Fishing News

The Australian Fishing Trade Association (AFTA) has welcomed the release of the ABARE National Social and Economic Survey of Recreational Fishers 2018-2021. After considering the report, AFTA President, Michael Starkey said: “This Survey is a critical tool in shaping the future direction of recreational fishing nationally and, as importantly, the recreational fishing industry whether at the retail, wholesale, manufacturer or …

White Spot has been detected at a prawn facility in northern NSW and confirmed by NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) tests. NSW DPI has stood up an emergency response Incident Management Team. The team is working to determine the source of the outbreak and to complete surveillance activities. On 16 February 2023, …

Fisheries Officers have apprehended two men from Cohuna, Victoria, for multiple offences involving the take of Yabbies from Colligen Creek, west of Deniliquin. The men were caught in possession of 796 yabbies, 396 above the combined possession limit for two people. The excess were seized and returned to the waters of the Colligen Creek alive. In addition, it is also …

Inshore/Offshore fishing The inshore reefs have been firing! Plenty of schoolie mackerel, tuna and grunter have been getting caught. The schoolie mackerel have been smashing Flasha spoons and whole pilchards. The tuna have been eating on very small slugs and soft plastic’s fast retrieved through bait schools. The grunter have been biting on 20g soft vibes and 5” soft plastic’s but …

Ever caught a tagged fish? It turns out the chances really are one in a million. Australia’s volunteer tagging database Infofish Australia recently became the first citizen science tagging program in the world to tag 1 million fish since its inception in 1986. To put that in perspective, it took 17,000 volunteer taggers a combined 198,600 days (that’s 544 years!) …

Repeat offender jailed for stealing fish on states South Coast. Fisheries Officers from the Batemans Bay District and the State-wide Operations and Investigations Group, Regional Mobile Squad, apprehended a repeat fisheries offender on May 9, 2022, in Ulladulla. The offender faced the courts this week and was sentenced to 18 months in jail with a non-parole period of 11 months …

Inshore/Offshore fishing Unfortunately with this tropical low or possible cyclone coming down the coast we have not had very favourable conditions for anglers to head out this week. Off the back of these tropical low’s we usually see a small window of good weather and this could possibly be Saturday or Sunday this weekend. Keep an eye on the weather forecast …

Inshore/Offshore fishing The inshore reefs have been fishing really well over the past week! The schoolie mackerel and grunter have been the biggest standouts. By far the most effective technique with catching schoolies has been fast retrieving 50g flasha spoons vertically off the bottom. If you’re more into bait fishing pilchards are a killer bait for them, slowly floating a …

This year, Platypus Fishing Lines – Australia’s longest running fishing tackle brand – celebrates its 125th year. From its humble beginnings in 1898, George Ross McPherson – a Scottish immigrant rope maker – began making fishing line from twisted linen to meet the demands of local anglers. In 1902, the first ‘factory’ – a corrugated iron shed at the back …

Fish for crabs responsibly this summer! Crab fishing is a popular activity, particularly during the warmer months in NSW. Sought after crab species such as Mud Crab and Blue Swimmer Crab can be effectively targeted using traps and nets and make for a fun time on the water and provide exceptional eating when back on land. Here are some useful …