dirvin21

Water is very dirty up here at tte moment, a few fish getting around the breakwall Lake cathie is good for landbased mostly flathead

I would stick to more traditional lures in a dam In dams the availability of food makes the cod more fussy In smaller rivers the senko maybe worth a shot

Generally speaking the higher the number the stronger and heavier the hook

You can buy beginner combos at atleast one of the chain stores

Darwin, there's loads of places you can fish, with heaps of options with or without a boat

sounds like a fun little session, tailor are a great species to help hone your lure skills especially with hardbodies. Prolure have a good 38mm crank, they're way cheaper than chubbies and work really well

Nice mullet I've caught 2 on soft plastics and 1 on a hardbody where they've actually eaten the lure, Definitely pull like trains

Yep, one of my favourites

First of all I'm definetly not a professional fishing guide. This story started just over a year ago in the Amazon, whilst over there Amy and I connected with an American father and son, Dan and Shawn aka @BoostedAngler. They were goping to meet some Aussies as turns out Australia was a dream destination, after talking to us murray cod suddenly hit the top of their list. We were really excited when they rrached out after our return home and the planning began. Their plan chase barra in Gladstone for a week then spend a week chasing cod with us. Solid plans were made but NSW national parks destroyed with achange to their aerial shoot, with only a week out new plans were made. I did a quick recon mission searching for mew areas, all I really found was a weed choked piece of river and a gnarly storm And 1 small cod With desperation sinking in my cousin managed to connect me with a land owner, and new plans were made. With great enthusiasm the boys finally arrived in Port Macquarie, they had a hard week on the barra and very questionable unaustralian treatment from their guide Amy and I were really upset by it so it highlighted I needed to give 110%, as a spirit raiser we took them to a local zoo to feed wallabies and a tour around the port area seeing wildlife and sights It was definetly a hit Then it was packing and off pre dawn on pur cod adventure, there was loads of excitement and the aussie bush turned on the bird chorus, we made a quick stop at a platypus spot I know, a long shot but... They managed to photograph and film 3 platypus, hell of a start It was a long 5 hour drive but plenty of wildlife and beautiful Australian landscape kept the boys going, we finally reached our destination the farmer was more than happy for us to camp. We wasted no time unloading kayaks and hitting the water, and so the grind began, I got belted twice on a soft plastic early on but otherwise nothing, I soon matched the boys lures with my own but the fish just wouldn't comply, finally I had a fish breach the water over a log to eat my lure and surprisingly A yellabelly, funnily enough the farmer had only seen 5 in 14 years Feeling the guides pressure I called snags for them changed their lures, back at camp dejected Shawn ties on a 8inch surface walker, literally second cast it gets annihilated, unfortunately missed the hooks, while I set up camp the boys cast Shawn cast into the dark, multiple surface hits and dropping an absolute monster, tgey only wanted surface. I was up pre dawn casting for zip hut the local platypus made up for it. Again Shawn was into the surface luring unfortunately dropping an 80 right at his feet, I near cried, the surfaces hits went on until lunchtime, The birds atleast conplied Then after a bit of a lay down in the swags Dan and I woke to Shawn wandering around except it wasn't A monster echidna got amongst our swags after a thorny battle getting him out the boys were lucky enough to get a very rare opportunity So everyone is aware the echidnas safety was always my priority, I've been handling wildlife since I could walk Unfortunately the afternoon bight didn't eventuate, we packed up the next morning and started our journey to Copeton where we wouod meet up with Amy, the boys were a real novelty amongst the locals, they don't see many foreigners and really showed incredible Aussie friendliness With no cod on the board and heading to Copeton I was really feeling the pressure, we swapped the trailer and kayaks for the boat (at my cousins) and Shawn and I were on Copeton, we cast for awhile but aftercdays of hard fishing we switched to trolling You can't imagine my relief Shawn's first cod not big but who cares, there was yahooing and plenty of beers after, The next morning we were greeted by Copeton at her best After a quick run up the gorge we had a quick troll to finish off before heading for home and sure enough A beautifully marked cod Couldn't resist a "guide photo" Then it was heading for home stopping at a few sights on the way. The final day was spent on the Hastings river chasing bream and flathead Dan had a particularly good day landing loads of fish Their final night in Australia soent with plenty of food, tequila and rum. Although the fishing was hard the boys had a blast apparently my knowledge of wildlife and the Australian bush was what made their trip unforgettable and the first of many, they're already planning on hosting Amy and I in the USA for a similar trip Guiding these guys was definetly one of the most unique experiences I've had with fishing Cheers for reading Dave

I use insta360 action cam Simple to use

I scored a black eye from one🚀

Night fishing from kayak Decent head torch Lights in kayak? You could use a strip LED I've got kings ones I use for camping that would adapt ok Kayaking at night in salt water can be hazardous because of mullet they love to fly out of the dark at lights like slimy stinking missiles

Welcome You'll find plenty of information and people willing to share Loads of fishing opportunities in Australia

There's a small creek on the left hand side heading upriver from the boat ramp good spot for livies especially small pike Also generally plenty of herring along the rockwall Poddies try saltwater creek mouth is near surf club

The weather here has been fantastic, been busy moving house it's nearly done and I'm ready to get fishing

You can't target them, they will almost certainly be an incidental bycatch for rick fishos whilst fishing for drummer As with any protected species if caught must he immediately returned to the water

Supposedly great sashimi

Keeo going mate, kingies are a tough landbased opponent and masters at bricking you after a long fight You could try fighting them a bit softer, kingies are a fish that if you go hard they'll go harder

2024 started well for me what killed it was tain causing a sudden drop in water temp dropped by 5 degrees The other issue is no time because of moving house

Some nice fish caught mate Unfortunately the rain we had before you guys came up really shut everything down Next time I'm there 👿👿👿

The dunk may have a bit tighter action for bass, bass will eat pretty much anything but a hardbody with a wide wobble type action definitely work best For bass my favourite is Taylor made baby nugget Bream: prolure crank 38mm shallow and strikepro pygmy

Bass will eat most hardbodies they're not particularly fussy Bream can be painful, light leader is important 8lb max personally I use a 38mm shallow crank (0.5-1m) slow roll over with the occasional pause and twitch or shake the rod tip usually areas up to 1.5m deep

They definitely are, winter is a great time in the lakes as well

Unfortunately seasons closed in winter

95mm would be ok for bream probably a bit big for whiting, I've caught pelagics on small stick baits cranked fast can't remember the brand, as @JustJames said chrome slugs work better than anything on pelagics