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...

On 15 January, 2019, I received some very exciting news from NSW DPI Fisheries. It seems that a large dusky flathead I tagged and fin-clipped for DNA analysis on 16th October, 2018 had recently been recaptured and re-released. The fish measured 84.5 cm when I caught it in mid-October, in the lower reaches of Tuross Lake. On 4th January, 2019, when recaptured by Ian “Hoots” Cowie, it had grown to 86.5 cm (that’s 2 cm of growth in just 80 days!) and had moved at least two nautical miles (close to 4km) up the Tuross River. It was also in excellent condition at the time of recapture and had clearly put on weight. The fish swum away very strongly when released the second time. (As an interesting side note, Ian reports that there was quite a bit of weed growth on the tag that had to be scraped off to reveal the serial number.) Interestingly, this fish was hooked quite deeply when I caught it on a big, un-weighted soft plastic, requiring the use of long-nosed pliers to remove the hooks, and it did bleed slightly. It was then held in the circulating live-well aboard my boat for approximately 20 minutes and transported several hundred metres to the boat ramp so that I could meet my wife Jo and John Suthern from the Tuross Heads Fishing Club, who had the fin-clip sampling kit. None of those original handling parameters were optimal or ideal, yet the fish not only survived, but clearly thrived. For me, this is EXCELLENT news and bodes very well for the survival of large flathead that can be quickly unhooked and released with minimal handling at or near the capture sight, as recommended. (For details on how to best handle flathead...

In the opinion of many anglers (myself included), “sight-fishing” is the most exciting form of fishing ever devised. Seeing your prey before you make a cast and then watching its reactions to your bait, lure or fly lifts fishing to another level altogether, and really ratchets up the “hunting” aspects of our wonderful pastime… It’s also highly addictive! Whether you prefer to use natural baits, lures or artificial flies, I believe that there’s simply no bigger thrill in the whole wide world of fishing than sneakily stalking your visible prey, carefully placing your offering in front of it and watching what happens next. I defy anyone not to hold their breath and tense every muscle in their body with delicious anticipation as that target fish closes in on the trap you’ve just set. It matters little whether it’s a beautiful, wild brown trout tailing in the margin of a shallow lake, a fat, blue-nosed bream mooching under an estuary snag, a lumpy golden trevally hunting across a tropical sand flat… or even a stinky old carp mooching through the shallow margins of an outback dam! Time seems to slow and stretch as the seconds tick agonisingly by. Will the fish eat, or will it spook away in alarm at the last moment? For better or worse, once you’ve tasted the sheer delights of sight fishing, “blind casting”, “prospecting” or “flogging the water” will always be a distant second best. THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS NOTE: To read the rest of this blog, you must be a member of “Starlo’s Inner Circle” of Fishotopia.com. To discover all the benefits of belonging and find out how to sign up, simply click...

Just a few days prior to Christmas, 2018, my daughter Amy and I undertook the iconic Light-To-Light Walk on the far south coast of NSW. This bush and coastal hiking trail extends from Ben Boyd Tower near Red Point, south of Eden, to Green Cape Lighthouse, overlooking Disaster Bay and Wonboyn. The Light-To-Light walk lies within Ben Boyd National Park. It’s listed at being just over 30 km in length and carries a Grade 4 rating (grades run from 1 for the easiest to 5 for the hardest.) Grade 4 is defined thus: “Bushwalking experience recommended. Tracks may be long, rough and very steep. Directional signage may be limited.” Amy and I began our journey by driving a vehicle each to Green Cape Lighthouse, where I left my old HiLux in the car park and loaded my gear into Amy’s car. We then drove the 40-odd kilometres of mixed dirt and sealed roads back to the car park near Boyds Tower, at the southern entrance of Twofold Bay. Both parking areas lie within the National Park and a day visitation fee is payable. This involves self-registering using the envelopes provided at pay stations to deposit the correct amount of cash into a locked metal container, with a tear-off receipt being displayed on your vehicle’s dash. At the time of our visit, the fee was $8 per night, per vehicle. I have no issue with paying this fee, although I wasn’t especially comfortable with the idea of leaving written notification in plain sight that our vehicles would be unattended for several days. To me this seems like an open invitation to thieves! It might actually make more sense to buy a yearly pass, and I’ll be investigating that option in future. ON THE TRACK Hefting...

With the growing interest these days in fly fishing — especially in saltwater — I thought I’d have a close look at one of the more readily available estuarine and inshore species, and one that represents an ideal starting point for a bit of “swoffing”. That fish is the humble flathead. But first, a few thoughts on fly-fishing in general: WHAT IS FLY FISHING? Fly-fishing has a reputation for being a mysterious and difficult art, mostly practiced by crusty, pipe-smoking old toffs in tweed jackets resplendent with leather elbow patches… But the times have indeed changed! These days, fly-fishing has largely been de-mystified, and it’s also no longer solely about catching trout… nor even fishing only in freshwater. The biggest trick to breaking down any remaining misconceptions surrounding fly fishing is to accept that it’s really no more than a specialised form of lure fishing, in which the “lure” is too light or too wind resistant to be cast any serious distance using conventional spinning or baitcaster tackle… Simple as that! Flies are just artificial baits, exactly like any other lure. However, being made from fur, fibres, tinsel and feathers lashed to a hook with thread, they’re virtually weightless. This presents a challenge from the casting perspective. Through the centuries, that challenge has been overcome by incorporating the necessary casting weight into the line instead of the lure. So, a fly line is effectively no more or less than a long, skinny sinker or float! Its weight or mass is used to deliver that lightweight lure to a fish. The best way to throw such a long, skinny casting weight is to swish it back and forth through the air in order to form a travelling loop that can be extended and then unfurled...

On Sunday, 18th June, 2017, I was invited to address a rally in Hobart protesting against a proposed industrial-scale salmon farm at Okehampton Bay, on the island state’s iconic east coast. You can read more about the background to this divisive issue here. Below is a transcript of my speech to the 1,000-plus folks from across the political and social spectrums who attended this powerful demonstration of people power, dubbed “FloatMo” by its organisers: “Unlike the vast majority of you here today, I’m not a Tasmanian. This is not an issue that’s literally in my backyard. Instead, I’m one of those million-plus visitors who come to this beautiful island each year from the mainland and all over the world. “I love my regular visits to Tasmania, whether I’m wading a trout stream or lake edge with a fly rod in my hand, flicking a lure for a wily bream here in the Derwent River or — as I was yesterday — trolling for tuna in the shadow of those awesome cliffs south of Eaglehawk Neck… There’s so much to love about Tasmania! “So, while this might not be my backyard, I do feel very connected to this place, especially after dozens of visits across several decades. And I feel that I’m qualified to tell you a little bit about what it is that brings people like myself to this island state to spend our tourist dollars. “For me (and, I suspect, for many others) it’s about the “wildness” of the place: “wildness”, but not necessarily wilderness. This “wildness” has been lost in so many other parts of the world. For many of us who visit Tasmania, it’s all about the feeling of being somewhere that has largely escaped the worst ravages of rampant development. “It’s the clean,...

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...

In this fourth part of my ongoing blog series about our new Beastmaster Boats Snubby 500 rig, I reveal the “vital statistics” of the boat and share a few recent images of it in action. If you’d like to read Part 1, click here. For Part 2, click here. And for Part 3, click here. Also, don’t forget that you can watch a short video of the boat’s maiden voyage right here. Okay, down to business!   VITAL STATISTICS: BEASTMASTER SNUBBY 500* LENGTH: 5.0 metres (16′ 6″) BEAM: 1.98 metres (6′ 6″) HULL DEPTH: 0.76 metres (2′ 6″) HULL SIDES: 0.57 metres (1′ 11″) DRAFT: 0.26 metres (10″) DRY HULL WEIGHT: approx. 375 kilos (827 lb) * Explanatory Notes: Measurements quoted are generally to within a few millimetres and all conversions to imperial have been rounded up or down to nearest inch or pound. Hull Depth refers to the maximum depth from gunwale tops/coamings to the deepest part of hull. Hull Sides are flat sides from coamings to chines. Draft (vertical distance between the waterline and deepest part of keel) is an approximate figure (+/- 10%) for the unladen hull and will depend on weight added, load distribution, salinity of water, etc. For this reason, the draft shown should be regarded as a minimum under ideal conditions. Dry Hull Weight is an approximate figure (+/- 10%) and obviously does not include motor, batteries, fuel, electronics, safety gear and other equipment. Next time we’ll have a look at the Yamaha F70A four-stroke outboard fitted to the Snubby, along with the MotorGuide Xi5 bow-mounted electric trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and various other fittings. Until then, tight lines… and meanwhile, here are a few more images of the rig in action:   For more, follow me on...

The Australian Freshwater Masters is a unique tournament series that pitches teams of anglers against each other across a time frame of several months at three very different venues, targeting a trio of iconic native species. Jo and I competed in The Freshwater Masters for the first time in 2015/16, and were fortunate enough to ultimately win the event… Here’s the inside story of exactly how we did it: The Australian Freshwater Masters is an innovative tournament series first conceived by well-known Aussie lure maker, Wayne Lennon, some two decades ago. Wayne successfully ran the annual event for many years before handing the reins to Dave Silva. Later, Dave Shelton picked up the baton and, in more recent times, has been ably assisted by Matt Cunneen, creator of Gangster Lures in Wagga. As of last year, Matt is now running the event largely by himself. The Masters is a brilliant concept, with three rounds taking place on three very different waterways, targeting a trio of our most popular and iconic freshwater natives: golden perch, Australian bass and Murray cod. Teams consist of two anglers, and their cumulative scores carry forward from one round to the next, eventually deciding the overall champions. It’s definitely a concept that rewards versatility, determination and consistency of performance. The Masters is a lure-and-fly only event, with both casting and trolling allowed and, naturally, it’s all about catch-and-release. Live fish are photographed on standard issue Fisheries measuring mats and, where possible, witnessed by another team, although the welfare of the fish always comes first, so if there are no witnesses nearby, a date-stamped digital photo is acceptable. While ostensibly an invitational series, expressions of interest from new teams are invited every year and are generally accepted, at least until the...

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 third part of my ongoing blog series about our new Beastmaster Boats Snubby 500 rig, I take a look at some of the accessories we’ve added to the boat. If you’d like to read Part 1, click here, and for Part 2, click here. Batteries are something many people don’t think much about when it comes to setting up a new boat. However, they are vitally important components in a well-equipped rig. My fellow Offroad Adventure Show presenter, Jamie Hazelden from Jamie’s Touring Solutions (JTS) had been waxing lyrical about the new Lead Crystal Batteries, and after checking them out on-line, I could understand why he was so excited! Anyway, to cut a long story short, we ended up fitting two: a dirty big 120 amp hour unit up front to power the MotorGuide Xi5 bow-mounted electric and a smaller 80Ah battery down in the stern for cranking the Yammy and running the sounders, etc. It’s early days yet, to be sure, but so far I’m blown away by the performance of both batteries. The major claims to fame of these state-of-the-art batteries are an extremely long shelf life with a very low discharge rate when stored (you can store them for two years without any top up charging!). They also have the ability to cope with high discharge rates, a very fast re-charging time, and deep discharge capabilities. As a bonus, they’re made to deal with extremely harsh conditions in terms of temperature range, vibration and so on… All-in-all, exactly what the doctor ordered for tough marine use! (Go to the very bottom of this page for a listing of the major advantages of Lead Crystal batteries.) I’ll be sure to keep you up to speed with our observations about these...

In this second installment of the Snubby Boat Files, we finally get our new Beastmaster Snubby 500 boat wet. You can watch our short video of the event here, or by simply clicking the play button below: Even a grey, overcast and cool day couldn’t dampen our enthusiasm for giving “Mad Keen” (yes, she’s been officially named!) her first on-water run. Launching was a breeze and everything worked exactly as it should. We puttered slowly up through the 8-knot zone, then gradually increased the power… With the brand-spanking new F70A Yamaha still very much in run-in mode, we needed to frequently vary the revs and only touch full noise very briefly, but we were extremely impressed by the rig’s initial performance. It seems the motor height and prop choice (a Yamaha SS [stainless steel] Talon SDS 14K 13 1/8) were spot on… which is always a huge relief! (Find out more about those amazing Talon SDS props here.) Please note that the preliminary performance figures shown below are with a motor that’s still very new and therefore a tad tight. Also, there was very little additional gear in the boat, apart from basic safety equipment, 10 litres of fuel and two people. Here are the initial speeds we observed (via the GPS) at various revs: INITIAL PERFORMANCE FIGURES 3500 RPM = 15 knots (28 km/h) 4000 RPM = 20 knots (37 km/h) 5000 RPM = 25 knots (46 km/h) 6000RPM = 29 knots (54 km/h) 6100 RPM = 30 knots (55.5 km/h)* * Wide open throttle I’m particularly impressed by being able to sit on 20 knots or a whisker over (around 40 km/h) at 4000 to 4200 RPM, as this is an extremely economical mode of operation. I’d expect to be covering close...

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...

He’d been lying there, wide awake, for at least an hour when the bedside alarm finally sounded its shrill, electronic squawk. Out in the darkened driveway, the boat was fuelled and hooked to the car, every item of gear meticulously organised and packed from the night before. The weather report was benevolent and he knew the fish were biting. But a heavy weight pressed down on the man’s chest, while dense, black clouds swirled endlessly inside his head. Every thought that careened through his seething brain was a negative one, every perceived outcome a disappointment or total disaster. Minutes ticked by, dragging into another hour, and the eastern sky began to lighten perceptibly as he wrestled with his inner demons, drowning in those fathomless clouds of swirling darkness. For the hundredth time since waking, he turned fitfully from one side to the other, now drawing his knees up toward his chest as he attempted to curl into a tight, defensive ball. Kookaburras began laughing raucously on the power poles right outside the window. It seemed as if they were mocking and jeering his weakness. The man squeezed his eyes more tightly shut, but the boiling clouds of blackness still filled his head. He wouldn’t fish today… He might not even get out of bed. What was the point? What was the point of anything? Depression… Society’s reaction to that three-syllable word has shifted dramatically in just a few generations. For our grandparents, it triggered memories of a period of unprecedented financial hardship sandwiched between the great wars of the 20th century. For them, the notion of depression as a mental state or even an illness was less familiar. Everyone experienced sadness or stress in their lives, but they were expected to “get over it”....

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...

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....

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,...