Land-based

A cold westerly wind, chilly mornings and evenings and long rods lined up along the beach signal my favourite time of year. It’s peak beach-fishing time in Queensland off the open surf beaches from Tweed Heads to K’gari. For beginners to experienced anglers, tailor are a popular species for a multitude of reasons. Including that they are can be found …

Hi folks, this month I’m pleased to report on a recent trip to the Bli Bli Barra Fishing Park with my son and some friends. It had been a little while since I’d been to the park for one reason or another, including major surgery during the peak fishing season last year, so it was good to be back. On …

December is upon us, which normally means lots of hot weather. So far this spring, the temperature has stayed relatively low. This has kept the water temperature down, which can keep certain species quiet. Mangrove jack are one fish that thrive in a higher water temperature. Thankfully the lower-than-normal water temperature hasn’t stopped them from causing havoc among anglers. All …

K’gari is a magical place and I’ve been very fortunate to have had the pleasure of visiting it since I was a kid. I still have fond memories of my first trip to Lake McKenzie as a young boy with my family, swimming in the crystal-clear water and watching turtles play. This year, I headed back on my annual camping …

Log cabins and synthetic trees are part of a successful trial of fish-attracting structures in Queensland, which could be the boon freshwater fishers have been angling for. Recreational fishing is meant to be about the journey. You’re out in the elements, convening with nature and practising the kind of mindfulness people often pay good money for. But let’s be honest, …

Hello, it’s been a while since I submitted a story to this publication for the simple reason that I had nothing worth writing about. But that has changed now, as I’ve returned home from my annual trip up to Cape York with a friend. This year, 82-year-old Eddy Bloomfield joined me on my sortie around Weipa. We would have left …

Fishing along the Clarence Coast of northern NSW during September was fair to middling, with good numbers of jewfish being taken from inside the Clarence River along the breakwalls and around the headlands. Whiting started to show up inside the river and increase in both size and numbers, and this trend should only continue to improve as we head into …

Hi folks, I’m recently back from a 10-night trip to K’gari – previously called Fraser Island – and what a trip it was! In the 26 years of fishing the island, that was probably the best all-round fishing we’ve had on both the east and western sides of the island. This trip to K’gari was timed to coincide with a …

WITH every river along the east coast of Australia experiencing flooding recently, catches of flathead, bream and jewfish should dominate the fishing scene this month. Fishing beaches and breakwalls will be the best method for wetting a line. As clean water begins to push back upstream, the lower reaches will produce good catches. Large pelagic species such as mackerel and …

IF fishing teaches you anything, it’s patience. Patience is a virtue rarely seen in an adult and even more rarely observed in a 10-year-old. Recently, my youngest of three amazing boys achieved what many of us only dream about: his first metre-long barramundi. Having spent many years in the Townsville sport fishing and game fishing clubs, at a time when my …