Vic/Tas Fishing Monthly May 2018 by Fishing Monthly

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May 2018, Vol. 13 No. 7

Contents WEST COAST West Coast

Portland 14 Warrnambool 16 Apollo Bay

Cobden 17

CENTRAL Geelong 18 Port Phillip West

Port Phillip North East

Port Phillip North

Mornington Peninsula

Western Port North

Western Port South

Phillip Island

EAST COAST Lakes Entrance

Marlo 32 Gippsland Lakes

McLoughlins 33 Bemm River

NSW SOUTH COAST Bermagui 37 Eden 36 Mallacoota 37 Merimbula 38 Narooma 39

VICTORIAN FRESHWATER Horsham 52 Robinvale 52 Yarrawonga 53

From the Editor’s Desk... DODGING BULLETS ON MARINE PARKS It’s been a busy month behind the scenes of fishing. The big story was that recreational fishing dodged a pretty big bullet with the passage of the latest Marine Parks plan from the government. In the opinion of Australian Fishing Trade Association (AFTA), Australian Recreational Fishing Federation (ARFF) the Game Fishing Association (GFAA) and even the Seafood Industry Association (SIA), the government’s plans for federal marine parks were balanced. They provide a great compromise between keeping fishing and seafood industries alive, while preserving areas for conservation. Heck, the associations even got together to co-operatively launch a press release telling the

politicians that they thought this. You don’t often see recreational anglers and commercials working together like that. The opposition tried to get the legislation thrown out by moving a disallowance motion. Luckily the government and every single

way, there’d be great swaths of the ocean tied up, never to be sensibly enjoyed again. Like deadly asteroids passing close to the earth, sometimes bad outcomes are closer to becoming reality than you may think. For that, I thank the dedicated volunteers who

crossbencher voted against it, and the sensible plan is a step closer to reality. A lot of this happens behind closed doors, but at the end of the day, it really does affect how and where you can go fishing. If the Labour/Greens had their

work behind the scenes to make sure that our businesses and pastimes are protected. To the Col Tannahills (President of AFTA) and the Brett Clearys (President of ARFF) of the world, we thank you for your hard work behind the scenes to

make sure that I can keep going fishing. To the government, thank you for letting common sense prevail and for listening to the user groups who actually spend time on the water, rather than just battling for the wilderness from behind a keyboard. And to the anglers of Australia, thank you for doing what you do, for buying licences and for being a force to be reckoned with when serious issues arise. There’s not a sane polly alive who’s not scared of a cranky fishing sector against them at election time. Want to play a small part? Like the ‘Keep Australia Fishing’ page on Facebook, and when there’s a call to action, become a keyboard warrior yourself. It’s the only way we will win the war on our sport.

Mildura 54 Jindabyne 55 Wangaratta 56 Shepparton 57 Ballarat 58 Eildon 62

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Angus James holds up a stonking redfin from one of Victoria’s western lakes. An Angus James image. TO SUBSCRIBE SEE PAGE 67 FIND THE DAIWA LOGO COMPETITION PAGE 31 Victorian and Tasmanian Fishing Monthly magazine goes on sale the last week of each preceding month (latest sale date 31st of the month).

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Sussing out the western lakes

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Sussing out the western lakes for the first time FRESHWATER

Angus James Instagram: @jimmygusjames

I’m a passionate fisher from Tropical North Queensland, where I spent my spare time targeting everything that swims in the crystal clear rainforest streams and also enjoyed sharing my adventures in the Queensland editions of Fishing Monthly. At the end of last year my wife and I made the big move down to Western Victoria. After settling in, my research quickly

history of this lake dates back to the 1800s when it was dammed during the gold rush era; the lake was established from a natural wetland and it became a thriving part of the Victorian district with plenty of water activities during the early settler days. It even hosted an Olympic rowing event during the 1956 Melbourne games. It was one of Australia’s first stocked lakes for trout and English perch. Now, it’s a beautiful place teeming with birdlife and surrounded by well-established European trees and vintage buildings. The lake really is the heart

are two boat ramps to choose from to get you onto the water. These ramps are well maintained and easy to access with plenty of parking spaces. Around the lake there are also little pontoons and jetties, and for the landbased anglers the options are endless. Being a shallow lake, it is almost completely covered with weed. This sometimes makes it challenging to fish and work lures, but let me tell you, hiding in the weed are some of the healthiest and hardest-fighting fish in Western Victoria. My favourite time to fish

Big redfin are what Victoria is famous for! metre long in this lake; they are super healthy fish and fight hard. Because it is very shallow they can make their way into to weed fast. It’s crucial to get the upper hand in the battle ASAP. I like to run 5lb braid with an 8lb

brown and rainbow trout that thrive in the lake and many of the locals say this is the healthiest they have seen the lake in a long time. As the weather starts to cool down there will be some great catches coming

edges is a dynamite way to go about things. I also like to rig my soft plastics weedless. This allows me to let my favourite plastics work hard up against the bottom without worrying about snagging up. It’s

A beautiful buck rainbow trout from a land-based session. turned into anticipation and excitement when I discovered how many awesome fish-holding lakes are situated in Western Victoria. LAKE WENDOUREE The name Wendouree actually comes from the local Aboriginal word ‘Wendaaree,’ which translates to ‘go away.’ The

and soul of the town. It’s approximately 6km around the whole lake and often has lakeside activities, like Sunday markets and live bands playing most weekends, in close proximity to the botanical gardens nearby. Most of Lake Wendouree is very shallow with an average depth of 2m. There

here is early mornings and late afternoons. Spinnerbaits work really well on this weed-covered lake as they create a lot of flash and vibration above the weed. Often you will see the big redfin race out from beneath the dark holes in the weed to smack your lures right in front of your eyes. English perch can be up to half a

Beautiful backdrops make catching fish a bonus. leader. This light gear allows me to cast my spinnerbaits long distances and cover a lot of water when I’m out prospecting for the big perch. There are big numbers of

out as the trout will really start to become active. I have caught some nice rainbow trout in the past few weeks on spinners attached to a grub. Slow rolling the weed

important to set the hook hard when rigging weedless. My goal this year is to catch a 50cm Lake Wendouree perch and I will be giving it a red-hot crack.

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VELOCITY SPORTS

LAKE FYANS Heading south, just over an hour down the road, and we come across another magical Victorian Lake. Located at the stunning foothills of the Grampians, is the spectacular Lake Fyans. This hidden gem is by far my favourite place to fish since moving down to this part of the country. The lake’s

My biggest from the lake so far is 47cm and it was one of the best fights I have had from a perch – it just wouldn’t give up. When fishing the lake I love casting chatterbaits and spinners around. There are lots of schooling redfin around and I find that these bigger presentations allow me to search out those bigger

are best as the fish will be out and about hunting for longer periods during the day. ROCKLANDS At the foothills of the Grampians, another beautiful location well worth a fish is Rocklands. This place is on fire this time of year and you can fill your esky up in no time when you locate the school redfin. Using your

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Afternoons on the Victorian Lakes are pure magic. picturesque Grampians backdrop is a real treat. It makes you realise that catching fish really is just a bonus when you come to places like this. The lake has plenty of timber, weed edges and some deeper water in parts of the lake. The edges are quite sandy with lots of little dropoffs and snags for fish to ambush small baitfish and

models. I like to cast my lures past the timber and reeds then bring it back past the clear patches. The fish will be waiting in ambush for that innocent baitfish or yabby, or your lures. If you want to experience some true Wimmera magic then I highly recommend making a trip to this ripper of a lake. The Lake Fyans Holiday Park is situated right on the

sounder to find the schools is a must in this lake and when you find them, let the fun begin. I often hear of cricket score sessions here. This place can produce hours of line pulling entertainment. Rocklands has free camping and the ramps are fully accessible. Chuck in the camping gear and head out for a weekend adventure and get a good feed of Wimmera

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MAY 2018

Go Behind the Scenery

Tasmania

Winter on its way to the Apple Isle TASMANIA

Kelly Hunt

As Jon Snow keeps telling us, winter is coming. Tasmania is a state that can shut down over the

winter months… but only if you let it. It is still only autumn here in Tasmania and the fishing continues to be very good in May. If you are wandering around the house telling yourself it’s time to put the fishing

TUNA SEASON STARTS NOW I still use the word ‘season’ but as I have written before the seasons and the fishing in and around them here in Tasmania have been turned on their head. The traditional timings of fish and when they come through or turn on are all over the place. They have been early, they have run on later and I really think that we have a southern bluefin fishery that spans the entire year. Yes, of course there are times when they are thicker and the chance of encountering them are greater. May is a month when it usually fires right up and looking at what happened in the latter half of March it’s looking like a cracker. The bluefin come on and so do the really large albacore. This season the albacore have been solid in and around the two Hippolyte Rocks and out on the shelf down at the Neck. There have also been plenty of good size albacore off Bicheno and Schouten Island. The big supersize albys seem to be at the Neck and can be found anywhere on any given day. They can be found in close to the cliffs, in the mouth of Fortescue Bay or out wide. You just have to cover the ground and keep an eagle eye on the sounder and water surface. There are some lures that over the years have accounted for more than their fair share of albacore. The southern blues have thickened up and gotten bigger. This is interesting, because May is the month where a lot of anglers get jumbo fever. This is a condition that has sufferers watching their phone screens for weather windows and going to tackle shops getting heavy leader and a few new lures. Friends and family often can diagnose this condition early. The sufferer will combat any questioning with mutterings about the fish of a lifetime and a bucket list item. Have a look at line and doubles and feel them for knicks or abrasion. If in doubt, pull 5m off and recheck and retie doubles. When you repack your boat make sure you have a good couple of gimbal belts and check all the harness bits and pieces are there. 44

MAY 2018

The jumbos are indeed on their way. There were a few days in March where they came up and were caught already. These big fish will thicken up and the boats will march to the Neck to try their luck. Luck does play its part in this, but you have to also make your own luck. You must check your gear and go through all your rigging. Why go to the trouble and expense of hooking the fish of a lifetime to lose it to an old trace or poor quality swivel clip? If I had a trip on the cards I would go through all the lures I thought I would run and check them over or rerig them. Jumbo season calls for heavier leader than you might run during the rest of the year – 150lb leader is light in this domain and some people will argue that you need 250lb. If you have lures rigged lighter than that, I would think about changing them up. Always take care of your crimping – it’s always important, but never as much as having your jumbo in hand on the leader and dart to go under the boat. You can’t let go, as the line could touch the boat or be wrapped around the rod tip. You must hang on and hold a lot of pressure on that fish until he comes around in a slow arc and you get another chance to gaff him. Your gaffs need to be a lot bigger than for the everyday fishing, too. When it comes to the gaff shot it is important to be confident and not try to be too fancy in your placement. Quite often the person on the gaff is the least experienced and it can be harrowing with orders being barked at you from every direction. Quite often the skipper will say one thing and the angler will be screaming something entirely different. The most important thing is that everyone just relaxes. I see this all the time and from some very experienced anglers. Once a fish is hooked people lose their minds. Excitement levels go through the roof and the orders mount up. A great deal of fish are lost at the side of the boat because of the panic we create. Everyone needs to calm down and control the things that they have control of. When that big jumbo hits you need to clear the other rods as you would any other strike. It is normally

gear away, you best get in front of a mirror and have a long hard look at yourself. Go and buy some new woolly socks and a cool new fishing hoodie and harden up. The fishing is really

good and we have lots to look forward to. Get some mates together and hit up a beach or rocky point and throw some bait or metal slugs in the water. Watch the weather and make hay while the sun shines.

mid-way through clearing the other rods that it’s obvious that this fish is special. This is normally where the heightened levels of excitement take over and rods are stowed hastily and messily while there is a mad scramble for the harness bag. Just clear the rods swiftly and smoothly and store them with good thought of a long battle. If the angler can’t handle the rod for 15 minutes or so without the harness then it’s time to take up something else instead. By now the skipper has done their job. He or she has tracked off at idle keeping away from the fish as the deck is cleared. The skipper’s only job now is to keep the boat down-sea and downwind of the fish. This allows the boat to wash off the fish not onto it. Nothing is worse than having any fish in under the boat on an acute angle, especially a jumbo bluefin. Kick away on the outboard when you have to open the angle up between gunnel and the line. The line should be off the rear of the stern by about 45° or so. This will allow the angler to get into the corner of the boat and lock a knee or a bit of thigh in for stability. You might pay some line out while taking position or

kicking off the fish but it is far better to do this than rub the line on anything. Once the deck is clear of anything that could cause a trip or a tangle, the harness bag is out ready for an opportunity to put it on. The angler will let you know when to get it on and fitted correctly. All you have to do now is settle in the fight and work as a team. Everything should be cool calm and collected. More often than not the person asked to gaff this fish of a lifetime is only told this detail two minutes before the job. The best idea is to let them know now. Talk them up, give them a few tips and let them play with it. Get it out of the gunwale and get a feel for it in hand. Have a few dummy swings at a pretend fish over the side in the water and get a feel of that. Then put it in a spot where it can be put to hand quickly while also on the trace. This is often under the knees in the gunwale where you are going to take the fish. If you have someone else on the boat just show them where it is and when you hold your hand out get them to put it in your hand relay baton style. Heck, you can even practice it if you have room. Even the slightest familiarity with

These Zacatak small skirts are deadly on jumbo Australian salmon and yellowtail kings. a role will give you all a better chance of success than finding out minutes before the tricky task. Once the fish is getting close to the boat the panic and rushing becomes pretty wild. Relax. You have everything covered and the fish has been hooked for quite a while; if it falls out now, it’s out of your control. Work the fish to the boat gently and smoothly. Once the decision has been made to handle the leader, do that smoothly as well. There’s no need to stir the fish up with a big jerk grab and rush to get it to the boat. That will wake it up and possibly inspire another powerful run at the wrong moment. Tuna will do big lunging circles when tired, so use that to your advantage and don’t fight against them. When the fish presents itself for a gaff shot have the angler step out of the way and hit the fish firmly and get its head alongside boat. Now is the time for another gaff to go in. If you have a pair of gloves, grab the mouth, the gills – whatever you can and then work together to get the fish in quickly. If you have a firm purchase on the head, resetting a gaff low in the body helps with hauling it in, then it’s just a matter of one, two, three – lift!

Now in the bottom of the boat should be a wonderful and shiny blue and grey piscatorial missile. The high fives will rain down. The jubilation is great and the celebration fierce, but if the fish had been lost at the boat the misery and frustration would be just as great. Avoid that. Keep cool and be relaxed and control what you have at hand. The bait at Eaglehawk Neck has been thick and in most of the usual haunts. When it is like this the fish can tend to herd the bait and break a section away from the reef cover and eat them off the back of the Big Hippo to the south, out in the middle of Munroe Bight and along the cliffs from the Thumbs back to Waterfall Bay. Keen eyes and keen crew are needed to spot the feeds early. Anglers who watch the weather and have quality gear in the water in good condition will reap the rewards. Big fish come through in May and I think they are getting bigger each year. There are a group of migratory tuna that come through at this time of year and if they have missed the hooks and nets for 12 months, they are going to be that much bigger than last year. Get out and find one!

BROADBILL The broadbill are going mad. When there is a weather window that suits deep dropping, one or two fish will be caught. The crews are moving away from the localized areas where these awesome fish were found early. These patches have copped an absolute flogging but they still seem to produce fish. There are a lot of anglers waking up to the fact that they are all along the shelf and you just have to find a bit of food they might like to eat then you’re in with a chance. The great news is these big gladiators of the sea will eat everything. All manner of fish are food for them, so find some gemfish or blue-eye trevalla and that’s a good starting spot. Naomi Wisby and Brody Corbet have been chasing a sword for a while and had become quite frustrated. A lack of hook-ups on good days and pulled hooks on fish were adding up. They kept trying and doing all the

right things. Finally Brody caught a fish that pulled the scales down to 193kg. Now addicted, Brody wanted to get his long-time girlfriend onto a swordfish. With more pulled hooks and dropped fish the frustration was again mounting. The pressure went skyward when Brody said he would put a ring on it if they caught Naomi a swordfish – a ring on Naomi, not the swordfish. One fateful day, they found another one. “It was a big battle,” Naomi said. “We headed out early and the weather was pretty good. Baits were pre-rigged at home (my fridge is very smelly) and were on the way to the bottom quickly. This was hit halfway down and we hooked an estimated 120kg mako shark. This was a warm-up I didn’t need. We quickly released the shark to set another bait. “The second bait was only To page 45

Naomi Wisby had a day on the water that ended up perfect! Photo courtesy of Marilla Glover.

Tasmania From page 44

in the water 15 minutes and we had another solid enquiry. The reel paid out some line and drag and it was game on.” An hour into the battle they confirmed it was a swordfish, and almost

an hour after that Naomi managed to beat the sword. “She popped the surface belly up, backwards. I had beaten Xiphias gladius, the broadbill swordfish, but only just.” Naomi was using 15kg

drag and 37kg line with a 60kg top shot. The fish weighed 205kg – more than three times Naomi’s bodyweight. She said, “I’m pleased to say this gives me bragging rights over Brody’s fish from last year.”

CREATE YOUR ADVENTURES

Brody just did all the easy bits while Naomi battled the monster. Photo courtesy of Marilla Glover. NORTH WEST Up on the North West Coast the fishing is travelling well. There are plenty of people heading to the far North West and doing very well on the kings and snapper. The flathead fishing in Stanley is also very good at the minute. Stanley is a sweet little seaside village with plenty to do other than fishing and plenty to see. The fishing however is boss. It’s more famous for the run of snotty trevalla and the mad, hectic wharf fishing, but it’s a solid location for a number of other species. All the big names can be had at this time of the year, from the shore in and around the inlets and also from the sea. The boat ramp in town is pretty reasonable but you must take care at low tide or you will be after a bit of paint for the skeg and a tightly adjusted shifter to straighten. To find the flathead is pretty simple. Just head out from the boat ramp, swing out around the Nut and find a spot to drop a bait. The place fishes really well for flathead and if you don’t get a bite in five minutes, haul ‘em up and head a short distance then try again. A depth of around 25m is a good start. Use baits that have a bit of movement in them. By that I mean use bits of squid that have a bit of length or, if you’re using fish strips, thin them down. This allows the baits to move and flutter on the drop and also while in any current on the bottom.

Movement attracts interest. Interest will have them come over and then the smell of the bait will have them bite! The Ulverstone breakwall has been offering some good fishing for the land-based angler. Those that have been willing to put the time in and use a bit of berley in May will find fish. The species that have been encountered are of interest. Along with the usual suspects of flathead, mullet and barracouta there have

been some silver trevally and tailor. These fish aren’t known to be the best eating fish, but they do fight well and are a lot of fun on light gear. You can find them with bait and they are very susceptible to soft plastics. Be prepared to lose a few plastics to the tailor if you are too light in your leader material. They have a serious set of teeth that gets bigger as they grow. The trevally are sensational fun and fight To page 46

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MAY 2018

HOBIE BARNACLE + 5

The Hobie Barnacle + is a durable floating speaker with Bluetooth connectivity, a built-in microphone for taking hands-free calls, and the capacity to hold 1000 songs, so you don’t have to use your phone. It mounts to any smooth surface using an industrial suction cup base, and is perfect for the kayak, SUP or tinny. This new speaker is designed to go where other speakers can’t; it’s 100% waterproof, and can be submerged to a depth of 6ft for up to an hour. It also floats! No matter how it is dropped in the water, the Barnacle will always surface with the speaker facing up, keeping your tunes afloat and jamming. As well as being waterproof, the Barnacle is sand and dust proof. Its all-terrain design is sealed tight, and is engineered to withstand the most demanding elements. No matter how dirty your speaker gets, you can freely wash it off in water and you’re good to go. It also has built-in 4GB memory, produces surprisingly bold sound, and has a battery life of up to five hours. www.hobie.com

Japan produce some of the most lifelike lures in the world and the Bassday Sugar Deep 90 Barra Tune is no exception, except this time it’s been tuned for Aussie conditions. This realistic 90mm jerkbait is available in seven fish-attracting colours, covering everything from clear to dirty water, making them ideal for inland dams as well as rivers, streams and estuaries. The Bassday Sugar Deep 90 Barra Tune has heavy-duty construction and extra strong trebles. It has a life-like appearance and can be cast accurately, quickly diving to a depth of 2.5m. This versatile lure can be used with a slow, steady retrieve producing a sharp wobble or a fast erratic stop-start retrieve which will have the lure darting about, imitating a dying baitfish. It also works well in heavily fished waters or on days where the fish are timid, as its neutral buoyancy lets you pause it near structure and it will suspend right in the strike zone. The Barra Tune will be perfect for barra,

Shimano’s Nexave spin reels represent great value for money for an entry level series, perfect for newcomers and kids who need the right start in fishing. There are five models in this new FE series, from 1000 through to C5000, with the 3000 HGFE and the 5000 HGFE being of compact body design. The cold forged aluminium spool with AR-C lip promotes longer casting without wind knots, and smooth transmission through the stripper guide, which is important when using fine diameter braid. Varispeed II assists in this regard, as it ensures that line lay on the spool is neat and even. An XT-7 body keeps weight down, while three shielded stainless SS bearings and one roller bearing makes winding the single piece aluminium handle effortless, whether retrieving or hooked up. Gear ratios range from 5.0:1 to 6.2:1, and drag power is from 3kg on the 1000 size, up to 8.5kg in the 3000, 4000, and 5000. And despite all these features, the price will come as a pleasant surprise. www.shimanofish.com.au

Gamakatsu have added two new sizes to the EWG Monster worm hook range. The new sizes offer more versatility, and build on the popular 7/0 EWG Monster. A 5/0 and 6/0 now complete the range of the strongest worm hook on the market. The EWG Monster was designed for only the largest plastics, and features extra heavy-duty wire, an inline hook point and an impressive black nickel finish. Coupled with Gamakatsu’s chemical sharpening procedure, the EWG Monster has impressive hook setting power, which is crucial when throwing big baits for large fish. The EWG Worm hook allows anglers to rig their lures in the traditional way with the hook point well exposed, or weedless. This offers incredible versatility, and the hooks can be used effectively in areas of heavy weed or timber, which are commonly encountered when chasing iconic species such as barramundi. EWG Monster worm hooks are also perfect in shallower water for offshore species such as snapper and kingfish with a slow sink offered by the unweighted hook. www.gamakatsu.com.au

PRODUCT GUIDE

Mustad has released a range of bucktail jigs designed for fishing freshwater through to the deepest saltwater ledges. Built on the 32824NP-BN 2X strong hook, the Mustad Big Eye Bucktail Jig features two line tie positions to give the angler options. The nose tie lets you cast and retrieve the jig, mimicking a swimming action. The top tie lets you employ a more traditional jigging retrieve. But don’t think there are only two uses for these jigs – clever anglers are already fitting them out for trolling dead baits for mackerel and more. Featuring oversized 3D eyes, the Big Eye Bucktail Jig has hand-tied deer hair and crystal flash to give the jigs a lifelike appearance in the water. There is also a keeper wire located near the lead head so you can add bait or a soft plastic trailer. An epoxy finish gives the head maximum durability. There are eight colours in the range, and sizes range from a 3/4oz jig with a 5/0 hook, all the way through to 8oz with a 9/0 hook. www.wilsonfishing.com

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PRODUCT GUIDE

WHAT’S NEW FISHING SHIMANO STELLA FJ

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It’s been 26 years since the first Stellas hit the market, and the innovation continues with the new FJ series. One of the latest features is MicroModule II. Unique gear teeth surface design makes the FJs even smoother and quieter, and with Improved Hagane Gear they’re now twice as strong and durable as before. The Long Stroke AR-C spool increases casting distance, and the line clip has been improved so light leaders aren’t damaged during storage. There’s also a Tangle-Proof Rotor design. SilentDrive reduces handle play and eliminates the clicking noise and feeling from the worm shaft when winding. EI Surface Treatment protects the exterior, while the X Protect labyrinth system keeps water and dirt at bay in key areas. All these advancements are housed in a Hagane Body with 12 SA-RB bearings and one roller bearing, with X-Ship bearing supported pinion gear, plus a G-Free Body where the centre of gravity is closer to the rod. There are five models, with drag power from 3-11kg, and gear ratios from 5.1 to 6.4:1. www.shimanofish.com.au

BLACK MAGIC BMAX 8 COLOURS Black Magic has updated their range of bibbed BMax lures by adding five new colours. For those who haven’t tried one, the BMax 60 is designed as a subsurface lure ideal for numerous freshwater and estuarine species across Australia. This lure measures 60mm long, is an ideal weight for casting, and is perfect for both spinning and trolling. The short bib lets the lure dive down to 1.2-1.8m, and ensures a very enticing swimming action. The BMax 60 is rigged with two strong, sharp treble hooks – one on the belly and one on the tail. It’s available in a range of 10 colours designed to suit a range of species and conditions. These lures are well priced and are available now from Black Magic stockists. www.blackmagictackle.com

OKUMA HELIOS SX SPIN 12

The new Okuma Helios SX is all about high end performance and cutting edge features at an affordable price, and it’s now available to Aussie anglers in a 20, 30 and 40 size. Okuma’s new C-40X long strand carbon fibre technology is substantially stronger than standard graphite material, and is also 25% lighter and 100% anti-corrosive. Combine this with Okuma’s TCA: Torsion Control Armor, a double-arm design in the reel stem that reduces twist and torque, while keeping internal parts perfectly aligned, and you have a lightweight, rigid reel that sees power transferred effectively. Other features include 8HPB + 1RB corrosion-resistant SS bearings for silky smooth performance, ALG: Precision Alumilite alloy main gear and oscillating gears, heavy-duty, solid aluminium bail wire, RESII: Computer Balanced Rotor Equalizing System, CBD: Centrifugal Disc Bail for smoother and easier bail operation, and Progressive Drag, a 1-K woven carbon fibre drag knob that reduces weight and creates a more progressive drag setting. Price: SRP $189.90-$219.90 www.okuma.com.au

WILSON NEOPRENE 10 WADERS Winter isn’t far off, and Wilson Fishing has released new neoprene chest and hip waders for the colder months. Featuring a 4mm neoprene construction that is welded and glued to a sturdy boot, these waders will go the distance. The Hip Waders feature adjustable Velcro straps that hold these waders in place with the aid of a belt. Internally, all seams are covered for comfort, and the boot is lined to provide the ultimate in comfort for your feet. The Chest Waders feature an oversized chest pocket for storage of tackle and the same internal construction for maximum comfort. The Chest Waders are also attached via Velcro straps that allow ultimate adjustability. The Wilson Neoprene Wader range is available in boot sizes from 8 through to 15, and you can find more information on the Wilson Fishing website. You can also see the latest news and tips on Facebook (www. facebook.com/LWilsonAndCo), and great catch photos on Instagram (@wilson_fishing). www.wilsonfishing.com.au

BERKLEY GULP 6” SWIMMING MULLET 11 The Berkley Gulp 6” is the big daddy Swimming Mullet. The Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullet’s ‘fat’ profile and flickering curl-tail is a deadly fish magnet, and is now available in 6” size for those big occasions. The swimming action of the large curltail, combined with an enticing ‘body roll’ at a slow retrieve, makes the 6” Swimming Mullet a slow roll specialist. Add in fish attracting Gulp Scent, with its powerful scent release properties, for a perfect cod and barra hook up. Gulp releases 400 times more scent than plastic baits, expanding the strike zone so you catch more fish. Made from 100% natural ingredients, Gulp is environmentally and fish friendly. The 6” Swimming Mullet comes in chartreuse, glow and pearl white. Price: SRP $13.99 Berkley-fishing.com.au

NEW FROM STRIKE PRO

Strike Pro has released two new colours (A68 and A93-CP) in the popular Bob N Spoon range. The Bob N Spoon is a new take on an old classic spoon; it is plastic with chambers that allow for features like inbuilt rattles to be included, and have transparent finishes. The Bob N Spoon has an erratic swaying action and it can be reversed to change its action. It is 5.5cm long, weighs 7.3g and comes with quality trebles. It’s proven to be very effective on trout, bass and redfin. Strike Pro has also released eight new fish-catching colours in its 1/4oz and 3/4oz Spinnerbaits. Many hours of testing have gone into producing these colours for the Australian market. These spinnerbaits feature the highest quality USA skirts that are rounded silicone silk cut to produce the ultimate pulsating action. They also feature holographic colour matched blades, quality ball bearing swivels and R-bend arms. Strike Pro Spinnerbaits are super effective on Murray cod, yellowbelly, bass and redfin. www.jurofishing.com

Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au MAY 2018

WHAT’S NEW FISHING RHINO-RACK BATWING AWNING

TSUNAMI SOFT 13 VIBE SHADS

Rhino-Rack’s new Batwing Awning provides 270° of refuge, and comes with top quality brackets that have a high and low fitting position. Its integrated legs simply unclip from the storage position and drop into place, making it a oneperson job. The rare earth magnets, which click to hold the arms in place, allow for quick and easy storage, and there are thicker Velcro straps to keep the awning secure when packed in place. The lightweight, durable powder-coated aluminium poles have an easy grip handle to loosen and extend, up to 2.3m. If it’s windy, the moulded fittings on the end of each pole can accommodate two pegs through the base of the leg. And for extreme conditions, included with the Batwing are eight guy ropes with inbuilt hooks and 10 pegs that are easily stored in the new pocket. Made from heavy-duty rip-stop fabric, the awning is water and mould resistant, and rated to UPF 50+. It comes in a UV resistant PVC bag, and it’s compatible with existing additions like sidewalls, extensions, and tents. Price: SRP: $849 www.rhinorack.com.au

REDINGTON MINNOW COMBO

The 580 Minnow from Redington was designed and tuned to meet the needs of younger anglers. This 5wt rod is built with enough power to throw a wide variety of flies, but the shorter 8’ length offers less swing weight to make it easier for casters of smaller stature to make effective stops at the end of their casting stroke. Features of this four-piece rod include: easy casting medium action; supplied cotton rod sock, and alignment dots for easy rod setup. The combo includes a Minnow rod and Crosswater 4/5/6 reel pre-spooled with RIO Mainstream WF fly line, and a Cordura rod tube. This great looking rod is also backed by a 1-year warranty. For more information on the 580 Minnow, or any of the other rods and reels in the Redington range, visit the JM Gillies website. www.jmgillies.com.au

PLANO WEEKEND SERIES

For 2018, Plano’s successful Weekend Series includes three distinct, reimagined models that work as hard as you do. These models are called the Weekend Series Tackle Cases, Weekend Series Softsider Tackle Bags and Weekend Series Speed Bags. Each one is available in Plano’s popular 3600 and 3700 sizes to build – or integrate seamlessly into – any tackle management system. And they look better than ever in brand new, classy and clean tan or grey colour schemes. In addition to standout new aesthetics, these bags feature upgraded, no-fail zipper pulls and tactical-inspired MOLLE exterior webbing for easy attachment of fishing tools or accessories. Best of all, these handsome and durable standout performers are available at very reasonable prices that any working angler can afford. For more information on this and other Plano tackle storage solutions, visit the JM Gillies website. You can also get all the latest news and catch photos on the JM Gillies Facebook page at www.facebook. com/jm.gillies. www.jmgillies.com.au 50

MAY 2018

PRODUCT GUIDE

Tsunami Soft Vibe Shads are moulded from supple, yet tough plastic that maximises action and enhances durability. The wirethrough design and sharp Mustad hooks add further strength to the lure, tipping the odds of landing big fish in the angler’s favour. The precisely balanced internal weights produce an enticing shimmy action that drives predatory fish into a frenzy. The translucent bodies, foil flash, natural colour tones and 3D eyes will even fool timid fish. Soft Vibe Shads are available in two sizes (60mm, 14g and 90mm, 20g) and five colour combinations (chartreuse/pearl/orange, sand eel, clear/gold/pearl, red head and golden bunker). The 60mm shad is ideal for freshwater native fish such as Australian bass, golden perch and sooty grunter, while the 90mm model will entice bites from barramundi, mangrove jack, mulloway, threadfin salmon and more. You can skip these lures along the bottom, drop them down weed edges, or roll them across the shallows to get the predators’ attention. www.jarviswalker.com.au

DAIWA TD HYPER

Rocketing onto the scene is Daiwa’s latest weapon – TD Hyper. Combining Daiwa cutting-edge blank design with striking looks and excellent value, the TD Hyper series is built to perform and destined to turn heads. The foundation of the TD Hyper series is Daiwa’s HVF Nanoplus graphite technology, with HVF combining precise resin control with unidirectional graphite fibre to produce a blank that is outstandingly light, crisp and responsive, while X45 blank technology further enhances rod performance eliminating blank twist and distortion to further increase rod strength, function, and sensitivity. TD Hyper’s hardware is equally top shelf, with Fuji Alconite O Ring guides, Daiwa’s famous RR (reduced resistance) guide design system and Surround Hold reel seats, and custom alloy componentry enhancing rod performance and style. Additionally, its matt green colour offers a unique look and swagger rarely seen down under. If you’re looking for performance, style and value for money, check out the TD Hyper at your favourite tackle store. Price: SRP $129 www.daiwafishing.com.au

GALAXIA MINNOW NEW COLOURS

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The Strike Pro Galaxia Minnow was the first Strike Pro lure released in Australia, and over many years it has been extremely effective in both fresh and estuarine waters. The Galaxia Minnow has now been released in six hot new colours that are certainly going to be very effective on many species. This deep diving baitfish profile lure is 6cm long, weighs 7g and dives to approximately 9ft on the cast and retrieve and dives to 16ft on the troll. The latter technique in particular has been deadly on estuaries and has accounted for many species. It features a tight shimmy action and has a superb sonic rattle. The Galaxia Minnow is very effective on bream, bass, estuary perch, flathead, snapper, mangrove jack, trout and redfin, and these new colour are bound to rack up even more fish. www.jurofishing.com

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PRODUCT GUIDE

WHAT’S NEW FISHING

Phenix Rods – I saw, I purchased, a big thumbs up Phenix Rods are a US-based rod manufacturer which has had a couple of incarnations here in Australia. My interest in them was sparked by a conversation with Julian Frank, who is the new Australian importer of the brand through his Southbound Custom Tackle business. After a phone call with Julian, I had a good look through the US website for the rods, and I was immediately intrigued. One of the main headings on the page was ‘Trout’, with a dropdown box of a number of trout-specific rods. The Elixir series drew my attention – high modulus graphite rods based on traditional fast taper fly rods. I prefer fast taper rods for the majority of my fishing, but with my trout fishing in recent times I have had no choice but to use slower taper rods. This is mainly due to the lack of stretch in braided line, and a trout’s inclination to jump and spit lures. To avoid this you need to have a rod that absorbs the shock of these acrobatics, and to keep your leader intact. This focus on fast taper rods also had me looking at other options for the fishing I do here in Queensland. A big part of that is targeting flathead in the salt, and bass in our impoundments. The freshwater M1

The author’s first fish on the Elixir Trout rod was this quality brown trout caught in Lake Eildon.

Another feisty trout from the Eildon area. The Elixir FX701 has become the author’s favorite trout rod. series tickled my fancy, with its carbon fibre nanotube technology based blanks. Nano technology has become a big part of rod ranges for many manufacturers in the last five years, mainly due to the additional strength it offers under load (to avoid rod breakage) and power when fighting a fish. However, I would not put any of the nano rods I have seen in the fast taper category; they’re medium fast at best. I was so interested in the Phenixes that I got my credit card out and ordered two rods, the Elixir FX701 and the M1 MX72ML. I have now had eight months to thoroughly test them, and share my findings. ELIXIR SERIES RODS I don’t get to trout fish as often as I would like, and when I do get to go I want a rod specific for the task, rather than compromising with other rods.

Unpacking my Elixir FX701 was exciting, and I was amazed at how incredibly light it was. It is definitely a fast taper, but I wondered whether it would cast my favourite trout lures. Interestingly enough, my first chance to test this wasn’t with my own purchase. A trip to Lake Eildon working for the magazines provided the opportunity to trout fish, but I hadn’t brought my new rod with me. Fortunately, Gary Constantine from Eildon Bait and Tackle stocks the rods, and he kindly lent me his own Elixir that just happened to be the FX701. I needn’t have worried whether it would cast my favourite lures; it cast them easily and a very long way. I knew the ultimate test though would be how it would deal with the area’s feisty trout. Luckily for me it didn’t take very long to find out. Several decent browns came on the first morning from the lake, and a few rainbows followed from the Goulburn

TESTED River. The rod did exactly what I had hoped it would. There was plenty of power to fight larger fish, with the finesse and shock absorption to not pull hooks when using braid. It’s the perfect trout rod for me. M1 SERIES RODS The MX72ML was always going to be the rod of the two that got the most use. I went for the 7’2” version because I wanted to be able to cast lighter weights further, but still have the ability to comfortably throw the 3/8oz and 1/2oz jigheads I regularly use. As soon as I had unpacked the rod, I matched it with a 2000 size reel and 6lb braid, and was on the water the next day. Like the Elixir series rods, the M1s feel as light as a feather. My M1 MX72ML has some serious kahunas for a medium light rated rod, with plenty of hook setting power and plenty of grunt to stop larger fish on what is a light rod. The flathead may not have played the game that first trip, but some decent snapper did and I was a very happy camper with my new purchase. Eight months down the track and I still enjoy using the M1. It has done battle with a couple of nice mulloway in that time, as well as quite a few flathead. The mulloway certainly tested it, and the M1 won. Is it the perfect rod for what I wanted, like the Elixir? Probably not. In hindsight I think I should have purchased the 7’

Although purchased to target flathead, the M1 MX72ML has proven it is a quality rod on plenty of other species like this snapper.

This solid mulloway was no match for the Phenix MX72ML. Although only a light rod,it has plenty of power to deal with quality fish.

version of the rod, because 3/8oz and 1/2oz jigheads test the limits of what can be cast comfortably. Not so much with your standard casts, but when you want that bit of extra distance, the extra length and taper feels like the rod is being overextended. Vigorous hopping these same heads and larger plastics also works the rod tip a bit too much. Would it break? Absolutely not, but the slightly shorter version is most probably the way to go for my needs. CONCLUSION If you are a fan of fast taper, well presented and made fishing rods with quality components, then Phenix rods are well worth looking at. I am glad I have dabbled, and given the opportunity I will look at other options in the future. To find out more about stockists in Australia, check them out on Facebook on either the Southbound Custom Tackle or Phenix Rods Australia pages. - Peter Jung

MAY 2018

Crompton goes wire-to-wire

STORM

The Franklins Australia BREAM Australian Open (5-7 March) delivered in spades with a big field, big weather and big limits, combining to make it an action-packed event with Daiwa and Hobie Fishing sponsored tournament pro Mark Crompton claiming victory in the prestigious event. Australia’s only boateronly bream event, 29 teams hit the start line on the opening day of competition at Drummoyne Sailing Club, with Sydney Harbour and the Hawkesbury River set to challenge their bodies, boats and mental toughness over three gruelling days of competition. For event winner Mark Crompton it was a wire-towire victory with the Southern Highlands breamer grabbing the lead on day one courtesy of a 4kg limit then not letting go as he powered to a comprehensive open win. Fishing with a renewed focus

day of competition, Crompton was the only angler to drop a 4kg limit on the scales. His effort provided him with the reward of leading the field out on day two. Hitting the launch site at Bayview Park at Pittwater on day two Crompton was greeted by near gale force winds – weather that made him reconsider his day two Hawkesbury River tactics. “I had planned on running a long way upriver and throwing Cranka Crabs into the nasty rock sections of the Hawkesbury, but when I saw the wind and the conditions when we got Bayview I thought let’s scrap that and go hit the flats instead.” And that’s exactly what Crompton did heading to the famous ‘car park flats’ at Palm Beach. With his Cranka Crabs replaced for Juro Firebaits Crompton would make long wind assisted casts across the flats then work the lure back to the boat with a

A calm and collected Crompton heads off on the final day of competition.

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888. 70

MAY 2018

and mindset, Crompton went into the event with two goals: chasing numbers of fish rather than more purposely seeking out big fish, and fishing the event expressly to win. “In the past I’ve fished with the goal of catching big fish; this time I tried something different and simply went about catching plenty of fish with the hope that the bigger fish would simply come along as I put fish in the boat,” Crompton said. Fishing Sydney Harbour on day one Crompton adopted a hard bait approach crankbaiting boat hulls, shallow flats and heavy structure. The key to the success was current flow, as Crompton explained. “The fish were very much keyed in on water movement, with the best fish holding where there was tidal flow. If you have flow you often have food and the bream knew that.” Crompton’s cranks of choice were two main choices a Cranka Shad and Zipbaits Khamsin, with a slow rolling retrieve his go-to for enticing the harbour bream to bite. Crompton’s approach was spot on with the Australian Open champion filling out his limit by 8am and catching 20 fish for the session. Weighing in a 4.02kg limit for the opening

slow roll interspersed with sharp twitches. “The fish were really on the chew and they would nail the Juro off the top as it was skipping through the choppy surface. I had only planned to fish here for half an hour, but then I caught a 38 and 36, so that was it. I stayed a fair bit longer and when I felt like I’d caught all I could from here I headed upriver and fished Cranka Crabs,” explained Crompton. The rapid-fire early action saw Crompton catch his limit by 8.30am and land 10 legal fish for the session. Weighing in another 4kg bag for the tournament Crompton not only retained but also extended his lead heading into the third and final day of competition. Crompton’s win was anything

The Franklins Australia BREAM Australian Open winner Mark Crompton with a brace of Open-winning bream. but a fait accompli with the Daiwa tournament pro fully aware of what can transpire in this event, on this waterway and in a field of anglers of this calibre. “The Open is the hardest tournament there is and you need to catch a quality bag each day. You need to be on your A game every day to win. If you’re not, these guys are going to smash you and when you’ve got Ross Canizzarro hot on your tail heading into the final day you know full well that you can’t rest easy and that you’re going to have to catch them, and catch the big ones, to win,” explained Crompton. Back on Sydney Harbour for day three Crompton fished similar locations to day one; the lure the fish wanted however was different. “I thought the fish were primed for a Cranka Crab assault but they didn’t quite want them today. Instead it was the motor

oil colour 2 1/2” ZMan GrubZ that did the damage,” explained Crompton. The standout retrieve to trigger the best response from the bream was a quick roll punctuated with a series of double jerks. The lure and technique saw Crompton catch his limit by 9am and land 30 fish for the session. Crompton was conscious of what his competitors could deliver to the scales to derail his fairy tale win and then he lost a key fish. Crompton explained, “I dropped a really big fish today; it came out, looked at me and started shaking its head, spat the hook at me, then swam off. It was a good 40 fork fish and I thought right there, that’s it – there goes the Aus Open.” Crompton’s suspicions proved unfounded and his 3.58kg final day limit was enough to deliver him a comfortable wire-to-wire Frankins Australian BREAM Australian Open win.

WINNING TACKLE Rod: Daiwa Zero 701LXS and Daiwa Zero 701ULXS Reel: Daiwa Exceler LT 2500 Line: 6lb Daiwa Evo 8, 3.5lb Sunline FC Game (crankbaiting) Leader: 4lb FC Rock Lure: Cranka Shad in blue gill, olive and cockle Cranka Crabs 65mm (Hawksbury) and 55mm, custom colour (Sydney Harbour), OSP Bent Minnow 76 (pink belly and orange back), Juro Firebait Longtail Minnow (colour 05), ZMan GrubZ (motor oil, bloodworm and gudgen colours), TT 1/16 and 1/20oz jigheads, Berkley Nitro 1/32oz jigheads.

RESULTS Place Angler 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Fish

Weight (kg)

Payout

Mark Crompton 15/15 11.76 $5000 Ross Cannizzaro 15/15 10.71 $3000 Kris Hickson 15/15 10.37 $2500 Peter Cook 15/15 10.15 $2000 Denis Metzdorf 15/15 9.98 $2000 Liam Carruthers 15/15 9.94 Steve Morgan 15/15 9.65 Daniel Bonaccorso 15/15 9.62 Michael Colotouros 15/15 9.55 Christian Wardini 15/15 9.46 For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

Cannizzaro comes close again One of the anglers to watch in any event on Sydney Harbour or the Hawkesbury River, Ross Cannizzaro once again brought the big bags to the scales in the Open to claim another podium finish. Cannizzaro fished west of the Harbour Bridge hitting hardcore unforgiving structure like old wharves and poles in the main channel. “I looked for water 10-15ft deep and when fishing water this deep with

current flow it’s very difficult to let your lure sink to the bottom, so in the morning when the tide was strong I targeted the suspended fish in these locations,” explained Cannizzaro. Later in the day as the sunlight increased and the shade took over the hard to reach crevices and holes, Cannizzaro fished lighter, downsizing to a 1/32oz jighead for his camo Gulp Crabbies and presented them tight to the poles and jetties.

“The fish are used to the waterway traffic and commotion on the harbour, so they’ll sit high and tight to the structure waiting for a feed,” explained Cannizzaro. Cannizzaro would spot hop for the first hour to fill his limit before slowing down and fishing deep and tight to the nastiest country he could find, hoping to find the bigger fish he needed to anchor a quality bag. “I’d fish a lighter outfit to begin with each day – a

Ross heads into battle on the opening day of competition.

Cranka Shad

Cranka Crab

Juro Firebait

6’8” ABU Garcia Stage 1 rod and Revo reel spooled with 4.4lb Fireline – before upgrading to a heavier outfit – a 7’3” ABU Garcia Veritas 3.0 rod and Revo MGX reel spooled with Fireline Ultra 8,” explained Cannizzaro. Cannizzaro’s approach paid dividends allowing him to weigh in a 5/5, 3.63kg limit on the harbour on day one and a 5/5, 3.22kg bag on day three on the harbour. Fishing the Hawkesbury River on day two, Cannizzaro followed a similar approach as he did in the harbour. He fished nasty country for the biggest fish he could find, and this time he opted for a crankbait to catch his fish. “I fished upriver between Spencer and Bar Point and targeted natural rocks walls with Berkley 3B cranks. The tide was important though and you needed flow for this approach to work to its best, so early in the session when the tide was low and the flow wasn’t there I fished docks and boats in Berowra to fill my limit,” explained Cannizzaro. Ross’ plan paid off with him catching his limit by 8.30am. With the tide starting to flow at 10am Cannizzaro hit the rockwalls with his crankbaits, with the

Ross Cannizzaro once again shone in the open, finishing second yet again. bite improving as the tide rose and the fish moved into the flooded rock country. “I didn’t get the big bites that I was hoping for but I caught plenty of 32cm fork fish,” explained Ross. Just as he did on the harbour Cannizzaro used a two outfit approach to catch his fish – a light and heavier outfit. His crankbait outfit comprised of an ABU Garcia Villain rod and ABU Garcia Revo MGX 3000 spooled with 6lb Berkley Ultra 8 mainline and 10lb Toray

fluorocarbon leader. Post-victory Cannizzaro was content with his result, but hopes to go one better in 2019. “To win an event, especially a marathon event like the Open you need everything to go right and very little to go wrong. Hopefully next year is the year for me when that finally happens and I can hold the Franklins BREAM Australian Open trophy aloft,” concluded Cannizzaro. – ABT

The 29 boats waiting patiently on Sydney Harbour for the Franklins Australia BREAM Australian Open to kick off.

Crompton delivered 4kg limits for two of the three days of competition to claim a wire-to-wire victory.

Quality fish were brought to the bump tubs and scales in the Open. MAY 2018

Shane Ling shines at St Helens Shane Ling has tapped into his years of experience on the always-challenging waterways of St Helens to take out his maiden ABT victory with 10/10 fish for 10.6kg. With challenging wind conditions greeting the anglers over the course of the tournament Ling knew it would take a well-planned approach for the tournament to take the win. “The fish at St Helens can be hard to tempt and very susceptible to pressure, but when you find them the fishing can be some of the best,” explained Ling. Starting at the back of the field on day one Ling knew that many of his first choice locations would already have anglers on them and he would need to rely on his knowledge bank to find some clean water.

Shane Ling dominated at St Helens to claim victory in the Mercury-presented event. session and found a good number of fish holding in Moulting Bay. Ling finished day one with 5.35kg, a small

“I was sight casting to the fish but I still needed to impart an erratic short twitch followed by a 5-10 second

STORM

Shane Ling was all cashed up with his St Helens victory.

Visit www.abt.org.au for entry forms. For general enquiries phone ABT on (07) 3387 0888. 72

MAY 2018

“During the Tas Classic series I found a few good low-tide spots where I thought there wouldn’t be any anglers targeting, so I headed there to start the tournament,” said Ling. His key starting location was an area known as ‘Horseshoe Flats.’ Within the expansive area Ling targeted the larger fish holding on the drop-off from the main flat. “The key was to find the deeper holes on the edge of the flat and work the lure slowly across the area, giving the fish plenty of time to look at the lure. I would twitch the lure moving it the least distance possible and follow with a five-second pause. My aim was to keep the lure in the strike zone and move it sideways,” said Ling. With his limit filled on the flats, Ling switched into pre-fish mode for day two, spot hopping around the area looking for a productive areas that wouldn’t be affected by the wind change that was due to come in overnight. During his searching Ling continued to upgrade throughout the

lead and confidence heading into day two. Haunted by the memory of failing in previous ABT events on day two Ling stayed with his plan and targeted the flats in Moulting Bay. With the fish holding shallower Ling adjusted his plan slightly and downsized to the shallower running Zip Bait Riggie 56, again in his favoured 650 colour (chrome with orange bottom).

pause to tempt the fish to bite,” Ling said. It didn’t take Ling long and he had filled his limit and the nerves began to settle. “Once I filled my limit the schools of fish became skittish and I decided to move around a few spots and see if I could get a couple of upgrades,” Ling said, “I moved through a range of flats and oyster racks, but really just spot hopped for the rest of the day.” With 5.25kg hitting the scale Shane Ling showed supreme consistency over the two days and won the event by over 1kg. “It feels great to get the first win and even better to see Tassie anglers take out the top three spots in the event. I also need to thank Mad Keen, Mark Wilson at Zip Baits and Benny from BK Custom Rods for all their support.”

DUFFRODS BIG BAG Shane Ling took the Duffrods big bag thanks to his day one bag of 5.35kg, which he caught on the dropoffs in Horseshoe Bay with a Zipbait Rigge 70F.

WINNING TACKLE Rod: BK Custom S Ling custom Reel: Shimano Nasci 1000 Line: 10lb Sunline Siglon PE8 Leader: 6lb Sunline Shooter FC Lure: Zip Baits Rigge 56f and 70f

TOP 10 BOATERS Place Angler

Fish

Weight (kg) Payout

Shane Ling

10/10 10.60

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Adam Crick 10/10 9.18 Josh Williams 10/10 8.63 Steve Morgan 10/10 8.59 Mario Vukic 10/10 8.57 Warren Carter 10/10 7.96 Charlie Saykao 10/10 7.83 Leigh McKenzie 10/10 7.83 Michael Alexander 10/10 7.81 Liam Carruthers 10/10 7.63 For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

$2,600, 1st Mercury Bonus ($250), Duffrods Big Bag $1900, 2nd Mercury Bonus ($150) $1250 $950, 3rd Mercury Bonus ($100) $630, Daiwa J-Braid Big Bream ($500)

Crick twitches into second place Launceston-based angler Adam Crick started his ABT Tasmanian Tour with an impressive 2nd place with 10/10 fish for 9.18kg. Playing to his strengths Crick headed to the flat near the mouth of the system in search of clear water and active fish. Starting in the area known as ‘Stockyard Flats,’ Crick targeted fish holding in the deeper holes off the main flat while waiting for the flat to become covered by the tide.

“I knew the start would be tough down near the mouth and I was just waiting for the water to push up on the flat,” Crick said. Once the flat filled Crick was able to cast his Ecogear MW62 in 309 colour across the flats and work it over the edges between the grass and sand with short erratic twitches mixed in with pauses of 2-5 seconds. “I really tried to give the lure the most action while moving it the least distance and also

targeted the edges of the weed and sand,” Crick said. For this presentation Crick opted for a ‘crank and twitch’ JML Alliance Perfection Series rod matched with a Daiwa Luvias 2504 reel spooled with 6lb Suline Siglon PE8 braid and 6lb Yamatoyo Chinu Harris FC. Once Crick had exhausted his first flat he then spot hopped towards the entrance targeting flats that held a combination of broken weed beds, rubble and sand before finishing the day in the oyster racks for one final upgrade. “I only got six fish on day one but they were all the right size fish,” explained Crick. With the wind changing direction Crick decided to change his starting location and targeted the town flat at the start of day two. “The flats

near the entrance tend to shut down under pressure so my plan was to fill my limit on the town flat which is home to better numbers of fish.” While he started with one fish early the flat failed to produce the result Crick wanted and he returned to his day one honey hole. The return to the front proved to be fruitful with Crick repeating his shallow twitch and pause presentation for another quality limit. With a great result at the tour opener Crick was heading into his preferred Derwent River event full of confidence. “It was a great way to kick off the two events. I really have to thank Tony from JML for all his support and the products that helped me get the result over the weekend,” said Crick.

BREAM SERIES

Adam Crick fished shallow jerkbaits to finish second behind Shane Ling.

Hodge holds on for St Helens win Adam Crick with his second place winnings.

DAIWA J-BRAID BIG BREAM Mario Vukic claimed the Daiwa J-Braid Big Bream at St Helens with the 2018 Mallacoota BREAM Qualifier winner securing the $500 prize for his 1.41kg kicker fish caught on a ZMan GrubZ rigged on a 1/12oz jighead.

Victorian black bream specialist Mike Hodge has converted his first 5kg single day bag into another tournament win with 9/10 for 8.39kg. Fishing with Mark Alexander on day one, Hodge started the morning fishing the town flats putting one fish in the well early while his boater went to work filling his limit. “Mark had a well thought-out plan for the day, so I started the day full

Zipbaits Rigge 70F (650)

Twitch and roll retrieve

Weedy bottom

Rocky bottom

of confidence and knew we would be on for a good day’s fishing,” said Hodge. The pair then moved to Alexander’s second location, which held a good amount of broken weed beds with a distinct line of thick weed 2m from the edge, which proved to be the key hunting ground for Hodge. Once in location Hodge would cast a Cranka shallow minnow in jolly tail over the thick weed line and work the lure with a

Zipbaits Rigge 56F (824)

slow draw and pause routine. “I would draw the lure down slowly and pause it for up to five seconds. For most of the fish you would feel them rattle the lure and it was just a process of leaning back on the fish and letting it load up,” explained Hodge. His go-to outfit for this presentation was a Penn pinpoint 6’10” 2-4kg rod matched with a Fin-Nor Affinity reel spooled with 6lb Berkley Nanofil and 4lb Sunline FC Rock leader. While Hodge had filled his limit there was still one small fish sitting in his limit, which he was keen to upgrade. “I had a productive time on the second area we hit but it wasn’t until we hit the town reaches of the system late in the day that I was able to upgrade my 26cm for a 34cm fish,” said Hodge. That final fish proved to be all the difference at the end of the day with Hodge cracking his first 5kg+ bag with 5.2kg. Day two saw Hodge paired with Daniel Homes. The pair headed down to the flats near the mouth of the system to target the dropoffs from the main weed flats. It was a fast start for

Hodge who managed to put four fish in the well early in the session. He again used his favoured Cranka Shallow Minnow in jolly tail, casting it on top of the weed bed before drawing it off and allowing the fish to cruise up and take the lure. “I had four fish in the well early but the bite really shut down and it was a long end to the session, but I really have to commend Daniel who tried his best to get me my five fish. He really went above and beyond trying to guide me onto that last fish,” said Hodge. When asked about the event Hodge went on to say, “I really enjoyed coming over to Tasmania. The fishing and the people really make the trip worth all the effort. To have both my boaters go above and beyond to help me catch fish shows how great the people are down here.” With the first of two Tasmania events run and won, attention now turns to Hobart’s Derwent River system. For the results and story of that tournament and any other event near you head to abt.org.au.

TOP 10 NON BOATERS Place Angler

Fish

10/10 8.39

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Mike Hodges

Weight (kg) Payout

Costa Prize Pack, 1st Hobie Bonus ($200) Roan Van-Berberg 10/10 8.29 Prize Pack, 2nd Hobie Bonus ($100) Brendan McNamara 9/10 7.03 Prize Pack, 3rd Hobie Bonus ($75) Stuart Walker 8/10 6.30 Prize Pack, Jesse Rotin 8/10 5.90 Prize Pack Jordan Armstrong 9/10 5.56 Prize Pack Shaun Egan 6/10 5.28 Prize Pack Bernard Kong 6/10 5.22 Prize Pack Peter Mazey 9/10 4.41 Prize Pack Neil Chegwidden 5/10 3.95 Prize Pack For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

Mike Hodges claimed top honours in the non-boater division. MAY 2018

Crick cracks the Derwent code

STORM

Adam Crick has proven that there are consistent tournament-winning fish in the big fish haunt of Ralphs Bay at the Costa Derwent River BREAM Qualifier with a 10/10 limit for 11.03kg taking his maiden ABT event with over 1kg on his nearest competitor. Coming off a strong showing at St Helens, Adam Crick was full of confidence heading into the Derwent River event and with the confidence in his key location he knew he was in with a shot. “I have spent a lot of time working out the low tide pattern on Ralphs Bay. It is high risk and high reward, but I felt I would fish to my strengths,” said Crick. On day one Crick headed down to hit his milk run of shallow broken reef flats dotted throughout Ralphs Bay. In each area Crick would cast an Ecogear MW 62 in 309 colour across the broken rubble before imparting a short erratic twitch mixed with pauses ranging between 2-10 seconds.

To target these shallow fish Crick would cast the same Ecogear MW 62 tight to the edge and twitch the lure with his rod held up high to work the lure out over the structure. With two key upgrades late in the session Crick ended the day with 5.9kg and headed out on day two with the lead. With a cold front pushing through overnight Crick was concerned Ralphs Bay would fail to fire and decided to stop at a rock point at Howrah to fill an early limit. “It can be hard to fill a limit at Ralphs Bay, so I used a productive smaller fish point at Howrah to fill a limit and calm the nerves,” explained Crick. With a calm mind he then headed to his day one honey hole. There wasn’t the same number of fish but Crick was able to find a couple of key upgrades to keep his bag weight climbing before returning to his milk run of spots in the Lindisfarne area. “It was a slow process of upgrading my bag throughout the session; it wasn’t until my

Adam Crick brought the big fish to the scales to claim victory on the Derwent. an angler to watch when ABT next returns to Tasmania. When asked about his win Crick replied, “It was a great feeling to win the event in the style of fishing

that I enjoy the most and I really have to thank Tony at JML for all his support. His lures have been the key to my success in the past two events.”

WINNING TACKLE Rod: JML Alliance Perfect Series Reel: Daiwa Luvias 2500 Line: 6lb Sunline Siglon PE8 Leader: 6lb Yamatoyo Chinu Harris FC Lure: Ecogear MW 62 (colour 309 and 328)

One of the fish that delivered Adam a 1kg average for his win.

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

MAY 2018

“The key was to get the lure to move erratically without it moving too far forward; to do this I would hold my rod tip up with slack in the line and only just come into contact with the lure,” said Crick. His tackle of choice for this technique was a ‘crank and twitch’ JML Alliance Perfection Series rod matched with a Daiwa Luvias 2504 spooled with 6lb Suline Siglon PE8 braid and 6lb Yamatoyo Chinu Harris FC. Crick fished the Ralphs Bay area until 11am and then changed tact as the tide began to run in. Returning upriver to the Lindisfarne area he targeted fish moving into the shallow edges. “On the run-in tide the larger fish tend to push right up on to the edge to feed,” Crick explained.

final upgrade five minutes before the end of the session that I felt like I had won the event,” said Crick. Crick took out the event with an over-1kg winning margin and that combined with his second place at St Helens will show him to be

Bernard Kong secured the Daiwa J-Braid Big Bream prize at the Derwent.

TOP 10 BOATERS Place Angler

Fish

Weight (kg) Payout

Adam Crick

10/10 11.03

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Josh Williams 10/10 9.88 Warren Carter 10/10 9.83 Charlie Saykao 10/10 9.77 Alan Lister 10/10 9.62 Andrew Krushka 10/10 9.54 Mark Crompton 10/10 9.38 Mario Vukic 10/10 9.37 Steve Steer 10/10 9.27 Cameron Whittam 10/10 9.20 For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

$2,250, 1st Mercury Bonus ($250), Duffrods Big Bag $1600, 2nd Mercury Bonus ($150) $1100, 2nd Mercury Bonus ($150) $800, 3rd Mercury Bonus ($100) $500

Josh fires for second In only his second event as a boater Josh Williams showed his skill when it comes to black bream fishing with an impressive 10/10 fish for 9.88kg. Williams started fishing near the start/finish areas of Bellerive in an attempt to fill his limit early as the tide dropped. The key area for Williams during this section of the tide was the deeper edges of the quickly draining flats. He would cast

a Daiwa Presso Minnow in sushi prawn up onto the shallow flat holding his rod tip up flicking and twitching the lure out over the drop-off before moving his rod tip down and ripping the lure down into the depths. With his limit filled early Williams then moved up to the middle reaches of the river working similar rocky drop-offs waiting for the tide to start moving in. Once the tide had

Josh added $1600 to his bank balance with his 2nd place win.

DUFFRODS BIG BAG Adam Crick took the Duffrods big bag with his day one limit of 5.91kg, which was the perfect start to his Derwent River event. The key to his day one bag was his Ecogear MW62 in 309 colour.

shifted Williams moved up into the shallows behind the entertainment centre in search of fish moving up into the shallows. He then cast a Daiwa Presso Minnow in creeping iwashi tight to the edge before ripping it down into the structure and allowing it to slowly float up out of the structure. “The fish would hit the lure as it came clear,” said Williams. His tackle of choice was a Nordic Stage Sharpshooter 1-3kg rod matched with a Shimano Twinpower 1000 reel spooled with 6lb Platypus P8 brain and 4lb Platypus Stealth FC. Day two proved to be a slower start for Williams who started the day at the golf course stretch of the Derwent, which proved to be successful for his non-boating partner, but it wasn’t until the tide started pushing in that Williams started to fire. With a stronger wind pushing on day two and a distinct dirty water line forming in the back of the entertainment centre bay, his day one location fired. The added wind allowed Williams to make longer wind-assisted casts and cover more water with each cast, “I slowed my presentation down on day two and used a 7m leader to get more bites,” said Williams. This change proved fruitful with his day two bag hitting the scales at 4.78kg.

BREAM SERIES

Josh Williams brought his good form from St Helens to the Derwent to claim second in the boater division. “I really enjoyed stepping up as a boater for both rounds and encourage any other

Tassie anglers to get out and give it a go,” said Williams, “I also need to thank Platypus

Lines for all their support and products that helped me over the weekend.”

Egan mixes it up for win Shaun Egan has taken another ABT Non-Boating victory with 10/10 fish for 8.44kg, showing he has consistency across any bream waters around Australia. Fishing with Tony Robinson on day one Egan fished the middle reaches of the Derwent along a range of rock walls and drop-offs. While his boaters targeted the hard edge Egan opted to target fish sitting wider with a slow rolled OSP Dunk in ghost colour. “I thought there would

Dunk and managed to fill his limit quickly, taking the pressure off and allowing him to mix up his presentation to find bigger fish. While the pair moved around before the tide change Egan was able to pick up key upgrades on the rock walls and gravel patches near Mona before the tide began to turn. Once the tide started pushing in the Egan changed

2000 Daiwa Sol reel spooled with 6lb Daiwa J-Braid and 5lb FC Rock. When asked about his win Egan was quick to point out the key to his result was to think outside the box and not just replicate what his boater was having success doing. “I always try to look past what my boater is doing and try to target fish they are missing,” said Egan. He was

Ecogear MW62F (328 and 309) Twitch and pause retrieve

Shaun Egan was a happy man with his non-boater title win.

Weedy bottom

Rocky bottom

TOP 10 NON BOATERS Place Angler

Fish

10/10 8.44

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Shaun Egan

Weight (kg) Payout

Costa Prize Pack, 1st Hobie Bonus ($200) Jesse Rotin 10/10 8.14 Prize Pack Roan Van-Berberg 10/10 8.04 Prize Pack, 2nd Hobie Bonus ($100) Jordan Armstrong 10/10 7.75 Prize Pack, 3rd Hobie Bonus ($75) Suzanne Siranovic 10/10 7.52 Prize Pack Paul Siemasko 10/10 7.26 Prize Pack Stuart Walker 10/10 7.07 Prize Pack Wally Fahey 10/10 6.95 Prize Pack Neil Chegwidden 10/10 6.82 Prize Pack Brendan Ayers 10/10 6.77 Prize Pack For full result listings, see www.abt.org.au

be fish sitting wider that my boater wouldn’t be targeting, so I decided to cast the lure wide of the drop-off and slow roll the lure back, mixing it up with a slight pause,” said Egan. His go-to tackle for this presentation was a Shimano T-Curve Flight 7’2” 4-6lb rod matched with a 2000 Daiwa Sol reel spooled with 3lb FC Rock. Day two saw Egan paired with Josh Williams. He again started the day fishing wide of his boater with an OSP

his lure to an Ecogear MW62 in 309 colour and cast his lure tight to the edges of the entertainment centre bay. Much like his boater, Egan worked his lure across the shallow flat with his rod tip up in the air imparting short, sharp twitches mixed in with pauses ranging from 2-10 seconds allowing the fish to hunt the lure down. To extract the fish from the shallows Egan used a Shimano T-Curve 7’2” 4-6lb rod matched with a

also quick to thank his travel partners Danielle and Mark Crompton, “It makes it a lot easier traveling when you have a good group to travel with and I can’t thank them enough for their support,” said Egan. With the Tasmanian Leg of the Costa Bream Series run and won, attention now turns to the next event on the Gold Coast, to get involved with this or any other ABT event head to abt.org.au.

DAIWA J-BRAID BIG BREAM Bernard Kong cashed in on the Derwent with the ABT tournament veteran claiming the Daiwa J-Braid Big Bream Prize for his 1.53kg fish caught on day two on a Daiwa Double Clutch. MAY 2018

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Sea Jay 460 Velocity Sports with Mercury 75hp

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SPECIFICATIONS Overall.Length......................................... 4.74m Bottom ............................................4mm (5083) Sides ..........................................................3mm Beam..........................................................2.3m Depth .......................................................1.24m Floor.Ribs ...................................................... 11 Capacity ....................................... Five persons Hull.weight .............................................. 495kg Max.HP ..........................................................75 Rec.HP ...........................................................60 Max.motor ............................................... 175kg

Cruising at 4500rpm, the 75 Mercury delivered 2.4km/L at 46km/h. 90

MAY 2018

DE FOR EX

What do you get when you cross one of the proven Sea Jay Samurai hulls with a console of a 5.9m boat? You get this – the new Sea Jay 460 Velocity Sports. In Say Jay speak ‘sports’ means ‘side-console,’ so this is basically a Vision hull with a side-console. Based on the popular Samurai hull, the shell features a 4mm 5083-grade bottom sheet and 3mm side sheets. Samurais also have reverse chines, a heavy duty capped keel and a visually pleasing upswept bow that turns heads at the ramp and on the water. The 4.6m hull is also very beamy. In fact, the beam of 2.3m is exactly half the length of the hull, making it very stable in the water. Combine this with high gunwales and raised casting decks and there is a ridiculous amount of under-

As such, the boat more bounced than chopped the waves and we know that it’ll ride a lot more smoothly with some real-world weight holding it down. Powered by the maximum 75hp Mercury 2.1L 4-stroke, the Velocity jumped onto the plane and displayed best economy figures at 4500rpm, where it delivered 2.4km/L of fuel burned. That’s right in the zone of what you can expect from a rig this size. Drop the hammers and the speed went up a little and the economy drops markedly. We achieved 48km/h and

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

deck storage up the front. You can see in the images here (and in the Video Boat Test on the Fishing Monthly YouTube channel), that the biggest compartment easily swallows Rob Gaden Jr. There’s room up there as well for a couple of trolling motor batteries and of course there’s a fabricated mount for your choice of long shaft electric motor. With that 100kg or so of weight up there, the boat will feel a lot less flighty than it did on the test day. We rode this rig basically empty with a couple of 80kg humans on board as ballast.

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Main: Sea Jay’s 460 Velocity Sports brings the features of the larger Velocity models into a smaller package. This one was powered by Mercury’s rock solid 2.1L 75hp 4-stroke. Above: With a beam of 2.3m and a length of 4.6m, this hull is half as wide as it is long. The end result is that it’s pretty stable. 48km/h at WOT. It was a bit rough to open the throttle fully on the test day. At full speed expect around 2km/L. The Sea Jay arrived at the ramp on a single-axle Sea Jay trailer, manufactured by local giant, Dunbier, to Sea Jay’s specifications. Like all Sea Jay trailers, they add a year to the boat’s warranty if they’re ordered on one. And, like all Sea Jay trailers, there’s a dearth of places for salt water to pool while at rest. They like C-Section or alloy I-beams which are easily washed down after use. Basics aside, the 460 Velocity Sports is a blank canvas that you can personalise to your own needs. Factory options like upgraded steering or a factory-installed wrap will help this boat reflect your fishing personality. Then, of course, you’ll

want to add electronics. The big-boy console can hold bracket mounted units up to 16” as well as all of the switches you’ll need to control the on-board accessories. The console also comes with a rail the full way over the windscreen, giving passengers and the captain something to hold onto in less than ideal conditions. Easily towable by the family car, the little sibling in the Velocity Sports family has

all of the big boat features at a small boat price – the test rig weighed in the low to mid $30,000 and you could drop the price even more with a 60hp motor. If you want more information, make sure you check out your local Sea Jay dealer or visit them on www. seajayboats.com.au. Like them on Facebook at Sea Jay Boats and you’ll be kept up-todate on all of the latest Sea Jay releases.

PERFORMANCE RPM........................Speed........................km/L 700 ................................. 3 .......................... 2.3 1000 ............................... 5 .......................... 2.1 2000 ............................... 9 .......................... 1.7 3000 ............................. 13 .......................... 1.2 4000 ............................. 38 .......................... 2.2 4500 ............................. 46 .......................... 2.4 5000 ............................. 48 .......................... 2.1

The rear of the cockpit is clean and clear with high gunwales and offers plenty of room to fish all around the back of the boat.

The console in the 460 Vision is the same as in the 590, so it looks big. The advantage is that you can fit the same electronics in the smallest Velocity Sports as you can in the largest one.

Above: We loved the all-round grab rail on the console and the multiple seat base points. Inset: The front deck is beamy and high enough to offer great vision (pun intended about the sister Sea Jay hull).

Did someone say that there’s plenty of capacity under the decks? This space holds at least one Rupe. And maybe also a swimsuit model, although we didn’t get to test the theory.

Supplied on a Dunbier-built Sea Jay trailer, this rig – and all rigs bought with a Sea Jay trailer – gets an extra year of warranty.

The 2.1L 75hp is the smallest horsepower in that configuration, so you know it’ll be underworked and over-performing.

The test boat was basically empty, so the boat more bounced over the waves than worked to chop them like the Samurai hull does. This will be fixed by addition of all of your fishing and day-trip essentials.

Yep – that’s a wide ass. It makes this rig really stable.

That’s the beast-mode console. Plenty of dry storage underneath and room for a 16” sounder on a bracket up top. MAY 2018

Horizon Scorpion 485 a great entry-level rig - SC

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Firstly, the rig is well priced. Scott James and his team at Horizon boats specialise in getting affordable packages on the

SPECIFICATIONS Length.........................................................4.9m Length on trailer........................................6.0m Height on trailer.........................................2.4m Beam...........................................................2.2m Depth........................................................ 1.16m Bottom........................................................3mm Sides...........................................................3mm Hull weight............................................... 510kg Max hp............................................................75 Capacity............................................. 5 persons a little boat testing, fishing and tubing on the Tweed River. And the question we set out to answer was this: does the Scorpion offer a good compromise between fishing, fun and family? The answer was a definite ‘yes,’ and let us tell you why. 92

MAY 2018

water. As tested, the Scorpion came in at under $33,000, which is at the affordable end of family boating. Secondly, you don’t need to trade in the family car for a 4WD to tow it. With a dry hull weight of just over 500kg and an on-trailer weight of less than 1000kg,

you’ll move it around nicely with most family sedans. The added bonus of a light rig is that you can use a single axle trailer to tote it. Single axle trailers have inherent manoeuvrability advantages in small spaces and garages and an overall length of 6m means that it’s not impossible to fit in most spaces designed for cars. Thirdly, there’s abundant shade and areas out of the weather in the Scorpion. The cuddy cabin design’s open cabin pairs nicely with the added soft top to create a space out of the sun for anyone to chill out who has gone a bit hard early on. While travelling, the rear bench seat offers a smoother ride and folds away neatly for when the serious action takes place. There’s been a lot of thought put into getting the crew on and off the boat – a shallow draft means that

you can pull the boat to the beach transom-first and load through the duckboard and transom door. Not all boats are that easy to load. Step back to the power plant and the Yamaha

DE FOR EX

Main: The Horizon Scorpion 485 can get a lot done with not that much boat. It has a big cabin, shade and enough grunt to easily tow a tuber, as well as comfortably fish in a hull length of less than 5m. Above: Yamaha’s Will Lee eagerly volunteered to do a few laps of the lower Tweed on the biscuit. The Scorpion ticks a lot of the boxes for fun family boating in a package that won’t break the bank, or your tow vehicle.

s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

If you have a family and like fishing, you always seem to be confronted with a series of compromises. What may be the ideal fishing boat for dad may be totally unsuitable for mum, or vice versa. Add in a couple of kids with the attention spans of a small insect and compromise will be right up there on your radar. Horizon Boats’ Scott James is right up to speed on this situation. They manufacture and sell a range of boats that are both affordable and tackle some of these issues head-on. We recently got out on the water with the Horizon 485 Scorpion Cuddy Cabin – powered by a Yamaha F60 4-stroke outboard – to do

4-stroke F60 offers great fuel economy. Delivering 38km/h at 4500 rpm and 3.4km/L of fuel, the combination is definitely easy on the pocket when it comes to running costs.

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test – just scan the QR code on this page or visit the Fishing Monthly Magazines YouTube channel. Fishing-wise, we eased the rig out through the Tweed Bar and found the

PERFORMANCE RPM Speed (km/h) Economy (km/L) 1000.......................... 5.3.......................... 4.0 2000.......................... 9.3.......................... 2.5 3000........................... 14.......................... 2.3 4000........................... 31.......................... 3.3 5000........................... 43.......................... 3.1 6000........................... 52.......................... 2.4 *Tested with a 12” pitch alloy Yamaha propeller. Of course, we had to answer the question of whether it was ‘tubeworthy.’ Yamaha’s Will Lee readily stripped down to the boardies and contemplated how fun his job was while sliding around the Tweed. You can see the vision of Big Willie in action in the video version of this boat

Scorpion seaworthy enough to easily take offshore on the good days. For more information, you can visit Horizon’s website at www.horizonboats. com.au, like their Facebook page (Horizon Boats) or look up your local Horizon dealer and have a chat. Packages start from $31,690.

Fancy a quiet fish? The Scorpion draws little water and the transom set up with door and ladder allows you to get in and out easily when you’re in or out of the water.

Powered by Yamaha’s F60 60hp four-story outboard the fuel economy was always going to be good. How good? At 4500rpm cruising at 38km/h, you get 3.4km/L of fuel – very frugal.

The transom door is a simple design, but it makes the boating experience for the family so much better. No more busting your nuts clambering over the bow rail!

You can access the anchor well through this for’ard hatch. The crew can, at least. It’s the unwritten rule that the Captain doesn’t have to pull up the anchor.

The fold-away rear lounge seats are a comfortable place to travel and stow away when the fishing rods come out.

You can feel the weight of the cabin on the hull – the centre of gravity is higher than similar hulls with different layouts.

It looks like a lot of boat, but the family car will have no worries towing the Scorpion/Yamaha package and with a single axle trailer, you’ll be able to manoeuvre it into tight garage parking situations.

The helm will fit all of the gadgets you’ll need to spend a day on the water. Larger units will need to be bracket mounted.

There’s a pretty big cabin in there for a 4.85m boat and the fact that it’s open means that it seems even bigger.

Whether you use the cabin for storage, relaxing or both, the design is simple and easy to maintain.

Ready to roll for under $33,000, the Scorpion is a logical step to a family boat from an open tinnie. MAY 2018

Victorian Tide Times

2018 2018 Local Time

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

JANUARY Time m MAY Time

Time 0416 0027 1046 0626 MO 1645 TU 1321 1858 0022 0112 0534 0710 TU 1157 1408 WE1757 1941 0124 0152 0645 0750 WE 1304 1448 TH1902 2019 0220 0229 0746 0829 TH 1405 1524 FR2001 2056 0313 0303 0842 0905 FR 1500 1557 SA2056 2131 0401 0338 0934 0942 1554 SA 1630 SU2147 2208

11 22

33 44

55 66

m 0.81 1.48 1.32 0.39 0.26 1.65 0.66 1.51 1.50 0.79 0.33 1.35 1.71 0.20 0.64 1.61 1.51 0.73 0.31 1.40 1.73 0.14 0.64 1.69 1.51 0.64 0.31 1.46 1.72 0.10 0.64 1.74 1.49 0.55 0.33 1.50 1.70 0.11 0.64 1.75 1.47 0.47 0.36 1.52 1.65 0.15 0.66

Time 0033 0533 0545 1245 TU 1152 1817 WE1813

16 16

18’ of High LONG 144° TimesLAT and38° Heights and Low37’ Waters Times and Heights of High and Low Waters MARCH FEBRUARY JUNE JULY Time m Time m Time m Time m

m 1.38 0.43 0.83 1.64 1.22 0.78 0.38

Time 0102 0117 0621 0719 TH 1246 1423 FR 1849 1953 0201 0156 0730 0759 FR 1352 1458 SA 1952 2030 0255 0233 0830 0836 SA 1451 1530 SU 2046 2108 0343 0310 0923 0912 SU 1546 1601 MO 2137 2145 0427 0347 1013 0946 MO 1639 1635 TU 2223 2220 0508 0426 1059 1018 1730 TU 1710 WE 2305 2256

0123 1.43 17 22 0035 0.79 1.48 170649 0624 1.24 0.33 1246 WE 1336 TH1904 1907 0206 0124 0742 0713 TH 1336 1424 FR1949 1954 0244 0211 0825 0800 FR 1422 1511 SA2030 2040 0318 0256 0905 0849 SA 1505 1556 SU2107 2126 0352 0342 0942 0938 1545 SU 1642 MO2141 2213

18 18 19 19

20 20 21 21

1.74 0.34 0.74 1.48 1.52 0.72 0.26 1.27 1.81 0.31 0.70 1.53 1.55 0.66 0.23 1.31 1.83 0.30 0.67 1.57 1.56 0.59 0.23 1.35 1.81 0.30 0.65 1.59 1.56 0.54 0.26 1.38 1.76 0.31 0.63

33 44

m 1.52 1.47 0.72 0.37 1.37 1.73 0.20 0.75 1.59 1.47 0.62 0.37 1.44 1.73 0.18 0.73 1.65 1.47 0.50 0.39 1.50 1.71 0.18 0.72 1.69 1.46 0.40 0.42 1.54 1.69 0.21 0.71 1.69 1.44 0.32 0.46 1.55 1.65 0.27 0.71 1.66 1.41 0.27 0.50 1.53 1.62 0.34 0.70

Time 0131 0055 0715 0645 FR 1311 1405 SA 1927 1930 0213 0147 0802 0739 SA 1402 1455 SU 2011 2020 0250 0239 0843 0832 SU 1448 1543 MO 2048 2111 0326 0330 0919 0924 MO 1531 1630 TU 2124 2201 0400 0422 0954 1015 TU 1613 1715 WE 2159 2253 0434 0519 1028 1103 1653 WE 1802 TH 2236 2345

16 16 17 17 18 18

19 19 20 20 21 21

m 1.38 1.52 0.73 0.25 1.23 1.82 0.39 0.76 1.44 1.56 0.65 0.23 1.30 1.84 0.37 0.70 1.50 1.59 0.56 0.25 1.37 1.83 0.36 0.64 1.54 1.58 0.48 0.30 1.43 1.79 0.36 0.60 1.57 1.56 0.41 0.38 1.47 1.74 0.37 0.56 1.57 1.52 0.34 0.48 1.50 1.67 0.40 0.54

FR MO

SA TU

SU WE

MO TH

66 TU

m 0.75 1.43 1.30 0.40 0.34 1.68 0.76 1.44 1.45 0.67 0.41 1.36 1.69 0.33 0.73 1.51 1.45 0.55 0.44 1.45 1.68 0.31 0.70 1.57 1.44 0.43 0.47 1.53 1.66 0.30 0.67 1.61 1.43 0.33 0.51 1.59 1.64 0.32 0.65 1.62 1.41 0.26 0.57 1.61 1.60 0.36 0.62

Time 0521 0131 1139 1750 FR 0725 MO 1437 2004 0045 0227 0638 1246 SA 0819 TU 1525 1857 2058 0132 0321 0730 1343 SU 0912 WE 1610 1945 2150 0215 0415 0810 1431 MO 1000 TH 1654 2025 2241 0253 0515 0846 1047 TU 1516 FR 1736 2103 2330 0330 0616 0922 1132 1559 WE 1818 SA 2141

16 16 17 17 18 18

19 19 20 20

21 21

m m 0.80 1.56 1.18 0.24 0.55 1.80 0.64 1.32 1.60 0.72 0.26 1.24 1.80 0.53 0.56 1.39 1.61 0.62 0.32 1.34 1.78 0.50 0.49 1.45 1.59 0.52 0.40 1.44 1.73 0.47 0.45 1.50 1.55 0.42 0.49 1.53 1.67 0.46 0.43 1.54 1.51 0.33 0.59 1.59 1.60 0.46

Time 0109 0229 0559 1238 SU0827 1828 WE 1511 2101 0101 0308 0654 1335 MO0900 TH 1544 1919 2135 0146 0347 0740 1426 TU0933 FR 1616 2004 2209 0227 0429 0822 1511 WE1009 SA 1649 2045 2242 0303 0512 0901 1047 TH 1550 SU 1724 2121 2317 0337 0600 0939 1129 1627 FR 1801 MO 2157 2356

11 22 33

m 1.47 1.44 0.49 0.43 1.50 1.64 0.49 0.62 1.52 1.46 0.39 0.46 1.59 1.64 0.48 0.57 1.55 1.46 0.31 0.50 1.66 1.62 0.48 0.53 1.56 1.46 0.26 0.55 1.68 1.59 0.49 0.49 1.55 1.46 0.25 0.61 1.67 1.55 0.52 0.45 1.52 1.45 0.26 0.68 1.64 1.51 0.55 0.42

m Time m 0540 0.59 0313 1219 1.64 1.42 1807 0.34 0.66 MO0857 TH 1544 1.72 2131 0.35 0030 1.43 0406 0624 1.63 0.47 1311 0.41 1.54 TU0943 FR 1624 1854 1.68 0.63 2218 0.32 0115 1.48 0500 0705 1.59 0.37 1358 0.49 1.65 WE1026 SA 1702 1937 1.62 0.60 2301 0.32 0157 1.52 0553 0746 1.53 0.29 1443 0.57 1.72 TH1107 SU 1742 2019 1.55 0.58 2344 0.35 0238 1.54 0645 0829 1.47 0.23 1148 1526 0.66 1.75 FR1821 MO 2100 1.47 0.58

16 16 17 17

18 18

19 19

20 20

0317 1.54 0026 0.39 21 0912 0.21 21SA0739 1.42 1609 1.74

0.74 TU 1231 2143 1.40 0.58 1905 0359 0.44 1.53 0110 0956 1.37 0.22 0833 1653 0.82 1.70 SU 1319 WE 2226 0.60 1954 1.33

0415 1.73 1.44 22 0426 0626 0430 1.60 1.53 0507 1.61 1.38 22 0508 770447 77 0545 1026 1142 1016 0.40 0.40 221017 1152 1026 0.49 0.33 1052 0.25 0.56 22 1102 1734 1646 1.51 1626 1.40 1820 1.49 TH SU MO WE

0437 7 0531 1033 7 1104 WE 1714

1.60 1.40 0.23 0.63 1.60 1755 1.56 SA 2245 0.41 2344 0.59

0411 1.44 1.48 0407 0.43 1.55 70656 22 22 0016 1015 0.75 0.29 22 0959 1.47 0.27 22 7 0718 1215 SA 1701 1.59 TH 1640 1.63

0459 0542 0522 1.59 1.48 0553 1.54 1.35 0039 0451 1.69 1.40 880531 88 0622 1115 1051 1222 23 1115 0.44 0.42 1128 0.26 0.62 23 1138 0738 1050 0.35 0.45 23 MO 1740 1.48 TU 1705 1.40 TH 1911 1.43 FR 1817

0513 8 0623 1113 1147 TH 1756

1.56 1.39 0.22 0.70 1.56 1834 1.52 SU 2322 0.47

0443 0.45 1.54 0445 0.40 1.44 0441 0.49 1.50 23 0103 80041 230201 1037 1.44 0.22 1049 1.43 0.33 23 1040 1.35 0.26 8 0930 0817 0759 FR 1721 1.63 SU 1736 1.53 MO 1739 1.63

0532 0618 0134 0624 1.57 1.43 0010 0.51 0.69 0531 1.63 1.35 99 0025 990614 1124 1202 0659 24 0844 1205 0.40 0.52 0646 1.47 1.33 24 1216 1124 0.33 0.51 24 TU 1837 1.43 WE 1746 1.40 FR 1300 0.29 SA 1905

0546 9 0024 1149 0722 FR 1837

0519 0.48 1.52 0521 0.38 1.38 0528 0.52 1.45 24 0154 90134 240303 1116 1.43 0.21 1124 1.44 0.38 24 1126 1.35 0.33 9 1029 0915 0908 SA 1804 1.60 MO 1814 1.46 TU 1830 1.56

0104 0036 0606 0232 0617 0.41 1.30 0048 1.53 0.62 0054 0.60 0.66 10 0735 0655 1159 100006 25 10 0946 1200 1.56 0.58 25 0741 0.36 1.40 10 0750 1.39 1.34 25 0658 1340 0.34 1257 1248 0.33 1831 1.39

0620 10 0110 1225 0829 1917

0600 0.37 1.32 0623 0.52 1.40 0558 0.49 1.49 100239 250413 25 0250 1200 1.48 0.45 25 1215 1.37 0.42 1157 1.44 0.22 10 1125 1014 1020 1857 1.40 1930 1.49 1851 1.55

0121 0332 0039 0.52 0.74 0153 0.50 0.61 0145 0.68 0.62 11 260005 11 0147 110050 0737 0816 0642 1047 0713 1.48 1.27 26 0857 1.49 1.40 11 0901 1.31 1.38 26 0744 1333 0.35 1423 0.38 1344 1236 0.32

0036 11 0204 0656 0938

0026 0.34 0.73 0051 0.50 0.67 0022 0.50 0.59 110354 260515 26 0350 0645 1.54 1.26 26 0732 1.42 1.35 0640 1.46 1.44 11 1111 1129 1215

0430 0301 0.58 0.57 0244 0.76 0.56 0129 0.62 0.74 0213 120134 270049 12 0237 12 1144 1006 1.44 1.45 12 1012 1.24 1.46 27 0841 0819 1.39 1.26 27 0820 0904 0722 1656 1514 0.81 1515 0.91 1336 0.74

0115 12 0308 1047 0734

0112 0.31 0.77 0200 0.47 0.67 0107 0.48 0.65 27 0449 120510 270609 1204 1230 1257 0741 1.61 1.22 27 0857 1.47 1.34 0730 1.49 1.39 12

0407 0.66 0.52 0346 0.82 0.48 0227 0.72 0.71 0522 0318 130224 280138 13 0337 13 1111 1.39 1.52 13 1118 1.19 1.56 28 0953 0934 1.32 1.30 28 1235 1001 0907 0809 1629 0.84 1630 0.91 1443 0.80 1755

0159 13 0417 1153 0819 1704

0019 0045 0208 1.49 0.79 0319 1.35 0.63 0159 0.45 0.70 28 0543 13 28 0616 0653 1250 0849 0.28 1.19 28 1015 0.44 1.38 0830 1.53 1.33 13 1325 1.68 1333 1.52 1816 0.85

0505 0.74 0.47 0332 0.80 0.64 0450 0.84 0.39 0000 290234 140322 14 0452 1210 1.34 1.59 14 1046 1.26 1.39 29 1218 1.17 1.67 29 0610 14 1107 0959 0904 TU 1735 0.83 MO 1600 0.83 TH 1738 0.88 FR 1319

0250 14 0525 1252 0915 SA 1810

0121 0130 0319 1.56 0.77 0433 1.41 0.55 0304 1.35 0.72 29 0016 0715 0731 0630 14 29 1007 0.27 1.22 29 1125 0.43 1.46 0950 0.43 1.30 14 TU 1415 1.72 WE 1408 1.56 SU 1330 1.57

0437 0.84 0.54 0554 0.80 0.42 0549 1.32 0.31 0045 150432 300343 15 0042 1150 1.22 1.51 30 1300 1.31 1.66 15 1314 0.81 1.76 30 0653 15 0611 1055 1012 TU 1716 0.82 WE 1829 0.81 FR 1837 0.82 SA 1358

0357 15 0032 0627 1025 SU 1346

0218 0213 0440 1.61 0.69 0428 1.39 0.69 0535 1.47 0.46 30 0103 0808 0806 0713 15 30 1118 0.29 1.30 30 1116 0.42 1.32 15 1228 0.44 1.56 WE 1500 1.74 TH 1441 1.58 MO 1405 1.61

1702 1.61 MO2236 2244 0.22 0.68

TU 1739 1.55 2322 2319 0.31 0.70

WE 1818 1.50 2358 0.73

1730 1.70 TU2214 2300 0.34 0.62

WE 1819 1.63 2247 2352 0.38 0.62

TH 1913 1.56 2325 0.43

WE TH 1903 1.44 TH FR 1300 0.63 1938 1.38 2009 1.51

TH FR 1243 0.66 FR SA 1402 0.74 2039 1923 1954 1.34 1.40 2106 1.38 1.47

SU1317 0.30 SA1420 0.37 FR SA 2202 1.37 1.45 2050 1.32 1.37 2138 2022

MO1406 0.28 SU1513 0.40 SU SA 2258 1.37 1.44 2148 1.31 1.37 2237 2130

SU 1611 0.41 MO 1504 0.27 2349 1.39 1.44 2247 1.34 1.39 2336 2244

MO 1714 0.41 TU 1615 2344 1.43 2357 0035 0502 0638 1130 1345 TH 1735 WE 1913

31 31

0.27 1.44 1.46 0.79 0.38 1.32 1.71 0.24 0.78

1747 1.57 TH 2345 2331 0.42 0.70

FR 1827 1.53

SA 1211 0.70 2000 1911 1.38 1.48

SA SU 1301 0.78 2052 2000 1.32 1.45

SU MO 1403 0.86 2146 2055 1.29 1.42

TU 1515 0.43 MO 2154 1.27 1.42 2245

WE 1618 0.45 TU 2256 1.28 1.44 2345

WE 1730 0.45 2357 1.48

TH 1212 1.19 1834 0.43

1.56 1.47 0.29 0.58 1.51 1850 1.61 FR 2314 0.45

TH SU

Time 0440 0127 1118 0733 1718 1432 2007 0038 0207 0604 0812 1237 1504 1838 2046 0138 0246 0715 0847 1345 1537 1942 2123 0230 0326 0815 0920 1445 1610 2036 2159 0317 0405 0906 0953 1538 1644 2123 2233 0400 0446 0952 1027 1628 1718 2206 2307

Local Time APRIL Time Time AUGUST m

1.53 0.53 0.26 1.45 0.70 SA 1242 1.50 2354 1939 0.50 1.54

1.49 0.53 0.24 1.45 0.80 SU 1336 1.47 2030 1.48

0.57 0.52 1.44 1.47 0.88 SU 1438 0.24 MO 2000 2123 1.43 1.44

0.65 0.51 1.39 1.50 0.92 MO TU 1547 0.26 2104 2216 1.39 1.41 0.48 0.72 1.55 1.33 0.92 WE TU 1441 0.29 2310 1.37 1.40 2217

0.45 0.76 1.60 1.30 0.89 TH 1553 0.33 WE 2331 1.39 1.40 0.43 1.64 1844 0.85

1.42 0.41 1.67 1928 0.80

1.51 0.55 0.25 1.40 1.50 1235 0.79 MO 2359 1.48 0.53 1919 1.45 0.51 0.29 1.43 1.44 SA 1331 0.86 TU 2011 1.44

0.59 0.46 1.38 1.48 1300 0.92 0.34 SU 1438 WE 2000 1.43 1.37 2109 0.41 0.66 1.55 1.31 1339 0.94 0.40 TH 1551 MO 2215 2048 1.43 1.32 0.35 0.73 1.63 1.24 0.46 FR TU 1422 0.90 2327 2144 1.46 1.27

0.29 0.79 1.71 1.19 0.51 WE 1516 0.82 2245 1.26 1.51 0.82 0.25 1.16 0.55 TH 1627 1.76 1908 2348 0.73 1.28

0.70 SU 1217 2220 1.53 0.47 1902

MO 1304 0.79 2300 1.46 0.50 1949

TU 1359 0.87 2341 1.39 0.54 2039

SU 1502 0.92 WE 2133 1.35

1240 0.93 0.25 MO TH 1614 1943 1.33 1.49 2230

1327 0.90 0.31 FR TU 1720 2326 2045 1.33 1.43

SA 1423 0.39 WE 2155 1.39

TH 1536 0.46 1904 2305 0.79 1.38

FR 1703 0.50 1946 0.73

1.46 TU 1845 2232 0.58

WE 1306 0.82 2309 1.42 0.63 1935

TH 1407 0.88 2346 1.39 0.68 2037

TU1521 0.89 FR 2150 1.39

TH 1417 0.87 2310 1.27 0.62 2050

FR 1530 0.89 2358 1.25 0.65 2152

WE1646 0.86 SA 2255 1.26

1238 0.84 0.51 SU 1312 0.80 0.52 WE1639 TH1751 SA 1947 1.42 1.34 2033 1.29 1.44 2309 2353

1325 0.74 0.59 MO 1421 0.72 0.61 SU TH1750 FR1842 2045 1.31 2137 1.42

MO FR 1423 0.65 1853 2148 0.63 1.30

SA 1537 0.69 1949 2248 0.51 1.33

SU 1702 0.69 2042 2343 0.42 1.37

0011 1.42 1.42 31 0147 0751 0551 0.42 0.61 1439 1.63 TU 1231 1.40 SA 2025 1823 0.67 0.50

CopyrightCommonwealth Commonwealth of of Australia Australia 2016, 2016, Bureau Bureau of of Meteorology Meteorology Copyright Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide Datum of Predictions is Lowest Astronomical Tide Timesare areininlocal localstandard standardtime time (UTC (UTC +10:00) +10:00) or or daylight daylight savings savings time Times time (UTC (UTC +11:00) +11:00) when whenin ineffect effect New Moon First Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon New Moon First Quarter Moon Phase Symbols Full Moon

TU SA 1543 0.67 1923 2239 0.63 1.43

SU 1701 0.69 2000 2335 0.55 1.45

MO 1806 0.68 2033 0.49

31 0253 0841

1.51 0.46 FR 1515 1.59 2107 0.43

Last LastQuarter Quarter

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. 94

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