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THERE is something a little weird about the anglers who chase big green fish in the freezer, but it’s an addictive time as the big fish come out to play. My first introduction to cold cod fishing was way, way back in about 1995. Let’s just say it was so long ago I can’t remember the exact year. We planned …

The NSW Department of Primary Industries want your fish skeletons! The DPI needs fish frames from recreational fishers to help with the monitoring of mulloway, yellowtail, kingfish, snapper, dusky flathead, tailor, black bream, spanish or spotted mackerel. skeletons It doesn’t just want huge trophy fish, the little ones are as important as the big ones. All legal length frames are …

Recreational fishers and local tourism on the far north coast of NSW will be the big winners with an offshore artificial reef to be deployed off the Tweed Heads coast. Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair said the new offshore artificial reef is great news for Tweed Heads and will be a major drawcard for local fishers and visitors to …

Queensland Boating and Fishing Patrol officers at Mooloolaba were disappointed to see 12 during their patrol at Golden Beach, Caloundra recently. The plants form part of The TS Onslow Shoreline Management Project, a small community project that aims to re-establish a natural shoreline vegetation buffer to manage erosion and promote fish habitat. As part of the project, Bunya Bunya Country …

The Queensland Government says its new safety exclusion zone around shark control equipment has proven a successful deterrent since its introduction last year. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said heavy fines for people interfering with shark control gear were introduced, and he was pleased Queenslanders had listened to the important safety messages. “There are tens of …

Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers have hauled a raft of illegal crab pots from Far North Queensland waterways in their latest clean-up operation. Member for Cook Cynthia Lui said 70 unmarked pots were pulled from Dickson Inlet, Mowbray River and Mossman River over two days. “Crabbing is one of Queensland’s most popular forms of fishing and the problem of …

I’M FINALLY back in the kayak, back on the dams, back into fishing and with five tips for targeting deep-schooled bass. Sounder Most of the southeast Queensland impoundments I fish are massive. With copious arms and bays to explore, my number one piece of equipment is a good quality fishfinder. This will assist with reading the bottom of the impoundments, …

THE latest stock assessment of common coral trout (plectromous leopardus) has estimated the spawning biomass of the population to be 59 percent. Biomass estimates are used to determine the status of the stock of coral trout and also the level of fishing required to enable stocks to reach the Sustainable Fisheries Strategy target of 60 percent unfished spawning biomass. The …

IN a boost for both recreational fishing and the environment, new UNSW research shows that artificial reef domes can increase fish abundance in estuaries with little natural reef. Researchers installed six manmade reefs per estuary studied and found overall fish abundance increased up to 20 times in each reef across a two-year period. The study, published in the Journal of …

FOLLOWING on from earlier in the year, I had spent about three weeks camped in northern Australia at Pennefather River on Cape York. My mates started packing up but I was planning on staying another week in beautiful northern Australia. Then I heard my mate Darren say to the other boys they were going to slowly free camp their way …