MY old friend and lifetime fisho the late Ron ‘Demo’ Dempster loved Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and gifted a copy of this wonderful book to me, which I have treasured since. Its message is very clear – we’re only on this earth for a short while, so we must make the most of every day! Dave Donald It certainly doesn’t …

THE closure of state and regional borders virtually overnight is an uncertainty we’ve had to learn to live with over the past year, particularly when related to planning for fishing expeditions. 2020 saw the cancellation of a huge number of trips and dreams, many of which had been years in the planning. Cape good oil Now that overseas visits are …

THE older you get, the greater the realisation that there is more to fishing than merely catching fish. In fact, helping others embrace and enjoy the experience is definitely number one in terms of personal satisfaction. Mentoring rewards If there’s one thing my 30 years as a professional guide has taught me, it’s that unless you’re able to enjoy the …

WITH the Gulf of Carpentaria barramundi season closing on October 7, and the east coast due on November 1, it’s time to look at targeting other species. This closed season only applies to recreational fishers in Queensland waters. after barra It is perhaps ironic – and provides a huge promotional and economic boost – that our sister state the Northern …

TOM and I were motoring up a small side creek on the electric against a slow run-out tide. The waterway was barely a cast wide but had already produced a few feisty barramundi and a couple of bumps from big blue-lipped pikey bream. Overhead, the tops of the mangrove forest were buffeted by typical dry season trade wind but only …

I’VE now lived on Cape York for more than 30 years, so I reckon I just about qualify to be called a local! As somebody who has been up and down the main access track, officially known as the Peninsula Development Road, many times, it is often very amusing to read some of the questions posed by those who are …

I BET a host of Queenslanders don’t realise our state actually has a west coast – and it stretches along a coastline equivalent to the distance from the Gold Coast to the Whitsundays! That coastline has only three towns along its length – Karumba, Weipa and the five communities that make up the Northern Peninsula Area, as well as three …

IF there’s one species that holds a very special place in sportfishers’ hearts, it’s got to be lutjanus argentimaculatus, the mangrove jack. This handsome, brick red-coloured ball of muscle is the bully boy of the mangroves, an ambush expert powered by a broad tail, an operator so smart, it’s already heading back to its snaggy home by the time the …

I HAVE been saltwater fly fishing a bloody long time! The legendary Ron Pearson, regarded as the father of saltwater fly in this country, took me under his wing when I visited him in the Kimberley during a round Australia trip in 1973. He helped me to catch my first couple of fish on the long wand, then passed me …

WE’VE all had hooked fish taken by sharks! It’s part of the fishing equation – the ‘taxman’ in his grey suit getting his share. Sharks will always make up a significant proportion of a healthy marine environment. But lately we’ve seen numerous complaints of increasing numbers of sharks mauling hooked catches. Facebook and similar social media sites have been riddled …