s been and gone now and the early fishing was good in some areas and great in others. I hit the rivers hard, as I always do before the Christmas holid ..read more

Hardbody lures are effective on a range of species but perhaps none more so than marauding pelagics. Jarrod Day discusses optimal spreads and fine-tuning processes that can maximise your results when trolling for speedsters. Big bull dollies favour skirted lures but often take smaller size hard body lures. In this case, treble hooks are recommended. There is no doubting that trolling lures for large pelagic species is a popular affair for many anglers and while hardbody lures are successful in catching a fish’s attention, different species exhibit different attacking methods towards them. As ..read more

The Big Trout at Adaminaby is to be repainted after the Snowy Mountains community scorned its December 2023 50th anniversary makeover with wrong colours. The council received $318,000 in a state government grant and employed the company International Conservation Services to complete the job last December. Unfortunately the new colour scheme, as shown above, was nothing like a rainbow trout. The 10-metre-tall Big Trout was constructed by Hungarian artist Andrew Lomnici in 1973, with concept designs by local businessman Leigh Stewart. Mr Lomnici’s daughter Helen Miller said she was grateful whe ..read more

From Steve Samuels, Monaro Acclimatisation Society In August last year I received advice from NSW Fisheries that a number of our traditional trout stocking sites would no longer be allowed to be stocked due to a decision by the NSW Fisheries Threatened Species Unit. This was a real shock to the Monaro Acclimatisation Spciety, as we had no inkling that any such move was afoot. We were allowed to make the 2023 – 24 stockings but about eight weeks ago the Secretary, Rod Whiteway, and I had a meeting with the NSW Fisheries, Recreational Fishing Unit, where the extent of the stocking bans for 2024 ..read more

On Sunday 3 March, OzFish volunteers supported the efforts of Clean Up Australia Day by removing over 3 tonnes of rubbish from 16 waterways across the country, with 208 volunteers getting stuck in and demonstrating their commitment to healthy waterways. The fishers picked up hundreds of pieces of litter. Happily, there was a minimal amount of discarded fishing tackle reported. The most common items collected were food consumables, such as plastic packaging, aluminium cans, and glass bottles. Cassie Price, OzFish Director of Habitat Programs, says Clean Up Australia Day is an opportunity to add ..read more

On April 5-7 the NSWCFA Interclub Meet competition will be held in Wallerawang. This year the Sydney Fly Rodders Club is organizing the event. The registration fee is $50 per angler, this is a fund raiser for the important work of the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers. This is primarily done from the raffle prizes generously donated by sponsors and  affiliates. The Sydney Fly Rodders Club website has been modified to accommodate non-members and is running a page for registration for those wishing to attend. You can also support us by entering the raffle for some fantastic prizes. The obje ..read more

Mercury Marine is bringing incredible value to the summer waterscape with big savings on offer on selected four-stroke portable outboard models. Available from participating dealers until 26th April 2024, Mercury’s Unrivalled Performance, Unmatched Reliability Portable Sale offers discounts on 2.5, 3.5, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9.9, 15, 20, 25 and 30hp four-stroke outboard engines. Including both manual and electric start, and tiller and forward control models, savings range from $200 for the 2.5hp model up to a whopping $800 for the 30hp FourStroke outboard engines. “These outboards give boaters even more ..read more