For at least a decade now, kayak fishing has been one of the fastest growing sectors of the angling scene here in Australia, as well as in many other parts of the world. Interestingly, this phenomenon shows little sign of slowing. Sales of kayaks and related paraphernalia continue to boom, marking this as one of the strongest niches in the marine and boating industry. I must admit that I’ve been a little slow to embrace the whole kayak “thing”. I spent lots of time sitting (usually with a wet bum) in various Canadian-style canoes throughout my early fishing career, and I was delighted when I could finally afford to graduate to a “real” boat. Don’t get me wrong: canoes have their place, and I’ve enjoyed some wonderful times in them. However, once you’ve fished from a craft that’s sufficiently large and stable to stand up in, especially one with a raised casting deck, it’s very hard to willingly go back to the low, cramped, unstable and often wet confines of a canoe. There were also other factors holding me back from kayak fishing. One was a perception that many ’yak fishers, as well as those who catered to their equipment needs, seemed to be missing the whole point of simple, minimalist boating. Some of the ’yak rigs I saw on the water and in magazines or videos had more “fruit” hanging off them in the way of electronics and accessories than my 4.8 metre trailer boat! Some actually required dedicated trailers of their own just to get them to the water’s edge, and half an hour or more of fiddling, tweaking and setting up before they were good to go. Wasn’t portability and ease of use supposed to be the whole point of ’yakking?...

PLEASE NOTE: This blog is accompanied by a video clip on my Starlo Gets Reel channel on YouTube, which you’ll find by clicking here, or going to https://youtu.be/YX6sMZf1cBU. As a full-time fishing writer and presenter, a big part of my job obviously involves capturing photographic images and video to accompany my work, so cameras are important tools for me. My main work camera is a big, heavy, full-frame DSLR (currently a Nikon D610) with a bunch of different lenses, but I also like to carry a compact point-and-shoot: both as a back-up, and for those times when I simply need something smaller and lighter. Over the 40 years or so that I’ve been writing for magazines, I’ve owned lots of cameras. I’ve eventually worn most out, broken them or drowned them… The fishing world’s a pretty harsh environment for sophisticated optical equipment! Through all of that time, I’ve always been on the lookout for the “ultimate” fisherman’s camera, and I reckon I might have finally found something close to that mark with Nikon’s AW1. While it’s certainly not the perfect solution, it ticks enough boxes on my list to come very, very close. The AW1 is a reasonably compact, mirror-less camera with interchangeable lenses that’s capable of capturing 14.2 megapixel images in both RAW and JPEG formats via a reasonable-sized sensor… Those are all good things. But the best thing about this camera in my book is the fact that it’s fully waterproof! Not just “splash-proof”, but actually waterproof! Without any form of housing or additional case, it’s rated to a depth of 15 metres, or almost 50 feet… That’s pretty impressive! It’s also rated as shock-proof if dropped onto a hard surface from a height of 2 metres… Ouch! The AW1 is sealed...

Bait versus lure? Which is best? Here are a few nifty graphics from a piece on that subject I prepared for www.fix.com.  If you’d like to read the full story, simply click here. Source:...

The third and final round of the hard-fought Australian Freshwater Masters tournament series was staged in mid-February this year on the waters of Lake Mulwala, a picturesque impoundment straddling the NSW/Victorian border, an hour or so west of Albury. This unique, three-stage challenge targets a trio of iconic Australian native species at three very different venues. The first round of the latest Freshwater Masters took place last November on Lake Windamere, near the NSW regional town of Mudgee, and was devoted to the pursuit of golden perch or yellowbelly. A few days later, round two was staged on Glenbawn Dam, in the Hunter Valley, with Australian bass as the nominated target species. Finally, almost three months later, competitors gathered at Lake Mulwala to hunt the elusive Murray cod. A catch-and-release series devoted entirely to lure and fly fishing, The Australian Freshwater Masters challenges its field of two-person teams to measure, photograph and release up to 10 legal specimens of each target species at each arena over the course of two days’ of intensive fishing. Cumulative point scores (one point per millimeter) carry forward from round to round, ultimately deciding the outcome of the event. This year, the eventual winners were Team Starlo’s Squidgies, consisting of high profile fishing communicator, Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling, and his wife Jo. Consistent performances in rounds two and three allowed Starlo and Jo to hold onto the significant lead they’d amassed on Windamere’s goldens in round one (where Jo was also the individual champion angler), finally giving them an 800 point break over the second-placed Jigheads Team of Mitchell Skeers and Brad Gardiner. A further 1,300 points behind in third place was Team Windybanks, made up of Simon McAlpine and David Dobson. Overall Champion Angler for the Masters was Mitchell...

Here’s a fantastic new option for mainland anglers planning a Tasmanian fishing trip! The acronym “FIFO” stands for fly-in, fly-out and is most often used in relation to remote mining operations employing workers who fly to the site to commence their week or fortnight of shifts, then fly home afterwards for a break with their families. However, with the advent of fully-equipped “turn-key” hire packages of vehicles and boats, the FIFO concept now has genuine relevance in fishing circles as well! In late spring 2015, my wife Jo and I took advantage of exactly such a business that’s now operating on the island state of Tasmania. The brainchild of Ulverstone tackle shop proprietor, Clinton Howe, Tassie Boat Hire kicked off in mid-2015 offering a single boat rig and 4WD vehicle, but has already begun expanding with the addition of new hire packages. Jo and I were picked up from Launceston airport upon our arrival by Clinton in his first full rig: a 420 Quintrex Renegade towed by a 2011 model Mitsubishi Triton dual cab ute. Clinton drove to a nearby service centre to run us through the rig and complete the necessary paperwork, and then we were off under our own steam for a wonderful week in the Central Highlands chasing Tasmania’s famous wild trout on fly. From the outset, Jo and I were totally blown away by Clinton’s professionalism and the incredibly high standard of every component of the hire gear, from vehicle, boat and trailer to the smaller but equally important stuff like safety gear, battery charger, drift drogue (sea anchor), marine radio and on-board electronics. Everything worked exactly as it was meant to! Tassie Boat Hire’s 420 Quintrex Renegade is powered by a 40HP Evinrude 2-stroke motor on the stern, has...

Lots of anglers still struggle to crack the bream-on-lures code. Truth is, these fish are no pushover. But if you follow my simple, five-point plan below, and watch the accompanying video clip here, I’m confident you’ll be posing for a photo with your first bream on a soft plastic very soon! As I travel the country fishing, researching stories and gathering material for this blog and the many publications I contribute to, I come across increasing numbers of anglers who’ve embraced lure fishing and, in particular, the use of soft plastic lures. The uptake of soft plastics has definitely been one of the most significant trends in Australian recreational angling over the past 10 to 15 years, and its popularity shows no sign of diminishing any time soon. Softies are great lures and they’re not all that hard to use. Most new chums start catching at least the odd fish very early in their plastic-flicking careers. But some species are tougher nuts to crack than others, and the humble bream is perhaps the trickiest of the lot. It’s also the one I get asked about the most. The question typically begins with a statement along the lines of: “I can catch plenty of flathead on plastics, but I’m damned if I can work these bream out!” If you’re in that camp, I’m here to help! Below I’ve listed a simple, five-step strategy for cracking the bream-on-plastics code, and this is accompanied by this short, no-nonsense how-to video clip on my “Starlo Gets Reel” YouTube channel. You can go straight to that video by scanning the QR code at the bottom of this page, or by typing this URL into your browser: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wuLI5-M3UQ Okay… Are you ready to learn how to catch your very first...

The use of wire traces or leaders is one of those necessary evils that anglers must occasionally embrace when targeting “toothy critters” that could otherwise easily chop through their lines. Here’s the best way to tackle the need for a little bit of bite insurance (watch the video by clicking here):   There are quite a few Australian species of fish equipped with teeth sharp enough to slice, chew or chop through an angler’s line or leader. Obvious contenders in this category are genuine “razor gang” members such as Spanish and spotted mackerel, wahoo and tropical barracuda. Down south, tailor, barracouta and even pike and snook all have sharp teeth and, of course, most sharks are well-equipped in this department. Big flathead, barramundi, Murray cod, queenfish, mahi-mahi and the like also have hard enough jaws or sufficiently rough scouring pad teeth to damage finer leaders, and billfish like marlin and sailfish have sandpaper bills that do the same thing. In many instances we can hedge our bets against these fish by upping the diameter and breaking strain of our mono leaders. Moving from 6 to 10 kg nylon or fluorocarbon may be all that’s required to prevent regular chew-offs from big flatties, while a 30 to 40 kg leader or bite tippet will usually cope with all but the very biggest barra. However, tropical mackerel, wahoo, big tailor and many sharks will continue to easily cut such leaders. If this starts to happen on a regular basis, fishers are likely to reach for the wire. Faced with these chop-off challenges, many anglers choose to buy a couple of factory-made traces. These are usually constructed from 30 to 40 cm lengths of plastic-coated, multi-strand wire with a barrel swivel at one end and a snap...

Whether undertaken by paying passengers aboard chartered “party boats”, or from private vessels of all sizes and shapes, bottom fishing with bait remains an extremely popular and effective style of offshore angling. But even this traditional branch of the sport has benefitted from modern “finesse tackle” breakthroughs over recent years. Let me explain… Bottom bouncing, bottom bashing, plum bobbing… However you choose to describe it, dropping a couple of baited hooks to the sea bed with the aid of a fairly hefty sinker remains one of the most popular and productive ways of harvesting a fresh meal or two of seafood. From Tassie to the Torres Strait, you’ll find Aussie offshore anglers drifting or at anchor in boats of all shapes and sizes over reef, gravel or sandy sea floors, chasing everything from snapper, morwong, flathead and nannygai down south to emperor, coral trout, sweetlip and cod up north. (Be sure to check out my accompanying video clip here.) Traditionally, bottom bouncing in this country has been undertaken using relatively heavy tackle. Thick, monofilament handlines or short, stiff boat rods mated to big overheads and direct-drive centrepin reels were standard fare until recent times, and still are in some regions. However, switched-on deep-sea anglers are increasingly turning to more sophisticated modern tackle in order to increase the efficiency of their pursuit, and raise the fun factor associated with bottom fishing. In particular, the adoption of thin-for-strength braided and fused gel-spun polyethylene (GSP) fishing lines has allowed offshore bait fishers to dramatically reduce both the overall bulk of their outfits and also the weight of their sinkers. These skinny, low-stretch “super lines” make it possible to effectively present baits on the bottom in 50, 100 and even 150 metres of water while using much smaller...

Here’s my first video review (below) of some of the features I like best about the MotorGuide Xi5 (with PinPoint GPS): a sophisticated, bow-mounted electric motor , or “trolling motor”, as our American friends call them. I also have a thorough write-up and evaluation of this unit coming up in the July, 2015 editions of the three Fishing Monthly Magazines (QLD, NSW and VIC/TAS) and will blog that review here on StarloFishing after it has appeared in those publications. Don’t forget you can follow me on Facebook via my StarloFishing page, and subscribe to my YouTube channel: Starlo Gets Reel. Tight Lines!...

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...

The “Lure of Trout” live-in workshop that Jo and I ran at Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa in the Australian Snowy Mountains during early November, 2014 was a great success and seems to have been enjoyed enormously by all participants. Watch the short video below for a taste of the workshop’s highlights. We’re planning more of these residential workshops for 2015 and beyond, so if you’d like to be involved, lodge an obligation-free expression of interest by clicking here. You should also check out our other hosted trips to exciting destinations by clicking here....

Here’s an extract from a how-to piece I did for www.fix.com on handling the catch. To view the item in its entirety, click here. Source:...

It’s mullet time in many parts of Australia, so I thought I’d share a wonderful recipe created by my wife, Jo Starling, that takes advantage of these delicious and abundant (if sometimes hard to catch) fish. If you’d like to follow more of Jo’s angling (and culinary!) exploits, be sure to visit her fishingscool page on Facebook! Meanwhile, give this a crack… and note that you can substitute many other smoked fish for mullet in this simple but delicious recipe:   TO READ THE REST OF THIS RECIPE, GO TO “STARLO’S INNER CIRCLE” BY CLICKING...

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,...

Source: Fix.com

North American-based “The New Fly Fisher” on-line magazine has given my latest feature on fly fishing for Aussie bread and butter species in our southern estuaries a wonderful and unprecedented 20-page run in their latest issue! It’s a real honour to be able to introduce fish such as bream, flathead and luderick to a huge international audience of dedicated fly fishers… This is definitely one of the best on-line fly mags I’ve ever seen. You can subscribe for free or have a preview look here with just a few clicks:...

I recently made the switch to MotorGuide for my bow-mounted electric motor. Here’s the press release from their Australian agents explaining why: Renowned fishing writer and TV presenter Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling isn’t someone who changes his sponsors at the drop of a hat – so when he does, it’s worth paying attention. Starlo recently fitted one of the new MotorGuide Xi5 electric motors to his rig and to say he’s impressed would be an understatement. “This electric is the quietest, smoothest and has the fastest response I’ve ever encountered,” he said. Across a life-time of fishing, 20 books, scores of DVDs and thousands of articles, Starlo has developed a reputation as a ‘stayer’: someone who chooses a premium brand and loyally sticks with it… for close to 30 years in several cases. Now, Steve has chosen MotorGuide for all his electric motor needs. “A bow-mounted electric motor is as important to me as my rods, reels, lures and depth sounder,” he explained. “My over-riding fishing philosophy is best described as ‘finesse’, so having a high-performance, reliable electric motor is essential, as I choose to fish using precision positioning, stealth and cunning. “The Pinpoint GPS system fitted to the Xi5 definitely represents a significant advance in performance,” Starlo said. “In particular, the unit’s Anchor Mode is unbelievably good regardless of the conditions. It locks you onto a spot like a burr stuck to a blanket!” But the MotorGuide’s benefits don’t end there. “The Jog function can be used to shuffle the boat a metre-and-a-half (about 5 feet) in any direction, which is extremely useful when you’re exploring a spot. Being able to store Anchor points, as well as record and replay routes, is also invaluable when working a stretch of bank, the edge of a...

Fishing for trout has long been a passion of mine. Now I’d like to share with you what I’ve learnt about trout and how to fool them over my four decades of fishing for these wily immigrants.

Does a 6 night luxury bluewater adventure sound like you? Well, considering this is some of the best, untapped fishing I’ve experienced, you have every reason to get excited! FIND OUT MORE by clicking the “go to link” icon that shows when you roll over the image above.

Fancy joining us on a fly fishing jaunt to NZ? Enjoy 6 nights of 5 star accommodation, all meals and some of the best sight-casting for browns that you’ll find anywhere. FIND OUT MORE here…

Here’s part of a blog I wrote for a great site called Fix.com  If you’d like to view the piece in full, there’s a link below the graphics. Source: Fix.com To read the full story, click...

For those who missed it. I’ve attached my recent feature on catching big bream on flies from “Barra, Bass & Bream Digest” magazine. And in case the text from the magazine layouts is too small to read on your screen or in this format, I’ve also included the straight text at the bottom of this blog post. Also, if you’d like to find out how to purchase or subscribe to “Barra, Bass & Bream” on-line, go to: http://www.nafa.com.au/ Big Bream On Fly The Ultimate Challenge? What’s the ultimate prize in modern day barra, bass and bream fishing? Catching a metre-plus ’mundi on a surface lure and light tackle? Landing a 60 cm wild bass from a kayak? Pulling a 2 kg bream onto a wave-washed rock ledge in the middle of the night? Starlo rates all of those milestones, but reckons there’s another one that presents even more of a challenge. In his opinion, mastering big bream on fly is the toughest (and perhaps the most rewarding) game in town… Read on and see if you agree! The average, weekend angler no doubt struggles to understand why some of us might actually choose to make our fishing any harder than it needs to be. For many hopefuls, simply catching a feed of fish is a daunting enough prospect, without deliberately adding extra layers of difficulty to the process. Yet, as with any endeavour, those who are seriously engrossed in their passion and spend a lot of time pursuing it eventually look for extra layers of challenge: new peaks to scale and higher marks to attain. In preparing to write this feature, I spent considerable time pondering the bigger challenges fishing has presented me with over the years. In my late teens and early 20s,...

Seems to be a bit of interest in this subject at the moment, so I thought I’d re-blog it! In the preamble to this series (“So, You Want to Be A Fishing Writer?”) I talked about how I got started in the industry that has ultimately become my life’s work. Within that first blog I used the word “passion”. To my way of thinking, having a genuine passion — not only for fishing itself, but for wanting to communicate with others about it and to see your own work in print — is the single most important ingredient in becoming a published fishing writer. Stop and ask yourself right now if you have that passion. If you can’t honestly answer in the affirmative with a resounding yes, then your chances of success are very low. Now, go a couple of steps further and ask yourself these important additional questions: Q1: Are you passionate enough to become an effective communicator, and to ultimately share your passion with others? Q2: Are you passionate enough to cope with repeated failure and possible rejection without losing heart and giving up? Q3: Are you passionate enough to accept that you might never make much more than “pocket money” out of your writing? The passion shows… But what fish is that? If you unhesitatingly answered yes to each of those questions, then you might just have what it takes to actually make this journey. If you do, and if you stick with me through this series of blogs, I promise that I’ll do my best to help you get your first fishing story published… When that happens, you can buy me a beer! Okay, let’s start off with some practicalities. What skill sets do you need to potentially become a...

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”…...