Issuu

SEE WHAT’S IN STORE AT THE SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW!

Features Winter cod secrets B umper Boat Show feature W inning lures at Lure Expo

• •

•

NEW FIND THE LOGO COMPETITION SEE INSIDE

Tried & Tested Wilson tackle storage solutions • Bar Crusher 615BR with Suzuki 150 • Revival 640 Offshore with Mercury 150 Whittley SL25HT with 200hp Volvo Penta •

•

Boating & Kayaking Preventing boat storage woes Paddling through foreign waters • Yakking in Sawtell •

•

July, 2019 Fishing Monthly G R O U P

Registered by Australian Post Publication No: 100003848

$6.95 (GST inc.)

issuu.com/fishingmonthly

fishingmonthly

Fishing Monthly Magazines

www wp.fishingmonthly.com.au FishingMonthly

LENS TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS

580G

LIGHTWAVEÂŽ GLASS Benefits of our most high-tech lenses: + 20% thinner and 22% lighter than average polarized glass + Encapsulated mirrors + 100% polarized to kill glare and reduce eye strain + 100% UV protected for maximum protection

580P POLYCARBONATE

Benefits of 580 plastic lenses with C-WALLÂŽ: + Lightweight and durable + Impact- and scratch-resistant + Outperform every other lens in the class + Available in mirrors + 100% polarized + 100% UV protected

costadelmar.com.au

SUZUKIMARINE.COM.AU

LOOKING FOR A TROPHY?

JOIN THE CLUB

GPSMAP® 8400XSV SERIES • BUILT-IN CHIRP SONAR + CLEARVÜ + SIDEVÜ 10”, 12” OR 16” TOUCHSCREEN FULLY

HD IPS DISPLAYS

AUTO GUIDANCE

ACTIVECAPTAIN® APP READY

NETWORK CAPABLE TECHNOLOGY WITH BUILT-IN WIFI® 1

$6.95

RRP (GST inc.)

July 2019, Vol. 24 No. 12

Contents

Business Office: Unit 1, 11 Knobel Court, Shailer Park, Qld, 4128 Phone: (07) 3387 0800 Fax: (07) 3387 0801 Website: www.wp.fishingmonthly.com.au Managing Editor: Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au Editorial Manager: Jacqui Thomas Sub-Editors: Nicole Penfold Bob Thornton Annie March Lucette Eggleton Publishers: Steve Morgan Matthew Drinkall

SINCE 1994

Advertising Sales: Ph: (07) 3387 0800 Rob Gaden rgaden@fishingmonthly.com.au Printing: APN – Print Production: Keith Hawley Karen Millward Distribution: Gordon & Gotch Pty Ltd Subscriptions: Kym Rowbotham Office Manager: Marie Dykstra

OUR OUR COVER COVER Murray cod tragic Jakko Davis with a hefty example of an impoundment fish that ate a single bladed spinnerbait with an XOS soft plastic trailer. A Jakko Davis image. TO SUBSCRIBE SEE PAGE 31 FIND THE DAIWA LOGO COMPETITION PAGE 21. New South Wales Fishing Monthly magazine goes on sale the first week of each month (latest sale date 7th of the month).

Published by:

Qld Fishing Monthly Pty Ltd ABN 72-010-542-195 IN

FISH

’

All material is © copyright, and cannot be reproduced in part or in full, by any means, without written permission of the Managing Editor. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

SUBSCRIPTION HOTLINE FREECALL 1800 228 244

Come and visit Fishing Monthly Group’s official Facebook page for all your monthly fishing information. Download QR Reader to access.

Annual Subscriptions: $65 for twelve issues (GST inc.) Make cheques payable to Queensland Fishing Monthly PO Box 3172 LOGANHOLME QLD 4129

Advertising: Ph: (07) 3387 0800 Fax: (07) 3387 0801 Copy and materials should be sent direct to: ads@fishingmonthly.com.au

ION

NEW SOUTH WALES FISHING MONTHLY

Buy your bait there. Tag them in your posts when you’re showing off your catch online. I don’t like the idea of a future without my local tackle store, and I bet that you don’t either. Keep that in mind next time you buy your lures from a dodgy Internet seller and shamefully drive past their door on the way to the river. Well, that might be going a little over the top, but you get what I mean. Does your internet supplier sponsor local kids fishing days, help the local school or help your local fishing club with prizes? I bet not. Look after your local tackle store and they’ll keep looking after you as long as they can stay in business.

pulse advice. Maybe Facebook reports from your mates are good enough nowadays? But remember, they only tell you what they’ve caught, not when they’re going next or what’s on the horizon. They don’t want you there catching ‘their’ fish. It’s the same premise for Fishing Monthly magazines, we like to tell you what’s coming up and to help you plan your trips and less about what happened a month ago. That’s why lots of our contributors work in these local tackle stores. Do you want your local, independent tackle stores to survive? Make sure that you involve them in your trips! Talk to them about what’s been happening and what’s expected to happen in the close future. Buy your tackle there.

it’s a stand-alone tackle store. Sometimes it’s a part of a servo, or camping store, or toy shop. I’ve seen nearly every combination in my travels around Australia. They’re usually staffed by locals who have an excellent idea about what’s happening in the area. Rewind 20 years and the first thing you’d do is drop into the local when you go fishing to get a head start for your time on the water. You’d buy your bait and terminal tackle there, too. I reckon that there’s fewer small, independent tackle stores around now than at any time in my lifetime and that’s sad. It’s sad for the owners who struggle to make ends meet, and it’s sad for the areas who now lack that local, finger-on-the-

Fishing Monthly publishes the businessto-business magazine Australian Fishing Tackle Retailer. It’s where the back end of the tackle industry discusses industry issues. Recently we printed an article inside it discussing the difficult retail environment and the reasons why small tackle stores can sometimes struggle. We had more feedback about that article than any we have published in that magazine. Ever. It struck a nerve with operators who have lost the joy of being in the industry due to eroding margins and digital disruption. We all have a local tackle store. Sometimes

JULY 2019

From the Editor’s Desk...

AUST

REGULAR FEATURES Back to Basics 26 Cooking 82 Dam Levels 66 Fun Page 14 Tech Tricks 58 Tides 71 Tournament News 72 Trade Directory 80 What’s New Fishing 48 What’s New Boating 86 Fly fishing 60 SPECIAL FEATURES Winning the winter cod game 8 Lure Expo winners 70 Sydney International Boat Show 83

BOATING AND KAYAK

PRO

BYRON COAST The Tweed 28 Ballina 30 Yamba 32 COFFS COAST Coffs Harbour 34 South West Rocks 36 MACQUARIE COAST The Hastings 38 Forster 40 Harrington-Taree 41 HUNTER COAST Port Stephens 44 Swansea 45 Erina 46 Hunter Coast 47 SYDNEY Sydney 12 Sydney North 17 The Hawkesbury 16 Sydney South 18 Pittwater 22 Botany Bay 20 Sydney Rock and Beach 24 ILLAWARRA COAST Illawarra 51 Nowra 53 BATEMANS COAST Batemans Bay 52 Merimbula 54 Narooma 55 EDEN COAST Bermagui 56 Mallacoota 56 Tathra 57 FRESHWATER Mildura 61 Albury-Wodonga 61 New England 62 Snowy Mountains 63 Canberra 64 Lithgow-Oberon 65 Wagga Wagga 66 Robinvale 67 Hunter Valley 68 Batlow 69

ING TRADE

The world-renowned Sydney International Boat Show is the Southern Hemisphereâ€™s largest recreational marine event devoted to all things boating

1 - 5 AU G U ST 2 01 9

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE SYDNEY AND COCKLE BAY MARINA , DARLING HARBOUR

SydneyBoatShow.com.au Brought to you by

Partner in Safety

Members of

Incorporating the

Cod Feature

Getting into the winter cod game HUNTER VALLEY

Jakko Davis

You have three casts and then dip your rod in the water again. It’s light, you can see but only a short

You can only get three casts in before your guides freeze over and the next cast becomes impossible. Cold is an understatement, but this is the struggle an angler must endure to compete in the winter cod game.

they’ll ask. But they don’t know the feeling of success when a metre goodoo slips into your oversize landing net, as you exhale another thick white fog of air and high five your buddy like you just won the lotto.

Mark Donnelly with a solid swimbait eater caught at midnight. distance as the thick fog blocks your sight. It’s 6:30am, your fingers are borderline frozen, and the thermometer reads -3°C.

Friends and family members who aren’t the committed angler you are will say you’re crazy or insane. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

Targeting big Murray cod in winter is not for the weekend warrior, it’s a game of commitment and proper preparation. It’s not

easy, but nothing you have to work hard for the reward is. This game is one I’ve come to love over the last few seasons, along with many other Murray cod enthusiasts. I’ve collected plenty of scars and learnt a lot, yet there is still more to learn. We are still in the early stages of understanding the full potential of this game, but from my book of experiences thus far, this is what I’ve learnt. PREPARATION Probably the most important aspect of fishing through the heart of winter in any waterway where conditions consistently drop well below zero is the need for proper preparation. The first time I fished Copeton, I’d seen nothing but monster cod flooding social media coming from its waters. I recruited a mate and basically promised him cod on tap. How wrong I was. It was mid May and with a bucket load of confidence we rocked up with a travel bag that consisted of a pair of flip flops, two pairs of footy shorts, a few T-bangers and a loan hoodie. It quickly became apparent that we were not set-up properly to fish in the conditions and after three days on the water we returned home with a solid case of the flu and a busted ego from not even getting a touch. The moral of the story is to be prepared. It’s going to be cold and the prime bite

A Copeton cod just before sunrise that ate a chatterbait from a shallow bay that was full of bait. with hand warmers are almost compulsory when it gets below zero, as there’s nothing worse than trying to wind a baitcaster when you can’t feel your fingers. Beanies and neck warmers must also go in along with the most important piece of them all, ugg boots. Do not leave home without a pair!

as long as you are able to locate bait then it’s a given that the predators won’t be far away. A good time to scout for bait is during the middle of the day or in periods that aren’t regularly considered ‘prime bite times’ for Murray cod. Bait will be congregated in deeper water under a high

Quality gear will help you win the important battles.

Winter can be a special time to be on the water.

RINCON

Like the California point break it was named for, the Rincon has a classic West Coast straight bridge, wrapping style lines and edgy curved temples.

GREEN MIRROR: Enhanced vision and contrast for fishing inshore and on flats. • Copper Base • 10% light transmission

JULY 2019

OPTIMAL USE: • Sight fishing in full sun • High contrast

periods coincide with the coldest parts of the day, so dress according. A good set of rainwear is mandatory, as it may not rain but everything will still be wet. Adventure brands such as Kathmandu, Macpac, Patagonia and the like all make quality jackets, so pick one up. Thermals are great, I wear them as a base layer. Fingerless gloves matched

AREAS TO FOCUS Putting your efforts into the right areas is crucial to success when fishing throughout winter. Bait is the key and finding it is your ticket to success. Using your sounder to scout around and locate congregations of bait is a widely used practice by many seasoned anglers. You don’t necessarily need to find cod on your electronics,

sun, but when the light dims down this bait will be pushed up into the shallower margins of the lake by larger predators lurking below. Mark these areas and pinpoint the closest shallow margin to this bait, and it’s here you’ll want to concentrate your efforts when the sun begins to drop. Of course, Murray cod fishing isn’t restricted to fishing the low light periods

Cod Feature and into the night. Often winter is associated with fog, and these low-lying clouds can cover the sun for long periods through the morning, extending the ‘bite window’. When the sun finally breaks through it often means the fish will head a little deeper, following the bait. You can continue to fish the bait in the deep, target fish holding tight to structure or go back

to camp, rest up and prepare for another big effort that afternoon. A common phenomenon in our impoundments is the first light bite and it’s at its most prevalent in winter. It’s all about fishing the shallows, as this is where the bait will congregate during the low light periods for a few reasons. The main reason is the

predation by the larger fish, predominantly cod, pushing them up to the shallower margins. It’s here in the shallowest depths where the bait is somewhat safe from predation during the cover of darkness. It’s when the first light hits the water that the feeding frenzy begins. The baitfish know that they must leave the shallows otherwise birds will smash them, and

Operating on a cold morning is tough on the fingers, and gloves are recommended.

This game is all about persistence. This fish took seven trips to catch!

so they must make a run for it back to the deep. The cod know this and will hold on the outside edge where they are comfortable and pick the bait up as it comes through. You can often see it first hand, and at Copeton I’ve pulled up on banks in the middle of the night, shone my headlight on the water and the amount of spangled perch or bobby cod holding right on the edge is unbelievable. Often when you find the

right areas where the bait is ‘making a run for it’ the surface of the water turns into a ‘bubble bath’ as cod gorge themselves on baitfish just below the surface. It’s in areas like this that your confidence will blow the Richter scale, as it’s only a matter of time until it’s game on. GEAR Having good gear is important when playing the winter cod game, and attention to detail is where

most battles are either won or lost. When you work so hard for sometimes minimal bites, you want to convert them. A good baitcast reel with a strong but smooth drag will be your hero through the commotion following that trademark crunch, and you don’t want to skimp on quality here, it needs to perform. For the majority of big cod lures these days, a To page 10

JULY 2019

BEST BIBBED/ DIVING LURE Under $30

BEST BIBBED DIVING Over $30

The fact that a big, territorial cod has no problem attacking a small cod is what inspired Matt Fraser to create this lure. The body is timber, with lead weights along the belly. This jointed lure

than a cod lure, and dives to about 6-8ft on the troll. It’s been doing very well on bass and yellowbelly, and lure show visitors have ordered pink versions for flathead.” Paul is now working on a miniature version of original surface walker. Barambah Lures JD Cod

Following the success of the Arancini fizzer, Joey Urquhart made a scaled down version to suit the likes of bream, bass and jungle perch. “A good fizzer needs to sit low in the water, be heavy enough to cast, and the blades need to spin

BEST TOPWATER / SURFACE / WAKEBAIT Over $30 Feralcatt Lures Dragon

has aluminium side fins for stability and action, and the rest of the fins are silicone for durability and natural look and feel. The length is around 250mm with bib and tail included, and it dives down to around 20ft.

When Greg from Feralcatt decided to make a dragon, he had interest right away. “People were buying my original Dragons so I decided to make a special version for the show,” he said. “The collector’s version ($250) has more

Halfcast Customs 200mm Dot Art Popper

JULY 2019

without you having to move it too quickly,” he said. “The Chisai ($20) can be worked with the standard jabbing action or walk the dog, and it’s been going great in field testing.” Joey sold out of Chisai fizzers at the show, and said he’s keen to come back next year.

and then 4-5 coats of two-part epoxy,” he said. “I chose the dot painting pattern to share a bit of my culture, and to present something different.” Randy said the Dot Art popper ($140-$180) has performed really well in field

Jamie Dunn’s 85mm Wiggle Bum ($29.95) is actually one of his other lure designs turned upside down and cut in half. “I went through 10 prototypes, tinkering with the size and width, and making sure I had enough

testing, but that about 95% of buyers are choosing to keep it as a collector’s item. He’s planning to experiment with different colours. “I’m definitely going to the show next year,” he said. “I had a great time!”

spikes, more hand carving and a more detailed paint job than the regular version ($200). Both swim and catch fish equally well. With a lure like this you have to get the joints at just the right length to get that realistic wiggle.

Marcus Walker Butterfly

An upcoming barra trip inspired Chris Anderson to make the Git blade ($30). “It’s a modified version

TENT CON RA

Gobsmacked Lures Wiggle Bum

weight in the hooks to get it to sink at a decent 1ft per second,” he explained. “It’s in my standard range now, and I’m working on a 130mm model for guys chasing the bigger cod.” There are six colours available.

BEST BLADED / METAL LURE Under $30

Jollip Lures Chisai Fizzer

BEST BLUE WATER LURE

Randy Keeble was tired of wasting money on poppers that couldn’t stand up to a GT attack, and he felt that he could do better. “The timber is fully sealed in a marine varnish, and then paint is applied,

on it, but now I doubt it!” Jamie said. “Once I get it back I’ll swim it and see.”

BEST TOPWATER / SURFACE / WAKEBAIT Under $30

Muggos Peewee

After making mainly cod lures, Paul Muggleton decided to try downsizing for bass, and created the Peewee ($20). “It’s a white beech timber body that’s 85mm overall length,” Paul said. “It has a much tighter action

but there are seven people who really want it, or at least another dragon. So I may have to part with it after all!” So does it swim? “It would have swum before I put the wings

When Jamie Judd created this doubleheaded dragon, he had no particular design in mind – he just sat down one day and

started cutting. It occurred to him that he had never seen a two-headed lure, so he set about making one. “It probably took around 60 hours to finish,” he said. “I enjoyed making it and wanted to keep it

BEST SWIMBAIT Under $30

Gobsmacked Lures Two Headed Dragon

BEST ORNAMENTAL PIECE

AN THE

Lure Expo Award winners impress in 2019

DE FOR EX

1-2 JUNE 2019 • IPSWICH SHOWGROUNDS

EXPO

- SC

Lure Fly & Outdoors

RE ONLINE MO

The Australian

Grumpy Lures Git

of one of my cod lures,” he said. “I designed the Git to fish the rock bars in the Fitzroy River for barra, but it can be used in a wide range of scenarios. It’s lighter and slimmer than the cod lure, and I have changed the weight positioning so it paddles on the drop as well as while jigging or on a straight retrieve.” Chris had a swim video at the show, and he said when visitors saw it they had to have it!

BEST BLADED / METAL LURE Honeyhole Over $30 Crusty Chatterbait

Peter Standing said he’d never seen a lifelike crayfish chatterbait before, and so decided to design the Crusty Chatterbait ($35). “It was the first time I had made a moulded lure,” he said. “As well as saving time, it means the

lure doesn’t lose any detail, because I don’t have to drill holes to put the lead inside.” After moving the claws around so that they floated up defensively, he had the lifelike chatterbait that he wanted. Peter has plans to make a bass version. BEST FLY Marcus Walker has taken out the Best Fly award for the second year running, with last year’s winning entry being his tiny and very realistic Blowfly. This year his submission was the stunning Butterfly, which has found its way into the collections of some very happy show visitors. We look forward to seeing what he comes up with at next year’s show. JULY 2019

THE outboard of the FUTURE

Contact your local dealer today COFFS HARBOUR

Thwaites Marine

30 Industrial Drive, Coffs Harbour 02 6651 7810 www.thwaitesmarine.com.au • shop@thwaitesmarine.com.au

SYDNEY WEST

WOLLONGONG

Dave Hill Marine

Bay Boat Sales

332 Soldiers Pt Rd, Salamander Bay, 2317 02 4982 7899 www.bayboatsales.com.au • bayboatsales@hotmail.com

COWRA

All Service Motors

1 Redfern St, Cowra, 2794 02 6342 2590 www.allservicemotors.com.au • allservicemotors@bigpond.com

Hunts Marine Wollongong

74 Princes Hwy, Yallah 2530 02 4284 0444 www.huntsmarine.com.au • info@huntsmarine.com.au

1 Berry St, Nowra, 2540 02 4423 6137 info@davehillmarine.com.au

PORT STEPHENS

Hunts Marine Batemans Bay

2 Sharons Rd, Batemans Bay 2536 02 4472 2612 www.huntsmarine.com.au • info@huntsmarine.com.au

Blakes Marine

1 Railway Road North, Mulgrave, 2756 02 4577 6699 www.blakesmarine.com.au • sales@blakesmarine.com.au

NOWRA

BATEMANS BAY

SYDNEY SOUTH

Hunts Marine Sydney

259 West St, Carlton, NSW, 2218 02 9546 1324 www.huntsmarine.com.au • info@huntsmarine.com.au

WHAT’S NEW FISHING SAMAKI TEFLON PLIERS

Samaki premium stainless-steel tools have been developed from the ground up. The perfect combination of stainless steel and Teflon coating makes these pliers rust resistant, strong and durable. Every tool has been hand finished to ensure comfortable use and long-term performance. There are three precise models: two 160mm split ring models in straight nose and bent nose, plus the heavy-duty 130mm side cutter. Each plier sports Samaki’s exclusive handle, which has been designed for superior comfort and durability. For more information on the Samaki range of tools and accessories, or to find your nearest stockist, check out the Samaki website. You can also like them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/samakifishing) to see the latest news and catch photos, or follow them on Instagram (@samakifishing). Price: from $14.95 www.samaki.com.au

SNAPPER SNACK IN 2 BANANA SMASH Black Magic has announced the release of the new Snapper Snack in banana smash colour. The perfect combination of lure and rig, the Snapper Snack is designed with high UV and luminous skirts which slide above the premium KLT hooks to provide a fantastic action. Snapper Snacks are best fished with a thin strip of bait to help maintain the natural swimming action of the skirt. Available in sizes 3/0 and 5/0, there are a wide variety of species being caught on these effective rigs. The banana smash colour is a proven and popular colour, and it’s hitting all good tackle stores now. You can ask to see the Snapper Snacks at your local Black Magic stockist today, or head to the Black Magic website to find out more. You can also find more information, news and catch photos on their Facebook page (www.facebook. com/blackmagictackle), check them out on Instagram (@blackmagictackle) or subscribe to the Black Magic YouTube channel. www.blackmagictackle.com

DAIWA TATULA RODS

Daiwa has announced that the new Tatula rod series is set to strike for 2019. A reboot of the popular Tatula range, the new series introduces new looks, technologies and models to elevate the series to a new level of style and performance. SVF blanks featuring 3DX carbon is where it all begins, with a new spiral palming grip, new Fuji LKW Alconite guides, carbon butt cap, and Fuji PLS Palming Support reel seats combining to deliver anglers performance and comfort well above the rod’s price point. Featuring eight baitcaster and three swimbait models in the range the new Tatula rod series is the mid range series designed for the angler looking for that ultimate balance between performance and price. Whether your taste is for bass, barra, cod or mangrove jack the new Tatula series is one that’s sure to draw you in to its angling web. www.daiwafishing.com.au 48

JULY 2019

PRODUCT GUIDE

GIANT KILLING BIG GAME

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

The 2019 release of the Major Craft Giant Killing Big Game features major changes to the range, with new rod lengths added and updated cosmetics. It still stays true to the series’ focus: hard-fighting offshore fish. The rods feature the new Fuji Silicon Slim K Frame guides bound onto a supremely strong and light blank. This offers a superb feel in the hand while still delivering the low down power needed to stop big fish. There are five rods in the series, with lengths ranging from 7’6” through to 8’6”. This makes them all excellent casting rods and perfect for lure chasing tuna, kingfish and topwater or sub-surface reef species. The rods come with PE ratings starting at 1.5-3.0 for the 7’6” and go up to 8.0 PE for the 8’6” Tuna model. There are two rods aimed at Hirimasa (Japanese for ‘kingfish’), a 7’7” and 8’6”. Both are rated to a max PE of 6.0 and 100g lures. The Buri (Japanese for ‘amberjack’) is an 8’ offering with a PE rating of 2.0-5.0, and it’s capable of casting 25-80g lures. www.majorcraft.com.au

SHIMANO STRADIC FL

The new Stradic FL will carry forward most of the Shimano technologies that have made the Stradic series so strong, durable and uncompromising. The Micromodule Gear II ensures that the gears can align and perform with minimal resistance, and SilentDrive technology educes the smallest of clearance gaps and tolerances within the gearing system. The Hagane Gear has been upgraded for added strength and smoothness. On top of all this, X-Protect has also been added to the Stradic FL. The internal labyrinthtype structure gives the reel a superior level of water-resistant performance without impeding the rotation or lightness of the reel. The new Long Stroke Spool has been incorporated to improve casting distance, giving you the ability to cover more water when fishing. The 1000, 2500 and 4000 models have felt washer drags whilst the C3000 and C5000 models have upgraded cross carbon drags. With 6+1 ARC ball bearings, the new Stradic is sure to impress anyone who picks it up. Price: SRP $339.95-$389.95 www.shimanofish.com.au

NEW STUMPJUMPER 6 COLOURS Born on the Victorian banks of the mighty Murray River in 1986, the StumpJumper range of lures have the world’s only truly successful interchangeable bib system. As unlikely as it sounds, it’s an idea that really works. With the deep diving bib, the No.1 StumpJumper is a great cod lure, but switch to the pointy, shallow running bib and you have a minnow lure capable of taking saltwater speedsters like mackerel and tuna or even barramundi. Not many other lures can do that. The four new colours that are now available in stores are set to be a sure-fire hit amongst both freshwater and saltwater anglers alike. The new colours are chartreuse tiger (#107), pink tiger (#108), chartreuse scale (#109) and pearl scale (#110). www.jmgillies.com.au

visit www.tacklejunkie.fish for the latest tackle news - AS IT HAPPENS!

SCAN THE QR CODE!

PRODUCT GUIDE

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

STORM 360GT SOFT BAITS

The Storm 360 GT Coastal Largo Shad offers highly detailed, universal baitfish appeal. This effective soft bait has a deadly body rolling action and an exaggerated tail swing that fish can’t resist. It can also be customised by removing the ‘tail tendon’ to create a wider and more erratic swimming action for those times when the fish are more aggressive. It swims both on the retrieve and on the fall. The 360GT Coastal Mangrove Minnow has a more slender profile, and its hard thumping paddle tail produces a tight body roll. Like the Largo Shad, the tail action can be customised by removing the tail tendon to deliver a wider tail swing, which mimics an erratic, panicking baitfish. It swims both on the retrieve and on the drop. Both the Largo Shad and Mangrove Minnow are available unrigged in 3” and 4” sizes in packs of seven, and are currently available in eight colours (Arkansas glow, electric chicken, hot mama, limetreuse, pilchard, pearl, silver mullet, and salt and pepper/chartreuse tail). They can be rigged weedless or on a standard jighead. www.stormfishing.com.au

SAMURAI EGI RODS

Samurai produces some of the finest, lightest and crispest feeling rods in the world, and they have turned their attention back to squid or egi rods. When Samurai began, they had some of the sleekest, multi-tapered graphite blanks for this style of fishing, and the new models take that technology even further. The new Samurai Egi rods use cross woven, hex axial carbon graphite to deliver a blank that is ridiculously light and strong. They press and cross the fibres in a process that results in a crisp, precise machine rolled multitapered blank. These rods have the action that’s essential for the lunging runs of large squid. The tip of the rod remains light and whip sharp, imparting crucial, instant action to the jig as soon as the angler initiates any movement with the rod. There are three models, an L, M and ML, covering jigs from 1.5-4.0, and all employ class-leading Fuji Titanium Torzite guides and EVA foam grips. www.samurairods.com.au

ULTRA-SIL VIEW DRY SACK

TD COMMANDER RODS

Built to perform and ready to unleash fury the TD Commander series has been revamped and restyled. An evolution of the original TD Commander series the new lineup has been expanded and now features 14 models (7 x spin and 7 x baitcast). Featuring proven Daiwa rod technologies such as HVF Nanoplus blanks, 3DX, AGS and Fuji Titanium SiC guides, the TD Commander series also launches some of Daiwa’s newest and most advanced technologies including the ultra light, ultra strong, SVF Carbon Air Sensor reel seats, and X45 Cobra Shield that greatly enhances blank responsiveness and allows for long accurate casts and better hook-sets. Dressed in classic green and featuring stylish cork grips the new TD Commander series is a range that delivers in looks and swagger and high-end performance. From ultra-light finesse models tailor made for bream and trout through to extra heavy models tuned to muscle cod and trevally from cover the TD Commander is ready for the Australian angler who’s looking to go to battle. www.daiwafishing.com.au

The Ultra-Sil Dry Sack from Sea To Summit is perfect for land-based anglers and those fishing from an open boat or kayak. The Ultra-Sil Dry Sack has a clear TPU window to allow you to easily view the contents inside. The window is RF welded into the side panels of the dry sack, producing a super-strong bond. Features of the Ultra-Sil Dry Sack include: siliconised high-tenacity Cordura nylon fabric for exceptional strength; Hypalon roll top closure does not wick moisture; Polyurethane coated and fully seam sealed for water resistance; reinforced stitching for greater seam strength; super compact and ultralightweight; and round base design. It also uses the Sea to Summit Field Repair Buckle for a tighter closure, and even better water resistance. The Ultra-Sil View Dry Sack comes in five colours and six sizes, ranging from 1L to 20L. The larger sizes are particularly useful for groups storing their belongings in the same bag. Price: SRP $14.99-$41.99 www.seatosummitdistribution.com.au

RUMPL PUFFY BLANKET

BIWAA DEUS 5” AND 6”

Born out of a crisis, with its founders trapped in their immobile van at sub-zero temperatures in America’s northwest, the Original Puffy Blanket by Rumpl, incorporates the latest outdoor technical material technologies, providing a much needed update to the traditional blanket. A new arrival to Australian shores, the Original Puffy Blanket is water, stain and odour resistant, with an ultra-warm 3D Hollow Fibre synthetic insulation – the same stuff as premium sleeping bags and down jackets. It’s not just warm, but super lightweight and easily packable, making this the perfect blanket to get warm and cosy with this winter. Available in three sizes and a plethora of plain and printed colour designs, Rumpl’s Original Puffy Blanket fits easily into its water resistant drawstring sack, which ideal for packing your blanket away with the change of seasons. Available sizes are the Throw size (127 x 178cm), 1-Person (137 x 203cm) and 2-Person (224 x 213cm). Price: SRP $149.95-$269.95 www.rumpl.com.au

The Biwaa Deus is a custom designed soft finesse swimbait, and it’s now available in 5” and 6” sizes. The dense belly allows it to keep an balanced keel, even while unweighted. Hook slots are provided to create a perfect weedless presentation, or you can use a standard jighead or use it as a trailer. A pre-positioned hole lets you add weights, while not compromising the balance and action. The Eco formulation plastic has the softness and durability that allow the maximum action to be coaxed from the design. Biwaa’s unique B2A Scent is a natural attractant that is infused into the body during manufacturing, as well as on the outside. The shrimp based, water-soluble additive creates a strong scent trail, activating aggressive feeding behaviour. The Deus’ tapered spear-tail design works at any speed, and the scale pattern gives the Deus an added level of realism. It’s now available in 3”, 4”, 5” and 6” sizes and a range of fish-catching colours. www.ejtodd.com.au

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au JULY 2019

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

PRODUCT GUIDE

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

TESTED Let’s talk tackle storage solutions Outside of using your fishing gear, one of the next most important things is how you store it. There are many options available, from individual tackle trays to full scale tackle stations. Queensland-based Wilson Fishing has a wide range of tackle storage solutions, and

Wilson lure wallets come in two sizes (large and small) and have heavy-duty zip lock pouches to house your lures. I have been using mine for my big Murray cod lures. I can take a selection of lures in my suitcase with the peace of mind that the lures will be protected, and that the items

Simple and effective tackle storage solutions are important to every angler.

All smiles for the author, but this trip could have been a disaster if the tackle tray that went in the drink had been a regular one instead of a Wilson Deluxe Waterproof model. we have reviewed a number of their products, from their standard tackle bags to the awardwinning Platinum Series Tournament bag and Wilson backpack (check them out at www.tacklejunkie.fish). This time I’ll be focusing on Wilson’s new waterproof tackle trays and their lure wallets, which I have been testing for the last six months. WILSON LURE WALLETS Lure wallets give you the ability to easily pack items that can be awkward to store. Items like spinnerbaits, rigged game fishing lures and larger lures are just plain difficult to transport, and a lure wallet is a good solution.

The author’s kayak bass tray. It may look a little messy but it holds everything needed for a bass session, plus there’s room for the car keys!

JULY 2019

in my suitcase are safe from hooks. The case is strong, and the zippers have held up well to regular mistreatment. WATERPROOF TACKLE TRAYS Wilson’s has always had a range of basic tackle trays, which are available individually or come included in their tackle bags. In 2019 they have upped the ante, releasing a new range of waterproof tackle trays. They come in Standard and Deluxe versions in a number of configurations (go to www. wilsonfishing.com to see the range). The Standard trays are a simple four latch system, while the Deluxe version has larger heavy-duty latches and has a few more options when it comes to tray configuration and depth. What I expected and what I found The first thing I wanted to know was how waterproof these trays are, so I submerged them for a minute. The Deluxe version had no water enter it, while the Standard tray did let a little bit of water in (maybe a teaspoon’s worth). A pretty good result, as you’d realistically never fully submerge the trays like this; even with quite a few jigheads in a tray, it still floats. The ability to adjust the compartments in the trays is also important. The Deluxe trays provide more options for the user and have a couple of deep tray versions to hold larger lures. As anglers we always want more options, and I think the team at Wilsons have done pretty well. Last but not least, I wanted to know how the trays would hold up and protect their contents. Extra latches can mean extra things to break. I’m happy to report that after six months of regular use I have had no issues. I

have seven trays in total and have had no breakages or damage. Final thoughts I may not be a total convert to waterproof tackle trays, but there are certain scenarios where they become almost essential. For instance while fishing one of our local waterways in my kayak, I was able to put all the lures is a single Deluxe Waterproof tray. During that trip not only did that tray end up in the water (very easy to retrieve a floating tackle box), but a storm hit, saturating us. Everything in the tackle tray remained dry and safe, including my car keys! A common concern with waterproof tackle trays is that moisture can get trapped in them, and this is true. You can avoid this problem by not putting wet items into the trays, or by leaving a couple of latches open so that any moisture can find its way out. Likewise on hot days the air in the trays expands, which plays havoc with the trays and the items inside them. You can avoid this by keeping the trays out of direct sunlight, or by leaving a latch disengaged. Overall, both the lure wallets and the waterproof tackle trays have been a great

addition to fulfilling my tackle storage needs, so the next time you are looking at your tackle storage options, check out the complete range of Wilson Fishing products in your local tackle store. – Peter Jung

The Wilson Fishing Platinum Tournament bag won the Best Tackle Storage award at the 2018 AFTA Tackle Trade Show.

All set for a bit of flathead fishing.

Find a floater and get casting through winter ILLAWARRA

Greg Clarke clarkey1@westnet.com.au

Let’s just get one thing straight out there, winter sucks. Give me the hot days and warm clear bluewater with all those pelagics lining up to grab a live bait or lure, and when you get too hot you can have a swim.

travel from all parts of the world to take part in this short but massive feast. When they find a floater they grab it with their powerful beaks and flap their wings backwards and push with their legs to tear chunks of flesh away before swallowing it then going back for more. Often there will be four or five albies fighting over the one floater and lots of small pieces of cuttlefish

This is when we take advantage of the situation and stealthily approach the feeding area and make a well-placed cast with an unweighted piece of cuttlefish as close to the floater as possible. If there are any snapper in close proximity they usually grab your bait without any hesitation. When they feel the hook they will take off in the shallow water, so be ready for that first blistering

There will still be those who race at high speed from floater to floater, catching nothing and scaring off any fish long before they get there, and even worse, before you get there. Mid-week is always better, as there’s less boat traffic. Or you could just pick a bit of reef, drop the anchor and berley. You will still get plenty of fish, but it is nowhere near as much fun. It’s not only snapper that love the cuttlies, you will score the odd big groper, kingies, trevally, salmon, tailor, big bream, and heaps of sergeant baker. This month is bluefin month, but only if the currents, bait and fish all come together to get them close enough to allow anglers to have a crack at them. Over the past few seasons it has become the norm that once

a live bait out when chasing other species, as there is always a chance a stray might venture past. Drifting for flatties should get you some tasty fillets, and they are nice fish, but they have gone a bit quiet compared to recent weeks. There are some nice mowies, but not in any numbers, with a few pigfish and heaps of leatherjackets thrown in. Off the rocks there are plenty of drummer and a few blackfish about, particularly in the sheltered bays if we get a bit of bad weather. Other than that, working the washes with cunjevoi or bait prawns should see some success. The prawns will also get any bream and trevally that are about, and if you can you should work the deeper ledges with ganged pilchards for some decent salmon and tailor.

This is the best month for a chance of a big red off the stones, with places like Kiama, Bass Point at the front, and Coalcliff some of the better options. Off the beaches the targets have been salmon, tailor and bream, and if you can take the cold water and get a few beachworms, believe it or not, there is still the odd whiting on the beaches! You will get by-catch of salmon and bream, but the whiting are monsters. Again, if you can handle the cold and wind in the evenings with the high tides, there are a few quality mulloway about and you really earn every fish you get at this time of year. The estuaries are very quiet during July, with just a few bream about for the diehards.

This time of the year is when the big reds come on the chew. At the moment it’s so cold that you need multiple layers of clothing to keep you warm and a swim would give you hypothermia in the dirty green water. As for pelagics, barracouta rule, with maybe a chance of a southern bluefin beyond the shelf. But being an optimist, there is always something good at this time of year and that would be the seasonal run of solid snapper we have

flesh are broken away and slowly drift down to the bottom – it becomes the world’s best automatic berley machine. This is where the snapper come in and they pick up all the scraps that drift down, gradually working their way to the surface. If they’re big enough they will take over from the albatross and start tearing into the hapless cuttlefish, grabbing a mouthful. With that big red

run. Then things will settle pretty quickly as it usually does with snapper. But before all this happens you have to get yourself into a position to make that cast that lands within a metre of the floater, and as mentioned earlier, this requires stealth. Electric motors have made this so much easier, but you will still have to motor between floaters with the main motor very slowly and

Sometimes it is not about scoring the monsters, but getting perfect eating size models like this. during July, and even better, you don’t have to go far to get them. Just like every year, the cuttlefish will move into the shallows off the Illawarra coast to breed during this month and with it will come the predators to feed on the spent cephalopods. Often after breeding they float to the surface and die. Many don’t even get that far, but the ones that do are then set upon by the albatross that

tail slashing on the surface, they drive down to rip a chunk of flesh away before swallowing it and heading back to do it again. When this happens you will see the birds all sitting back away from the floater, because nothing can come between a big snapper and its meal, and a severely mauled foot is not worth it. All this occurs in less than 15m of water and only a kilometre or so from the shore.

quietly before switching to the electric some 50-100m from the target for optimum results. Always motor into the wind so you blow away from the floater and don’t disturb anything, as there is often more than one snapper per cuttlefish. You may be able to use spot lock, but that still makes some noise, particularly if it is a little choppy from the morning westerlies and the prop comes out of the water.

This bream grabbed a plastic prawn cast into the wash. you find the fish you call in any other boats to get the pilchards going to hold the school in place so they keep feeding and everyone gets a good chance at scoring a fish. There is also one troubling aspect, and that is small boats are heading further offshore in the hunt for them, at times up to 85km on any given day, which doesn’t leave much room for error if something goes wrong. This time of year is not renowned for great weather either, and many boats ill-equipped to tackle a nasty change in the weather will be out there taking the risk. A risk, I would argue, that is not really worth it for a bluefin. Back in closer to shore, there are plenty of trevally about over most of the reefs. Just add berley and you should get a few if not lots in the trail, and if you are right in close a few bream should find their way into the berley too. Throwing ganged pilchards into the suds around the islands and deeper headland will score some nice tailor and salmon, and even the odd snapper that wants a change in diet. Kingies are very quiet, but it pays to have

• Family friendly park • Private Boat Ramp & Jetty • Close to Clubs and Pubs • Accommodation to suit any budget • Kiosk for the fisherman & family

Phone: (02) 4441 2112 enquiries@rivieracaravanpark.com.au 158 River Rd, Sussex Inlet www.rivieracaravanpark.com.au

Great Lifestyle is FOR SALE! Opportunity! This park Enquire within. JULY 2019

FUN PAGE AND COMPETITIONS FISHY BLOCKBUSTERS

LEGALLY BREAM THE GODFISH REEF WARS FLATTY GUMP SNOW WHITING MURRAY CODDINS JIGGING PARK LURE KING DIVE HARD

DTD - REAL FISH OITA

TROLLINATOR WAHOO OF OZ TACKLE STORY SCHOOL OF ROCKFISH BLADE CASTER BERLEY CLUB GARBUSTERS BARRA BEGINS KILL BILLFISH

Name: Address:

P/Code:

The first correct entry at the end of each month will win the prize pack. SEND ENTRIES TO: NSW Find-a-word Competition, PO box 3172, Loganholme Qld 4129

NSW JULY 2019

Phone (day):

GEORGE & NEV by Michael Hardy

The ‘Real Fish Oita’ is an incredible, award winning squid jig manufactured in Europe by leading Croatian company - DTD. Taking out the coveted ‘best new product’ in its class at the EFTTEX 2015 Expo in Warsaw, this wonderful range is now available in Australia through Dogtooth Distribution. The product imitates real fish species. This coupled with DTD’s use of only the highest grade materials available, ensures great balance and results in superior catching ability. With the unique ‘fish parasite’ feature, aimed at luring predators in for an ‘easy kill’, these truly unique jigs are set to explode into the Australian market. FEATURES - Double weight system with inner weight designed to produce sound while squid jig is in action. COLOURS - 7 different designs representing popular fish species. ADDITIONAL - Luminous body, fish parasite, great balance, sound effect, quality stainless steel hooks SIZES - 5 Sizes available www.dogtoothdistribution.com.au

SPOT THE

10 DIFFERENCES

FINS SCALES & TALES by A. Both

ORIGINAL

FIND-A-WORD

Congratulations to, Jack Smith who was last month’s winner of the Find-aWord Competition! Monthly winners receive a Fishing Monthly prize pack. Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – NSWFM

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE

The subscriber prize winner for May is R Hornsby of Raymond Terrace, who won an TT Lures Prize Pack valued over $400. All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – NSWFM

Melrose Park, T Kennedy of Karuah, D Miller of Cobar, J Harvey of Fullerton Cove, J Staltari of Dunlop, K Duncan of Rozelle, P Dubbelde of Orange, J Smith of Kelso, B Mannering of Blue Haven, D Sharpe of Richmond, L Cupitt of Goulburn, K Whillock of Dapto, R Durie of Holt, S Polanske of Kilmore , E Howarth of Cowra, C Riesinger of Pheasanta Nest, D Nisbet of Tuncurry, M Beney of Harrington,

P Muldoon of Balcolyn, R Jones of Werris Creek, R Waters of Temora, D Spinks of Scone, E Murta of Taylor, B Wallis of Budgewoi, L Bennett of Marrangaroo, M Aubrey of Valentine, B Purssell of Grenfell, J Cross of Mondrook, R Jones of Toronto, I Errey of Leeton, B Robley of Naraville, K Hester of Beverley Hills. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – NSWFM

LAST MONTH’S ANSWERS

FIND THE DAIWA LOGO

JULY 2019

GUESS THE FISH?

This month’s Guess the Fish Answer: Australian Bass

The answers to Find the Daiwa Logo for May were: 14, 18, 22, 37, 42, 49, 51, 58, 61, 62, 67, 75, 89, 97, 99. – NSWFM The Find the Daiwa Logo prize winners for May were: M Rojic of South Penrith, M Horgosi of Ngunnawal, N Evenden of Cundletown, D Burgess of Elermore Vale, T Hodges of Ballina, G Waugh of Greystanes, N Webster of Richmond, G Waters of Helensburgh, G Sanson of

Answer:

2019 2019 Local Time

SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – NEW SOUTH WALES SYDNEY (FORT DENISON) – LONG NEW SOUTH WALES LAT 33° 51’ S 151° 14’ E

Time

1 1 0546 1209 TU

WE 1825

LAT 33° 51’ S LONG 151° 14’ E Times and Heights of High and Low Waters Times and Heights of High and Low Waters MARCH FEBRUARY JANUARY JUNE JULY MAY Time m Time m Time Time m Time m Time m

m 0541 1.54 1208 0.53 1759 1.52 2358

Time m 0441 1.47 1.57 1.70 0.67 0.58 0559 1100 0.38 1.28 1.33 1215 WE 1652 1.77 0.53 TH 1836 2300 SA 0.50

1 1 0039 0631 FR

16 16

0536 0633 1.63 0.44 0.64 0.52 0051 17 2 1208 1310 2 1857 1.67 1.56 17 1.30 0651 TH 1800

0026 0628 WE TH 1244 1900

3 3 0106 0707 TH

FR 1315 1933

4 4 0145 0745 FR

SA 1347 2008

5 5 0225 0825 SA

SU 1421 2044

6 6 0306 0907 SU

MO 1458 2122

7 7

0351 0953 MO TU 1537 2204

8 8

0439 1042 TU WE 1620 2249

9 9

0531 1135 WE TH 1709 2340

10 10 0630 1235 TH FR 1806

0.50 1.61 0044 0.57 0720 1.58 1400 0.48 1947 1.69 0127 0.51 0803 1.57 1445 0.47 2032 1.76 0207 0.46 0844 1.55 1523 0.48 2114 1.82 0245 0.43 0920 1.52 1600 0.50 2152 1.86 0323 0.42 0957 1.48 1635 0.54 2230 1.86 0400 0.43 1031 1.43 1710 0.59 2306 1.85 0437 0.45 1107 1.37 1745 0.65 2344 1.81 0516 0.48 1143 1.34 1821 0.71

FR 1258 1922 0.51 1.69 0144 0.47 0742 FR SA 1340 1.30 2006 0.52 1.73 0233 0.42 0831 SA SU 1420 1.31 2048 0.52 1.76 0321 0.39 0919 SU MO 1500 1.32 2130 0.52 1.77 0408 0.37 1006 MO TU 1539 1.32 2211 0.53 1.77 0454 0.37 1053 TU WE 1618 1.32 2251 0.54 1.75 0541 0.38 1139 WE TH 1700 1.32 2331 0.56 1.72 0629 0.41 1228 TH FR 1745 1.31

18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22

23 23 24 24

0.59 1.67 0016 0.44 0718 FR SA 1321 1840 1.31 0.62 0107 1.60 0810 SA SU 1420 0.47 1945 1.31 0.66 0206 1.53 0902 SU MO 1519 0.50 2055 1.32 0.70 0310 1.44 0951 MO TU 1614 0.53 2202 1.34 0.73 0408 1.37 1036 TU WE 1700 0.54 2302 1.39 0.72 0500 1.31 1116 WE TH 1742 0.55 2354

25 25

0024 1.75 11 26 11 0559 0.49 26 1220 0037 0735 FR SA 1342 1913

12 12 0143 0841 SA SU 1454 2029

13 13 0254 0943 SU MO 1600 2145

14 14 0401 1038 MO TU 1657 2253

15 15 0502 1128 TU WE 1748 2355

1.33 1900 0.74 0107 1.71 0645 0.48 1300 1.36 1940 0.74 0156 1.69 0736 0.46 1345 1.44 2024 0.69 0247 1.70 0836 0.42 1439 1.55 2113 0.61 0344 1.70 0945 0.39 1542 1.67 2205 0.52

27 27 28 28 29 29

30 30 31 31 0547 1154 TH FR 1820

Time

1230 1859

1.57 0.58 0123 1.30 0715 SA 0.39 0.50 SU 1308 2355 1.86 1937 0630 1.69 0.39 0.45 0206 1309 1.62 1.34 0800 1902 SU 0.42 MO 1347 1.91 2017 0048 0.46 0.36 1.82 0251 0722 1.55 0.33 0848 1403 MO 0.48 1.39 TU 1430 1959 2101 1.92 0141 0.40 0.37 1.93 0339 0814 1.48 0.22 0939 1455 TU 0.54 1.45 WE 1516 2052 1.90 2147 0233 0.36 0.41 2.02 0430 0905 1.41 0.14 1032 1545 WE 0.61 1.49 TH 1606 2145 2236 1.85 0326 0.32 0.46 2.07 0523 0956 1.35 0.10 1128 1635 TH 0.68 1.52 FR 1700 2236 1.78 2329 0419 0.32 0.52 2.05 0620 1047 1.30 0.12 1227 1724 FR 0.75 1.53 SA 1800 2328 1.70 0514 0.34 0.58 1.98 0026 1138 1.27 0.17 0719 1813 SA 0.80 SU 1330 1905 0020 1.53 1.62 0.39 0128 0610 0.62 1.85 0818 1229 SU 1.26 0.26 MO 1434 1901 0.85 2017 0114 1.52 1.55 0.47 0233 0708 0.64 1.68 0914 1321 MO 1.27 0.36 TU 1536 1950 0.87 2131 0210 1.51 1.50 0.54 0340 0812 0.63 1.51 1007 1416 TU 1.32 0.45 WE 1632 2041 2242 0.86 0308 1.50 1.47 0.61 0442 0921 0.61 1.36 1056 1518 WE 1.39 0.53 TH 1725 2134 2346 0.82 0410 1.51 1.46 0.63 0540 1037 0.59 1.25 1143 1628 TH 1.47 0.59 FR 1815 2230 0.75 0511 1.54 1.47 0.61 0044 1152 0.56 1.21 0634 1740 FR 1.57 0.61 SA 1227 2327 1900 0.68 0608 1.58 1.48 0.57 1256 0.53 1.21 1843 1.66

2 2

3 3 4 4 5 5

6 6 7 7

8 8

m 0020 0.59 0700 1.49 1346 0.51 1935 1.76 0108 0.51 0745 1.49 1428 0.50 2018 1.85 0151 0.44 0824 1.49 1503 0.50 2056 1.92 0230 0.38 0901 1.47 1537 0.51 2131 1.96 0306 0.35 0936 1.45 1610 0.53 2205 1.97 0343 0.35 1010 1.43 1642 0.57 2239 1.95 0419 0.36 1044 1.40 1713 0.61 2314 1.90 0457 0.39 1118 1.39 1745 0.66 2349

Time m 0603 1.69 0.61 0.43 0.43 1.62 0135 1250 1.45 1.32 0.51 0725 SA 1848 SU 1309 0.51 MO 1.24 1944 1.89 0030 0.50 0.59 0.41 1.81 1.66 0222 0702 1.41 0.31 0.46 0814 SU 1346 0.55 1.41 MO 1350 1945 TU 1.28 2026 1.89 0128 0.41 0.56 0.40 1.93 1.70 0305 0757 1.38 0.20 0.41 0859 MO 1438 0.58 1.50 TU 1430 2038 WE 1.32 2105 1.88 0222 0.33 0.53 0.42 2.01 1.73 0347 0849 1.36 0.13 0.39 0943 TU 1527 0.62 1.57 WE 1510 2128 TH 1.35 2144 1.84 0.51 0315 0.28 0.45 2.04 1.74 0428 0941 1.33 0.10 0.37 1025 WE 1614 0.66 1.62 TH 1549 2216 FR 1.38 2221 1.78 0.50 0408 0.26 0.49 2.01 1.74 0508 1030 1.31 0.13 0.37 1107 TH 1659 0.70 1.65 FR 1630 2305 SA 1.39 2300 1.71 0.50 0501 0.28 0.53 1.91 1.71 0549 1120 1.30 0.20 0.38 1151 FR 1744 0.74 1.65 SA 1714 2354 SU 1.40 2340 1.64 0.51 0556 0.33 0.56 1.76 1.67 0631 1210 1.29 0.31 0.41 1238 SA 1828 SU 1802 0.78 MO 1.41

1 1 0101 0651 FR

16 16

17 17

10 10

18 18

11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14

0600 1209 TH 1750

m 0537 0.47 1230 1.41 1827 0.49 2358 1.88 0633 0.37 1320 1.43 1916 0.47 1.97 0051 0.30 0720 1.44 1400 0.46 1958 2.02 0135 0.25 0800 1.45 1435 0.46 2033 2.04 0215 0.23 0837 1.46 1507 0.47 2106 2.01 0250 0.25 0912 1.46 1538 0.50 2138 1.93 0326 0.29 0945 1.46 1608 0.55 2210

m Time m 0432 1.60 1.51 0.41 0.52 0.60 0207 1124 1.33 1.27 1.19 0757 SA 1730 0.55 0.63 TU 1329 2310 TH 0.69 2005 1.82 0542 1.70 1.55 0.39 0.41 0.54 0245 1230 1.33 1.37 1.26 0838 SU 1836 FR WE 1408 0.56 2043 1.81 0017 0.54 0.65 0.40 1.81 1.60 0322 0644 1.34 0.30 0.49 0917 MO 1325 0.57 1.48 SA TH 1446 1930 1.32 2119 1.79 0116 0.43 0.59 0.41 1.90 1.64 0358 0739 1.34 0.22 0.44 0955 TU 1415 0.58 1.59 FR 1525 2020 SU 1.38 2154 1.75 0212 0.34 0.54 0.43 1.95 1.68 0433 0831 1.33 0.17 0.41 1033 WE 1501 0.61 1.68 MO SA 1603 2108 1.43 2230 1.69 0.50 0304 0.27 0.46 1.95 1.70 0509 0922 1.33 0.17 0.39 1113 TH 1545 0.64 1.75 TU SU 1645 2154 1.47 2306 1.62 0357 0.25 0.47 0.49 1.88 1.70 0545 1012 1.33 0.22 0.38 1154 FR 1629 0.68 1.78 WE MO 1730 2240 1.50 2345 1.54 0448 0.27 0.46 0.52 1.77 1.67 0625 1100 1.34 0.30 0.39 1240 SA 1710 0.72 1.78 TU 1821 2326 TH 1.53

0011 0654 FR 1308 1854

1.63 0.42 0109 1.58 0747 SA 1.31 0.43 TU 1408 1912 2004 0.81 0134 1.59 1.49 0.51 0212 0753 0.60 1.41 0841 1353 SU 1.34 0.54 WE 1508 1958 2119 0.83 0229 1.55 1.43 0.59 0318 0900 0.59 1.27 0934 1452 MO 1.40 0.64 TH 1607 2048 0.81 2233 0329 1.51 1.39 0.64 0425 1013 0.59 1.18 1026 1603 TU 1.48 0.70 FR 1703 2149 2340 0.76 0434 1.50 1.37 0.64 0527 1127 0.57 1.16 1115 1720 WE 1.57 0.72 SA 1755 2256 0.67

0.58 1.38 0.48 0.57 SU 1151 0.52 2328 1.85 1826 1.78

9 9

10 10

11 11

12 12 13 13

1.48 2243 0.59 0439 1.69 1054 0.40 1708 1.51 2317 0.63 0518 1.56 1130 0.45 1740 1.55 2354 0.64 0601 1.45 1208 0.49 1814 1.61 0.61 0034 1.37 0648 0.52 1251 1.68 1852 0.55 0120 1.34 0744 0.53 1343 1.74 1939

0215

17 17

15 15

1357 2028

2 2 0307 0908 TU 1450 2118

3 3 0356 1000 WE

18 18 19 19

1544 2209

4 4 0444 1051 TH

20 20

1640 2300

5 5 0532 1145 FR

21 21

1738 2352

6 6 0621 1239 SA 1841

m 0026 0.19 0645 1.45 1321 0.36 1928 2.04 0113 0.14 0728 1.50 1357 0.33 2003 2.05 0153 0.13 0806 1.53 1430 0.34 2036 2.00 0230 0.16 0842 1.54 1500 0.37 2107 1.89 0307 0.22 0916 1.55 1530 0.43 2140 1.73 0344 0.31 0952 1.55 1600 0.50 2213

m Time m 0524 1.78 0.72 0.36 0.33 1.55 0253 1159 1.36 1.58 0.53 0850 TU 1812 FR 1428 0.49 1.38 2054 1.72 0.65 0005 0.47 0.36 1.83 1.59 0325 0619 1.38 0.28 0.48 0924 WE 1246 0.49 1.70 SA 1504 1900 1.45 2128 1.69 0.58 0100 0.38 0.37 1.84 1.63 0357 0712 1.39 0.27 0.45 0959 TH 1331 0.50 1.79 SU 1542 1945 1.52 2201 1.64 0.53 0154 0.32 0.40 1.80 1.64 0429 0802 1.40 0.29 0.43 1035 FR 1414 0.53 1.86 MO 1621 2030 1.58 2236 1.57 0245 0.30 0.48 0.43 1.72 1.64 0501 0851 1.41 0.35 0.42 1113 SA 1455 0.57 1.88 TU 1704 2114 1.64 2314 1.48 0.46 0335 0.32 0.47 1.62 1.62 0535 0940 1.41 0.44 0.43 1154 SU 1534 0.62 1.87 WE 1751 2157 1.68 2355 1.39 0426 0.37 0.45 0.52 1.50 1.58 0614 1029 1.41 0.53 0.46 1240 MO 1614 0.65 1.82 TH 1846 2240 1.71

16 16

17 17 18 18 19 19

20 20

21 21

0323 1.56 7 22 7 0930 0.40 22 1531

22 22

0048 0712 SU 1337 1950

8 8

0542 0.33 0.47 1.45 1.63 1.63 0030 1149 0.55 0.41 0.41 0707 SU 1751 WE 1330 1.37 FR 1.55 1920 0.75 0.49 0011 1.74 1.37 0.42 1.57 0121 0635 0.57 1.47 0.45 0753 MO 1239 1.40 0.53 SA TH 1423 1831 1.56 2028 0.75 0058 1.68 0.52 1.30 0.51 1.49 0221 0732 0.58 1.33 0.50 0843 TU 1330 1.46 0.64 SU FR 1518 1914 2141 0.72 1.56 0147 1.60 1.26 0.59 0.56 0329 0834 0.58 1.23 1.40 0935 WE 1428 1.54 0.74 MO SA 1614 2003 0.56 2249 0.63 1.55 0244 1.53 1.26 0.64 0.60 0436 0941 0.56 1.17 1.31 1029 TH 1536 1.65 0.80 TU SU 1707 2105 0.62 2348 0.52 1.54 0348 1.49 1.29 0.65 0.62 0537 1048 0.52 1.18 1.24 1121 FR 1652 1.77 0.81 WE MO 1758 2219 0.67

24 24

0150 0804 MO 1438 2107

9 9 0259 0900 TU

25 25

1541 2224

10 10 0412 0958 WE 1642 2331

11 11 0518 1054 TH

26 26

27 27

1736

1.55 2148 0.56 0404 1.40 1009 0.49 1605 1.56 2226 0.59 0448 1.28 1052 0.55 1642 1.57 2307 0.58 0538 1.22 1141 0.59 1724 1.61 2355 0.53 0635 1.21 1237 0.59 1815 1.65 0050

0.45 0516 0.44 1.29 1.39 1.52 0044 1116 0.57 0.63 0.50 0657 TU 1653 1.43 1.75 FR 1331 2323 1.72 1951 0.67 0609 0.52 0.48 1.22 1.30 1.45 0144 1206 0.60 0.72 0.56 0749 WE 1734 SA 1430 1.46 1.71 2108 0.65 0008 1.66 0.51 1.18 0.59 1.37 0258 0704 0.61 1.24 0.62 0852 TH 1300 1.52 0.80 SU 1534 1822 1.68 2222 0.57 0.54 0058 1.58 1.19 0.64 1.30 0415 0802 0.58 1.21 0.69 0959 FR 1401 1.62 0.85 MO 1637 1921 2326 0.45 1.65 0157 1.51 1.25 0.66 0.56 0521 0901 0.52 1.23 1.26 1101 SA 1510 1.74 0.87 TU 1735 2033 0.73

23 23 24 24

25 25

26 26

0.48 12 0742 27 12 0025 0614 1.24 27 FR 1345

28 28

1145 1920 0.57 1824 1.68 0158 0109 0856 0.43 0700 1.27 SA 1503 1232 2039 0.55 1906 1.71 0312 0146 1005 0.39 0739 1.31 SU 1618 1314 2158 0.52 1945 1.73 1.48 0422 0.37 0.63 0221 1105 1.34 1.23 0815 MO 1719 0.50 TH 1351 2305 0.78 2020 1.74 1.51 0.58 1.30

13 13

0.49 14 0850 29 14 0037 0623 1.32 29 TH 1447 0.54 SU 1202 2038 1842 1.78 0319 0125 1008 0.44 0713 1.32 FR 1609 0.55 MO 1247 2154 1925 1.81

Time

1 1 0219 0817 MO

16 16

0401 1.82 23 8 8 1019 0.34 23 1638

MO 1329 1900 1.41 0.58 0114 1.52 0804 MO TU 1424 0.48 2004 1.42 0.63 0211 1.43 0852 TU WE 1518 0.53 2114 1.43 0.66 0313 1.34 0940 WE TH 1610 0.57 2220 1.45 0.67 0413 1.27 1024 TH FR 1658 0.60 2320 1.49 0.64 0508 1.37 1.23 1108 0.55 SA 1742 1.67 0.60

0500 1.57

1651 2316

7 7

23 23

0.48 0.56 0013 15 15 1144 1.48 30 1741 1.25 0600

1555 2224

6 6 0508 1113 WE

22 22

28 28

1501 2133

5 5 0415 1018 TU

21 21

27 27

1411 2044

4 4 0326 0925 MO

20 20

26 26

1322 1956

3 3 0236 0832 SU

19 19

25 25

1236 1910

2 2 0148 0742 SA

0536 0.54 0043 1.57 1.82 1.60 0024 9 24 1153 0652 9 1818 0.41 24 0.58 0.44 0717 SU 1300 1.40 0.69 0029 1.74 0619 0.43 1230 1.45 1854 0.70 0111 1.67 0707 0.44 1313 1.52 1932 0.67 0159 1.61 0802 0.45 1402 1.61 2018 0.62 0253 1.56 0909 0.45 1505 1.70 2115 0.55 0355 1.52 1028 0.46 1621 1.79 2220

Time

Local Time APRIL AUGUST Time Time m

1.63

WE 1158 0.73 1829 1.66 0.48 0110 1.35 0710 MO TH 1252 0.68 1920 1.72 0.41 0158 1.46 0759 TU FR 1345 0.58 2011

14 14

29 29

0.40 30 1149 15 0.60 0041 30 1.35 15 1.22 0633 SA 1758

30 30

31 31

31 0244 0847

1.55

0456

0.46 TU 1214 2329 0.68 1848 1.89 0556 0130 1240 0.28 0726 1.40 SU 1847 WE 1305 0.41 1938 1.98

0303 1.48 0.64 1.28 0.43 0.84 2146 1.87 0406 1.49 0.20 0.61 1048 1.43 1.35 1705 0.34 0.78 2249 1.96 0500 1.51 0.12 0.57 1131 1.52 1.44 1747 0.26 0.71 2342 2.01

0.32 28 0958 0.54 0020 28 1.34 1.27 0618 SU 1613

0.07 1.59 SA 1438 0.22 2100 1.99

 Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2018, Bureau of Meteorology  Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2018, Bureau of Meteorology Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide Times are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect Times are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) or daylight savings time (UTC +11:00) when in effect New Moon First Quarter Last Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon New Moon First Quarter Last Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon Tide predictions for Sydney (Fort Denison) have been formatted by the National Tidal Centre, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Copyright reserved. All material is supplied in good faith and is believed to be correct. It is supplied on the condition that no warranty is given in relation thereto, that no responsibility or liability for errors or omissions is, or will be, accepted and that the recipient will hold MHL and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Australia free from all such responsibility or liability and from all loss or damage incurred as a consequence of any error or omission. Predictions should not be used for navigational purposes. Use of these tide predictions will be deemed to include acceptance of the above conditions. JULY 2019

Hutchison clinches first ABT win with topwater The Sufix BASS Pro took place over 25-26 May at Glenbawn Dam. The weather was cool but the fishing was hot. Scott Hutchison claimed his first ABT win over a massive 68 boat field. He didn’t have much of a pre-fish getting on the water at 9am cruising around looking for likely spots, like weed edges, muddy flats and timbered edges that might hold fish. He found some key areas and was off the water by 12pm, leaving the fish alone until comp day. He said that you can’t win a comp on pre-fish, but you can lose it by burning your fish on practice. Wise words for people looking to get into comp fishing. Day one he left in 51st place out of 68, he got to his spot in the bays on the right hand side of the boat. Throwing topwater for the first 20 minutes saw Scott landing his first fish within 10 casts. He then headed to Pelican Point, trying topwater once again for nothing. He then moved on to some muddy flats in 3-4m of water, throwing a 3/8oz Keitech jig and picking up a fish every hour or so. He only landed five fish for

BOATER WINNER’S GEAR Rods: Reels: Line: Lures:

Ian Miller Rip Freaks Shimano Exsence 20lb Sunline and 12lb Seaguar leader 3/8oz Keitech jig and a River2Sea Whopper Plopper

BOATER 2ND PLACE GEAR Rod: Reel: Line: Lure:

Scott Hutchison claims his first ABT win and the biggest tournament pay-out in ABT history. day one and finished with a weight of 4.32kg, which had him sitting on 4th place going into day two. Day two he tried the same run, but it was a lot windier and his surface bite didn’t work. So, he headed

straight to his muddy flat working his 3/8oz Keitech jigs. Once again, fishing was quite slow for him and he was only picking up a fish every hour or two. He worked that flat methodically all day for only four fish. He

was getting worried as he had a 1pm finish. At about 12:10pm he saw a swirl in 30ft of water and didn’t think it was a carp. He picked up his topwater rod with a River2Sea Whopper Plopper and cast straight into

Samurai 201 Shimano Stradic Ci4 1000 Berkley x9 6lb braid 6lb Momoi leader Keitech Easy Shiner

the rings and boom, his 5th bass came on surface in deep water with sunny skies in the middle of the day on a surface lure. He couldn’t believe what had just happened, nor could anyone else after telling them how he caught it. You can see it in the day 2 highlights video. Scott weighed his five fish for 4.40kg and a total of 8.72kg and locked his first ever ABT Sufix BASS Pro win and the biggest qualifying cheque in about five years of $4000.

Scan the QR code to see Glenbawn day one highlights.

BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Scott Hutchison 2 Troy Boulton 3 Mark Lennox 4 Russell Babekuhl 5 Luke Draper 6 Robert Tilley 7 Graham Ford 8 Greg Beattie 9 Mitchell Cone 10 Tom Slater

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 10/10 8.72 $4000 10/10 8.70 $2000 + $500 Garmin Big Bass 10/10 8.39 $1750 9/10 8.20 $1500 10/10 8.00 $1250 10/10 7.81 $1000 10/10 7.80 $750 + $250 Evinrude Bonus 9/10 7.51 $650 10/10 7.47 $550 9/10 7.38 $550

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888 74

JULY 2019

Boater winner Scott Hutchison and his non-boater Mark Larsson with a couple of their day one fish.

Mick Eastment’s first win in second event Day one Mick headed out with boater Mark Parriot in 16th place. They headed up Glenbawn Dam to just before the 8 knot zone to some trees in about 20-30ft of water. Once again, the 2” Keitech came into play. Fishing definitely wasn’t easy for Mick, only getting a bite about once an hour and not filling a limit of five until about 12pm. Those five fish were all that Mick and Mark caught for the first session of the second round of the 2019 ABT Sufix BASS Pro. The pair weighed a decent bag of five for a total weight of 3.57kg. Day two Mick headed out with Russell Babekull, not going too far up the dam to Big House Bay. They were targeting banks in about 2-6ft of water with Russ fishing a jerkbait and

Mick sticking to his plastic pattern. Russell filled the shared weight bag by 8am before Mick caught a fish. After the sun hit the bank they were fishing, Russell’s jerkbait bite had stopped and this gave Mick’s plastic pattern a chance to work. He was casting beside trees and letting them sink to the bottom and would twitch them out. He ended up getting two good upgrades in the afternoon. Mick would like to give a big thanks to his boaters Mark Parriot and Russell Babekull for an amazing tournament and leading him to his first ABT BASS Pro win. Taking a Bassman Prize Pack that will fill his box with spinnerbaits, jigheads, chatterbaits and skirted jigs for the next couple of seasons. Mick Eastment claimed the non-boater win with a total weight of 8.38kg.

Boulton bags boater second Day one Troy Boulton fished Big House Bay targeting deep edges. He was casting a Keitech 2” Easy Shiner in pumpkin

chartreuse on a 1/4oz Bassman jighead. He told me the first hour was crazy. He would land a fish first cast, drop a fish

on the second, and then him and his non-boated had double hook-ups three casts in a row. Catching his bag by

Troy Boulton and his non-boater Anthony Melchior with a couple of their fish, which helped score them second place in their respective categories.

7:10am, and he only started at 6:55am. He lost count of how many times he upgraded. After a while the bite slowed and became a grind, and he only caught two more fish for the day. But that first flurry was enough to give him a bag of five fish for 4.59kg. Day two he ran straight back to his spot. Bolton said that the fishing was slow on day two, and saw him not catching a fish until his 5th cast and not filling his limit until 7:30am. I hope he was joking on the slow fishing comment, because filling a limit in 35 minutes is just sick. By 9am the bites had completely stopped. So, he moved around looking for new ground. He found one area holding fish but only got one to bite around 11am, which turned out to be a nice upgrade. By then he was happy with what he had in the well and just junk fished for the rest of the day for no more fish. For his effort, Troy Boulton took out the $500 Garmin Big Bass with a healthy 1.25kg fish taken on a 2” Keitech Easy Shiner.

Bass Pro Series presented by

Scan the QR code to see Glenbawn day two highlights.

NON-BOATER WINNER’S GEAR Rod: Reel: Line: Lure:

Shimano Zodias Shimano Stradic Ci4 1000 6lb main line 8lb leader 2” Keitech pumpkin on a 1/6oz jighead

Non-boater Leaon Walker came in third with a total weight of 7.97kg, and walked away with this Tackle Tactics Prize Pack for her efforts.

NON-BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Mick Eastment 2 Anthony Melchior 3 Leaon Walker 4 David Welfare 5 Eathan Martin 6 Robert March 7 Allan Price 8 Thomas Konen 9 Ryan Bates 10 Tim Steenhuis

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 10/10 8.38 Bassman Spinnerbaits Prize Pack 10/10 8.27 Fishtec Prize Pack 10/10 7.97 Tackle Tactics Prize Pack 10/10 7.84 Sufix Prize Pack 10/10 7.80 Daiwa Prize Pack 10/10 7.50 Sunline Prize Pack 10/10 7.41 Keitech Prize Pack 10/10 7.39 Lucky Craft Prize Pack 9/10 7.35 Ecogear Prize Pack 10/10 7.25 Shimano Prize Pack

Competing anglers waiting at the bump tubs before the weigh-in. JULY 2019

Alan Lister annihilates ABT record at Albany The 2019 Costa BREAM Qualifier took place at Albany in WA from 30 April to 1 May. The weather was freezing, raining and blowing a gale, but that didn’t stop keen anglers from getting out there and producing some cracking bags. Alan Lister is a bream legend from Canberra. He follows the ABT Costa BREAM Series everywhere it goes. He has had some highs and lows on the tour over the years, with a couple of top tens in Tasmania and having a cracking bag disqualified at the Tweed River because his phone was on NSW daylight savings making him an hour late. This year at Albany was another high to add to his list. Lister’s pre-fish started pretty good considering he had never fished or seen the water at Albany before. He picked up a legal fish not far from the boat ramp, but that good luck didn’t last. Not only was it freezing cold, wet and windy, he only caught small undersized fish the rest of the day fishing the Kalgan River. He soon realised he would have to try a different area, so Alan made the move to King River. This move

BOATER WINNER’S GEAR Rod: Daiwa Gen Black Instant Noodle 702 Reel: Daiwa Aird 2000 Line: Sunline Castaway 10lb Leader: Sunline FC Rock 4lb Lures: OSP Dunk ZMan motor oil GrubZ

Alan Lister didn’t even need to fish day two to win this round. He finished with a bag total of 6.28kg. was perfect and saw Lister catch five black bream with a combined weight of 4kg. He left the pre-fish at King River in a good mood, believing he had found something special. Day one saw Lister head to that sweet spot he found in the pre-fish and he caught his limit of five bream by 9am. Alan was throwing an OSP

Dunk in a metre or less of water. He was dredging the bottom with his Dunk, giving the rod a couple of big jerks with his rod to really puff the sand up, then pausing the lure and as it would just sit there the bigger fish would smash it. Alan upgraded though the day. With 10 minutes to go he

He only caught three small fish in his spot, so he decided to head further upriver fishing the edges. This saw him catch two more legals on a ZMan grub. Heading back to the weigh-in site he was a little worried he had not done enough. Lister weighed five fish for 1.65kg and a total weight of 6.28kg. Alan Lister could of got a doughnut day two and still won his first ABT Costa BREAM Series Qualifier.

Scan the QR code to see Albany day one highlights.

upgraded his smallest fish for a 39cm black bream, which weighed 1.3kg and also won him the Daiwa J Braid Big Bream. His day one bag was an impressive 4.63kg. Day two conditions were different from day one – it was glassed out and Lister was worried. He stuck to his guns and went back to his flat.

BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Alan Lister 2 Charlie Saykao 3 Tristan Taylor 4 Mark Crompton 5 Alex Greisdorf 6 Joseph Gardner 7 Wally Fahey 8 Callum Dowell 9 Steve Morgan 10 Peter Degroot

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 10/10 6.28 $1100 + $500 Big Bream 10/10 3.48 $750 7/10 3.33 $500 8/10 3.25 Keitech Prize Pack 8/10 2.89 Sunline Prize Pack + $500 Mercury 8/10 2.62 7/10 2.34 $300 Mercury 5/10 2.16 5/10 2.15 4/10 2.05 $200 Mercury

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888 76

JULY 2019

Fishing Monthly’s Ian Sewell and Steve Morgan checking out some of the catch.

Walker strolls away with the top win Stuart Walker is by far the most consistent non-boater of the last five years, with wins and top tens all around the country fishing in the ABT Costa BREAM Series. He is looking to take out his 5th AOY title in consecutive years. Walker pre-fished with Wally Fahey for the WA round at Albany. He said they didn’t catch many big fish on practice day, but caught good numbers of small fish. This gave him a strong game plan for day one of the 2019 ABT Costa BREAM Series held at Albany WA. Day one he was paired up with Mark Crompton. The first thing Crommo said to Walker as they were boarding the boat was, “Hope you got good wet weathers as we’re gonna get wet.” How right he was. They headed up the Kalgan River to start the day. Mark was fishing tight to the edge, so Walker worked the secondary drop-off in around 8-10ft of water using his much loved ZMan GrubZ in motor oil on a 1/16oz jighead. He picked

BREAM SERIES

Scan the QR code to see Albany day two highlights. Non-boater winner Stuart Walker and boater winner Alan Lister. up a couple of keepers working the drop-off. They didn’t spend too much time there, and they decide to head to the King River just past the bridge in the mouth. Walker found his groove here, catching a fish a cast. They weren’t big fish, but he

was getting a keeper every now and then. He managed a 36cm fish that weighed 1kg and tipped his five fish bag to 2.68kg. Day two Walker was fishing with Tristan Taylor, who had motor problems day one that carried on to day two.

They fished just past the King Bridge for 20 minutes before the motor problems started again. They managed to get a mechanic to come down and fix the problem, and then they were off again right up the King River. Walker caught his five

Saykao claims second prize For Charlie Saykao, the pre-fish suggested it was going to be a grind, not because of a lack of fish, but because of a lack of legal bream, even with a 26cm tip minimum. At the start of day one, Saykao changed his strategy and opted to hit the open flats and try to put an early bag together. The wind was forecast to pick up, so it was better to hide in the Kalgan River later. Fishing the flats leading into the Kalgan River produced many undersize fish. A few drifts saw Saykao only pick up two legal fish. The move into the Kalgan didn’t see much change, except calling a legal for his non-boater if he cast at a rock they had drifted past. He made the cast and bang, legal. The rest of the session went the same, undersize after undersize. The Slim

fish limit up there. So, they headed back early, giving themselves time to get back and have another shot at the bridge. With 15 minutes to go, Stuart picked up a vital upgrade of a 39.5cm bream at 1.27kg and his five fish. This gave Walker a day two

Second place boater Charlie Saykao was stoked with the fish he brought to the weigh-in. SlimZ in bloodworm kept hooking up and he managed to get to four legal fish.

With high winds and not much time left, Saykao drew on his knowledge

from being an Albany local for 14 years and headed to the Bayonet Head flats.

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 10/10 5.30 Daiwa Prize Pack + $200 Hobie 9/10 3.81 Fishtec Solutions Prize Pack+ $100 Hobie 8/10 3.04 Cranka Prize Pack + $75 Hobie 5/10 2.17 Tackle Tactics Prize Pack 4/10 2.03 Sufix Prize Pack 5/10 1.66 Ecogear Prize Pack 2/10 1.42 Shimano Prize Pack 4/10 1.39 Lucky Craft Prize Pack 4/10 1.34 3/10 1.26

weight of 2.62kg and secured his second non-boater win of the 2019 Costa BREAM Series Qualifiers. He thanks his boaters Mark Crompton and Tristan Taylor, and gives a shout out to Wally Fahey for the pre-fish.

NON-BOATER WINNER’S GEAR Rod: Reel: Line: Lure:

NON-BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Stuart Walker 2 Michael Sammut 3 Craig Wise 4 Fred Fraser 5 Michael Hodges 6 Mike Sutcliffe 7 Richard Wootten 8 Dallas Batchford 9 Travis Ryan 10 Oliver Seear

BREAM Series presented by

Silver Wolf 7’2” 1-4kg Silver Wolf 2004 6lb Daiwa Evo 8 braid and 4lb Sunline Bream Special leader ZMan motor oil GrubZ on a 1/16-1/12 jighead

It would be protected enough from the high winds and hopefully produce a legal or two. It ended up being a good call. Saykao resorted to his new trusty Berkley 3B Puppy in 12 gauge colour. With only 20 or so minutes left, the Puppy Dog hooked up on his 5th legal. He ended his day one with a 1.69kg bag, which was good until Lister dropped his 4.63kg bag. It was swing for the fences on day two. Charlie Saykao decided to head upstream of the Kalgan River. There is a history of big bags coming from above the rapids, and Saykao knew he had to go big. The Puppy Dog came out to play in the shallow rocky zones to pick up a few legals, but the undersize fish were dominating. Sometimes Saykao and his non-boater thought they had snagged a legal only to be disappointed. The plan was to fish one side of the bank on the way up, and the other on the way down. Saykao

switched between ZMan GrubZ in the deeper water and Puppy Dog in the shallow rock zones. The upper reaches saw some legals caught, but it was upgrading 1mm at a time. He thought it was going to turn on when his non-boater hit a 30cm bream in the middle of the river, but nothing came. They hit a few spots on the way back and even managed a couple more upgrades, but still only by millimetres. Returning to the weigh in Saykao was sure he didn’t have enough, but his 1.79kg bag was enough to snag second. Charlie would really like to thank Shane and Steve Owens for loaning their Nissan Patrol and boat for the week. The round sponsor was Power Pole and it is so hard fishing flats on a boat without Power Poles, especially in the windy conditions they had in Albany. Saykao was using Millerods matched with Daiwa Luvias and loaded with Daiwa Evo 8 in 6lb. This meant he had a setup for each occasion. JULY 2019

Degroot dominates at brilliant Blackwood It was a great weekend at the Okuma Blackwood River BREAM Qualifier – the fifth stop of the 2019 Costa BREAM Series. It was a one, two and three WA finish, with Mandurah local, Peter Degroot holding onto his day one lead to take out the champion’s trophy for this event. His 10/10 limit for 6.11kg put him nearly 100g ahead of Perth’s Alex Greisdorf, who brought in 10/10 bream for 6.02kg to finish in second place. Degroot is a Perth local and he has had a few top 10 finishes in the ABT bream circuit over the years. Now he has taken out his first ever ABT win. He only fishes the

WINNER’S GEAR Rod: Reel: Line: Lure:

SECOND PLACE GEAR Rod: Reel: Line: Lures:

Despite Blackwood not being his favourite fishing location, Peter Degroot still managed to claim the win with a combined weight of 6.11kg.

Scan the QR code to see Blackwood River day one highlights.

Atomic Arrowz 7ft Shimano Stradic Ci4 2500 Sunline Siglon braid and 6lb FC Rock leader River2Sea Baby vibe

Blackwood River roughly six times a year as it’s not his favourite venue, even with his win that hasn’t changed. Peter went into the pre-fish not so confident and fished upriver just past the ski zone. He caught a few nice fish on a reedy bank in the mid 30s on a River2Sea Baby vibe. He left there happy enough to go back and fish this area on day one.

On day one he headed straight upriver to the reedy bank. He was casting his Baby vibe hard to the bank in under a metre of water, working it down the bank to about 4m of water and usually getting bit on the edge. He filled his limit fast and started upgrading by 8am. Peter started to get the bigger bites as the wind picked up and the tide got higher. He finished

day one with five fish for a weight of 3.54kg and a lead of about 400g. Day two Peter went straight back to where he fished the day before, a little worried about whether his spot would handle the pressure and hold up for a second day. His fears were confirmed when he got there, as the fishing was a lot slower and he didn’t get his limit until well after 9am.

Duffrod Daiwa Exist and Luvias 2004 10lb Daiwa Evo 8 and 6lb Yamatayo leader Jackall Chubby shallow and a ZMan GrubZ

The bites did become more consistent as the tide got higher, but it then became hard to land the fish as he started pulling hooks and busting some good fish off. Peter’s persistence paid off, and he managed to land some nice upgrades

at the end of the session giving him five fish for 2.57kg and a total weight of 6.11kg. This secured his first ABT Costa BREAM qualifying win and saw him taking home $1300 and the first place $500 Mercury bonus.

BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Peter Degroot 2 Alex Greisdorf 3 Charlie Saykao 4 Steve Morgan 5 Joseph Gardner 6 Tristan Taylor 7 Mark Crompton 8 Alan Lister 9 Callum Dowell 10 Kim McIntyre

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 10/10 6.11 $1300 $500 Mercury 10/10 6.02 $750 $300 Mercury 10/10 5.76 $500 10/10 5.18 Keitech Prize Pack 10/10 5.09 Sunline Prize Pack 10/10 4.93 10/10 4.77 10/10 4.52 10/10 4.42 10/10 3.70

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888 78

JULY 2019

Anglers lined up and ready to take on the Blackwood River.

BREAM Series presented by

Blatchford boomed at Blackwood Dallas Blatchford hails from the Wangi Wangi area and loves his bream fishing. He will tell you himself, he doesn’t compete to win the ABT Costa BREAM Series, he just comes because he loves it. This passion is what makes the win so special to him and all the anglers he competes against. Day one he fished with Wally Fahey. They headed upriver hitting snags and natural structure on the edges of the Blackwood River. Throwing 2.5” Berkley Gulp camo Crabby on either a 1/32 or 1/24 jighead depending on the wind was his method of choice. Dallas said he had a ball fishing with Wally. They bounced off each other, just having a laugh and catching fish in the mean time. Dallas had filled his limit by 10am and he upgraded a few times after that by 10-20g, fishing in a depth of 0.5-3m of water. His day one bag weighed in at 1.94kg. Day two he went out fishing with Steve

Blatchford stuck to his Crabby pattern, catching a fish here and there with two keepers. As the tide turned in and stated to run hard they headed behind Molloy Island hitting reedy banks with white weedless Ecogear Aqua Bream prawns. Dallas landed two more legal fish there, just missing out on a limit bringing four fish to the scales for a weight of 2.09kg. This gave him a total of 4.03kg and secured Dallas his first ABT Costa BREAM Series win. Steve Duff took out the Daiwa J-Braid Big Bream on the Blackwood with a 1.96kg bream using one of his own Duffrod Urban Bones rods Okuma reel and an OSP Dunk 48 in colour T23.

BREAM SERIES

Scan the QR code to see Blackwood River day two highlights.

NON-BOATER WINNER’S GEAR Dallas Blatchford claimed first place for the non-boater category and took home a Daiwa Prize Pack for his efforts. Morgan, and they headed downstream. They started on some flats but left pretty

quick as they were covered in snot weed. They made a move to the jetties and

artificial structure and it was totally different to the first day.

Rod: Reel: Line: Lures:

Daiwa Black Label V2 Daiwa Luvias 2506 Sunline Siglon 8lb 6lb FC Rock leader Gulp Crabby and Ecogear Bream Prawn

Upgrades paid off for Griesdorf Day one Alex headed downstream of the Blackwood River, fishing banks less than

a metre deep targeting overhanging paperbark trees. His lures of choice were a shallow

Jackall Chubby in black and gold, and brown suji shrimp, and ZMan GrubZ in

Boater first and second place, Peter Degroot and Alex Greisdorf, with some of the catches that made up their winning bags.

gudgeon on a 1/16 TT HeadlockZ jighead. Alex just kept going through the motions, knowing that any cast with one of his three lure choices was bound to get bites and fill the limit of five bream a day. He only got his five fish day one for a total weight of 2.88kg. Heading out on day two he was a little more confident in his pattern and filled the limit of five Blackwood black bream by about 10am, far better than his first day. Not only did he fill his limit quite quickly, he also got three upgrades before the end of the session and the three upgrades were his best three fish for the weekend. Bumping his five fish for a day two weight of 3.15kg and a total weight of 6.02kg saw him win $750 and the $300 Mercury bonus.

Everyone was having a great time fishing the Blackwood River!

NON-BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Dallas Blatchford 2 Tani Konsul 3 Stuart Walker 4 Richard Wootten 5 Oliver Seear 6 Mike Sutcliffe 7 Fred Fraser 8 Michael Sammut 9 Bernard Kong 10 Michael Hodges

Total Fish Total Weight (kg) Prize 9/10 4.03 Daiwa Prize Pack + $200 Hobie bonus 10/10 3.85 Fishtec Solution Prize Pack 10/10 3.70 Cranka Prize Pack + $100 Hobie bonus 7/10 3.61 Tackle Tactics Prize Pack + $75 Hobie bonus 9/10 3.39 Sufix Prize Pack 9/10 3.30 Ecogear Prize Pack 8/10 3.10 Shimano Prize Pack 7/10 2.90 Lucky Craft Prize Pack 7/10 2.86 6/10 2.23

Wally Fahey missed out on top 10 boaters by 120g. So close! JULY 2019

Trades, Services, Charter COFFS COAST

HOLIDAY RENTAL MACLEAY VALLEY COAST

CRESCENT HEAD HOLIDAY RENTALS

SYDNEY

Freshest Fishing Tours 0421 405 221 Coffs Coast Sport Fishing 0434 517 683 Trial Bay Fishing Charters, 0427 256 556

Penrith Marine (02) 4731 6250 Cohoe Marine Products (Sydney) (02) 9519 3575 Blakes Marine (02) 4577 6699 Watersports Marine (02) 9676 1400 Marina Bayside (02) 9524 0044 Shannons Outboards (02) 9482 2638 TR Marine World (02) 4577 3522

www.southwestrocksfishingadventures.com.au

For all your accommodation needs, house, units & townhouses for every budget. Contact the friendly team at Crescent Head Real Estate for your free holiday brochure.

www.crescentheadholidayrentals.com.au

Email: holiday@crescentheadrealestate.com.au 6 MAIN ST, CRESCENT HEAD NSW 2440

Phone: 02 6566 0500

Crescent Head Holiday Rentals (02) 6566 0500

PORT & REEF SFISHING GAME ERS

CHART

CANBERRA/ACT H2O Marine (02) 6280 0555 Aussie Boat Sales ACT & NSW 0433 531 226

TWEED/BYRON COAST u Mid week packages from $420 p/p* u Weekend packages from $320 p/p*

*Minimum 6 people

On board our fully equiped 38ft Randell TRIFECTA Contact: David Hayman (Stumpee) Mobile: 0411 096 717 info@swrcharters.com.au

SYDNEY

Tweed Coast Marine (07) 5524 8877 Ballina Marineland (02) 6686 2669

MACQUARIE COAST Graham Barclay Marine (02) 6554 5866 Manning River Marine Taree (02) 6552 2333

Harbour and Estuary Fishing Charters (02) 9999 2574 or 0410 633 351 Sydney Sportfishing Adventures 0405 196 253

HUNTER COAST Wangi Point Lakeside Holiday Park (02) 4975 1889

QUEENSLAND

Blacksmiths Holiday Park (02) 4971 2858

Mikat Cruises Fishing Charters Swains & Coral Sea 0427 125 727

CENTRAL COAST

MIKAT CRUISES

Central Coast Holiday Parks 1800 241 342

ILLAWARRA COAST Riviera Caravan Park, St George’s Basin (02) 4441 2112

FRESHWATER Burrinjuck Waters State Park (02) 6227 8114 Grabine Lakeside State Park (02) 4835 2345 Alpine Tourist Park (02) 6454 2438 www.alpinetouristpark.com.au

THE FISHING EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME!

Milani Trout Cottages (02) 6775 5735 www.milanitroutcottages.com

• Reef, Deep Sea and Sport Fishing • Swains, Samurez, Cap Bunker Group • Dories available • LUXURY 20m Cat. New V8 Scanias. Large comfortable and stable. • Air conditioned and fast (cruise up to 16 knots) • Professional crew (over 22 years experience) • Cater for groups up to 12 people from 3 to 10 days • BYO or fully licenced bar • Desalinate unit • Trips designed to suit your requirements

Wyangala Waters State Park (02) 6345 0877 Chifley Dam Cabins 1800 68 1000

FISH TAXIDERMY Fish Taxidermist 0428 544 841

CHARTER BOATS

SATELLITE TV INSTALLED

Dave Gaden’s Yamba • Deep Sea

REEL TIME FISHING CHARTERS

Phone: 0427 125 727 I Fax: (07) 4972 1759 michael@mikat.com.au

www.mikat.com.au FISHING GUIDES PORT STEPHENS Fish Port Stephens Estuary Charters 0434 370 687

MACQUARIE COAST

Salt Away 1800 091 172 www.salt-away.com.au

SYDNEY The Boat Pimpers (Sydney) (02) 9792 7799

EDEN COAST

OPEN 7 DAYS

YAMBA’S LARGEST TACKLE STORE • Chandlery • Boat Sales • Ice & Gas • Bait & Tackle • Trailers Sales & Parts • Charter Bookings Ph: 6646 1994 or 0428 231 962 Email: dave@gaden.com.au

Reel Time Fishing Charters Yamba 0428 231 962

MODIFICATIONS & REPAIRS // BOAT & TRAILER

ILLAWARRA COAST

MARINA BOAT & TACKLE, YAMBA MARINA

CLARENCE COAST

Minn Repairs & Servicing Call Troy 0412 605 080 – W: minnrepairs.com minnrepairsservicing E: minnrepairs@gmail.com

Bay & Basin Sportsfishing 0413 610 832

Phone Dave today: www.fishingyamba.com.au 0428 231 962

Now Agents For

• All electric motor brands • Australia wide freight • Quick turn around • Authorised Minn Kota/Watersnake repairer

Castaway Estuary Charters 0427 239 650

• 6am to 2pm $150pp • 3 boats – holds up to 30+ people • All fishing gear and bait is supplied • No fishing licence req. • Pickup from Yamba Marina or Iluka ferry wharf

EASY PARKING

MINN REPAIRS & SERVICING

Captain Kev’s Wilderness Fishing Tours (02) 4474 3345 or 0424 625 160

KAYAK DEALERS The Life Aquatic - Mona Vale – (02) 9979 1590 Australian Bass Angler - Penrith – (02) 4721 0455 Hunts Marine - Yallah – (02) 4284 0444 Bunyips Great Outdoors - Lismore – (02) 6622 1137 Maclean Outdoors - MacLean – (02) 6645 1120 Wetspot Watersports -Fyshwick – (02) 6239 1323 Graham Barclay Marine – Forster – (02) 6554 5866 Hunter Water Sports - Belmont – (02) 4947 7899 Totally Immersed Watersports - Nowra (02) 4421 5936 Hunts Marine - Batemans Bay – (02) 4472 2612 Compleat Angler – Merimbula – (02) 6495 3985

MARINE MECHANICS COFFS COAST Coffs Harbour Marine (02) 6652 4722 North Coast Boating Centre (02) 6655 7700 Jetty Boating (02) 6651 4002

$449 USD (includes shipping)

www.hydrowaveaustralia.com

Boat Wrap Specialist www.xfactorsigns.com

This section in NSW Fishing Monthly consolidates the trades and services in your area that are relevant to your fishing and boating. Whether you’re a local looking for more options or a travelling angler fishing around the state, this guide will direct you to reputable businesses in the area you’re searching. 80

JULY 2019

“

Boats & Guided Fishing Tours Directory

ba Prawn BBAIT lades & TACKLE “Yam ” CLARENCE

YAMBA BAIT & TACKLE “Yamba’s Leading Tackle Shop” “IN THE MAIN STREET” Shop 3, 8 Yamba St, Yamba

02 6646 1514

ONLINE TACKLE PRODUCTS

www.fishin.com.au TOURNAMENT TACKLE STORE

OPEN 7 DAYS

•

A U S T R A L I A

ZX BLADES

Margay 2017

ZMAN GRUBZ CRANKA CRABS

“The Home of Leavey Lures” • Stocking all Major Brands • Experienced Local Knowledge • Tournament Bream Gear in Stock • Snorkelling gear in stock

BENT MINNOWS

JACKALL CHUBBY

FREE EXPRESS SHIPPING

Drop in to see Mick & Kelly

• • • •

Marina Boat and Tackle (02) 6646 1994 Yamba Bait & Tackle (02) 6646 1514

COFFS COAST Compleat Angler Kempsey (02) 6562 5307

0425 230 964 – info@fishin.com.au

$49,990

17’7” • Single axle Basscat trailer 115 hp Mercury 4 stroke 24v electric motor (Minn Kota or Motor Guide) 2 x sounders (Humminbird 597cxi HD Di or Lowrance HDS 5)

Pantera II 2017

SHOP 18, 29 KIORA RD MIRANDA NSW 2228

MOTackle & Outdoors (02) 6652 4611 or www.motackle.com.au Rocks Marine Bait & Tackle South West Rocks (02) 6566 6726

www.fishin.com.au 0425 230 964 Blue Bottle Fishing 0409 333 380 or www.bluebottlefishing.com

MACQUARIE COAST

MOTackle & Outdoors (02) 6652 4611 or www.motackle.com.au

Ned Kelly Bait n Tackle Port Macquarie (02) 6583 8318

Adrenalin Flies www.adrenalinflies.com.au

Graham Barclay Marine (02) 6554 5866

Anglers Warehouse www.anglerswarehouse.com.au

Manning River Marine Taree (02) 6552 2333

SAMPLE AD - BUSINESS NAME This is where your copy will appear. You will have approximately 30 words within a 5x2 ad size.

N O W AVA IL A B L E ALL YOUR FISHING MONTHLY GEAR

• • • •

$74,990

19’1” • Single axle Basscat trailer 200 hp Mercury Optimax 24v electric motor (Minn Kota or Motor Guide) 2 x sounders (Humminbird 698cxi HD Si or Lowrance HDS 7 GEN2)

Yar-Craft 1785BT 2017

From

T-Shirts

22 85

Email : ads@fishingmonthly.com.au HUNTER COAST Port Stephens Tackle World (02) 4984 2144

SYDNEY Australian Bass Angler www.abafishing.com.au

FRESHWATER Aberdeen Fishing & Outdoors (02) 6543 7111 Dubbo Marine and Watersports (02) 6882 2853 Loomzys Fish and Fix (Forbes) (02) 6851 1425

NOW YOU CAN TIE THE PERFECT FG KNOT EVERY TIME

Phone Cases From

29 45

Mugs From

1 7 27

• • • •

Sabre FTD 2017

and lots more...

MANY DESIGNS TO CHOOSE FROM ON A WIDE VARIETY OF PRODUCTS

ALL MADE TO ORDER

• • • •

$59,990

18’1” • Single axle Basscat trailer 115 hp Mercury 4 stroke 24v electric motor (Minn Kota or Motor Guide) 2 x sounders (Humminbird 698cxi HD Si or Lowrance HDS 7 GEN2)

MANNING RIVER MARINE 13 Victoria Street, TAREE (02) 6552 2333 jim@manningrivermarine.com.au www.mercurydealertaree.com ABERDEEN FISHING & OUTDOORS 69 New England Hwy, ABERDEEN (02) 6543 7111 aberdeentackle@gmail.com www.aberdeenfishingandoutdoors.com.au

NO MORE bulky braid/leader joins

SEE IT! .. BUY IT! .. www.fgwizz.com.au

$59,990

17’5” • Single axle Basscat trailer 75 hp Mercury 4 stroke 24v electric motor (Minn Kota or Motor Guide) 2 x sounders (Humminbird 597cxi HD Di or Lowrance HDS 5)

fishingmonthly.redbubble.com

We Build Dreams... It’s a Family Tradition A U S T R A L I A

Phone: 0410 173 060 basscataustralia@gmail.com

Advertisers wanting to be involved in this directory can call (07) 3387 0800 or email ads@fishingmonthly.com.au JULY 2019

Cooking

Winter warmer: creamy yellow fish curry SYDNEY

Andrew Humphries

Prepare the sweet potato, zucchini and the red and yellow capsicum by dicing

into 2cm pieces. Skin and debone barramundi fillets and dice into 2cm pieces and set aside. Heat pan and add 2tsp of oil, sautĂŠ yellow curry paste for two minutes until

fragrant. Add in sweet potato and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to the boil to cook the jasmine rice. Once boiling, add in rice and cook for

700g barramundi fillets diced with skin off 1 cup sweet potato diced 1/2 red capsicum diced 1/2 green capsicum diced 1 zucchini diced 1/4 bunch coriander 400mL coconut cream 2tsp Ayam yellow curry paste 1 cup jasmine rice

Serve yellow fish curry together with rice and garnish with coriander. Note that with this recipe you can play around and also use with prawns, squid, mussels etc.

Diced sweet potato, carrot, zucchini, capsicum and coriander.

2 Cooking the curry paste for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.

4 The barramundi fillets before being skinned and diced into 2cm pieces.

6 Barramundi yellow curry simmering away on a low heat.

JULY 2019

Turn heat down to low, stir in barramundi pieces and allow to cook for 6-7 minutes. Check a piece of fish to ensure that the barramundi is cooked.

INGREDIENTS

12-15 minutes or until rice is aldente. Add in coconut cream and bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add in zucchini and capsicum and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

3 The yellow curry sauce with the vegetables simmering.

5 The prepared barramundi diced into 2cm pieces.

7 The delicious quick and easy barramundi yellow curry ready to eat!

The Sydney International Boat Show

boats & kayaks

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, SYDNEY & COCKLE BAY MARINA IN DARLING HARBOUR

1st to 5th August, 2019 – 10am to 7pm

In the skipper’s seat 84 Kayak holidaying Inside story...

Bar Crusher leads the industry in design and quality to produce some of the most advanced plate aluminium fishing boats on the market. Incorporating exclusive innovations, Bar Crusher boats are renowned for their superior performance.

Made for...

Bar Crusher’s philosophy is all about ensuring that the buyer ends up with a boat that’s ideal for their offshore boating needs. Bar Crushers deliver a super-smooth ride – a far cry from the uncomfortable, pounding ride of traditional aluminium boats – and superior stability at rest.

This month...

Editor Steve Morgan climbs into the Bar Crusher 615 BR, powered by a 150hp Suzuki. Check it out on page 92!

Want to take your love for kayaking overseas? Let Justin Willmer show you how!

88 Sawtell sensations Dayne Tayor shines a light on this beautiful coastal town and its kayaking opportunities.

90 Clean boat storage Wayne Kampe looks at how you can prevent storage woes with your boat.

94 Revival 640 Offshore Steve Morgan takes a ride in this great rig from Revival, powered by a Mercury 150hp!

96 Whittley SL25HT

This beast of a boat, powered by a 200hp Volvo Penta inboard, gets a thorough workout from Steve Morgan.

JULY 2019

The Sydney International Boat Show

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, SYDNEY & COCKLE BAY MARINA IN DARLING HARBOUR

1st to 5th August, 2019 – 10am to 7pm

Bar Crusher 615BR with Suzuki 150hp 4-stroke - SC

TENT -

RE ONLINE MO

DE FOR EX

Main: Is there anything better than a brilliant day on Port Phillip Bay, a Bar Crusher and 150 Suzuki horses pushing you along? Above: The 615BR is Bar Crusher’s first foray into a multi-purpose craft, although Matt Urzia will always find a way to fish in it. At rest the Gen 2 hull’s ballast tank takes on hundreds of litres of water and sinks the chines deeper to offer improved stability at rest. extra weight around. “A lot of our customers want to go out or come home in rough conditions, and the Gen 2 hull lets them do that with maximum levels of comfort,” Pete explained. If you’re thinking that the 615BR lacks some of its siblings’ fishing chops, you’d be mistaken. The bow riding section has removable cushions and a drop-in deck infill that makes the whole

RPM........ Speed.(km/h)....... Economy.(km/L) 1000 ........................... 3 ............................ 4.0 2000........................... 7 ............................ 2.8 3000......................... 11 ............................ 1.9 3700 ......................... 34 ............................ 2.3 4000......................... 38 ............................ 2.1 5000......................... 53 ............................ 1.6 6000......................... 66 ............................ 1.2 JULY 2019

are matched with Victorian built EasyTow trailers and, coupled with their BarCatch system, it’s a foolproof as possible to launch and retrieve these rigs, even if you’re boating alone. Packages with the 615BR start from high $60K, and as tested, this rig weighed in around the mid $80K mark.

SPECIFICATIONS

PERFORMANCE

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

It’s not often you get the head of a company to come out on a boat test, but Bar Crusher’s Peter Cleland showed up at the Launching Way ramp with their first foray into a multi-purpose boat in tow, the 615 BR (bow rider). When questioned about the genesis of the craft, Peter said they wanted to design a fishing weapon that the family could also go out on, to enjoy a bit of fun with some towsports. “We stand at a lot of boat shows talking to people, and this design came from that,” he said. Built on Bar Crusher’s well proven Gen 2 hull, it features a ‘delta flare’, which is like an old style planing plank on a glass boat that gets the boat onto the plane quickly. The chines are wider than their original hulls to deflect more water downwards and the passive water ballast system reduces buoyancy at rest, dropping the chines further into the water and improving stability. When the boat takes off, this water dumps out quickly and you’re not carrying the

pseudo-cabin style feel and ride for when conditions get a little nasty. Performance-wise, the 150hp Suzuki displayed the economy that they’re known for, delivering 2.3km/L at 3,700rpm and 34km/h. Drop the hammers and she got up to 66km/h at 6,000rpm at nearly half the

Steve Morgan

CON

AN THE

FMG

for’ard section a flat casting deck. You can easily add a bow-mounted trolling motor to make this a boat that can easily sneak around any part of the country to cast lures in. The rear cockpit is similarly transformable. Pull out the ski pole and add a bait board to turn this into a classic snapper rig – complete with the windlass up front to pull the anchor for you. Importantly, there’s family-friendly shade, places to sit, and the ability to get in and out of this boat while on the water, which is all that most of us need to have a good time. Well, maybe that, and a donut to tow the kids around on. We particularly like the generous dash space in Bar Crushers that allow flush

mounting of electronics, and that these are viewable from the cockpit easily. With the addition of the soft top, bow cover and clears you get a

Length...................................................... 6.15m Beam........................................................2.25m Bottom.sheet ............................................4mm Side.sheets................................................4mm Fuel ............................................................ 140L Min.HP ......................................................... 115 Max.HP ........................................................ 150 Height.on.trailer ...................................... 2.15m Fuel ............................................................ 140L economy, 1.2km/L. This rig demonstrably likes cruising economically at the lower end of the planing speeds. Finally, Bar Crushers supplied from the factory

For more information, get in touch with your nearest Bar Crusher dealer. You can find where your local dealer is by visiting www. barcrusher.com.au.

Suzukis are notoriously economical. This 150hp and 6m+ boat delivered 2.3km/L at 34km/h and 3,700rpm, and a 66km/h top end speed.

The Sydney International Boat Show

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, SYDNEY & COCKLE BAY MARINA IN DARLING HARBOUR

1st to 5th August, 2019 – 10am to 7pm

Inset and above: The Bar Crusher team is always looking at clever ways of using space. The under seat tackle storage here is just one of their additions.

Top: The bait board is simple with a removable Teflon insert. You can swap it out for a ski pole for the watersports days. Above: There’s always plenty of space on a Bar Crusher helm for all of your electronics, so size isn’t an issue.

Bar Crusher’s solution to a rear bench is solid and reliable. It’s simple to deploy and has a smooth finish while stowed.

There is a distinct separation between the front deck and the anchor well, and hopefully no salt water makes its way into your cocktails.

With a bow area covered and locked down, the cockpit is quite sheltered. There are plenty of places to hang onto, which your passengers will appreciate.

If you’re headed off for a weekend of camping there’s plenty of space under the bow cover to stow camping gear.

All of these deck cushions remove to turn the 615 into a fishing platform. Leave the cushions in and remove the centre infill and it’s a lounge.

The 140L fuel tank gives a theoretical range at best economy of over 250km.

Add a bow-mounted electric motor here to really take advantage of the for’ard casting deck.

The slide-in transom door is as simple is it gets.

All this bait tank needs to work is a functioning water pump. It self levels and drains straight onto the duckboard. JULY 2019

The Sydney International Boat Show

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, SYDNEY & COCKLE BAY MARINA IN DARLING HARBOUR

1st to 5th August, 2019 – 10am to 7pm

Revival 640 Offshore with Mercury 150hp 4-stroke - SC

TENT -

RE ONLINE MO

Length............... 6.40m Beam................. 2.40m Max.HP ................. 225 Tow.weight ..... 2000kg Capacity ..... 8 persons Fuel ..................... 200L The current fleet comprises 6 models from 5.25m to 6.5m each with unique editions that span a vast array of boating options and offer unrivalled value in their respective markets. According to their website, “Revival currently builds around three (3) hulls per week in its Melbourne 94

JULY 2019

DE FOR EX

SPECIFICATIONS

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

We’ve tested a few Revivals in the last year, ranging from their Cruiser to the crossover X-Rider. Revival Boats create value-focused family fishing, lifestyle and off-shore-oriented craft that are meticulously handcrafted in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne, Vic. Launched in the wake of the GFC, Revival Boats is the creation of founder, Sam Catanese, former captain of iconic Aussie boat brand, Stejcraft. Rather than merely replicate his previous efforts, Sam started with a clean sheet and crafted a tougher and more versatile family of hulls that could cater to every environment and boating experience.

they’re on the water. Weighing in at under 2,500kg, it’s eminently towable by a twin cab ute or 4WD. You’d probably need to leave the small family SUV at home on a trip with the 640.

Steve Morgan

CON

AN THE

FMG

plenty of commentary and running footage there if you’re not within striking distance of Western Australia’s southwest. For more information or custom pricing, give the team at Hitech Marine

PERFORMANCE

Main: There’s no way anybody would rather be at work on the test day – it was immaculate. Above: On the open ocean side, we could really get a feel of how this hull handled the ocean swells. A bit more wind would have been nice to run it through some swell plus wind chop. facility making it one of the most prolific manufacturers of fibreglass trailer boats in Australia. Each hull is painstakingly hand-crafted to exacting specifications and unlike many brand owners, Sam proudly has his hands (literally) on every hull produced in his factory.” The test boat was powered by a 3.0L 150hp Mercury, which is a solid platform that’s been around for years and it’s pushing along a Revival 640 Offshore. For those outside the industry, this ‘work/demo’ boat is one that the West Australian guys put together so that they can go fishing and boating on their days off. And the business gets to own it. After all, there needs to be SOME advantages of owning a boat shop.. The smooth water on the test day let us measure

some figures like speed and economy. With the hammers down, the boat reached 66km/h at a reasonably thirsty 1.1km/L and 5,500rpm. Drop it down to cruising speed, though (32km/h at 3,500rpm) and all of a sudden you’re getting just under double that range. Combine that with a 200L fuel tank and well over 300km is on the cards for an extended fishing trip. Pushing out into the ocean swell, the ride was very pleasant and it definitely punched above its price point. You can see the fit out in the images, but the test craft’s equally rigged for a fishing mission or a family day on the water and there’s not a lot of time needed to switch between the two. Is the Revival the top-of-the-line all-singing, all dancing fishing

machine? Definitely not, but it does have all of the attributes of a highly capable offshore boat that keeps the less-keen anglers in a happy place when

RPM......Speed.(km/h).......... Economy.(km/L) 650 ...........................5 ............................... 2.5 1000 .........................8 ............................... 2.3 2000....................... 13 ............................... 1.7 3000....................... 28 ............................... 1.8 3500 ....................... 32 ............................... 1.9 4000....................... 45 ............................... 1.8 5000....................... 60 ............................... 1.3 5500 ....................... 66 ............................... 1.1 You can see the video of the boat test on the Fishing Monthly Magazines YouTube channel – or you can scan the QR code on your smartphone. There’s

a call (or visit www. hightechmarine.com.au. As tested, this Revival came in at $93,000, however, packages start from around $80,000.

The Mercury 3.0L has proven itself to be a real workhorse since its launch. Optimum cruising speed delivered 1.9km/L economy at 32km/h and 3,500rpm – decent for a 6.4m boat.

The Sydney International Boat Show

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, SYDNEY & COCKLE BAY MARINA IN DARLING HARBOUR

1st to 5th August, 2019 – 10am to 7pm

Top: The Revival boat features a folding rear lounge and a removable bait station. It’s pretty easy to convert this from a serious fishing rig to a family day craft. Below: With carpet lining and padded pocket fronts, it’s a reasonably luxurious cabin up front.

When the Mercury dealer puts the 150 4-stroke on their own demo boat, you know that they are confident with it.

Rounded seat bases aren’t as common as they once were, yet there’s still storage underneath for tackle you need close to hand. Folding seat fronts are becoming more and more common, offering support whether you are seated or standing.

The rig sits on a twin axle Dunbier Glider roller series trailer. Ready for fishing, it weighs in at under 2,500kg.

There is a hard top in the Revival 640 range, however, the shop rig is a soft top. There’s still plenty of shade and shelter from the elements with the added clears.

Left: The passenger seating is mounted on a stainless base that holds a cooler box underneath. Right: You can mix and match seat base options.

With everything flush mounted, the helm is neat and tidy. It is one of the more tidy layouts we’ve seen. JULY 2019

The Sydney International Boat Show

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, SYDNEY & COCKLE BAY MARINA IN DARLING HARBOUR

1st to 5th August, 2019 – 10am to 7pm

Whittley SL25HT with 200hp Volvo Penta inboard - SC

TENT -

RE ONLINE MO

Whittley, “ but this 25 is a very popular rig for both anglers and families. “Also, it’s the deepest-vee 25 footer in its class. The low centre of gravity from the sterndrive offsets the high weight of the glass hard top, and gives this hull a great ride when the water is rough.” Not that we could assess that on the test day at Queenscliff; it was the kind of glassed-out day where every hull rides as smooth as a hovercraft. What we could test, though, was performance. This rig jumps out of the hole and onto the plane, but what about the most economical speed? As it happened, 3500rpm delivered 35km/h at 25L per hour, equating to 1.4km/L. Handy indeed for a 25 footer. Put the hammers down and you’ll reach 64km/h at 6450rpm, but your efficiency will

PERFORMANCE RPM......Speed.(km/h). Economy.(km/L) 650 ........................ 5.3 ....................... 2.1 1000 .........................8 ....................... 1.9 2000.................... 13.7 ....................... 1.3 3000....................... 24 ....................... 1.0 3500 ....................... 35 ....................... 1.4 4000....................... 41 ....................... 1.2 5000....................... 55 ....................... 1.1 5650 ....................... 64 ....................... 0.9 96

JULY 2019

DE FOR EX

Every time I get into a boat that’s powered by a 240hp Volvo Duoprop, it brings a smile to my face. Plenty of power from the V6 block is readily translated to the water through the six blades of the counter-rotating propellers, and the result is super mid-range torque and a fun boat to drive. Most recently I test drove a Whittley SL25HT, so named because it’s in the Sea Legend range (SL) with a hard top (HT). While I was throwing it into turns and checking out the hole shot, I had to remind myself that it was a 25ft boat. Whittleys are built in Melbourne, and we have tested plenty of them over the years, from their diminutive CW1650 through to the trailerable 28ft cruisers. This rig sits at the upper end of the Whittley range, but in the middle of the SL sizes.

Marine Director of Sales and Marketing Alan

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

wide in the morning and then in the estuary later on in this boat,” Whittley said. “That’s what it’s designed to do.” Indeed, if you’re

“There’s a 20 and 22SL under it, and a 26 and 28SL above it,” said Whittley

Steve Morgan

CON

AN THE

FMG

test boat with all of its options checked out at a tad under $160,000. For more information visit www. whittleymarinegroup.com.

SPECIFICATIONS

Main: Whittley’s Hard Top 25-footer in the Sea Legend range totes a sterndrive, which is why the model is called the SL25HTSD. It has plenty of torque when you put the hammers down. Above: The rear duckboard is a spacious casting platform. There’s plenty of potential here to cover it in squid ink. plummet, yielding 900m per litre of fuel burned. The hard top itself is very handy, with twin layered glass with magnificent visibility to nearly every quarter. The air flow is good for more humid climates, with sliding side windows and a sliding, lockable cabin door in the bulkhead to help secure your gear while you’re docked or travelling. The routed SeaDek inside is virtually mandatory nowadays for a boat of this class, and Whittley does it well. The rig can’t escape its cruiser heritage either, with a sink and sliding fridge cleverly inbuilt. The transom duckboard adds family flexibility to the unit, with easy access

for kids or other swimmers on either side. “And there are no problems fishing out

Length.overall ............................................7.7m Length.on.trailer .....................................8.45m Height.on.trailer ........................................3.3m Beam........................................................2.49m Transom.deadrise ....................................... 23° Fuel ............................................................240L Water............................................................20L Dry.tow.weight ............................................2.8t Max.hp .........................................................300 Capacity ............................................ 8 persons looking for a versatile boat that’s half fishing and half cruiser, the SL25HT is well worth adding to the list. This model is priced from the mid-$130,000s, and the

au, or like Whittley on Facebook for their latest updates. You can also scan the QR code hereby to see this boat in action on the test day.

The SL25HT has been designed from the hull up to accommodate the hard top. Just dropping a heavy top that high can be problematic on some hulls.

The Sydney International Boat Show

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, SYDNEY & COCKLE BAY MARINA IN DARLING HARBOUR

1st to 5th August, 2019 – 10am to 7pm

The 25 carries its 23° of transom deadrise well – probably due to the low centre of gravity afforded by the sterndrive installation.

The stern duckboard is suitable for fishing, swimming or BBQing.

Advances in synthetic decking mean that now you can expect quality, durable, washable decking in a boat like this. Whittley do theirs well.

Supplied on a dual axle trailer, the SL25HT is not only impressive on the water, but great to tow as well.

Yep, that’s a TV up front near the access hatch. The SL25HT features a quite luxurious cabin that will keep the family happy.

The grab bar that runs lengthways along the hard top is a neat and practical idea.

At Fishing Monthly we love a good flushmounted sounder fit-out. The SL25’s dash holds a large display with ease. Big tick for the waterproof switch panels, too.

The all-round visibility of the windscreens is impressive.

See the slide-out drawer under the seat base? That’s a fridge.

Underfloor wet storage for swimming gear or fish is incredibly practical.

A dozen livies will survive in here… until you send them to their doom.

Combining stainless rocket launchers with deck lighting is neat. JULY 2019