Victoria and Tasmania Fishing Monthly December 2019 by Fishing Monthly

COD CASTING TECHNIQUES • CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

Features

Freshwater lure options • Fish stocking: will there ever be enough? • Kayaking Western Port • Casting for cod techniques • Christmas Gift ideas •

Boating & Kayaking Propellers for beginners • Double christening the yak and SUP •

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December 2019, Vol. 15 No.2

Contents WEST COAST West Coast

Warrnambool 18 Apollo Bay

Cobden 19

CENTRAL Geelong 22 Port Phillip West

Port Phillip North East

Mornington Peninsula

Port Phillip Surrounds

Western Port North

Western Port South

Phillip Island

EAST COAST Gippsland Lakes

Bemm River

Corner Inlet

Marlo 46 Lakes Entrance

NSW SOUTH COAST Merimbula 50 Narooma 51 Bermagui 52 Mallacoota/Eden 52

VICTORIAN FRESHWATER Wagga Wagga

Yarrawonga 63 Albury/Wodonga 63 Robinvale 64 Bendigo 64 Snowy Mountains

West/South Gippsland

From the Editor’s Desk... Every year, it seems as though we become more busy. Fishing Monthly is no exception. We all seem to be working harder for the same rewards. There’s thirteen employees at the Fishing Monthly head office who work hard to put out 48 monthly magazines each year – the Qld, NSW, Vic/Tas and WA Fishing Monthlies are the biggest state-based monthly magazines in their respective regions. But modern magazine publishing has its challenges. It’s not like it was 20 years ago when there was a stream of companies wanting to spend their marketing budgets with you. The modern publisher has had to become multi-skilled. Nowadays, we don’t just make magazines, we make magazines and other things. The other

things include events, video content, websites and web stores. And by default we need to volunteer to help the industry in other ways. Currently I serve on the Australian Fishing Trade Association (AFTA) and Australian Recreational Fishing Federation (ARFF) boards. All voluntary. Sometimes it leaves little time for fishing and little time for family. With a hefty away-from-home calendar each year, it’s sometimes great to get the time to spend simple times with the kids on a riverbank. And with mulloway, threadfin salmon, bream, bull sharks and catfish in my local, do you know what the kids want to catch most? Toadfish… Those little brown toadies – the ones that swim around the shore looking to mop up whatever has dropped in. As hydronamic

as a brick and just about as clever as one, my kids (10 and 11) love nothing more than a stick, line, #14 hook and bread sight-casting to toadfish. I reckon that it comes down to the visual aspect. I’m a dead set sight-fishing addict. It doesn’t matter if it’s a carp or a tuna, if I can see it eat, I throw at it. The kids are the same. If they can walk along and see the prey and then try to catch it, it triggers something primal in all of us. They’re definitely not a big or prestigious fish, but I see them learning lessons about how to stalk and present to a fish and be patient enough to catch it. So that’s what we may well do lots of in the two week break where we shut the office down over Christmas. Watching cricket and chasing the ultimate river toadfish bite.

We’ll all be away for those two weeks, so if you’re after a gift subscription for Christmas or a Carl Jocumsen jersey, get your orders in by 12 December. Kym and Marie in the front of house will be happy to get you hooked up with what you want. If you’ve left it too late, you can still buy gift subscriptions on iSubscribe right through the holidays. Just look at the most popular magazines on the Boating and Fishing section – you’ll find us at the top! From all of us at the Fishing Monthly offices, thank you for your business throughout the year and for keeping a small, independent local publisher that prints in Australia going. We still love doing it – even if it’s a heavier workload than before.

Wangaratta 66 Eildon 67 Shepparton 68 Nagambie 69 Crater Lakes

Mildura 70 Ballarat 71

Fun Page

Flyfishing 60 Inland Fisheries Service

Tasmanian Lake Levels

Tournament News

Track My Fish

Trade and Services Guide

Victorian Game Fishing

Victorian Tide Times

What’s new boating

WIRF 76

SPECIAL FEATURES Freshwater lure options

Fish stocking: will there ever be enough?

Kayaking Western Port

Casting for cod techniques

Christmas Gift ideas

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Dean Norbiato with a lovely Murray cod taken on a Bassman Spinnnerbait.

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Exploring freshwater lure options WESTERN PORT STH

Jarrod Day jarrodday@iprimus.com.au

The Victorian Fisheries Authority has been doing great things for recreational fishing in recent years and when it comes to freshwater fishing, they certainly have gone above and beyond. Tens of thousands of Murray cod, yellowbelly, brown, rainbow and tiger trout, Chinook salmon, Australian bass and estuary perch have been stocked in many lakes, dams, rivers and streams throughout Victoria, allowing anglers the opportunity to head out on any given weekend and catch fish. For some anglers, fishing is about relaxation, sitting on the edge of a riverbank flicking out a mudeye under a float or a worm on a running sinker rig; while for those more energetic anglers, catching fish on a lure is far more rewarding. Lure fishing is exciting but each species will respond uniquely to different lures. On one day one lure might work, while on the next it may not. So, how do you decide what lure to tie on?

CRANKBAITS These little bundles of joy tend to be smaller, often ranging in size from 30-70mm, although it is not uncommon to get larger crankbaits, especially for those targeting Murray cod. Crankbaits can

knowing which action to use is vital. Crankbaits can be sinking, suspending or floating models, as well as being shallow or deep diving. This is because fish often change their feeding patterns. For instance, it might be the middle of day

order for it to work its magic. A constant wind of the jerkbait can have very little action, while a rip ‘n’ pause retrieve will have the lure dart left and right in a fast action, often causing a reaction bite. Jerkbait fishing is all about the retrieve and more often than not, mistakes are made. Jerkbaits work best with the use of the rod, not the reel. This means holding the rod’s tip towards the water after a cast, then ripping the rod to the left or right somewhere between 60-100cm and pausing. Jerkbaits will be pulled though the water, giving off their action, and then on the pause they’ll either sink, suspend or float depending on the model.

There is no surpassing the Zerek Flat Shad. When it’s slow rolled, it is dynamite on Murray cod.

Surface lures come in many forms and are available for all freshwater species. be pretty much any lure with a bib that dives under water, but more specifically they are designed to be cast and retrieved in one constant smooth action. This allows the lure to dive to its desired depth while also presenting its natural swimming action. All freshwater fish can be targeted using crankbaits but when making a lure selection,

Steep banks where cod and yellowbelly hold are ideal for working with spinnerbaits, vibes, swimbaits and wakebaits.

and bass are held up under an undercut riverbank. A shallow diving sinking crankbait cast to the edge of the bank and left to sink for a few seconds may draw the strike. Then again, you could be casting into some heavy, thick timber where a deep diving floating lure is required to float up over a piece of timber so it doesn’t become snagged when it draws a strike from fish suspended beneath the snags. JERKBAITS Jerkbaits are quite different to crankbaits, both visually and in their retrieve method. Jerkbaits are much longer than crankbaits and can range from 40-130mm in their more common sizes, however you can get larger models. Jerkbaits also contain various bib sizes to achieve different diving depths as well as being either sinking, suspending or floating styles. Jerkbaits tend to not have the same crazy action as crankbaits and require the angler to twitch the lure in

Whether you’re targeting Murray cod or yellowbelly, spinnerbaits are a very effective lure to use, especially when working steep embankments. To a predatory fish, this lure resembles an injured baitfish trying to escape and any fish that sees this will smash it. VIBES Vibes are one of those lures you can always fall back on when the fishing is tough. They will work all of the time but when it’s the middle of the day or the barometer has crashed and the fish have shut down, a vibe is the one lure you can count on to get that strike. Vibe lures are available in either ABS hard plastic, soft plastic or metal and all are similar in shape. This is because they have been designed to ‘vibrate’ when being worked. The vibration given off under the water from the lure is enticing to predatory fish. They hunt prey using their lateral line, which allows them to pick up on any

disturbance in the water that could represent a fleeing or injured fish. Vibes are also extremely easy to work compared to the finesse approach often required with other lures. No matter the material they are made from, vibes can be used

If you’re going to target trout by means of casting or trolling, you can’t go past a Tasmanian Devil.

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in numerous ways depending on their tow points. The usage of the vibe depends on which tow point you have attached your leader. If the vibe has a single tow point on the top of its head, then you can cast ‘hop’ and retrieve for Murray cod or yellowbelly down a steep rocky embankment or it can be vertically jigged next to fallen timber or a tree in a lake. You may also sound up a school of redfin on the edge of bank in open water, where a small vibe can be freespooled to the school and vertically jigged amongst them. If the vibe has multiple tow points, it can also be fished using the same methods but as an added advantage, can be trolled. While single tow point vibes can also be trolled, those with more tow points allow the vibe to be forced down deeper with the pressure of the water hitting the forehead of

Crankbaits are widely used for Murray cod, trout, redfin and yellowbelly. They are available in a range of sizes and actions.

the vibe (depending on which hole your leader is attached to). It’s not just in lakes that vibes are used. While they are more common there, smaller 30-50mm vibes can be used in rivers and deep pools for trout. Given the limited depth though, a faster retrieve is required for success. Most vibes come stock standard with treble hooks, although in today’s market newer models can come fitted with either single inline hooks or are weedless, such as the Zerek Fish Trap. This makes fishing around timber and snags easier, as it allows you

to get right into the thick of it without the risk of snagging up and potentially losing your lure. SPINNERBAITS Spinnerbaits are quite a unique lure constructed with

same features of a metal arm moulded into a lead head with a selection of blades attached to the top of the wire. They are a highly effective lure for Murray cod, yellowbelly and Australian bass.

for use in heavy structural territory where resistance is required. On the other hand, short arm spinnerbaits tend to have a single blade and are used for a vertical presentation or when being worked down a steep embankment. While there are many colour variations, their weights can also differ depending on the depth of water being fished as well as their blade configuration. In most cases, typical spinnerbaits might be fitted with round style blades known as Colorado or leaf style blades known as willow or willowleaf have. There are no rules when it comes to using a specific design. Instead, the design is dictated by how you want to fish on the given day. If a slow

retrieve is required for a more finesse approach because the fish are lethargic due to colder water temperatures, then the Colorado blade baits will be more effective. However, if the water temperature is high and the fish are more active, willow blades can be worked with a faster retrieve. There are also combination blades where you’ll get one Colorado and one willow, and these can be worked either slow or fast. Another lure that still falls under the spinnerbait category is the chatterbait. These use a horizontal blade at their tow point rather than a vertical wire. Chatterbaits serve to create disturbance in the water when retrieved, by the blade rattling side to side displacing the water and creating noise

Vibes are becoming much more popular amongst freshwater anglers. Simply cast, rip and retrieve. a single piece of wire, almost resembling a paperclip. They come in many forms but they usually have the

Spinnerbaits fall into two groups: long arm and short arm. Long arm spinnerbaits tend to have multiple blades

When targeting big Murray cod, swimbaits and wakebaits are both used. These are usually retrieved with a slow wind to maximise their action.

Jerkbaits aren’t used with a typical cast and wind technique, rather they’re cast, ripped, paused, wound, paused, ripped and so on to get the desired action from them. that predatory fish pick up on, even worked at a slow pace. One thing to know about all spinnerbaits is that they can be manipulated. Out of the box they might work fine, but anglers have the ability to customise the lure to make it more appealing. This can be done by adding a soft plastic to the hook or swapping the soft plastic for another colour or size/style if they come with one. This can also be done with the skirts and blades that come attached to the lure. Additional

coloured skirts and blades can be purchased, and anglers can chop and change them as they see fit to come up with their own colour combinations. SWIMBAITS AND WAKEBAITS Originating from the USA bass market, swimbaits and wakebaits may fall into a similar category but in fact behave completely differently when fished. Although they may both contain segmented body designs for action, they To page 10

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are not the same. Swimbaits do exactly as the name suggests; they swim. Generally, swimbaits have a multi-jointed body, which causes the lure to swim like a live fish would. However, swimbaits do not have a bib, so when retrieving they swim just under the water surface. Swimbaits can come in a sinking or floating

how to approach on the top the next time you head out. Paddlers come in many forms, from oversized hand calved timber to small 30mm ABS moulded baits. They are quite similar in that many will have an aluminium or polycarbonate bib. These bibs sit horizontal and are ergonomic in design. When pulled through the water, the angle of the bib causes it to

While there are colours aplenty, it is known amongst trout trollers that certain coloured Tassies work exceptionally well in specific waterways. For instance, in Lake Eildon, clown, pink bomber, frog and fire tiger are the colours of choice. In the western lakes such as Toolondo, spotted dog and clown work best. Every lake, river and

In some of Victoria’s lakes, specific coloured Tasmanian Devils are favoured. This Lake Toolondo brown couldn’t resist the clown colour. model and while the floating will sit higher near the surface, a sinking model can be left to sink to a desired depth before being retrieved or if you retrieve the lure as soon as it hits the water, it will swim just below the surface. When retrieving swimbaits, most of the time they are retrieved with a constant wind of the reel. However, in some instances (usually with a floating model) you can rip the rod left or right, causing the swimbait to be pulled fast through the water. Then, once you stop the ‘rip’ and begin gathering up the slack line, the lure will do around a 270-degree swim before stopping dead in the water. When the slack line becomes taut, the lure can continue on its retrieval path. In contrast, wakebaits do have a bib. While they can also come with a segmented body, the bib causes them to swim on the surface, creating a ‘wake’ of water as they are retrieved. This water disturbance can attract Murray cod, as wakebaits are designed to imitate a sick fish, bird, reptile or water rat. They are particularly effective at night. SURFACE LURES OR ‘PADDLERS’ While surface lures do encompass swimbaits and some wakebaits, I’m talking about actual surface lures, or paddlers, as they are more commonly called. Surface luring is undoubtedly the most exciting form of fishing for any species of fish, whether you’re salt or freshwater orientated. Trout, Murray cod and Australian bass are the top three most targeted species using surface lures and when you get that hit, it’s easy to become totally immersed in 10

DECEMBER 2019

‘paddle’ or almost walk in a side to side action. This creates noise and disturbance on the surface, replicating a water rat or baby bird that has fallen from its nest and is trying to stay afloat. Murray cod and Australian bass will vigorously attack the lure, providing the retrieve is done correctly. This could be a constant wind or a wind and pause. It is always a good option to mix up the retrieve to find out which presentation they want. Not all paddler baits come with a fixed bib; some baits, both large and small may have retracting side wings made from metal, plastic or rubber. While the action is still the same as a fixed bib, these retractable wings aid in further casting distance against wind resistance. Trout, bass, bream and estuary perch will also take smaller-sized paddlers without hesitation. Once again, it is the retrieve that triggers the attack from the fish being targeted. TASMANIAN DEVILS Celebrating their 40th year anniversary this year, Tasmanian Devil lures are as synonymous with trout anglers as tomato sauce is to a sausage! Tassies are more of a sub-surface lure. The main technique is to troll them either flatlined behind a boat or kayak or using a downrigger, allowing them to be sent to a desired depth. Land-based anglers can also cast and retrieve them and given their 7g or 13.5g weight, they can be cast quite a distance. The retrieve is simple, as soon as they hit the water’s surface, click the reels bail arm and retrieve at a constant pace. This will initiate the side to side action they are known for.

stream in Victoria will have specific colours that work better than others and with these inexpensive lures. It is worth having a very wide colour selection in your arsenal. SPOONS Spoon lures have been around for donkey’s years and they are still one of the most reliable lures to use for trout and redfin. Some anglers might still remember the Wonder Wobbler. Spoons can be made from plastic or metal and come in a wide range of weights, shapes and sizes. They get their name from their shape as in some instances, they do resemble an actual spoon. Spoons have quite a unique action where they can swim with a similar action to that of a Tassie Devil on the retrieve or if ripped through the water, can give off a more vigorous action. Due to their weight, spoons are a sinking lure so if you pause for a few seconds during the retrieve, they will flutter towards the

bottom. Any fish following the spoon will think it is a bait that has died and will drill it hard. Lakes aren’t the only location where spoons can be used. Small 5g models are ideal for streams and rivers, while the 10g and above weighted models are best suited to lakes where anglers can cast them long distances to cover more water. Spoons are available in a wide range of colours like all lures and it does pay to have a range of colours and weights. The specific spoons that regularly appear in freshwater fishing reports include the Yakamito 5g and 10g, Zerek Twinkle, Blue Fox Matrixx, Nories Metal Wasaby 12g, Pegron Minnow, Strike Pro Bob ‘N’ Spoon and the ever reliable Luhr Jensen Krocodile. SPINNERS Still to this day, spinners are highly sought by freshwater anglers fishing in lakes, rivers and streams. Spinners are undoubtedly the simplest freshwater lure to use, as all you have to do is cast and retrieve with no other action required. If I was a betting man, I’d say that the majority of children in Victoria that go on camping holidays near a lake or river start out their lure fishing exploits by casting a spinner about. One thing about spinners is that not any spinner will spin. These days there are a lot of no-name imported spinners that may look good in the packet but when cast, they don’t spin. The idea of a spinner is to attract the fish and imitate a water insect as if it is swimming toward the river or lake bank. While there really isn’t much to a spinner in its construction, it all comes down to the blade being able to spin freely on the retrieve. Advancement in technology today has produced some branded spinners that make different sounds in the water caused by the blades dispersing water at different speeds. Some brands like Mepps provide the sound of each blade emits when under the water on their website. Even today, the Rublex Celta closely followed by

the Blue Fox Original and Wordens Spinners would be the biggest names in spinners. The Mepps Black Fury is also a popular model that is most suitable for trout in Victoria. Spinners are often chosen on colour. I still remember fishing Lake Dartmouth some thirty years ago and I had to use a copper bladed green no. 1 Celta, and yes, it worked. Spinners are a great lure to fall back on if the fishing is tough but they work best early morning and late evening. SOFT PLASTICS If there wasn’t enough of a freshwater lure selection,

fish. Murray cod like shads such as the Zerek 9” Flat Shad, Megabass 10” Magdraft and Lunker City 8” Shaker. These same plastics in smaller sizes can also be used for yellowbelly, although yellas are partial to quite small baits too. Berkley’s 2” Gulp Minnow Grub in black is a yella lolly. These tend to be worked right next to submerged trees simply by freefalling next to the trunk, and ever so slowly being wound to the surface. They need to be worked extremely slow so that just the tail spins. Yellowbelly holding under the

Trout are a sucker for a soft plastic and whether you’re fishing a dam, river or stream, shad styles are very easy to use. Just cast them and slow wind them back. the category of soft plastics is endless. From jerkbaits to shads, wrigglers and grubs there is bound to be something to tempt a freshwater fish. As the soft plastic models are extensive, you really just need to stick to a good handful to avoid getting confused. Shads are a very reliable plastic for all freshwater species, as they can be constantly wound at a slow pace, jerked vigorously or hopped along a riverbed where the tail action excites

The humble spinner in its true form. Spinners are undoubtedly one of the most widely used lures for trout.

timber will suck them in as they swim past. Trout are also partial to a plastic. While a shad style plastic can be trolled in a lake, smaller 3” models are ideal for river fishing. These can be cast into pools or riffles and wound, hopped or jerked to get attention. Alternatively, you can’t beat a nymph or small wriggler styles, as these replicate the water insects trout are used to feeding on. Bass, redfin and estuary perch are also willing soft plastic takers. It all boils down to what model you want to toss out to try. Keep in mind that when using plastics, the jighead used is equally as important, not necessarily for the actual hook but the weight of the lead. You don’t always need to go heavy, in fact, quite the opposite. A slow sinking plastic allows the lure to be in the strike zone longer to encourage a strike. Hopefully now you can see just how easy it is to fill up a tackle box. One lure will never do the job, so a good selection of the above allows an angler to be versatile and adapt to how the fish are feeding on any given day. Having all bases covered will bring a higher chance of success.

DECEMBER 2019

Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

The 12 crays of Christmas TASMANIA

Kelly Hunt

Summer is in full swing, and thankfully so too is the fishing. Everything has been warming up and there is no excuse not to get out and wet a line. The amount of daylight hours after knock-off time is also a huge bonus, with everyone enjoying more time doing what they love. Tasmania really starts to fish well at this time of year, with more species coming on the chew and getting about in bigger numbers. The water has been slowly warming and it has been of great quality,

about 500m wide at high tide and narrowing again at the Bass Highway bridge. When the tide is all the way in and the green/blue water from the ocean has filled the creeks and gutters, there is a lot of fun to be had by light line anglers. There are some very nice bream that get up on the mud flats and move around oyster-encrusted rocky outcrops. You can bait fish for these with some berley on the edge of a deeper channel, or sneak up onto the flats and cast hardbody lures. If you go steady and are stealthy, you can do very well. Keep an eye on water levels, as the water falls out of here quickly and

to narrow again at the town bridge. There is a 5 knot zone from here to the breakwater, and just beyond is open sea. To the port side or Penguin/ Burnie side there are some rock bommies that pop up that need attention on most tides, but on mid to low tide some care must be taken. On the starboard side or Devonport side when leaving the river and heading north there are also some rocky bommies that need some care to avoid. These bommies on both sides are excellent to troll and cast around for big Australian salmon at high tide. ‘Black back’ is the other name we use for them, and when they

Sammy Sherriff showing dad Damon how it’s done with an 8kg Tassie snapper. helped by the low rainfall. Let’s have a brief look at some of the places that have fished well late in November, and which will continue to fish well throughout December. We will also have a look at a favourite fishing pastime of mine, beach fishing. THE LEVEN RIVER The river that flows through the small town of Ulverstone has been improving for a number of years. I think that industry and farmers have been doing the right things and should be congratulated. I grew up in and around this river system, and the improvement is obvious. The greatest improvement is to the tiny micro-organisms, which flourish in clean water, and attract small bait. These, in turn, attract the predatory fish that we’re after. The upper reaches of the Leven River stretch right up to and past Gunns Plains, and are full of brown trout of varied sizes. You will find the odd rainbow trout as well as fat, silver sea-runners further down near the golf course bridge and out to sea. Not too much further downriver from the golf club bridge, the river opens into a narrow estuary 54

DECEMBER 2019

can leave you the wrong side of a mud bar or hit a rock with your skeg. In the deeper channels you can find some holes where a couple of channels converge into the main river channel. I find this is a good spot to pick up silver trevally. These fish have been coming into the estuary in greater numbers each year, and this year they seem to be of good size, with 50cm brutes from time to time. On light gear these fish are fantastic fun. Tailor have been also getting bigger as the seasons roll on. Although I have only caught small ones while testing lures down near the rowing club, I’ve seen pics of some nice ones caught out of here. It will be interesting to see how many bigger models will be taken from our beaches and gutters this season. Cocky salmon are always in here and can be found relatively easily. Anything bright and flashy or with a good tail action will have them come a-running, and we’re also seeing some bigger models caught out the mouth. The Leven River again widens on the other side of the Bass Highway Bridge only

are biting it doesn’t take long before the word gets around. You will always know when the word is about a week old as there will be 4-5 boats both here and further to the west off the Forth River working the areas after work. The size of these black back have been

fantastic, and they will test your angling skills on mid to light line. The drama here is the pesky barracouta will want to get in on the act; they make short work of the light line, to the detriment of your lure collection. DEVONPORT The big hope for this fishing town on the Mersey River will be that the kingfish return, as they did last year. It may be a little early for them but it wouldn’t hurt to have a look around Wrights Island and further out to the low lying bigger island known as Egg Island. Use some medium size hardbodies and silver slices and keep your trolling speeds up. It will feel too quick, as you will be used to a trout and salmon trolling pace, but if you get up to 10km/h (just over 5 knots) you’ll be at the right speed. If there are some kings around, the speed fires them up like a group of greyhounds at the Dapto Dogs. The big news off Devonport has been the really early and good run of snapper. It’s been a couple of years now since the real excitement of more and more people finding them and sharing a few tips, and this has led to more people catching them. If you are still honing your craft and process, it may be best to use the snapper catcher rigs that most stores now carry. These are paternoster rigs with a few small tweaks to maximise catch rates. Fresh baits cut into strips that flap about enticingly seem to be best. If you happen to catch a ‘couta or salmon, send them back on a hook as they make great bait. It’s a tough gig trying to catch your first snapper, and the biggest tip I can give you is to set up for the job at hand, and don’t try to do a bit of everything. You must have your berley going out for a while, your baits drifting

Stuart Hill with a fabulous crayfish from the waters of Tasmania. back beautifully, and keep quiet in the boat. Clunking and banging the bottom or sides of the boat is not ideal. The next tip I can supply is to set the alarm clock. These fish love low light conditions and will be most active at dawn and dusk. If you don’t like heading home after dark, get out there early. You want a minimum of an hour’s berley in the water as the sun starts to come up. Have the boat clear of anything that doesn’t need to be on a snapper trip, as you don’t want a cluttered boat when the bite comes on. It’s often a fairly narrow bite window, so the quicker you can get the fish in the net and a fresh baited rig out, the better. I recommend killing these fish instantly with a spike to the head (there are many YouTube videos to show you how). Get

The tailor are getting bigger each season in the Leven.

the fish in an ice slurry and they will be fabulous eating. Damon Sherriff is no stranger to smacking a few snapper, and has been finding some very big units further down the coast. These big fish take some practice to draw and trap in your berley trail, but Damo has been on the forefront of Tasmanian snapper fishing for 20 years. He is now passing on that information to his two sons and the greater fishing community. Snapper grounds are abundant along the North West coast, and that time on the water and a good knowledge of how your sounder works and how to tune it really makes a difference. BEACH FISHING The warmer weather makes for some very nice evenings, and there’s no better way to spend a late arvo than fishing into the night on a beach. Beach fishing is awesome! You don’t need too much planning, and you don’t need a boat or heaps of fancy gear. All you need is a big, long fibreglass rod, a 6000 or bigger size reel, some braid, bait, sinkers and hooks. Once you have picked your spot and worked out a favourable tide, you can work out if you can take some luxury items like a fold-out table and chairs. I always love to have a small, lightweight fold-out table to place stuff on and prepare baits. When the bite comes on it is normally fast and furious on the beach. If you don’t have the ability to catch, dispatch and get another bait out there you will miss heaps of fish. A beach fishing trip can be enjoy able for the kids as well. Make sure you take plenty of towels and have the kids’ spare clothes, because they

Go Behind the Scenery will get wet. It doesn’t matter if they originally say “oh no I don’t want to swim”, as they will change their mind or find somewhere to fall in. The beauty of beach fishing is that you don’t need to always find pristine, sandy beach. There are some really good spots along the Tasmanian coastline that are rubble and gritty, and they can fish quite well from time to time. A section of shore maybe a bit ordinary to look at, but a finger of sand could only be a cast away. The fingers of sand or bigger patches of sand are the ideal haunts for big flathead and King George whiting – two of the best tasting fish you are ever going to come across. So as an added bonus while you’re enjoying the great outdoors with a cold beverage, you may get to catch something to make a great family meal. WIND AND SWELL Early in November when cray fishing season opened across the West Coast, the weather and sea conditions kept everyone quiet. Now the season has been open for a month in the western region,

Tasmania checking your dive gear. It doesn’t matter if you are using bottles of compressed air or a dive compressor, all your equipment should be in excellent condition. If you are diving from a compressor make sure that everyone in the boat knows what to do in case of a kinked hose or engine stall. Also explain to all involved why it is vital that the compressor has good clean air to draw from. We don’t to see any deaths from misadventure. If the weather settles and

and far between on the West Coast. This is the time to head to Strahan and break out past Hells Gates and head south. The further south you can trek, the better the fishing for crays can be. Now that the striped trumpeter season is back open, it’s also the place for horse-sized stripies. It’s hard to get a crew that can just drop and go like that, but the rewards are awesome. The best trick is to get very good at reading a weather forecast and make the call as early as

Sammy Sherriff with a solid 8kg snapper from the Bridport area. and with the weather settling some good catches have been reported. The eastern region is still trouble with biotoxin levels, and it pays to constantly check the dpipwe.tas.gov.au website for the most current

information. This will also have the new rules regarding catch and possession limits for each zone. This can get confusing so it does pay to get your head around it. Those in the west who

Coming up with bags of crayfish like this would make anyone smile.

have potted and dived have been doing well and the numbers have been reported as very healthy. This looks good as we go into Christmas as they make a sensational centre piece on any Chrissy dinner table. The age-old tradition of cray ringing has also been going well, and you don’t have to always have a boat. A crew at Trial Harbour recently did very well from the rocks. They had a few young kids in the group who had never ‘ringed’ for anything, and they were astounded when after 30 minutes the adults in the group dragged in some creatures from the deep. I also spoke to some divers who had been finding a feed in and around Stanley and further west towards Montague and beyond, and they said they had little trouble in finding their bags, and the crays were a good size. Just as important in checking the regulations is

Ezekial Munro has been catching some silver trevally on light gear in the Leven River. a high sits off the West Coast for a number of days, that’s when you need to go. The boat needs to be packed and the crew needs to know that when you ring it’s time to go. Days where there is no wind and little or no swell are few

you can. If the weather breaks up a bit, make sure you have some tuna gear on board as you never know what you may find on the Wild West. It’s now time to get out there and enjoy what Tasmania has on offer.

HYDRO TASMANIA WATER STORAGE INFORMATION Water Storage Information as at 6th November 2019 Lake/Lagoon

Metres from full

Comment

Trevallyn Pond..................................0.66........................................................Steady Lake Mackenzie................................7.72........................................................Steady Lake Rowallan..................................3.28........................................................Steady Lake Parangana................................0.89........................................................Steady Lake Cethana....................................3.12........................................................Steady Lake Barrington................................0.95........................................................Steady Lake Gairdner...................................0.00.......................................................Spilling Lake Paloona....................................0.82........................................................Steady Lake Augusta....................................2.82........................................................Steady Arthurs Lake.....................................1.74........................................................Steady Great Lake........................................12.93......................................................Steady Little Pine Lagoon.............................0.40........................................................Steady Shannon Lagoon...............................0.10........................................................Steady Penstock Lagoon..............................0.17........................................................Steady Woods Lake......................................0.79........................................................Steady Lake St Clair.....................................1.59........................................................Steady Lake King William.............................1.05........................................................Steady Lake Echo.........................................5.44........................................................Steady

Dee Lagoon.......................................0.00.......................................................Spilling Pine Tier Lagoon...............................2.03........................................................Steady Bronte Lagoon..................................0.93........................................................Steady Bradys/Binneys/Tungatinah..............3.05........................................................Steady Laughing Jack Lagoon.....................0.35........................................................Steady Lake Liapootah.................................0.85........................................................Steady Wayatinah Lagoon............................0.13........................................................Steady Lake Catagunya................................0.00.......................................................Spilling Lake Repulse....................................0.13........................................................Steady Cluny Lagoon....................................0.76........................................................Steady Meadowbank Lake...........................0.14........................................................Steady Lake Burbury....................................1.81........................................................Steady Lake Margaret..................................0.43........................................................Steady Whitespur Pond................................6.01........................................................Steady Lake Newton.....................................2.52........................................................Steady Lake Plimsoll....................................0.00.......................................................Spilling Lake Murchison................................11.92......................................................Steady Lake Mackintosh..............................2.25........................................................Steady Lake Rosebery..................................0.65........................................................Steady Lake Pieman.....................................0.93........................................................Steady Lake Pedder......................................0.92........................................................Steady Lake Gordon.....................................21.52......................................................Steady

These levels are provided for an indication of lake level only and can vary from day to day. For more up-to-date lake level information please visit www.hydro.com.au/home/Tourism+and+Recreation/Lake+Levels.htm DECEMBER 2019

CHRISTMAS BLACK MAGIC 30LB LEADER

NEW SENSHI RELEASES

Pink leader has been popular for some time amongst serious anglers, as it is viewed as being less visible in certain water conditions. Although fluorocarbon options are common, Black Magic’s Pink Shock Leader is produced as a copolymer trace, which provides great value for money while still giving robust performance under stress. The recently released range has now expanded to include a 30lb line weight. This will be popular as it’s suited to a wide range of fishing applications. Whether you’re lure fishing, surfcasting, or general bait fishing, it’s sure to be a popular addition. This leader is ideal to use in murky water, deep water or when being viewed from below looking up at the line near the surface. It also retains the excellent abrasion resistance and knot strength seen in Black Magic Tough Trace and, like the name states, it gives excellent shock absorption as well. And of course, it’s a more affordable and more supple option than fluorocarbon. Keep an eye out for it at your favourite tackle store. www.blackmagictackle.com

Senshi has released a range of boxed hooks after demand from anglers for bigger quantities in its most popular models. Senshi hooks are produced using the finest quality raw materials, and are made to the highest standard. The range of hooks have chemically sharpened needle points, use high grade carbon steel and are all a black nickel finish. The boxed hooks are available in the following models: octopus/beak, long shank, baitholder and finesse, and are in the most popular six sizes in each model. One of Senshi’s latest releases is the G-Point hook – the next generation of high quality chemically-sharpened hooks. The G-Point Iseama Pro series hooks are extremely strong and offer no extra coating over the hook point itself, creating an extremely sharp hook point. The Senshi G-Point Iseama Pro hooks are a 2X Strong, straight eye with straight beak hook that are available in pre-packs of 10 hooks in sizes 2 through to 12. They are suitable for many fish species. To find out more about the Senshi hook range visit the Juro Oz Pro Tackle website. www.jurofishing.com

DAIWA LEXA HD

GIANT KILLING JIGGING RODS

Beauty and brawn blends with quality and performance in the new Lexa HD baitcaster. A sleek and stylish ergonomic profiled aluminium body sits comfortably in the hand, and combines with the Lexa’s advanced technologies and designs to create a mid priced heavy-duty reel that’s unmatched in style and strength. Featuring many of Daiwa’s best technologies and innovations including Magforce, UTD, Infinite Anti-Reverse, Power Handle, EVA knobs and CRBB bearings, the Lexa HD has left nothing on the table when it comes to strength, with a stainless steel gearing system ensuring ultimate power cranking power and precision. An amalgamation of strength, looks, and performance the Lexa HD is the heavy-duty baitcaster for those on a budget and those looking for power and strength in a reel. Whether it’s muscling kingies down south, barra in the north or samsonfish in the west, the Lexa HD is the reel that does it all, and has it all. www.daiwafishing.com.au

PRO LURE FISHTAIL UPDATE

Over the past 12 months, Australian company Pro Lure has been working on some modifications to the popular Fishtail soft bait. Looking to increase the versatility and make the Fishtail easier to rig, the designer has made several changes. A shallow split belly has been added to aid weedless rigging with worm hooks, and the dorsal fin has been removed, replaced with a shallow groove along the back. This makes it easier to rig straight and align jigheads, as well as having a protecting channel for weedless worm hook points to sit snugly. The final change is a slight narrowing up the front of the Fishtail, so that standard jigheads will sit cleaner. The addition of a white albino colour to the range and more rigging options will provide more possibilities. The Pro Lure Fishtail is available in three sizes, 80mm, 105mm, and 130mm. Trade enquiries can be directed to sales@ prolureaustralia.com.au. www.prolureaustralia.com.au 72

DECEMBER 2019

Never before has there been such a highend and comprehensive range as the 2019 release of the Giant Killing Jigging rods. These are the ultimate in Majorcraft jigging rods, with overhead and spin models for light, standard and slow jigging tasks. As the name suggests, the design principles are focused around large predatory trophy fish. There are 15 rods in the series with varying lengths from 6’2” up to 6’6”, and they all feature updated cosmetics. The Fuji SiC Slim ring material makes the rods even lighter than before. The rods come with PE ratings starting at 0.6 for the Light Jigging all the way up to the Jigging models with a PE of 4.0 at the upper end of the range. For more information on this and other rods in the range, visit the Major Craft Australia website or look them up on Facebook (facebook.com/ majorcraftaus). www.majorcraft.com.au

SAMSON LURES

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Samson handmade lures are long casting and virtually indestructible made for Australian fishing. With five separate lure designs, all wired through and ranging from 15g to 150g, Samson lures cover everything from lighter tackle fishing right through to chasing big pelagics like tuna. The range includes various surface and subsurface lures, all with the capability of casting long distances and covering as much ground as possible. Samson fishing has successfully established its lures range on the UK market, where they have been very effective in catching sea bass. Of course, the lures are effective for a wide variety of Australian fish species – everything from tailor, Australian salmon and kingfish right through to Spanish mackerel and tuna. All Samson lures are wired through and are virtually indestructible, making them an ideal choice when up against the razor sharp teeth of mackerel or against hard fighting kingfish. The Samson lure range is available from tackle retailers and online. For more information visit samsonluresaustralia@gmail.com or visit the website. Price: SRP $13.99-$59.99 www.samsonluresaustralia.com

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CHRISTMAS SAMURAI ROD ACCESSORIES 7

Transporting fishing rods is often fraught with danger. Bundles of rods are hard to carry, often arranged more like a game of ‘pick up sticks’ than an easy-to-carry group of fish-catching devices. They splay all over the place and invariably get damaged. The Samurai Rod Belts are made of high quality neoprene and Velcro and are designed to make it easy to transport multiple rods without the hassle of trying to carry multiple individual outfits. They are slightly stretchy and come in two sizes, small and medium. Simply wrap one around your group of rods near the butt end and another up near the tip and voila – neat and tidy. While transporting rods, even in neatly arranged groups, you wouldn’t be the first angler who has smashed the tip of your favourite rod into something and ruined it. The Samurai rod tip protector is designed to protect your rod tip from damage during transportation. Made from the same material as wetsuits, the tip protector is easy to slip on and protects the sensitive part of your rod. To see more information on these and other Samurai accessories, visit the Samurai Australia website or check them out on Facebook (facebook.com/samurairods). www.samurairods.com.au

ZMAN 7” DIEZEL MINNOWZ

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Requests from anglers chasing a big 10X Tough swimbait have seen the release of the ZMan 7” DieZel MinnowZ, a beast of a paddle tail plastic. Featuring the same realistic and proven profile and action as the 4” and 5” models, the 7” takes things up a notch in terms of bulk, water movement and big fish attracting qualities. Whether you’re chasing barramundi, Murray cod, mulloway or kingfish, searching the depths or slow trolling for bluewater bruisers, the 7” DieZel MinnowZ has you covered, teamed up with a brutally strong TT Lures HeadlockZ Extreme, SwimlockZ or ChinlockZ jighead. Other features include a belly slot for easy rigging and adding scent, along with a split top fin for simple and effective weedless rigging. The increased softness and flexibility of ZMan’s 10X Tough ElaZtech material dramatically improves hook set when weedless rigging when compared with standard soft plastics. If big fish are on your to-do list, check out these mega paddle tails at your local ZMan dealer. ZMan 7” DieZel MinnowZ are available in 12 colours, with three per pack. Price: SRP $17.95 www.z-man.com.au

DAIWA PHANTOM HYPER LT

Daiwa’s new light tackle workhorse has arrived with the introduction of the Phantom Hyper LT. This new reel blends design and leading edge technologies with excellent value to deliver anglers one of the most feature-packed mid-range spin reels for some time. Daiwa’s LT Concept provides strength and weightlessness, quality and performance, while a machine cut forged Tough Digigear delivers class-leading gear strength and smoothness. A metal alloy body enhances reel sensitivity and strength while Air Rotor provides balance and support for ultimate reel performance. A Long Cast ABS spool, Air Bail and ATD technologies combine for untouchable line control, while a machine cut handle keeps weight down. The Phantom Hyper LT is available now in four deep spool sizes, ranging from 3000D-6000D. www.daiwafishing.com.au

SHIMANO SQUIDGIES RODS

Specifically designed for the soft lure enthusiast, the new Squidgies rods are a cunning combination of performance and value. Featuring T45 blank construction and quality Fuji K guides, this series of rods are light and sensitive yet strong and reliable for anglers who demand a lot from their gear. All Shimano Squidgies series rods have been carefully designed to ensure their actions and lengths complement a range of lure weights and fishing techniques, catering for a wide range of applications and fish species. With eight performance spin and two sturdy baitcast models, these rods may find you in the remote wild gorges chasing cod and trout, to the hard-running rivers of the country’s tropical north. No matter your chosen style of fishing there’s a rod in the range to suit. Featuring comfortable full-length camo EVA grips and varying actions across the series, nine of the 10 models are two-piece construction, so you’ll always be able to pack a Squidgies rod on your next adventure. Look for them in your nearest tackle store now. Price: SRP $159.95 www.shimanofish.com.au

7/0 SNAPPER SNACK

Black Magic is expanding the range of their popular Snapper Snack rigs to include a NEW 7/0 version. These will be available at all good tackle stores soon. As with all Black Magic rigs, confidence in the components is not in question. In this case they are rigged on the premium PTFE coated 7/0 hooks and 80lb Tough Trace. The natural swimming action of the Snapper Snack skirts, coupled with the scent of your bait is hard to beat when it comes to catching snapper and other NZ fish species. Now with the bigger size you’ll be able to target an even wider range of fish from XOS snapper to hapuku, kingfish and more. Features include: twin lure rig incorporating high UV luminous skirts; cast, bottom bounce, or just drop and wait - versatile and simple; best fished with bait, but will still catch without; most hook-ups are in the corner of the mouth, and; available in six enticing colours. You can browse all the sizes and colours at the Black Magic Tackle website. www.blackmagictackle.com

BONE HERO DARTER

The Hero Darter is a soft, multi-function vibration lure that has a number of awesome features. There are three tow points on top of the Darter that provide three slightly different actions, and there is another tow point on the nose, which gives the lure a cast and retrieve option. This essentially gives anglers four lure fishing options in the one lure! However, the big thing with the Darter is that when the lure is in the jigging/vibration mode, a chin weight can be attached to the front nose eyelet that will allow this lure to be sent on deeper missions or fished in faster currents. The real beauty of this option is that the action of the lure is unaltered – in fact, while testing, the nose weight increased catches! The Hero Darter is a beautiful fishmunching 90mm long lure that is initially available in eight colours. www.wilsonfishing.com

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

CHRISTMAS SAMAKI MAKO SHIRT

The mako shark is impulsive, aggressive, agile, and every shark-lover’s dream! The blue green details of Samaki’s new Mako Shirt are enhanced from the background through to the underbelly of the sharks. With not just one but two mako sharks attacking at speed, the yellowfin has no chance! The lightweight fabric of this shirt is perfect for all outdoor elements, protecting you from the harsh sun with Samaki’s UPF50+ resistant technology. The soft touch 100% polyester material is comfortable on the body, and has the added feature of being breathable, keeping you cool and dry. Samaki designs are brought to you by Australian anglers who love to design Australian species. The shirts are available in adult, youth and kids sizes from a size 2 through to a 5XL allowing the whole family to get in on the action and out onto the water. For more information and stockists visit the Samaki website, or like them on Instagram and Facebook to keep up to date. Price: SRP $59.95 (adults), SRP $49.95 (kids) www.samaki.com.au

SAMAKI SLICK

SHIMANO TREVALA S

Designed for shallow water jigging,Trevala rods feature lightweight C4S blanks and parabolic actions specially designed for slow fall and flutter jigs like the new Tiger Baku Baku. The fine diameter one-piece C4S blanks are extremely strong and lessen the respective rods’ overall weight, which allows the angler to focus on fighting the fish and not the tackle. Fuji Alconite guides and reel seats are complemented by shaped EVA grips that are specifically intended for jigging work. The slow tuned actions are very precise, and allow the angler to effectively work the jig with minimal effort. Shimano recommends matching these rods with the Shimano Tranx series of 300 and 400 sized baitcaster reels, for an outfit that is super balanced and ideal for getting the most action out of your jigs. Available in power ratings from XL to MH, there are five spin models in 6’ 3” and 6’ 6” sizes, and a 6’ 3” overhead model. They are available in-store now. Price: SRP: $229.95 www.shimanofish.com.au

OBSESSION 17 BASS SERIES 14 Australian-made Obsession Spinnerbaits

Samaki’s extensive range of sunglasses just got bigger. The Slick is here to stay, and alongside the current range are two awesome new colours: brown tort with an amber lenses and matt black with a copper lenses. Each model is designed for your target species and most loved fishing environments. The square-shaped Slick is so comfortable that you won’t want to take it off. Each one of the Samaki-designed frames gives you great coverage from the elements and provides you with the polarised lenses you need when you’re out on the water. Slick colour options are available in matt black/green revo, matt black/blue revo, matt black/grey, brown tort/amber and matt black/ copper, giving you multiple options to suit all anglers and fishing scenarios. For more information and stockists visit the Samaki website and like them on Instagram and Facebook to keep up to date. Price: SRP $49.95 www.samaki.com.au

have a strong following amongst Murray cod and golden perch anglers. Owner and designer Raymond Parry was keen to expand his horizons, and with the assistance of some keen bass anglers he has produced a range of spinnerbaits focused on Australian bass. This new series is called the ‘Bass Six Pack’, and Obsession Spinnerbaits is releasing six new colours (WB, BG, DONC, GM, GOAT and PBJ). They will be available in 1/4oz, 1/2oz and 5/8oz through your local Obsession Spinnerbait stockist. Head to the Obsession Spinnerbait website to view their complete product range, which includes single, twin, triple and quadbladed spinnerbaits, mumblers and buzz baits. Jigheads are also available from 1/8oz3.5oz, and there’s an extensive range of skirt colours, as well as soft plastic curl-tails in 4”, 5” and 8” sizes. The product range can be customised to your requirements or you can design your spinnerbait from scratch. www.obsessionspinnerbaits.com

NEW FROM STRIKE PRO

ATC VIRTUOUS

Two of Strike Pro’s latest lure releases are the Bass Beetle and the Hunch Walker. The Bass Beetle is an ultra-shallow running Beetle imitation. This lure is perfect when the Christmas beetles and cicadas are buzzing around. The Bass Beetle offers extreme realism in its shape, and this shallow running lure has an enticing body roll and dives to approx. 1ft. The Bass Beetle is 4cm long, weighs 5.7g and comes in six fish-catching colours. It’s sure to be a hit with anglers targeting bass, estuary perch, bream, trout and jungle perch. The new Hunch Walker is a wakebait version of Strike Pro’s popular Hunchback range of lures. The Hunch Walker works on the surface and sub-surface, just under the surface in the scum line. When it is retrieved across the surface it creates a commotion and paddles, looking just like a frog or cicada kicking across the top, with a head-down, tailup, wide swaying action. The Hunch Walker is 5.5cm long, weighs 6.5g and comes in six proven colours. It is irresistible to bass, estuary perch, Murray cod, sooty grunter and more. www.jurofishing.com 74

DECEMBER 2019

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New to the ATC range of reels is the Virtuous – a range of reels with a host of features that combine to make them tough, dependable and affordable. An aluminium body and rotor ensure these reels are built to last, and the 9+1 stainless steel ball bearings give these reels a smooth feel that doesn’t wear the angler down. Add into this an ergonomic handle for the ultimate in comfort when fighting large fish, and the Virtuous is one of those reels that will stand the test of time. All of these comforts are backed up by a brilliant and exceptionally smooth dual drag system. This system is built to provide two drag surfaces on the top and underneath the spool, allowing for ultra-fine adjustments and exceptional smoothness. The dual drag system also means that when you need to wind up the drag, the ability is there to give you some real stopping power. Sizes range from the 2000 light line special all the way up to a 10,000 that swallows almost 500m of PE4 line and has a max drag of 20kg! www.wilsonfishing.com

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HOBIE MIRAGEDRIVE 360 AND PRO ANGLER 2020 Truly the Ultimate Fishing Machine, the 2020 Pro Angler with the MirageDrive 360 and Kick-Up Fins delivers power in every direction for unprecedented manoeuvrability and control. Two decades ago, Hobie revolutionized kayak fishing with the invention of the original MirageDrive. The radical engineering was met with worldwide acclaim and leg-propulsion became the new standard for kayak fishing locomotion. Imitators eventually arrived on the scene, but Hobie remains the industry benchmark. Hobie knew improving on its revolutionary MirageDrive wouldn’t be easy, but they weren’t deterred. Six years in the making, for 2020, Hobie is proud to announce the greatest achievement to date in the form of an astonishing 360-degree rotating pedal drive—an all new paradigm in kayak fishing boat control, complete with a nearly 100-page

SPECIFICATIONS Pro Angler 12 Length 366cm Width 91cm Height 51cm Capacity 227kg Vantage seat capacity 159kg Fitted hull weight 49.7kg Fully rigged weight 60.1kg Pro Angler 14 Length 417cm Width 97cm Height 51cm Capacity 272kg Vantage seat capacity 159kg Fitted hull weight 56.5kg Fully rigged weight 67.4kg

patent registration. Put simply, the remarkable new Hobie MirageDrive 360 propulsion system is a 360-degree rotating pedal drive that allows anglers to easily manoeuvre their 2020 Mirage Pro Angler 360 12 and 14 fishing kayaks in every direction—backwards, forward, sideways, diagonally—or even effortlessly spin on its own axis. Upping the ante with all-new Kick-Up Fins, which automatically retract upon impact, the new MirageDrive 360 delivers precision boat control and closequarter manoeuvrability that’s unrivalled by any other human-powered watercraft. With the MirageDrive 360, anglers go where they want and fish how they want with total control and complete confidence. The MirageDrive 360 is designed for versatility on the water and to help anglers catch more fish. Infinitely more manoeuvrable, anglers will immediately discover they spend less time positioning their boat, and more time catching fish. Boat control is brought to an entirely new level, affording anglers the ability to surgically position themselves to make the best cast and presentation to the fish, as well as staying right on top of fish once found, shallow or deep or anywhere in between. The MirageDrive 360 allows access to tighter quarters and more fishing scenarios. Imagine being able to turn on a dime in every direction. It also allows you to follow shorelines or underwater structure in a way kayak anglers have never experienced. “The MirageDrive 360 completely changes how you engage with your boat and the environment,” says Philip Dow, Lead Design Engineer for Hobie. “For example, if you’re fishing along a shoreline or highly contoured underwater structure, you can follow those nuances exactly with boat placement. Similarly, with the Kick-Up Fins, shallow and structurefilled waters become far more manageable. Hobie’s MirageDrive 360 completely

redefines boat control.” “In the same way a trolling motor can hold an exact point, you can do that with the MirageDrive 360. You can hold an exact location and direction against wind or current, too. Previously, when you drifted out of position, you had to pedal in a circle to point the hull in the right direction between casts. Now, when you’re sitting idle,

additional angling equipment. “In every environment there’s the need for better control in order to position yourself to present your bait to the fish in the most natural way possible,” says Morgan Promnitz, Hobie’s Senior Fishing Brand Manager. “Whether you’re fishing offshore, inshore, or freshwater, the benefits are numerous. We’ve tested the

ENGINEERED TO SWING FINS A FULL 360 DEGREES

if you turn the drive and start to pedal you’re immediately turning. It’s extremely effective for place-holding in an exact location. You feel like a sniper. If you want to swing the bow past a rock, you can do it exactly and make your next cast without any unnecessary boat movement.” Designed to accept Hobie’s vast array of accessories, the Pro Angler 360 fishing kayaks can be easily outfitted with

boats in a multitude of fishing environments and our test team’s response has all been the same—the MirageDrive 360 gives anglers a huge advantage that results in more fish caught, period.” “The Kick-Up Fins add peace of mind to anglers exploring waters with submerged objects such as rocks or tree stumps because the fins will automatically retract upon impacting an object. This greatly reduces any chance or damaging the propulsion system and allows anglers to explore with confidence—no more damaged props or bent fins.” – Hobie Fishing Asia Pacific

and durable Thermoform construction, the Passport is a well-rounded kayak that truly offers something for everyone, from novice to experienced kayakers alike. It is the ideal kayak for casual recreation and family outings, but is ready for all kinds of adventures on the water. Designed to accept most of Hobie’s vast array of accessories, the Passport can be easily outfitted with additional equipment. Powered by Hobie’s first-of-its-kind Classic MirageDrive pedal system, the Passport makes kayaking smooth and efficient, cruising seamlessly through the water. The shorter hull length and wider body provide great stability, while the

intuitive steering system and stowable rudder enable easy manoeuvring. Standard equipment on the Passport includes a suspended mesh-back, aluminium-frame seat, two-piece aluminium paddle, two rod holders, accessory mounting tracks, Lowrance ready, Power-Pole Micro bracket indent and an accessory mount that accepts the kayak sail and new bimini. Kayakers will also enjoy moulded-in, cross-bungee cargo areas on the bow and stern, as well as Hobie’s ‘twist-n-seal’ hatch. You can create your ultimate setup from weekend fishing to a family day sailing on the open water. – Hobie Fishing Asia Pacific

HOBIE MIRAGE PASSPORT 12 Hobie is proud to announce the latest addition to its renowned line-up of pedal kayaks, powered by the brand’s signature MirageDrive – the original pedal propulsion system for kayaking. The Passport was built

with simplicity in mind, delivering efficiency, ease of use, versatility and comfort in a highly accessible package. The Passport has been designed to help break down those barriers of entry that may be keeping people off the water and make pedal kayaking more accessible and affordable. The goal of the Passport is to be able to bring the experience that Hobie’s MirageDrive technology has delivered for more than 20 years to a broader audience. With its excellent value, transportability, simple and sleek design

DECEMBER 2019

Fishing Day, boat show and plenty of action special guests on C31 Talking Fishing live show alongside the hosts, David Kramer, Adam Ring and Steve Threlfall. The girls were amazing co-hosts and did a wonderful job of sharing the WIRF message and discussed the current state of affairs involving women in fishing and where the future is headed. GONE FISHING DAY The WIRF girls were out in force across the State on GFD! While the weather and fishing conditions were

WIRF

Cara Cummings

With holiday season approaching, many of you will be heading away, some perhaps to favourite fishing spots and others may be trying new destinations! With this in mind, it’s a great chance to teach/refresh or update your knowledge on a few of the basics, so in this edition we want to focus on fish handling and also share with you all the happenings since last month. EILDON BOAT SHOW By all accounts the inaugural Eildon Boating and Fishing Show in October was a huge success. We can happily

The Dunbier Trailer workshop was a highlight of the Eildon Boat Show.

Tiff and Niki were special guests on C31 Talking Fishing live show. RECIPES THAT ARE ‘WIRF’ IT

Thyme for flake INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4) 350-400 g Flake 1 tbsp. thyme 1 tbsp. grated Parmesan 1 cup panko crumbs 1 egg (whisked with 1tsp water) 1/4 cup plain flour Pinch salt and pepper 1/4 cup veg oil

METHOD 1. Combine thyme, Parmesan and panko crumbs in a bowl. 2. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt and pepper together. 3. In a third bowl, mix an egg with 1tsp of water. 4. In three steps: coat the flake in flour, dip into the whisked egg and then coat with the crumb mix. 5. Shallow fry over medium heat in a frypan until lightly golden. Serve with potato bake and a side of greens – Perfecto!’ 76

DECEMBER 2019

so many kids out fishing and enjoying the great outdoors. My 4-year-old son was absolutely thrilled when he took out the Junior’s title! HOOKED ON BELLARINE It was an early start for Michelle, Niki and Tiff who set off on a boating and fishing mission to catch fresh squid to use at their squid prep demo at Portarlington! These girls smashed it and bagged 20 beauties, with the

report a growth in our membership numbers over this weekend thanks to the WIRF Leaders. We stood out vibrantly in our iconic teal t-shirts, participated in giving talks on stage, chatted to the public and organised a Boat Trailer Reversing workshop! A highlight of the weekend was seeing several women take up the unique opportunity to up skill themselves in boat trailer reversing, thanks to Dunbier Trailers. These women were shown the ins and outs on the basics and picked up tips and tricks on how to reverse a trailer. This practical workshop was a hit and gave a boost of confidence to all those who attended. LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! Two of our fabulous WIRF women, Tiff and Niki were invited as

The WIRF women held an informative squid prep demo at Portarlington. less than ideal, everyone still managed to have a fantastic day waterside wherever they were. Shea Bloom was at the Khancoban Angling Club’s event and gave a talk encouraging more women and children and take up the sport. Michelle Jackman took part in ‘Mates Day on the Bay’, a very worthy event hosted by Future Fish Foundation. This incredible initiative celebrated their 20th year and enable those living with disabilities the opportunity to board a boat and head out fishing for the day. The Captain and skippers were all volunteers who are only too eager to assist. I headed off to the Upper Coliban Reservoir with my family in tow, to participate (and spread the WIRF love) at the Kyneton Angling Club’s Family Day Out. It was lovely seeing

biggest reaching 40cm and weighing in at 2.5kg. They returned to the festival and gave numerous live demonstrations, teaching spectators how to fillet and prepare the calamari effectively! ON THE DECK PODCAST Tiff, Michelle and Niki have officially kicked off our very first official WIRF podcast On the deck. These ladies talked about all things WIRF and will continue to share an abundance of information, facts and advice in an encouraging and exciting way! We have a wealth of knowledge within our network and have women from all walks of life with so much to share. So be sure to stay tuned to increase your fishing knowledge! Q&A FISH HANDLING One of the many common questions we receive is to do with fish

handling. Many of us are unsure how to handle the fish once it has been caught. There may be a fear of touching the fish, of hurting the fish or how to release the fish. The Victorian Fisheries Authority have many helpful tips and hints on their website as to how to approach this in the best, safest and most humane way. Removing hooks • Whenever possible try to remove the hook while the fish is still in the water (try not to remove the fish from the water). • If the fish is hooked in the jaw or mouth, remove the hook using a hook remover or long-nosed pliers. • If the fish is hooked deep in the stomach leave it there and cut the line as close as possible to the mouth. Handling fish A fish’s body has a slimy protective coating, which can be damaged by excessive handling. Incorrect handling can damage fish and reduce

Archer Cummings took out top Junior title at the Kyneton Angling Club’s Family Day Out.

their chance of survival after release. Fish can also suffocate (lack of oxygen) and suffer internal soft tissue injury (organs are crushed) when lifted incorrectly or inappropriately handled. If you must handle a fish (to check its identity or size) reduce damage by: • Using a net without knotted mesh. • Using wet hands or a wet towel to handle it. • Placing the fish on cool and wet surfaces (not on hot and dry surfaces). Releasing fish When releasing fish, hold the fish horizontally and gently under the water, if possible. Wait until it revives then release your hold so it can swim away. For upcoming event details, please head to our Facebook group www. facebook.com/groups/ womenrecfishing/ or via the VFA website/Facebook page. We wish eveyone happy fishing and a Merry Fishmas!

WIRF representatives Tiffany, Nikki and Michelle dominated the Portarlington squid during Hooked on Bellarine on Gone Fishing Day.

TOURNAMENT CALENDAR 2019

DECEMEBER

7-8 Dec

Hobie Kayak Bream Series Round 11

Marlo

hobiefishing.com.au

2020

FEBRUARY

MARCH

4-5 Feb

ABT BREAM Round 1

Gippsland Lakes

8-9 Feb

ABT BREAM Round 2

Mallacoota

22-23 Feb

ABT BREAM Queensland Open

Moreton Bay

29 Feb-1 Mar

Hobie Kayak Bream Series Round 1

Bemm River

7-8 Mar

ABT BREAM Round 3

Derwent River

11-12 Mar

ABT BREAM Round 4

St Helens

28-29 Mar

Hobie Kayak Bream Series Round 2

Gorges River

28-29 Mar

ABT BREAM Round 5

Mandurah

abt.org.au

hobiefishing.com.au

abt.org.au

hobiefishing.com.au

abt.org.au

Add your tournament or competition to this list by emailing jthomas@fishingmonthly.com.au or calling 07 3387 0800 in office hours. Just supply a date, venue, tournament name and a telephone number and contact name. DECEMBER 2019

Healy a safe pair of hands at Port Stephens The final qualifier of the 2019 Costa BREAM series saw the competitors heading to a new arena, Port Stephens. While only a short drive from other great bream venues such as Sydney Harbour, the Hawkesbury River and Lake Macquarie, only a few of the competitors had fished the area for bream previously. Lake Macquarie local Mark Healy managed to take top honour in the boater division, using his very limited experience bream fishing in Port Stephens to grind out a winning bag. “I’ve fished Port Stephens a couple of times, but not for many years – probably 7-8 years ago,” he said. “I do fish the area offshore of the port fairly regularly though.” During pre-fish, Mark’s plan was to cover a lot of water and search for active fish. Doing this, he managed to find catchable fish in three spots, with two areas in the Soldiers Point area and one down at the Tea Gardens. On day one Mark’s plan was simple: hit the three spots he found on pre-fish

MARK HEALY’S WINNING TACKLE Rod: Reel: Line: Lure

Mark Healy spent most of his time fishing one rock wall to grind out a much-deserved win at Port Stephens. and try to put together a decent bag of fish! The first spot he pulled up to was a timber jetty near the starting line in the Soldiers Point area, where he had been blown away three times on pre-fish. Mark had a brown

Cranka Crab in heavy tied on, and sure enough, after only a few casts he was hooked up to another decent bream. Deciding to fish slightly heavier than he did during pre-fish proved to be the right decision, and within minutes of leaving

BOATER RESULTS Place Name 1 Mark Healey 2 Vaughn Lewis 3 Tristan Taylor 4 Steve Morgan 5 Todd Riches 6 Andrew Stubbs 7 Scott Wilson 8 Brett Crowe 9 Charlie Saykao 10 Tim Vickers

Fish 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 8/10 9/10 10/10 7/10 8/10 6/10

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888 80

DECEMBER 2019

Total Weight (kg) 7.32 7.10 6.17 5.50 5.40 5.39 5.34 4.88 4.81 4.04

the start, Mark had a 35cm bream in the livewell! Mark and his non-boater then fished their way around Soldiers Point, catching nothing but one small legal for his non-boater waiting for the tide to start running in. Finally the current started running in, and the pair went to the Tea Gardens. While Mark wasn’t overly confident by this point, he decided to methodically work over one particular rock wall called The Cut. With the tide rising, the seemed to be moving in from the bay and onto the wall to feed, and Mark could see the fish he wanted to catch. Mark had been fishing with a 6lb leader but decided to drop down to 4lb. His

Shimano Zodias 701UL 1000 Shimano Stella 4-6lb braid, 4-6lb fluorocarbon Jackall Chubby 38 Deep in brown suji shrimp, Cranka Crab Heavy in brown

choice of presentation on the rock wall was a Jackall Chubby 38 Deep in brown suji shrimp. With the strong current making fishing difficult, he still managed to catch six more legals to round out a decent bag of 3.69kg, putting him in a strong position ahead of day two. On the second day Mark knew there would still be good fish to be caught from his wall down at the Tea Gardens, some decided to leave the fruitful jetty from the day before, knowing that it had been hit hard by other anglers. Mark figured that as the tide was slightly later on day two, he might get in a good half hour of fishing with the run-out tide. He executed his plan perfectly, got in there and landed a kilo fish early, and about 2-3 casts later he hooked another one that looked bigger, however the hooks pulled. To keep the hooks in Mark was using size 14 Decoy trebles on his crankbaits, because they were only getting lip hooked and were biting very timidly. The tide slowed up for about two and a half hours as the tide changed and Mark and his non-boater fished around the area, landing no keeper bream. As the tide started pumping in, he arrived back at the wall. About halfway

along, he hooked a good fish, which he estimated to be about 1.3-1.4kg. “I got it away from wall and we were drifting back with the tide,” he said. “There was nothing around for him to get me on, and I had him just out of reach of the net and the treble on lure rolled off split ring; I was spewing!” Mark said it took him a good half an hour to regroup after this setback, however soon after he landed a another fish of about 30cm, which gave him confidence to keep fishing. For the remainder of the session he ground out 3 more fish and returned nervously to the weigh-in. As it turns out, he had nothing to worry about, as he had managed to weigh the heaviest overall bag of 7.32kg. This was Mark’s first ABT BREAM qualifier win, and he couldn’t have been more stoked!

Scan the QR code to see the Day 1 highlights.

BREAM Series presented by

Tough fishing no match for Lewis Sliding in behind Healy by just over 200g was Newcastle local Vaughn Lewis, who prior to the tournament, also only had limited exposure to the arena. Vaughn used these limited experiences to rule out some areas and narrow his focus to some areas he knew would hold hungry fish. In the pre-fish Vaughn identified the bottom of the Myall River, the Kuruah River and some islands in the middle of the bay would be his primary targets. Come comp day, Vaughn had some decisions to make. “I thought on comp day that lower Myall would be the car park of spots, so I wrote it off, and focussed on the Kuruah River and some of the islands,” he said. With the early low tide on day one, Vaughn focused on structure while waiting for tide to come in. He started at some oysters racks at the bottom of the Kuruah, fishing the poles rather than the trays. Cycling between a soft plastic and a crankbait, he managed two decent keepers. He then moved to some bridges in the river itself and

“I was fishing around an island, and there was a point with tide coming around and wind blowing onto it,” he said. “Using 3lb straight through fluorocarbon and a black Jackall Chubby 38 Shallow, I was able to fish right up on the rocks and that’s where I got him.” Vaughn didn’t manage any upgrades on day two, just a solid bag of bream and many undersize fish to keep the day interesting. Returning to the

weigh-in tent on day two saw his overall weight dip to 7.10kg, relegating him to second place.

DAIWA J BRAID BIG BREAM

Vaughn Lewis used his limited experience at this venue to find some productive areas in this tough arena. managed two more quality fish as he waited anxiously or the tide to come in. At around 10 o’clock the flow slowed and the prime time for an edge bite came on. “I spent the rest of the day fishing rocky edges, islands, and a few other rocky edges to pick up good fish,” he said. “I also managed two upgrades.”

Vaughn returned to the weigh-in on day one with a respectable bag of 3.62kg. Vaughn decided to start in North Arm Cove on day two, once again fishing oyster racks with similar presentations. The rack fishing was slower on day two, which made Vaughn and his boater all the more anxious for the tide to come in so they could fish the edges.

Once it did, the edges really fired, and with a bit of overcast weather and wind direction change, Vaughn and his non-boater were able to fish right up in the shallows. In doing this he managed to catch the biggest bream for the tournament, a stonking 1.16kg monster, which is huge for the Port Stephens area.

Vaughn Lewis managed to wrangle a 1.16kg beast from the shallows in North Arm Cove by throwing a black Jackall Chubby 38 Shallow.

Johnson grinds it out for non-boater honours Craig Johnson is from the South Coast of NSW, however this was his first time fishing the Port Stephens area for bream, because as he puts it, “there’s just too much good water down there.” It seems that applying some of the tricks and techniques he has learned fishing further south helped him take out top honours in the non-boater division! While Craig did pre-fish with boater Tim Vickers, the pair didn’t do a whole lot of fishing. Rather, they fished very little and just looked for good-looking water to store in the memory bank. For the first day Craig found himself fishing with Jason Mayberry, and the plan was to head downstream of the starting line and fish some shallow weed beds,

edges, flats and points. Like most competitors, the pair was waiting for the tide to

come in and bring the bream on the bite. Craig only weighed one

fish on the first day, which he caught at around 10:30am throwing a Gulp Crabby on a

1/20oz jighead in Salamander Bay. Craig said he just had to cycle through baits to find something that would work. Despite fishing some amazing looking country around Garden Island and the oyster leases, Craig didn’t catch any other weighable fish on day two. The second day would prove more fruitful, however, as some favourable conditions brought the fish on the bite. Fishing with Charlie Saykao, the pair decided to head to where Craig and Jason had finished their previous day at Garden Island. With the wind now swung around to the west and southwest and some overcast weather overhead, the fish seemed to be biting better. Craig had his first fish in the boat before

8:00am. Seeing that the fish were now biting in the area, Craig and Charlie stayed in this vicinity all day. Heading to the Correebah Island area, the pair found lots of random bits of reef and oysters and noticed lots of fish cruising around. Once the tide came in they started hauling in fish one after another, and hooked lots of fish but only stuck three. Fishing these flats, Craig was cycling between various topwaters, including a Jackson Pygmy Popper and a Sugoi Splash. Returning to the weigh-in Craig was nervous but found that the rest of the field had struggled, and was pleased to see the scales dip to 2.76kg.

Non-boater Craig Johnson took out top honours in his division with only 5 fish over two days, proving just how tough the fishing was!

NON-BOATER RESULTS

Scan the QR code to see the Day 2 highlights.

Place Name 1 Craig Johnson 2 Nick Penprase 3 Daniel McNeice 4 Bernard Kong 5 Gordon Pullin 6 Darren Murphy 7 Shaun Egan 8 Justin Reeves 9 Richard Wootten 10 Rebecca Fazio

Fish 5/10 3/10 2/10 2/10 2/10 2/10 2/10 1/10 1/10 1/10

Total Weight (kg) 2.76 1.63 1.10 0.99 0.97 0.89 0.80 0.76 0.58 0.56

Everyone could agree that there were worse places to start a morning! DECEMBER 2019

Measuring biomass in shallow water SUNTAG

Stefan Sawynok

In my last article I outlined a lot of the problems associating with shallow water and looking at fish biomass. In fairness if you read that article, you might be forgiven for wondering why you would want to look at biomass, thus it’s probably a good idea to provide some background on what Biomass is and why you would want to measure it. WHAT IS BIOMASS? Biomass is the living organisms that inhabit an area. In the case of fish you will find in any given system a range of species and in general the more diverse the species

has had a deal of success at using citizen science data, mainly from fish tagging as an alternative approach but it suffers the same scalability issues as many other solutions. In other words, you need a lot of fishing trips reported in an area to get a real sense of what is going on. What we really need is a non-invasive method of looking at biomass that is scalable. That is a problem I have lost many nights sleep to in the past few years. So how do they use Echosounders to Measure Biomass in the Northern Hemisphere? Using scientific echosounders for biomass problems is not new. I have read papers dating back to the 1970s using paper sounders. The very first paper detailing the measurement of fish

Using the ability to detect length and count fish in aquaculture to monitor fish biomass growth rates over time. Setting up fixed units side facing to track numbers and sizes of species like trout and salmon moving during spawning runs in rivers. Using downscan on larger impoundments and freshwater rivers to detect numbers and sizes of fish. This uses a method of sampling smaller areas then extrapolating to total biomass. Of the three applications the last – downscan is the most applicable to southern hemisphere conditions but more on that later. So why would you measure Biomass in the Southern Hemisphere? The interesting thing about having worked with biomass intensively is I think that the inverse question is probably

Biomass assessment in aquaculture. which is the worst time to be holding an intervention. Just addressing those two problems is a lot of work even before you hit saltwater systems and the competing forces of recreational and commercial fishers. Then there are threatened species and systems in danger from climate change like the Great Barrier Reef. As it happens our inability to measure fish without killing

echosounding method used in the northern hemisphere but side facing scan comes with a lot of advantages in terms of the amount of data that is collected. A normal survey day for us will net around 100,000 tracks – ie 100,000 things of interest. It should be noted that 100,000 tracks is made up of bottom noise, structure and things other than fish – all valuable but that’s

20-40 times more data on a side facing transect for the same distance travelled. There is a reason why these large datasets are important. The larger the sample, the smaller the error when estimating the dynamics of a larger population. When using downscan to estimate populations we have had much greater volatility as you would expect, as much as

Fig 2. Fixed point installations of biosonics units. present, the more robust the ecosystem. Diversity is the measure of the range of species, Biomass is the amount of that species present. What ‘measuring biomass’ means depends on what you want as an outcome. If you are running an aquaculture pond, biomass is a measure of weight – ie what weight of fish is present? If you are talking in the wild, biomass is often a numbers game – how many fish of particular type are there, that could be based on species or size class. So how is biomass measured now? If ever you needed the definition dictionary for irony – you measure fish populations by killing them. Okay, probably a little harsh but the most common method globally is through commercial catch data. There are some other methodologies used in specific circumstances, but they lack the scalability and low cost of collection that comes with commercial catch data. As a result, for fifty years commercial catch data has been the global measurement tool. I have always believed there has to be an alternative way of measuring biomass. Over the past 20 years Infofish 82

DECEMBER 2019

length via echosounders dates to the late 1960s. Ignoring the problems listed in my last article, there have always been concerns around the use of echosounders particularly identifying fish species. This has in my view unnecessarily held back the development of the technology because the reality is as most fishers would know – echosounders are really good at locating fish. None the less significant progress has been made with three key applications arising in the northern hemisphere.

more relevant – why wouldn’t you? There are an endless number of instances where we make decisions about fish without much of a clue what is going on. Take stocking for instance. We know how to breed fish and release them in a system, we don’t on the whole have very much of an idea though of what an optimal stocking program looks like. Then there are our natural rivers, ever more deprived of water, we don’t really know often what is in a system until things start dying

An echogram with targets.

Fig.1. An example echogram. them hampers so many of our decision-making processes and leaves everyone relying on guesswork. SIDE FACING ECHOSOUNDERS AND THE LAW OF LARGE NUMBERS As I noted earlier, downscan is the most common

a lot of data to process when you consider each of those data points generates nearly 200 fields of data. That’s 20 million datapoints, and that’s before we start looking at individual echoes. It has to be said that downscan is much easier to manage precisely because we capture less data, which is why it’s used. For a point of comparison, we did intensive survey downscan on 40km of river near Brisbane with downscan edge to edge transects cutting across the river around every 100m plus two transects along the edge and one in the middle. That netted us around 4000 fish from 308km of transects. Doing the same area shooting from one bank to the other (typically 30-40m) using side facing we ended up with around 130,000 fish from 89km of transects. That will give a pretty good indicator on why we value side-facing echosounding. In general, we collect

100% over or underestimating on the recorded numbers from side facing. THE PROBLEMS WITH SIDE FACING DATA Having established the value of side facing data let me get back to the previous article where I listed a lot of the challenges that go with collecting side facing data. In the last article I highlighted that shallow water is an inherently complex environment, and if you are going to capture fish data then you are going to capture a lot more than fish. Anyone that has used conventional sidescan (a different technology to scientific echosounders) in shallow water will know that finding fish in structure is a lot easier when you can see them. The human eye and brain is pretty good at interpreting those kinds of images. What happens if all you get is a flat 2D image? Fig.1 is a pretty good example of what you end up with, can you see the fish amongst all that green noise?

Fortunately, we don’t have to make sense of the noise. Biosonics have done a great job of providing a tool called Autotrack, which helps pick out targets, but as you would expect there is a catch. Fig.2 2 shows Autotrack assessing the signal and providing a list of targets. The catch is, while Autotrack and all tracking systems for that matter are good at picking out targets, they suck when it comes to telling you what you are looking at, or where it is. Further, they are based on the downscan assessments, which have two inherent advantages: the fish and boat are in close proximity, and the location of the bottom is a known via bathymetry INTRODUCING AARON Aaron Dunlop joined the Infofish team to work on an unrelated project about two years ago. When he came on board he said he was looking for challenges, and I think it’s safe to say that the biosonics delivered. To be honest, he chipped me for not mentioning him in my last article, but I don’t think his part in the story of our use of Biosonics relates to the problems – he has been all solutions. After the first project it was clear we had three big problems to address: how to resolve the spatial data problem, how to tell the difference between objects, and how to optimise the survey volumes. THE SPATIAL DATA PROBLEM Solving the spatial data

Aaron with an early build of the rig. He would go on to redo the design and lay the foundations for cracking 3D representations of the beam. cameras were mounted at axes to give a complete view of the action and we mapped out the ‘strike’ zone which we knew to be about 30cm wide and place a bait (chicken) at the centre of the beam. Our intended subject was baby bream, between 4-10cm long. The goal was to lure them into the beam and capture them on the three cameras as well as the echosounder so that we could work out the position of the fish in three dimensions. I learned through this exercise that Aaron could MacGyver almost anything on the water.

a lower grade component. There was nothing elegant in solving that problem, just brute force trial and error until I managed to generate a map that matched the echogram. The results were worth it though as we can map out the fish we detect by size, depth and location. GETTING THE DATA AND TELLING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OBJECTS Telling the difference between objects is something of a trade secret for us. We invested a lot of time and money on that particular problem. All the same I am

Fish mapped out by size class using QGIS. problem involved two parts, one fun and one boring. The boring part was going back to school. Youtube has been a boon for self-education because there are a lot of lectures from US universities online and that was my part in solving the problem, many hours spent learning the mathematics needed to turn the raw data we had into something useful. Aaron had the fun part that included a bunch of mythbuster style builds where we would create rigs for the unit to operate in small scale, so that we could understand what was happening on the larger scale. The first rig we built was a 3m long polypipe contraption, with the transducer at one end then a cube frame at the other. Three

The results of that work would lead to us then being able to extrapolate fish in 3D. Fig.3 shows one of the money shots we used to work out what was happening with two bream sitting perfectly in the beam. It’s less impressive than some of the balls of bream we have but in data terms – this one is the gold. A second issue in the spatial issue was understanding where everything was in terms of mapping and that in of itself was a journey. We worked out early on that we should be able to convert the data we collected into a map. Getting there proved a serious hurdle, not helped by a discovery much later that a motion sensor we were relying on was

happy to share some of the how we went about it. I had been working with Machine Learning for a range of other problems, particularly looking at fish health. Machine Learning is kind of a proto artificial Intelligence, a way of providing a computer the tools to ‘learn’ patterns in data. Image recognition is a rather popular form of this type of learning, if you have used Facebook you will have noticed it can recognise your friends from photos. Machine learning would prove to be one of the key tools we used to solve the object identification problem. In our problem though we weren’t sure what we were looking at. We didn’t have a large set of nicely labelled

data, so before we could teach the machine the difference between bottom, structure and fish we had to learn how to do that ourselves first. This is where the 3D representations became critical because they provided a good picture of how the scanner sees the world. For most of our time using the biosonics, we have only been able to use clean water, that is no bottom noise. Using only clean water meant we were losing up to 50% of the available survey area. Once we had 3D we were able to use 100% of the scan data, which was the single biggest hurdle to unlocking the power of side facing scans. As with many parts of our biosonics journey, this step became a feedback loop. Once we could survey all the

data and then work out how to cross-match. Once we had one dataset to crossmatch with, other datasets also came into play. Once again, this is where Aaron came to the fore. While I was working out the maths, Aaron was learning how to interpret the echogram. We started with the clean water, where we knew we were only dealing with fish, then gathered datasets with increasing amounts of structure. Over many, many weeks Aaron teased out the echograms and provided me sets of labelled data that I could use to train the machine learning. To be fair the early attempts sucked but eventually we got there. That mix of human expertise and mathematics has served us well. Machine Learning has been critical

On that front, I wish I had more time in the day, but we do have datasets with known species and while I am not ready to say I am there, we have managed to detect the differences between species in the signals. I won’t say that we have cracked species, but we certainly have cracked morphology (shape) and given two different shaped species we can pick the differences. In the case of two similarly shaped species we have found other datapoints that can help separate them. I have a big dataset ready to go to classify five key species from around 20,000 fish and room to expand that to seven species once we have the base set done and I can look more closely at the habitat side of things. On the list of species we

Fig.3. Two bream with their echoes. water, that led Aaron to further improve the survey techniques to ensure that we can get as much data as possible. As I said earlier, the advantage of downscan is you get bathymetry at the same time. Bathymetry is vital because it gives you a point of reference – the bottom. In most of our early surveys we had no bathymetry at all, and it wasn’t until we unlocked the 3D data we realised how big a mistake that was. It was at this point we started to deviate from traditional methods of processing the data because the current approaches treat the signal as a self-contained set of data, there is no use of external datasets. We couldn’t capture the bathymetry using the side facing echosounding so we had to get that external

in improving our processing times because increasingly clients come to us specifically for the bigger datasets. We have had datasets that have required assessment of half a million or more tracks in a single run. At our best pace that would take 11 years by hand. We can crunch that in 3-4 hours. THE NEXT STEP – DETECTING SPECIES Detecting the species of fish via the echosounder is the holy grail. There are systems to do that in downscan, using a multifrequency approach but those units are expensive and have proven unreliable. Doing so with conventional split beams would reduce the costs and make it possible to deliver a truly effective biomass assessment tool.

have classification data on we can include carp and tilapia, two species that mapping out biomass for is critical in many regions. Our biosonics journey has been a combination of hundreds of hours on the water and even more time back in the office. We have had to be single-minded, many times we have been told things can’t be done only to work out how to do it. Our journey though isn’t about us, it’s about the fish we all care so much about. Unlike terrestrial animals, they are shielded from our sight – it’s only in very recent times that technology made it possible to peak into their world. Now that we can ‘see’ the fish, a whole new world is opening up.

Fish mapped out by size class using QGIS. DECEMBER 2019

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FUN PAGE AND COMPETITIONS FISHY CHRISTMAS FILMS

DTD - REAL FISH OITA

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Name: Address:

P/Code:

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

VIC DECEMBER 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 Tom Gillett, who was last month’s winner of the Find-a-Word Competition! Monthly winners receive a Fishing Monthly prize pack. Prize delivery can take 8 weeks. – V&TFM

SUBSCRIBER PRIZE

The subscriber prize winner for October is N Knights of Bayswater North, who won a Wilson Fishing prize pack valued at over $300. All subscribers are entered in the monthly subscriber prize draws. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – V&TFM

K Rich of Miners Rest, J Stoop of Portland, D Hill of Cranbourne North, G Johnson of Portland, D Clarke of Colac, J Raymond of Rosebud, J Drummond of Moe, R Coombes of Vermont, J Darch of Altona, P Wickham of Corinella, A West of Emerald, G House of Ferntree Gully, J Tippet of Nurrabiel, B Rafferty of Maryborough, T Darker of Daylesford, D Parry of Stawell, M Meyer of Dartmouth,

R Abernethy of Horsham, B Sharp of Wendouree, W Coulins of Bonbeach, K Culshaw of Banyo, G Clark of Skennars Head, M Fryer of North Balwyn, B Shelton of Romsey, N Hettick of Drysdale, J McNamara of Goornong, R Drendel of Mt Helen, J Morrison of Clunes, D Armstrong of Newborough. Prize delivery takes up to 8 weeks. – V&TFM

LAST MONTH’S ANSWERS

FIND THE DAIWA LOGO

DECEMBER 2019

GUESS THE FISH?

This month’s Guess the Fish Answer: Silver Perch

The answers to Find the Daiwa Logo for October were: 8, 16, 19, 24, 26, 36, 40, 42, 46, 52, 53, 56, 59, 63, 82, 90. – V&TFM The Find the Daiwa Logo prize winners for October were: M Pearce of Devonport, S Ward of Curlewis, R Meaney of St James, C Peeters of Colac, R Batty of Brighton, W Henley of Park Orchards, G Bannister of Lorne, W Johnson of Morwell, G Finco of Sunshine West, R Wilde of Maryborough, H Heyme of Pomonal,

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Inside story...

In 1998, Formosa Marine Pty Ltd became a registered business in aluminium pressed boats. Since then, Formosa Marine has earnt a reputation through word of mouth as some of Australia’s best-designed and versatile aluminium boats.

Made for...

Formosa Marine brands are designed with versatility and practicality in mind. Each boat has the same engineering specifications, so you can be assured that Formosa Marine’s famous strength qualities, spacious layout and freeboard is in each hull regardless of the size or model.

This month...

Editor Steve Morgan puts Formosa’s 550 SRT with Suzuki 150hp through its paces at Coffs Harbour. Check it out on page 94!

88 A double christening Justin Willmer kills two birds with one stone in a weekend of kayaking and SUPing.

90 A look at propellers Wayne Kampe provides an introduction to props, in what is the first of a two-part series.

96 Yellowfin Plate 7000cc with Evinrude 200hp This is a serious rig for serious anglers, and Steve Morgan really gives this monster a good thrashing!

FEBRUARY 2019

Formosa 550 SRT with Suzuki 150hp 4-stroke - SC

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RE ONLINE MO

Main: The jury is out on whether this type of shot is appealing to a boat customer or not. Rupe said that landing was “much softer than expected” after searching out some stand-up swell at the mouth of the harbour. Above: Stability at rest is where this Formosa shines, with a 2.45m beam and the Quad4 water ballast system fitted. The 550 is the smallest Centre Cab that Formosa make. With models extending up to 7.4m in length and the simplification of the Formosa range (these SRT hulls were released on the 2019 boat

PERFORMANCE RPM Speed (km/h) Economy (km/L) Idle ..........................5 ...............................5 1000 .........................7 ............................3.3 2000....................... 12 ............................2.5 3000....................... 28 ............................2.0 3500 ....................... 30 ............................2.0 4000....................... 46 ............................2.0 5000....................... 59 ............................1.4 5900 ....................... 74 ............................n/a features and turning heads with a new Suzuki 150 bolted to the back. “The locals here love the Formosas and we sell plenty of them here,” said NCBC’s Dayne Taylor. “We always make sure that we order boats with the features that local anglers want.” 94

DECEMBER 2019

show circuit), navigating their line up has become a lot easier. There’s a surprising amount of room in the centre cab, as much as in some 7m models that I’ve tested in the past; however, the flipside of that is the front deck space is compromised in this model. If front deck space is important

to you, check out the longer models in the line up. Exiting the ramp, there’s a fair expanse of semi-sheltered water that we could use to do some speed runs in. Although the specs show economy of 2km/L, I’m sure that with more granular metering this would actually register in the low 2s. It’s no slouch either, with a flat-water test yielding 74km/h. Unfortunately, conditions didn’t allow us to run at wide open throttle on the test day – that was a quoted reading from the team when they were prop testing in the local river. Creeping out of the harbour, the calm day belied the decent ocean swell that rolled through. Indeed, it was fun to do a few jump shots off the colourful south wall. Sneaking up along the coast, we took the opportunity to do some running and fishing shots in the slop. You can check these out on the Fishing Monthly YouTube channel or

by scanning the QR code on this page. The other compromise in this boat is stability versus ride. With a near 2.5m width and the fourtube Quad4 water ballast system in play, the hull was rock solid in the water.

DE FOR EX

After hundreds of boat tests, we finally made it to Coffs Harbour to get some hulls wet. Hosted by Dayne Taylor and the team at North Coast Boating Centre (NCBC), it’s definitely a part of the world that offers lots – not just for fishing but also a compact array of conditions to test the abilities of hull and motor combinations. NCBC is a Formosa and Suzuki dealer and both come from South East Queensland – the hulls are manufactured there and Suzuki’s local head office is also located there. Although the quality of the main Coffs Harbour boat ramp is a bone of contention amongst locals, on the test day it coped fine with the launch and retrieval of a black and grey 5.5m Formosa Centre Cab, loaded with

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

Even with 19 degrees of transom deadrise, the hull tended to ride over rather than through the swell. Add a deeper vee in the hull and you would lose stability in favour of a smoother entry to waves. It’s the perennial boating dilemma. Otherwise, the boat is well finished and definitely turns heads at the ramp. Its practical features, such as the removable underfloor kill tank, an entirely practical transom and transom door coupled with a folding bench seat that redefines simplicity shows that this rig has been designed by anglers – or at the very least, by builders who listen to their customers. Price wise, this rig is right in the ballpark for those looking to move into a plate boat and not have to sell the house to do it. As tested, this rig comes in at under $60,000 and if you want to drop to a 140hp outboard, you can shed another five or six grand again.

Steve Morgan

CON

AN THE

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SPECIFICATIONS Length................. 5.7m Beam................. 2.45m Bottom ................ 4mm Sides ................... 4mm Fuel ..................... 150L Dry hull weight . 840kg Max hp .................. 150 Transom deadrise .19° Capacity ..... 6 persons VIC/TAS DEALERS Geelong Boating Centre 88 Barwon Heads Road Belmont P: 03 5241 6966 W: geelongboats.com.au Cranbourne Boating Centre 1 Bowen Street Cranbourne P: 03 5996 2206 W: cranbourneboating centre.com.au Tasmania Marine Centre 21 Wellington Street Longford P: 03 6391 1543 W: tasmaniamarine.com.au

If you’ve ever been offshore from Coffs, you’ll know this wall. A calm wind with some leftover swell presented ideal testing conditions.

Above: We’ve seen plenty of kill tanks under the floor of boats, but this one is removable. Below: There’s more room than you think in the centre cab, with plenty of space to get out of the elements when things get hot and nasty.

Egress is easy on the trailer with the fold-down aluminium steps.

Above: Side pockets are short but feature room for your toes underneath them and a high gunwale to keep you in while out in the ocean. Below: The trade-off of a large centre cab is less casting deck up front. There’s plenty of room to circumnavigate the cab, but two anglers casting lures up here is a crowd.

Main: The fold-down rear bench seat is a neat and practical solution – with no fold-down legs required. Inset: The transom door folds inwards and forms a step to give access to the Active Transom.

Top Left: The helm is simple and although the throttle box initially felt a little cramped, it offered plenty of places to support the throttle hand while varying revs in lumpier water. Bottom Left: Next to the anchor box there’s an electric motor mount. Either a self or standard manualdeploy would work, as you can easily access the mounting area. Right: Although basic, there’s plenty of storage room in the seat pedestals and simple foot bars.

The new Suzuki 150 is an EFI double overhead cam, 2.8L inline 4-stroke that throws this centre cab up and out of the water.

The hard top offers shade for driver and passenger and accommodates a handful of rods up and out of the way. It folds down for garage storage.

Left: There’s ample room to shuffle around the centre cab and the deck remains the same level all the way around. Right: The short windscreen is in the ideal place – you can look through it while seated and over it while standing. DECEMBER 2019

Yellowfin Plate 7000cc with Evinrude 200hp E-Tec - SC

TENT -

RE ONLINE MO

Length............... 6.98m Beam................. 2.40m Max.hp .................. 225 Bottom.Sheet ..... 6mm Side.Sheet .......... 4mm Capacity ..... 7 persons Hull.weight ..... 1075kg Fuel ..................... 320L a show in 2019, you got a 10-year warranty for your own peace of mind. At the launch, Yellowfin Plate National Sales Manager, Drew Jackson said, “Yellowfin Plate is all about the one-percenters. We’ve taken the best welders and boat makers at Telwater and 96

DECEMBER 2019

DE FOR EX

SPECIFICATIONS

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

2019 saw the re-launch of the Yellowfin Boats brand as Yellowfin Plate by Queensland boat building giant Telwater. Subsequently, the company sold a major interest to BRP, the manufacturer of Evinrude outboards. A such, you’re likely to see plenty of Evinrude powered Yellowfin Plate boats in coming years, and there’s nothing wrong with that. As the last remaining manufacturer of 2-stroke technology outboards, these guys do 2-stroke better than ever. They deliver the famous 2-stroke acceleration and torque throughout the rev range while boasting industry-leading emissions. And if you bought at

they were nowhere near as trim responsive and as quiet as this rig. Also, the centre cab is positioned well forward on this rig – offering maximum cockpit space. You only have to look at the images to see that there’s plenty of room in this boat for you

Steve Morgan

CON

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FMG

dirty and for you to do a lot of cleaning with a hose when you get back. Additionally, a 300L+ fuel tank gives you the range to get to the most distant reefs. At optimum cruising speed, the G2 delivers 44km/h and 1.9km/L. That’s a theoretical range of around

PERFORMANCE

Main: There’s a whole lot of space in this boat for you and a handful of your mates to embark on a 600km adventure to fishing paradise. Above: This iteration of Yellowfin feels 100% solid and quiet in the water. Granted, it was a choppy day and not a full blown ocean test. moved them across to the Yellowfin Plate team. You won’t find a more talented and dedicated team of boat builders anywhere,” said Drew, “and these guys have made sure that we have got everything right. These boats look and perform like nothing we’ve ever built.” That said, there’s not much change in the hulls. The Marine Core construction features over 100 hours of welding and a design that simply won’t break. It’s the top deck and the modifications where we have seen the most improvements. “The small changes we’ve made have all come about from dealer and customer feedback – there have been lots of little things that we’ve changed to make the boats look amazing and to add to the on-water experience,” Drew continued. On the water, this thing is a beast. We shared time

on it pre-launch with JV Marine owner, Mark Stav. And he was excited about the boats. You can see the full video review on the Fishing Monthly YouTube channel or by scanning the QR Code at the top of the page with your smartphone. “As a dealer, there are a couple of things I like about this boat. The first is the Offshore HD hull – it’s soft, stable and dry. The way they build these things means that they’re super solid and super quiet. That’s what a rigid hull gives you,” Mark said. “The second is that the boat and motor are made in the Yellowfin Plate factory, and so is the trailer. The Evinrude G2 is fitted there and, as a dealer, all we need to do is add a battery and we’re ready to go. It means that we can turn around a boat in a day at the yard. You get to drive it home just after we get it,” he said.

This version of the Yellowfin Plate is the best riding that I’ve driven to date. The hull is solid and quiet and it seems as though the balance is just right. I have driven Yellowfins in the past that weren’t as well balanced and

RPM....................... km/h........................km/L Idle ............................. 4 .......................... 3.8 1000 ............................ 7 .......................... 3.4 2000...........................12 .......................... 1.3 3000...........................34 .......................... 1.8 3500 ...........................44 .......................... 1.9 4000...........................51 .......................... 1.5 5000...........................66 .......................... 1.2 5600 ........................... 74 .......................... 1.1 and three of your mates out on the deep blue. On the spectrum of family comfort to serious fishing, this boat is no family cruiser. It’s designed to get out and

600km – imagine where that will take you! For more information you can call Mark and the team at JV Marine, or visit www. jvmarine.com.au.

The 200hp Evinrude H.O. is a torque efficient powerplant that matches the hull perfectly.

Above: With all of that cockpit space, the compromise is that there is just enough room to walk around the cabin. Above: It’s the small things, like the tip-down rod holders that let short people like me load them, that makes this a very fishable boat.

Above Top: The starboard side transom door allows easy entry. The port livebait tank has a clear front for keeping an eye on your live baits. Plenty of room to get things done at the bait station, with room for 5 rods, a couple of cans, half a block of pillies and a shelf for the popular terminal tackle.

If you bought an Evinrude at a boat show in 2019, you got a 10-year warranty!

If you’re a chequer-plate fan, the Yellowfin Plate is the boat for you. A good hose out at the end of the day and you’re well on top of maintenance.

The helm and instruments are on the starboard side of the console, with a cabin door on port side. We liked the ability to flush mount large electronic choices.

Top Left: The for’ard deck is raised a little. Watch the steps. Bottom Left: Transom mounted live bait tanks are nearly a standard feature of boats of this size. Right: The cabin is roomy enough, yet not the biggest we’ve seen in a boat of this length. The WR is all about cockpit size!

Left: There are two steps on the starboard side walkaround. Right: The huge esky under the seat is practical and big enough for extended trips. DECEMBER 2019

Victorian Tide Times

2019 2019 Local Time

POINT LONSDALE – VICTORIA POINT – 144° VICTORIA LAT 38°LONSDALE 18’ S LONG 37’ E

18’ S of High LONG 144° 37’ E TimesLAT and38° Heights and Low Waters Times and Heights of High and Low Waters MARCH JANUARY FEBRUARY OCTOBER SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER Time m Time Time m Time m Time m Time m 0113 0801 TU 1359 2109 SU

1 1 2 0205 0853 2

WE 1455 MO 2215

3 0304 0948 3

TH 1557 TU 2318

4 0414 1046 4

FR 1700 WE

5 0018 0529 5

SA 1145 TH 1800

6 0115 0635 6

SU 1240 FR 1852

Time 0.54 0026 1.48 0617 0.35 1320 1.37 1852 0.65 0128 1.41 0715 0.36 1407 1.38 1945 0.75 0224 1.35 0807 0.36 1451 1.41 2036 0.81 0317 1.30 0855 0.35 1532 2125 1.45 0410 0.82 0942 1.28 1613 0.33 2212 1.50 0501 0.79 1026 1.29 1653 0.30 2257

Time m Time m 0032 0.58 0230 0.73 01191.32 1.65 07120111 1.431.39 0907 07020.36 0.41 13050710 0.410.48 FR 1515 13371.35 1.60 1956 1.311.49 2245 MO 1341 TU 1933 0.52 1923 0.25 0116 0.67 0330 0.80 02141.26 1.74 07520152 1.381.46 1004 07520.39 0.41 13460746 0.390.48 SA 1617 14211.35 1.62 TU 1412 WE 2058 1.311.51 2345 2007 0.45 2012 0.16 0207 0.75 0444 0.84 03051.22 1.77 08400230 1.331.52 1106 08380.40 0.44 14350821 0.360.49 SU 1724 WE 1442 TH 1502 1.62 2205 1.341.53 2058 0.13 2040 0.40 0307 0.83 0045 1.38 03530.82 1.76 09360305 1.291.55 0559 09211.21 0.47 15330854 0.330.51 MO 1208 15430.38 1.59 TH 1514 FR 2317 1.391.53 1825 2143 0.15 2112 0.36 0420 0.86 0138 1.43 04400.76 1.70 10420341 1.281.57 0704 0929 0.54 1003 0.52 1644 0.29 1.24 TU 1305 16230.36 1.53 FR 1545 1.51 SA 1918 2143 0.34 2227 0.20 0026 1.47 0222 1.47 0418 1.57 0626 1.61 0538 0.84 0757 0.69 1003 0.58 1145 0.57 11561618 1.301.48 WE 1356 1.28 1804 1.46 SA SU 1757 0.24 2005 0.34 2215 0.33

16 16

1.48 0.32 WE 1.63 0.54

Time 0140 0234 0802 0824 SA 1400 1433 WE2128 2032 0233 0311 0859 0859 SU 1457 1508 TH2241 2105 0341 0346 1008 1608 MO 0932 1543 FR2356 2138 0501 0422 1132 1730 TU 1008 SA 1617 2211 0101 0500 0621 1043 WE 1251 1653 SU1848 2245 0159 0539 0730 1119 1358 TH 1729 MO1953 2320

16 16

17 17

18 18

1.58 0.31 TH 1.67 0.41 1.66 0.33 FR 1.69 0.30

19 19

1.70 0.38 SA 1.69 0.23

20 20

1.69 0.44 SU 1.65 0.21

21 21

1.65 0.51 MO 1.60 0.23

19 19

20 20

21 21

m 0.72 1.52 1.34 0.56 0.30 1.44 1.36 0.36 0.79 1.60 1.30 0.55 0.30 1.47 1.36 0.31 0.83 1.64 1.27 0.55 0.31 1.48 1.41 0.28 0.81 1.66 1.29 0.56 0.30 1.47 0.27 1.48 1.65 0.72 0.58 1.36 1.44 0.26 0.27 1.56 1.61 0.59 0.61 1.45 1.40 0.24 0.29

1.55 1.59 01280458 1.551.54 0300 00091.51 0.2822 0250 0621 1.62 1.55 7 0203 22 22 0730 0.73 0.58 06481039 0.760.62 7 7 0841 7 0555 1109 07140.62 1.51 220828 1157 0.45 0.64

1.30 1.52 1.361.44 TH 1441 1458 MO 1330 TU 1307 12271.32 0.62 FR 1809 1.55 1.36 SA 1735 MO TU2048 SU 1653 1939 0.28 0.28 1903 0.180.33 2046 0.24 2341 2247 18480.33 1.38 0246 0649 1.58 1.51 02230542 1.631.50 0331 0337 00511.54 0.37 0000 1.66 0.32 0816 1152 0.68 0.66 07481115 0.660.68 0920 0921 08040.55 1.42 0708 0.33 1.48 1415 1.33 1409 1.43 1522 1.37 1553 1.61 TU WE MO 1730 1.39 FR TU 1310 0.68 SA SU 1819 1.44 WE 1237 0.67 2022 0.27 20032324 0.150.34 2123 2139 19380.34 1.29 1858 0.26 1.32

8 8

23 23

1.60 0.35 03140631 1.691.44 0401 0420 0026 01351.56 0.46 0045 1.67 0.37 9 0323 24 24 0859 0.63 1.43 08441156 0.540.73 9 9 0956 1010 9 24 0745 09000.49 1.3424 0802 0.23 1.41 WE 1458 1.35 TH 1505 1.50 SA 1601 1.40 SU 1646 1.64 MO 1238 0.74 TU 1814 1.35 2102 1910 0.28 1.36 2058 0.15

WE 1400 0.74 2157 20380.37 1.22

TH 1325 0.69 2225 1958 0.31 1.28

Time 0113 0348 0741 1345 FR 0918 2105 FR 1533 2130 0158 0433 0829 1431 SA 1000 SA 1615 2201 2215 0250 0515 0924 1528 SU 1042 SU 1655 2301 2257 0359 0557 1030 1639 MO 1122 MO 1736 2337 0003 0638 0520 1203 1138 TU 1819 TU 1753

44 55

m 0.63 1.81 1.38 0.52 0.32 1.55 1.37 0.12 0.71 1.78 1.29 0.52 0.39 1.52 1.32 0.16 0.78 1.72 1.22 0.54 0.46 1.47 1.29 0.23 0.82 1.63 1.18 0.56 0.50 1.40 0.31 1.30 1.54 0.82 0.60 1.17 1.33 0.50

Local Time APRIL DECEMBER Time Time m

m Time m Time m 0036 0.65 0215 0.77 0327 04140846 1.75 1.22 06521.70 1.39 0910 09421439 0.57 0.54 12480.62 0.28 SA MO 1.45 1.29 19581.43 1.44 SU 15502210 SA 1515 MO 2107 0.22 2150 0.20 0118 0.71 0316 0.81 0405 04530955 1.70 1.18 07381.71 1.35 0946 1023 0.56 0.61 13330.60 0.30 SU TU 1543 1.42 1.28 SU 1554 TU 20591.43 1.39 MO 16312310 2144 0.22 2231 0.26 0209 0.76 0438 0.80 0445 05301110 1.63 1.18 08371.70 1.30 1024 0.59 1103 0.56 0.64 1430 0.35 1705 MO WE MO 1632 22101.42 1.37 TU 1713 1.37 WE 2221 0.23 2311 0.34 0315 0.78 0008 1.30 0524 06060601 1.56 0.74 09531.65 1.28 1102 0.59 1143 0.57 1.23 1543 0.40 1220 TU TH 1.31 0.64 TU 1714 TH 23251.40 1.38 WE 17551822 2348 0.42 2301 0.27 0437 0.74 0058 1.34 06430659 1.48 0.65 0606 11231.59 1.31 1223 0.58 1.32 1142 0.59 WE 1710 0.42 FR 1318 1.25 0.62 TH 18401919 FR WE 1758 1.36 2345 0.32 0031 1.44 0140 1.39 0027 0.51 0650 1.52 0600 0.64 0742 0.56 0720 1.42 1226 0.59 1.40 1.42 TH 12431.33 SA 1407 1305 0.59 SA FR TH 1850 1833 0.41 19332002 1.21 0.60

16 16

1535 2124

0431 17 17 1007

18 18

0513 18 18 1049 TH

19 19

20 20

44 55

22 22

0350 16 16 0926 TU

17 17

0100 1.33 0.40 6 0017 0636 0.76 21 6 0721 1.44 21 WE 1243 1.21

WE 1245 1855 1907 0146 0059 0733 0808 1339 TH 1331 TH 1945 2005

Time

WE 1619 2207

1704 2251

0553 19 19 1133 FR 1753 2338

0635 20 20 1220 SA 1848

m 0055 1.71 0730 0.62 1313 1.42 2043 0.19 0200 1.71 0852 0.58 1425 1.43 2153 0.21 0322 1.67 1021 0.54 1552 1.42 2258 0.26 0443 1.63 1136 0.49 1715 1.40 2356 0.34 0548 1.57 1241 0.46 1822 1.37

m 0.73 1.33 0.46 1.41 0.72 1.32 0.55 1.41 0.67 1.38 0.60 1.44 0.56 1.49 0.60 1.49 0.43 1.61 0.59

0048 1.54 0.32 1.72 1310 0.42 1957 1915 1.35 0.58 0120 0136 0.55 1.57 0809 0731 1.45 0.24 MO 1430 1405 0.39 1.79 2115 2002 1.36 0.58

0028 0.44 0643 21 21 0719 1.51 SU 1339

0.64 0.48 1.26 01300.41 1.51 1.38 0.49 0033 01080217 0.60 1.44 07111.46 0.50 0.67 1.36 0740 08010718 1.35 0.47 13500.57 1.52 1.27 FR SU 0.67 1315 13511349 0.59 1.52 FR SA SU 19401.30 0.40 0.45 1.19 20391940 1.18 0.58 1955

22 22

02210.51 1.57 0225 0.59 1.43 01560153 0.70 1.48 0218 0219 0.66 23 8 0145 230129 8 0752 08081.41 0.36 8 0846 0817 1.30 0.5823 8 23 0900 1.30 0.39 0904 0816 1.40 0837 1516 1450 1.63 1429 1.60 1426 1.35 TU SA MO FR

1.58 0.21 FR 1426 0.69 SA 1415 0.54 SU 1444 0.58 MO 1506 0.36 1.80 20341.31 0.39 2028 1.16 0.44 2120 21532015 1.20 0.58 2230 2045 1.41 0.58 2118 03080.61 1.61 0259 0.67 1.48 02530229 0.79 1.51 0325 0300 0.75 24 240234 9 0826 9 0241 08591.38 0.25 9 0938 0855 1.26 0.5024 9 24 0955 1.27 0.34 1005 0900 1.36 0940 TU 1507 1.65 WE 1559 SA 1508 1.42 SU 1545 1.71

1.57 0.22 SA 1537 0.68 SU 1526 0.48 MO 1545 0.55 TU 1615 0.32 1.77 21231.38 0.41 2104 1.18 0.44 2237 23012051 1.26 0.58 2337 2125 1.47 0.60 2242

1.61 0.43 04000007 1.710.36 0431 0501 0330 0.74 1.51 03510.69 1.63 04040304 0.85 1.51 0443 0338 0.80 0115 02281.56 0.54 0141 1.65 0.44 10 0356 25 25 250351 25 10 0354 0937 0.58 1.37 09360730 0.431.3910 1029 1057 0929 1.25 0.4325 09451.37 0.181010 25 10 10 25 1049 10320900 1.25 0.30 1108 0941 1.35 0843 09580.44 1.2925 0906 0.18 1.37 10 1044 1639 1537 1.36 1600 1.54 1639 1.42 1738 1.63 1546 1.48 1634 1.73 1545 1.67 TH

FR WE 1243 0.77 SU TH 1501 0.77 MO TU 1330 0.80 FR 1425 0.68 2139 2009 0.30 1.29 21491909 0.181.31 2230 2309 21500.40 1.18 2116 0.38 1.28

1.54 0.26 1651 0.49 WE 1722 1641 0.39 TH 0.27 1.71 SU 1657 0.63 MO MO SU TU WE 2204 0.62 2139 1.25 0.45 22071.49 0.44 2127 0.59 2345 2354

1.60 0.49 04450101 1.710.39 04310.71 1.61 0401 0.76 1.53 00010339 1.35 1.50 0039 0416 03341.55 0.61 0249 1.61 0.52 1.55 11 0427 26 26 11 0520 260515 11 0212 110502 260540 26 26 1015 0.54 1.34 10270838 0.341.3611 1100 10301.39 0.161111 1000 1.26 0.3726 1140 1141 05270934 0.86 0.28 0943 10570.39 1.2726 1016 0.17 1.36 11 1145 0559 1019 0.79 1717 1616 1.37 1652 1.55 1717 1.43 1721 1.71 1623 1.67 1624 1.53 1829 1.58 FR

SA TH 1343 0.80 MO FR 1625 0.76 TU WE 1437 0.84 SA 1541 0.63 2214 2115 0.33 1.24 22382021 0.241.28 2303 2350 23040.45 1.19 2246 0.46 1.33

1.49 0.32 1.26 TH 1210 1748 0.29 FR 1.35 1.64 TH MO 1757 0.54 TUTU MO WE 1129 2248 0.48 2212 0.47 17482203 0.42 0.61 1823 2243 0.23 0.65

04561.53 0.64 0413 1.54 0.57 0042 0057 00540415 1.45 1.48 0136 0455 1.62 1.59 0.53 05270210 1.680.43 05101.60 1.57 0433 1.35 1.53 12 0323 120533 270619 27 27 27 12 0458 27 12 27 1044 11520.36 1.2827 1122 0.19 1.38 12 0629 0628 06321010 0.83 0.28 0702 1058 0.74 1050 0.51 1.34 11150951 0.281.3712 1131 11120.70 0.181212 1032 0.74 0.3327 1222 1559 0.84 1745 0.70 1703 0.52 1459 0.77 1229 1.30 1242 1.42 1224 1.28 1307 1.37

1.54 1757 1.43 TH 1.36 SU 1747 FR SA 1654 TU SA 2246 2224 0.38 1.23 23252147 0.331.31 2338 0.50

SU1920 1.51 WE

1.43 0.39 TU FR SA 1756 1.56 WE 1806 1.66 TH FR 1704 1.63 TU 1701 1.55 WE 1842 1845 18372241 0.34 0.64 1916 2321 0.20 0.69 23280.20 0.53 2246 0.45 0.50

00111.49 1.25 0129 0154 01410452 1.56 1.45 0228 0535 1.67 0003 0.54 1.45 1.56 0.53 06070332 0506 1.46 1.51 1.630.46 05471.70 1.51 13 0434 28 130606 28 28 280031 13 0529 13 28 28 1141 06090.33 0.6328 0716 0726 07221047 0.78 0.29 0755 1134 0.69 0539 1.47 0.58 13 1124 0.48 1.36 1103 0.71 0.3028 0659 12021058 0.241.4213 1203 11510.66 0.231313 1714 0.78 1241 1.32 1622 0.67 1313 1.34 1334 1.45 1315 1.32 1400 1.39 1221 1.43

1.50 1840 1.42 TH FR 1.35 MO 1845 SA MO1303 0.25 SU 1733 WESU 1841 0.61 2310 1.40 1813 1.44 0.38 2319 2328 0.44 1.26 2012 1.58 0.56 1.48 1909 0.25

0210 0245 02250534 1.64 1.41 0314 0001 1.69 0539 1.57 1.48 00071.76 0.58 14 29 29 0757 0815 08041129 0.73 0.33 0843 0620 0.64 14 29 1136 0.68 0.2829 06270.62 1.441414 TH 1355 1.38 FR 1423 1.47 SA 1404 1.36 SU 1446 1.40

0208 1.71 0.54 1.52 2000 0.16

1.68 0248 0330 03080003 1.69 0.71 0356 0045 0614 1.65 1.44 00461.78 0.64 15 30 30 0927 0715 0.59 0833 0900 08450625 0.67 1.36 15 30 1210 0.64 0.2730 07070.59 1.361515 FR 1435 1.41 SA 1508 1.47 SU 1450 1.40 MO 1530 1.40

01070.57 1.33 0110 1.53 0.51 00100457 0.430.44 14 0536 29 140015 1229 07041.44 0.60 29 0650 14 0600 29 1157 0.46 1.41 06481157 1.561.4814 0641 SA 1812 0.69 SU 1733 0.52 MO 1322 1.36 TU 1315

MO 1815 1.33 2354 0.50

TU 1248 0.24 1945 1.45

0024 1.32

0018 1.53

TH 1236 0.31 19231.40 0.51 1929 0154 1.43

1.48 0054 0.53 0.64 15 0627 30 150055 07471.39 0.58 30 0745 15 0635 30 1230 0.43 0.49 07300606 1.480.4215 0718 SU 1308 1.45 MO 1249 1.55 TU 1359 1.41 WE 1405 TU 1902 1.32 WE 1333 0.27 FR 1315 0.30 1856 0.60 20451831 20001.37 0.42 1.400.37 2024

31 0140 0816

0.64 1.40 TH 1421 0.31 2144 1.37

1.37 0.46 WE SA SU 1837 1.48 WE 1739 1.55 THTH 1850 1.58 FR SA 1748 1.58 1920 1936 0.15 19202320 0.27 0.68 2005 0.19 2322 0.37 0.54

31 0300 0834

1.78 0.52 TH 1450 1.55 2045 0.11

TH 1820 1.53 1956 2359 0.30 0.59

FR 1905 1.49 2031 0.25

FR 1230 0.30 2023 19340.13 1.49

SA 1309 0.38 2108 20210.15 1.41

31 0128 0752

0.71 1.29 SU 1350 0.46 2113 1.34

0.73 1.30 SU 1837 1.51 MO 1214 0.55 2001 0.22 2050 1922 0.21 1.41

0.76 1.24 TU 1257 0.63 MO 1215 0.39 0.24 1.36 20431935 0.19 1.45 2132 2012 0432 1.65 1008 0.56 TU 1613 1.38 2212 0.29

 Copyright Commonwealth of Australia2018, 2018,Bureau Bureau of of Meteorology Meteorology  Copyright Commonwealth of Australia Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide are in local standard time (UTC +10:00)orordaylight daylight savings savings time when in effect TimesTimes are in local standard time (UTC +10:00) time(UTC (UTC+11:00) +11:00) when in effect Moon Phase Symbols New Moon First Quarter Full Moon LastLast Quarter New Moon First Quarter Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon Tide predictions for Port Phillip Heads 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. 98

DECEMBER DECEMBER 2019 2019

NEW COAST TOURER EDITIONS NEW MODEL

SL 20

318p/w* Indicative

RELEASES FROM

YAMAHA F 130 MACKAY DUAL AXLE TRAILER

487p/w* Indicative

SL 22

HARD TOP YAMAHA F 150 MACKAY DUAL AXLE TRAILER

674p/w* Indicative

SL 25

HARD TOP

YAMAHA F 200 MACKAY DUAL AXLE TRAILER NEW SLIDING LOCKABLE CABIN DOOR

CALL (03) 8339 1800 OR VISIT THE FACTORY AND SHOWROOM AT 12-14 SOMERTON PARK DRIVE, CAMPBELLFIELD Indicative Interest rate

Comparison Interest rate

7.44% 7.99%

MAKING MEMORIES SINCE 1953 “ Repayment amount shown is the weekly equivalent of the monthly instalment of (a) $1,376 (b) $2,109 (c) $2,919. It is indicative only and is calculated based on an interest rate of 7.44% p.a. (Comparison Rate 7.99% p.a.), Package price of (a) $69,990 (b) $107,990 (c) $149,990, less a deposit of (a) $13,998 (b) $21,598 (c) $29,998 and 48 instalments in arrears with a final balloon payment of $0 and an application fee of $395. Interest rate used is based on an average individual credit rating and meeting mandatory credit criteria. Repayments and interest rate may vary depending on your individual circumstances, financial position, credit rating, information provided, loan amount and loan term. Offer valid until 31/08/2019. Comparison rate is based on a 5-year secured fixed rate consumer loan of $30,000. WARNING: The Comparison Rate is true only for the example given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Credit criteria, fees, charges, terms and conditions apply. Yamaha Motor Finance Aust. Pty Ltd. ABN 29 101 928 670. Australian Credit Licence 394553” DECEMBER 2019