The on-line publication of an ABC News item on 14 June, 2021, marked the first time most of us had heard about a startling new assessment concerning the depletion of Spanish mackerel stocks along the eastern seaboard of Australia. According to this news report, a meeting of the East Coast Spanish Mackerel Working Group in Brisbane earlier that same month had been presented with new stock assessments indicating that the species biomass (total amount) of Spanish mackerel remaining in east coast waters had been reduced to just 17% of its un-fished (pre-1911) levels. This is below the 20% trigger point at which a fishery is recommended to be completely shut down under the current Sustainable Fisheries Strategy. Understandably, this alarming news sent shock waves through the commercial and recreational fishing worlds, as well as the seafood industry and the wider public, especially in Queensland. How the hell had things become so bad so quickly? The new 17% figure was particularly puzzling in light of the fact that a 2018 stock assessment contained in a 2020 report from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) had indicated a remaining east coast Spanish mackerel biomass of 30 to 50% (most likely around 40%), and listed the status of the fishery as “sustainable”. So, what had changed in just a few years?   NEW MODELLING The short answer is that the actual methodology of the scientific process for assessing the stock has been updated. In other words, different modelling is now being used to come up with an estimate for the remaining biomass of mackerel. Apparently, this new methodology is still under peer review in scientific circles, and it remains to be seen if it ultimately passes muster. If it does, east coast mackerel stocks are clearly...

Below is my editorial from the February 2019 “Fishotopian” newsletter. To subscribe to these free monthly newsletters from Fishotopia.com, please click here. Unless you’ve been overseas or off grid for the past few months, you’ll have seen coverage of catastrophic fish kills in outback NSW, especially along the Darling River near Menindee. The scale of this disaster is staggering and difficult for most of us to comprehend. It appears the loss of aquatic life in some stretches of this iconic outback waterway may be close to total. It’ll take decades for native fish populations to recover, assuming they ever do… and that’s a big assumption. The Darling River holds a special place in my heart. Back in 1980, my first posting as a wet-behind-the-ears schoolteacher was to Bourke, in north western NSW. Here, along the steep banks of the twisting Darling, I discovered the “vision splendid” of Banjo Patterson’s “sunlit plains extended, and at night the wond’rous glory of the everlasting stars”. It was here I first inhaled the intoxicating perfume of that wonderful petrichor that’s released as fat drops of rain smack onto drought-parched plains, and watched the sun slide behind a horizon so staggeringly wide you’d swear you can see the curvature of the earth. On the downside, I also witnessed the mud-sucking peak of a spreading carp plague, and watched the disturbing phenomenon of a river suddenly flowing backwards as giant irrigation pumps fired up to feed cotton crops the size of small European nations. For me, the writing was already on the wall for the mighty Darling, and the story it told was not a happy one. The Darling is officially described as a “dryland river” and is characterised by “extreme climatic variability”. It has been that way since well...

The fastest way to make fisherfolk angry is to attempt to stop them from going fishing, or to deny them access to popular, productive and accessible locations without some very, very good reasons. One state government in Australia is finding this out right now! In late August this year, the NSW State Government released phase three of its Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion Assessment. Contained within this very extensive series of documents were proposals to create a network of 25 new, enlarged or modified habitat protection zones within an extensive Marine Park stretching from Newcastle to Wollongong and including the entire Sydney metropolitan coastline and harbour. Included within the various zones of this proposed Marine Park are a significant number of marine sanctuaries, where line and spear fishing would be completely banned if the plan goes ahead, as well as numerous other “special purpose” zones with varying levels of restrictions on different activities, both recreational and commercial. The NSW Marine Estate (the over-arching body behind this proposal) also announced a series of public consultation or information sharing meetings to be staged across the zone throughout late August and into September, as well as inviting both written and on-line submissions from all interested parties. The closing date for this consultation period was initially set down as Thursday, 27 September. At the time of writing there was already some suggestion that this consultation period may be extended due to the intensity of the public backlash against the proposals. To say that the release of this highly contentious and rather unexpected proposal has created a storm of adverse reaction in recreational fishing circles would be a serious understatement! Within hours of the release of the Marine Estate’s on-line documents, a Facebook group calling itself STOP THE LOCKOUT! was...

In June 2017 I posted on Facebook inviting people to complete a survey, asking what they’d like to see if I was able to get back on the small screen with a fishing show of my own. I was overwhelmed by the level of response to this little survey, and I figured some folks might like to see the results (below). I’d also like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey, or to comment on the Facebook post. I really appreciate your feedback. The good news is that it actually looks like it’s happening and I’ll be back on telly later this year! More on that soon… meanwhile, here are the key findings of the survey, in graphical form, and don’t forget that you can also catch up with me on my “Starlo Gets Reel” YouTube channel:           If you have any comments, please feel free to make them below, or on my StarloFishing page on Facebook… and once again,...

At the beginning of June, 2017, I was invited by the NSW DPI (Department of Primary Industry) to attend a meeting of recreational fishing stakeholders intended to discuss the ongoing mulloway recovery program in that state. A similar meeting of commercial stakeholders was scheduled to take place shortly afterwards. Participants in both meetings were to be presented with a paper (which you can read here). This was accompanied by presentations from several DPI researchers. Below I’ve attempted to convey the “guts” of this meeting in simplified terms that I hope most anglers can relate to. But please don’t take my word as gospel on this critical issue! Read the paper as well, and search out the literature it quotes. This subject is too important to take for granted or gloss over. If we don’t do something, we face the potential demise of one of our most iconic saltwater species. OVERFISHED STOCKS In NSW, mulloway or jewfish have been officially classified by the Department of Primary Industry (DPI) as “overfished” since 2004/05. In November 2013, a recovery program was implemented in an effort to rebuild mulloway stocks. This program involved, amongst other things, an increase in the species’ minimum legal length from 45 to 70 cm for both recreational and commercial fishers (with a significant exception that we’ll look at later), and a reduction in the recreational bag limit from 5 fish per angler per day to 2 fish per angler per day. Unfortunately, ongoing monitoring of stocks since the implementation of this recovery program indicates that mulloway are still in serious trouble throughout NSW, despite some better-than-average spawning years. Recent scientific estimates of the total size of the mulloway biomass in NSW indicate that it’s down to somewhere between 5% and 20% of its...

Let me share an amusing little story that helps explain just how well the unique camouflage patterning on the Starlo’s Finesse Fishing Wear I designed for Mad Keen Australia actually works: During February 2017, Jo and I competed in the final round of the annual Australian Freshwater Masters tournament series. This round was staged at Lake Mulwala, on the Murray River, with the iconic Murray cod as its target species. The comp’ coincided with an incredible heat wave that saw the mercury climbing well into the mid-40 degree Celsius range on three consecutive days. It was so damn hot that I took to slipping over the gunnel of the boat into the lake and having a soak a few times each day to cool down. I’d leave my clothes on for these dips (including my SFF shirt), as the damp material helped lower my core temperature after I climbed back on board. Besides, it only took 15 minutes or so to completely dry out in that heat! During one of these short dips, I was hanging off the transom of the boat when Jo (who fished on through it all like the trooper she is) let out a shout and announced that she’d hooked another fish. It was a smallish Murray cod and she soon had it alongside the boat. Rather than climbing back aboard, I had Jo pass me the measuring mat so I could measure, unhook and release the fish in the water. Jo snapped a couple of photos of me doing this. Unfortunately, the cod was shy of the legal length, so therefore not a point scorer. With the fish measured and safely unhooked, I cradled it gently in my wet hands and then let it swim free. What happened next...

My good mate Paul Kneller first began making lures professionally a quarter of a century ago, in the early 1990s, under the banner of Deception Lures. He quickly carved a loyal market niche for these beautiful, hand-crafted timber hard bodies. Deception Shrimps, in particular, became the “go-to” lure at places like Lake Windamere, in central western NSW, while his Nippers, Cherax, Yabbies, Palaemons and other models also developed a strong following amongst both fresh and saltwater anglers. The Deception brand was eventually sold to the Brisbane-based Tacspo company around 2004, when Paul and his wife Cheryl opened a tackle shop in Maclean, in far northern NSW. Following this change-over, Paul’s original Deceptions quickly became collector’s items, attracting high prices on the boutique secondhand market. I’m pleased to announce that after a long lay off from making and designing lures, Paul is back with renewed vigour and passion, keen to take his lures to the next level in terms of detail, action and quality. The models shown here are just an entree, with many more lures to be added to the line-up over the coming months and years. Best of all, every Kneller lure is crafted from wood, and Paul insists that this will never change! Here’s a very quick rundown of some of the gems in Kneller’s new range. You can find out more by visiting his page on Facebook here, going directly to his on-line shop here, or emailing Paul at: shake.bake@bigpond.com CHERNOBYL SHAD 55FD The Chernobyl Shad 55FD is a 55mm fat-bodied lure that could be best described as an all-rounder; suited to bass, bigger bream, flathead, estuary perch, trout, sooties and so on. The Chernobyl Shad will dive to around 3 metres on the troll or off a long cast, with...

In this first installment of my ongoing blog series about our Beastmaster Snubby 500, I look at the decision-making process that went into our selection of this bespoke, custom-built boat: Choosing a boat is always a massive decision. Like most keen anglers who’ve been pursuing their passion for a considerable period of time, I’ve owned a bunch of different vessels. I kicked off with a second-hand fibreglass canoe in my teens, went on to a car-topper aluminium punt, then a Webster Twinfisher alloy cat. That brings us through to an era when I first met shipwright and boat builder, Tyson Dethridge, and fell head over heels for his customised Full Boar fibreglass sportfishers, running first a 5 metre version, then a 5.5. Next, I spent a year or two in a fully imported Scout flats boat from the U.S. That was followed by a neat little 4.1 metre tiller-steer Cross Country (again built by Tyson) before I graduated into one of his larger, centre-console 4.75 metre Cross Country rigs. That 4.75 Cross Country (called “Evil Minnow” after one of the deadliest Squidgies soft plastic colours) was part of our family for well over six years, and we absolutely loved it. I’d have to say it was my favourite boat up until that point. With its light-but-strong foam-core sandwich fibreglass construction and powered by a class-leading F70A Yamaha 4-stroke motor, this was quite a radical craft, especially in Darwin, where we lived at the time. I reckon it opened a few alloy-blinkered Top End eyes to the validity and surprising durability of good glass. Our 4.75 Cross Country was the prototype of that hull and it had a few “rough edges” internally, but it served us exceptionally well. We dragged it over some bloody awful...

From the moment I first set eyes on the Native Watercraft FX Propel 13 pedal-powered kayak on the company’s American website (see here), I just knew I had to have one of these mean machines! Along with my wife Jo, I’ve been a Native Watercraft fan for quite a few years now, and this latest release from the company looked to be the perfect upgrade from my much-loved Mariner 12.5 (see my video about that now-discontinued boat here). So, I immediately placed an order with Native Watercraft Australia for an Ultimate FX from the first shipment destined to reach this country, which was due to arrive on our shores in October/November, 2016. My trip to Melbourne to pick up the shiny new Ultimate happily coincide with me also taking delivery of a fantastic, purpose-built, duo kayak trailer from Redide Trailers (something I’ll be blogging about in detail very soon!). Naturally, I was itching to get the new machine wet, but writing deadlines and poor weather conspired against this for a few days. Finally, a narrow window of opportunity opened and I managed to sneak out for a late afternoon bass fishing session on the freshwater reaches of a river not too far from home. From almost the moment I slid the Ultimate into the water and climbed aboard, I knew I’d made the right decision. A hybrid between a more traditional “sit-in” style kayak/canoe and the newer generation of “sit-on” yaks, the Ultimate has a noticeably higher seating position than either my old Mariner or the company’s more recent flagship: the Slayer. The new boat is also a tad lighter. That raised seating position translates to a significantly higher comfort level for my ageing bones and muscles, and also seems far more efficient when...

WHAT’S A HOSTED TRIP? It was sheer fate that first led me to fish the pristine waters of the Cobourg Peninsula back in 2011… and I’ve been working on getting back there ever since. Why? If the spectacularly vibrant, cliff-fringed coastline and secluded azure waters weren’t enough to stimulate my senses to overload, the fishing tipped me over the edge. (If you missed my blog about this first trip, read it here.) Spoilt for choice between reefs, rocks, estuaries and flats, it was difficult to choose what to focus on when we sat down together at each evenings tackle preparation session. This hidden gem at the very top of the Top End is a tropical bluewater fishing paradise—and we want to share it with you! Read on and learn more…   Australia’s Hidden Fishing Gem At the very top of the Northern Territory, the Cobourg Peninsula thrusts into the Arafura Sea—it’s red, rocky cliffs standing defiant and proud under the scorching sun. The contrast in colour is really striking and unlike anywhere else we’ve fished. Garig Gunak Barlu National Park (pronounced Gah-rig Goonuk Bar-loo) encompasses the entire Peninsula, the surrounding waters of the Arafura Sea and Van Diemen Gulf, and some of the neighbouring islands. This relatively small national park is pulsating with life, demonstrating the great job it’s doing in protecting rare species, including the dugong and six marine turtles (loggerhead, hawksbill, Olive Ridley, leatherback and flatback turtles). Pristine white sandy beaches, colourful cliff-lines and sparkling blue waters that absolutely teem with life make this one of the most spectacular fishing destinations you are likely to come across.   So, what would it take to make this the ultimate fishing adventure? To qualify as an “ultimate” fishing adventure, this needs to have something out-of-the-box, right? Well, it does! This is not...

By now, quite a few anglers have become aware of a new player on the fishing line market called GLISS, or GLISS KG, manufactured by German company WFT (World Fishing Tackle). Some are touting this stuff as the potential replacement for existing braided and fused gel-spun polyethylene fishing lines, others as a cross-over between braided lines and monofilament… while still others are panning it as an abject fail… So, what’s the real story? I first became aware of GLISS after reading this article on the Angling International website during 2014. Since then, Angling International have run several more pieces/press releases about the line, including this one (followed shortly thereafter by this clarification), then this piece earlier in 2015, and most recently, this report about GLISS KG winning the award for best new braided line at the 2015 EFTTEX Show in Europe. (Click on the highlighted links in the previous sentence to read each of the write-ups, or find out more about EFTTEX.) According to these reports and other research I’ve done, GLISS is made from extruded and fused HMPE ( high modulus polyethylene) fibres. HMPE is widely used in high quality marine ropes, tow lines, etc. In a fishing context, it’s claimed to have very low stretch (like braid), to be ultra smooth (like mono), and to have ridiculously thin diametres for its strength… Reading those descriptions, I just had to get hold of some and try it, as it sounded perfect for a lot of the styles of “finesse” fishing I do… Tracking down some WFT GLISS wasn’t easy. Eventually, I ordered a spool of 6kg in the translucent finish on-line from a British mail order business (6 kg was the lightest they had in stock). After waiting several weeks for the line...

I’d just like to take this opportunity to wish all the friends and followers of my StarloFishing blogsite and my dedicated page on Facebook a safe, happy and fish-filled Christmas and a wonderful New Year! I look forward to bringing you lots more valuable fishing information, news and ideas in 2015 and beyond… And I have some very exciting new projects in the pipeline, too! If you want to be sure not to miss any of them, go to the www.starlofishing.com home page right now, scroll to the very bottom of the page and subscribe. It’s as simple as typing your email address into the space provided before hitting the SUBSCRIBE button. It’s totally free, and you can unsubscribe at any time… How’s that for a great Christmas present from Santa Starlo? Catch you soon. Cheers & Tight Lines,...

I’m really proud to have had my work published in a fantastic on-line “e-zine” called “The New Fly Fisher”. While it’s based in Canada and devoted in large part to North Americanj fly fishing species and locations, “The New Fly Fisher” also carries international features (such as mine on catrching barra and saratoga), along with lots of great gear, technique and fly tying information. It’s loaded with video clips, too! But, best of all, subscription to this wonderful quarterly mag’ is completely and utterly FREE! All you have to do is register here (by clicking on the ‘subscribe now’ tab at top of their home page). Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive an e-mail notification and link each time a new issue comes out. If you’re into fly fishing, fresh or salt, I guarantee you’ll get a lot from following this electronic publication. But even if you’re not a fly fisho, I reckon you’ll really enjoy the photos and videos! Check it out… I guarantee you won’t be disappointed! Anyway, I’ll leave you with a few random spreads from my first feature for “The New Fly Fisher”…...

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 47,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 17 sold-out performances for that many people to see it. Click here to see the complete...

Here’s an earlier blog that launched a popular series…   Over the next few Soft Plastic Secrets blogs I want to have a good long look at the fascinating subject of customizing soft plastics. In my opinion, this is an avenue of tackle tinkering that far too few anglers explore. Most buy their supplies of soft plastics from the store and seem to assume that these versatile lures must be used in exactly the form they were packaged in by the manufacturer. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth! Perhaps this notion that the maker knows best and that anglers shouldn’t “fiddle” with their products is a carry over from the world of hard-bodied luring. Beyond perhaps upgrading or replacing hooks and rings, very few anglers actively modify hard bodied lures made from metal, plastic or timber. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. For example, some switched-on trout chasers have been adding bright, pea-sized red spots with lighter-coloured halos to their minnows, plugs and spoons for years, especially when fishing the pre-spawn and post-spawn runs of trout in autumn and spring. I first helped to popularize this custom colouration almost three decades ago, and gave it the name “spotted dog” in my writings. That label has stuck, and has even been picked up by some commercial lure makers. But I certainly can’t claim to have “invented” the actual spotted dog pattern. In fact, it was first shown to me by a very canny Finnish trout fisher in the early 1980s, and it had been used in his home country (with great success) for at least a generation or two prior to him telling me about it. There is very little under the sun that is truly “new”! The spotted dog...

It’s not every day that you get to launch a comprehensive range of hard-bodied lures and semi-soft topwaters onto the Australian market, knowing that each lure will retail for $10 or less, yet still be an excellent fish catcher, with a classy finish and better-than-average hardware. However, that’s what I’m happy to say I’ve been able to do with my new STARLO PRO Lures range, designed and selected by me exclusively for the BCF chain of stores here in Australia. Now, I realise from past comments here and elsewhere that not every Aussie angler is necessarily a huge fan of BCF. There’s no doubt that the big chains (including BCF) have led to the demise of some small independent tackle stores, just as the competition from Coles and Woolworths has resulted in a reduction in numbers of local grocery outlets, butcher shops and so on. Nonetheless, for better or worse, I suspect there’s a certain inevitability to this sort of evolution in the world of retail. It’s also true that the better independents (in all fields, including fishing tackle) will not only survive but thrive in the face of such competition. They achieve this by providing the sort of expert advice, individualised customer service and “value adding” that most chains simply can’t or won’t offer. Meanwhile, BCF and their ilk do provide an excellent service to a great many customers, employ a heap of Aussie workers in the process, and don’t, in my experience, indulge in the sort of “crazy, crazy, crazy!” unsustainable discounting that could damage the industry. So, I’m more than happy to be involved with sourcing and designing exclusive lines of tackle for them, just as I have on occasion for other companies.         Anyway, if you’d like...

My new range of STARLO PRO Lures has now been released, just in time for Christmas 2013! Exclusive to BCF stores right across the country, this beautifully finished line-up of hard-bodied lures is intended to provide champagne performance at beer prices, allowing every Aussie angler to have a crack at modern, finesse lure fishing without breaking the bank! But remember, these lures are only available from BCF stores and via that chain’s on-line outlet (join Club BCF to learn more about shopping on-line, as well as receiving regular offers and updates, or find your closest BCF store by clicking here: store locator.) All of the lures in this range have been personally hand-picked and extensively field-tested by me. Each lure, each size and each colour suits a wide range of Australian fish species and Australian angling conditions (in both salt and fresh water), and fills a particular niche in the Aussie angling world: from finessing bream, flathead, perch and trout to brawling with big barra, mulloway (jewfish) and kingfish… They all work! (Please note that while I offer target species listings in the lure-by-lure rundown on this page, it is possible to catch a far wider range of fish than those nominated… The sky really is the limit, and fishing is full of surprises!) USING MY LURES Wherever possible, attach these lure directly to your line or leader using a proven loop knot or a strong, round-radius snap clip. Test swim the lure briefly before fishing, and again after each encounter with a fish or snag. If the lure lies over to one side or swims off-centre, use long-nosed pliers to carefully bend the tow-point eyelet a very small distance in the opposite direction, then test it again. Remember: a tiny tweak (less than...

For those who missed it first time around in print, here’s a piece on open water bream luring that first ran in FishLife magazine earlier this year: The art of luring bream has been one of the major engines of change in Australian sport fishing over the past few decades. In less than a single generation, catching bream on lures has gone from being an accident or a novelty for most anglers to a regular pursuit for many. Even those who don’t “get it” and wonder what all the fuss is about must grudgingly admit that the pursuit of bream on artificial baits has completely transformed our sport. Before many of you reading these words were born, that doyen of Australian fishing writing, Vic McCristal, offered the opinion that anglers skilled enough to regularly take bream on lures would tend to find most other species easy. It was McSea’s quietly understated way of doffing his cap to the bream clan as perhaps our most challenging piscatorial targets. What Vic could hardly have guessed in those days was the passion with which this country’s sport fishing community would eventually embrace that particular challenge, and how doing so would completely revolutionise our tackle, our techniques and even our angling mindset. Make no mistake: bream luring has radically altered the shape of Australian fishing, and this significant evolutionary upheaval is far from having run its course. Discoveries remain to be made. For many, open water breaming is just one of them. Middle Of Nowhere For most of us, thoughts of catching bream on lures immediately conjure mental images of structure fishing: accurately casting our soft plastics and little hard bodies at shorelines, rocks, snags, pylons, oyster lease racks or moored boats. But what if I told you...

Check out the latest of the “Rituals Of Fishing” series from Shimano, featuring yours...

If you’ve ever had the dream of seeing your fishing yarns and photos in print, be sure to follow my series on Becoming A Fishing Writer and also read my blogs on fishing photography! You can read FULL LENGTH versions of all these blogs on “STARLO’S INNER CIRCLE”, BY CLICKING...