Savvy Fishing Blog

Top End Sojourn - Part 2

2010-06-03T13:01:00.000+10:00

Here's part two of my top end magical mystery tour!After a day lay off in Darwin, we made the 2 hour trip down the Kakadu Hwy, past all the famous rivers such as the Adelaide, Mary, Corroboree Billabong and West Alliagator Rivers down to our final destination...the expansive South Alligator River.I have fished the South Alligator once before and did reasonably well. I had great hopes of snagging

Top End Sojourn - Part 1

2010-05-04T23:18:00.003+10:00

I thought it might be best if i split this report up into 2 sections. I had 3 days fishing the blue water out of Dundee Beach and 4 days barra fishing on the South Alligator River. Part 1 is the low down of the blue water sessions we had...friggin awesome!We set off from Dundee Beach to make our passage down to the Perron Islands some 60kms away down the coastline, adjacent to the mouth of the

S-Factor

2010-04-09T00:02:00.001+10:00

These days there’s no disputing that effective attractants and scents significantly improve your catch rates when using lures. Squidgies new Pro Range with S-Factor is at the cutting edge of this revolution. Just recently we spent time on the mighty Hawkesbury River targeting the monster blue-nose bream that inhabit the area. We were bouncing little softies down the deep rock walls that flank

What is Australia's No1 sportfish?

2010-04-07T17:16:00.002+10:00

Now here's a conundrum - I'll bet if I asked Aussie fishos what they thought was the BEST sportfish in our waters I'd get a pretty mixed response.I’m sure boys on the east coast and north of the NSW border would say any of the grander billfish they catch off Cairns. Fishos further north in reef country would probably nominate a barrel-sized dogtooth.I bet the boys in the NT would have a handful

Fishing Knots for Soft Plastics

2009-10-07T10:05:00.002+11:00

Hi Everyone,For those who attended the talk on soft plastics last night at the Panthers Leagues Club attached are diagrams of the two knots that we use when fishing with soft plastics.Loop KnotAlbright Specialhttp://www.netknots.com/html/albright_special.htmlThe actual knot is showed you last night qwas the improved albright which made the 10 turns down the line, not back up the line as

Fillet & Release???

2009-10-02T09:27:00.003+10:00

Recently the recreational fishing sector has come under intense scrutiny from a number of areas. While we often fight against irrational policy making, lack of funding, the commercial sector and other lobbyists, the number one opposition to our passionate pastime are the dreaded greenies. No surprises there!Apart from critical issues such as locking us out of our valuable waterways, a recent

Old school with new tricks

2009-09-28T13:03:00.003+10:00

I have had the pleasure over the past 4 or 5 seasons to open the eyes of some very important people in my life to the allure of soft lures. These important people were the cornerstone to my whole outlook on fishing. They fuelled the fire in my infancy, taught me the basics, helped me develop the patience,and gave me the appreciation of comraderie and mateship, beyond what is known outside the

South Alligator River

2009-09-04T13:32:00.004+10:00

Hi Fisho's,Just got back from a 3 day stint in the top end. Flew in to Darwin on a red-eye flight and arrived afetr midnight. 3am we pack the car and make the 2 hour drive into Kakadu and subsequently the boat ramp at the South Alligator. On the weekend there were the year's smallest neaps; tidal variances were only 50mm at stages. The river was supposed to clean up and the fish able to bite

The Top End

2009-08-28T10:22:00.003+10:00

Hi Folks,The best part of being a fisho is the sense of adventure inherent in the sport. Invariably you get taken to breath-taking locations far away from the mundane reality that is our normal existence. I love the quiet streams and rivers with the only sounds of life are the sweet hummings of native birds and the rhythmic wistle of russtling leaves. It is a blessing some may take for granted.

Fishing World Magazine

2009-08-18T13:25:00.005+10:00

Hi All,As some of you may know i do a little bit of work for Fishing World magazine. I have only been with the company a few years now but in that time i have had the pleasure to meet some outstanding people, fishing with a few of them and befriend a lot more. It really has invigorated my fishing, given me something to look forward to and in the process made me a better fisherman.The aspect like

The Hex has been Lifted

2009-08-09T11:58:00.003+10:00

Hi All,If you read along to my blogs, you would know there has been a trend lately in my fishing that makes any environmentalist and fishing die-hard a happy camper. The influx of juvenile jewies plaguing our waters is still in full swing. What a great situation as well, our apex predators in our Sydney estuaries are breeding well and in abundance.My general beef with this whole predicament is

Kindergarten Capers

2009-07-20T13:50:00.002+10:00

Hi All,I wrote recently about the influx of juvenile jewies inhabiting our local waterway's here in Sydney and it seems the trend is set to continue. Predominantly i have found the trend to be more prolific in the Hawkesbury River than other Sydney estuaries but as i stated previously, Sydney harbour and the George's River is experiencing the same phenomenon. This time however, instead of finding

'The Bay of Plenty'

2009-07-15T11:37:00.004+10:00

Hiya,I hate to mislead you here. I'm talking about Botany Bay not the real 'Bay of Plenty' in NZ...In my last blog i had the eviable task of relaying the exciting winter fishery we have been enjoying in Boatny over the last few seasons; winter time kings. While in the this persuit the boys and i have uncovered some interesting new fisheries and some new patterns in the bay which remain largely

Winter Kings

2009-07-01T10:13:00.003+10:00

If there is one observation i have made over years about fishing Sydney waterways is Botany Bay is by far the premier location as the mercury plummets. Just when other waterways are shutting shop for a few months as green cold water pushes in from the south, Botany begins to turn on the heat. It's this time of year catching kings in the bay is our highlight. I know most pundits will say late

Juvenile Jewies

2009-06-22T10:04:00.002+10:00

They say things come around in cycles and certainly in fishing that rings true. Quite often you hear certain species have bumper seasons in terms of fish biomass and then seemingly disappear the following season. Tuna seem to be a prime cadidate for that... and when the catch rates are studied, most times the fall in numbers can be attributed to seasonal boom and bust type cycles that have been a

Making a bird of it

2009-06-18T10:26:00.002+10:00

Hi Ya,Much has been written about the use of birds in finding fish, in particularly feeding fish on the surface. Many a great skipper can tell the different characteristics of birds and which birds are likely to lead them to fish. Others tend not to be as useful. Then the mannerisms of the birds can tell us when the fish are frenzied, the obvious signpost is when they are diving head first into

The Unfair Advantage

2009-05-11T14:35:00.002+10:00

Hi Fishos,In this era of advanced tackle such as engineered reels that rival space science, fishing lines made from sophisticated hi-tech materials and lures created from organic substances it's a wonder fish stand a chance. You would think we all would be pulling fish hand over fist. The funny part is that even if we use this state-of-the-art equipment we still invariably have fishless trips.

The Windy City

2009-04-29T08:31:00.002+10:00

Hi Fishoholics,Just a berated report from the windy and wild south coast. Last weekend i made a pilgammage down south with my ol man to meet up for a fish with our fearless editor, Jim. The reports weren't too positive on the wind front but like most die-hards i kept an optimistic outlook and prayed to the gods that Tim Bailey got it wrong. We arrived friday night to the Palm Beach caravan park

Jewel in the Hawkesbury

2009-04-21T13:45:00.004+10:00

Hi fishos,After my last bass and EP expidition i finally made it back to the briny after a few weeks off. I have been chomping at the bit to gt amognst the action, reports of great fish have been coming in thick and fast. Usually i wouldn't mind hearing all the good news stories but when your grounded, boat out of action and fishless for a few weeks, it's like someone driving a nail thru your

Bass En Masse

2009-04-17T14:23:00.003+10:00

While my electric has been out of action for the last 3 weeks i have visited a few of my old land-based stomping grounds in the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury i havent seen in years. I have fished these spots since those days, only it's been out of the comfort of my boat.This time of year i start to dedicate some time to catching some of our native species, namely bass nad EP's. To be honest i

Productive Pittwater

2009-04-09T15:35:00.004+10:00

Hey Dudes,I have mentioned a few times now Autumn is my gun time of year. While summer was dissappointing Autumn is still living up to it's enviable reputation as the 'prime time'...thankfully!Most recently the boys have have been catching a stack on fish in Pittwater, a catchment of Sydney's famous Hawkesbury River. Since my father has moved out of the west and parked himself right on the

The Boys are Back in Town

2009-04-03T11:18:00.002+11:00

One thing that interstaters hate is New South Welshman; especially if they a) drink all their grog b) steal all their woman and c) catch all their fish. I must admit i'd hate it too. But one such character is doing all that and more. My great mate and fishing partner Sean Cremin from the NSW south coast hamlet of Lake Conjola recently made a move north for greener pastures. Work is a little skint

Urban EP's

2009-03-25T08:41:00.002+11:00

You know...i hate cliches - and the most bandied around in fishing is 'enigmatic'. This fish is an enigma, it has enigmatic behavoiur blah blah blah. The problem is, if one fish can truely be called enigmatic, the Estuary Perch is it! I've been looking for a better descriptor for a long time now but mysterious doens't cut it, neither does peculiar. So i guess for now an enigma will have to do!

Live Bait or Lure???

2009-03-20T14:36:00.002+11:00

For those who want to catch Mr Big this Easter, and by that i mean a big F@#k off jewfish, the perennial question always is Live bait or lure??? Obviously both techniques work, i grant that, but will one technique give you a better chance of catching one than the other???If you read the marketing hype on the packets of plastix these days you could convince yourself that lures with out perfrom

Autumn's 3 Likely Suspects

2009-03-16T20:47:00.004+11:00

Hi People,Since we have been on a Autumn theme, its probably a good idea to look at what 3 species are available during these cooling months. It's no secret these are my favourite months of the year for fishing but lets look at what 3 species i love catching...I fish Sydney's waterways and have done so for over 30 years. In that time many things have changed, my techniques have changed and even