Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[MrGrey1]

My first fishing experience in Australia was beautiful. Not many big fish on the first trip, but nice and colored ones.. Take a look here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R23Xq2fEetE&feature=channel

You may also see mu trout videos there..

Thank you, MrGrey1

[dah6]

Wow I've never even thought of Australia as a fishing destination what were you catching?

[Steelhawk]

Judging from the Aussie shows on WFN fishing TV network, downunder is like a fishing haven. The north (around Darwin) gives you great fishing in the tropics with giant barramundi and mangrove species. The west (Perth) is great for the pelagics. How about the Great Barrier Reefs area, a true coral heaven and endless species of fish. Queensland beach fishing is quite famous. Just cast into the surfs and you have a good size fish. How come we can't do that here? Then you have the south area around Melburne producing well too. They even have their kind of bass inland. Australia is one of those places I dream about to just drive around and fish after retirement. 

[meatfisherman]

you went all the way to australia and you caught and kept dog fish?
most of the fish you kept were small are there any bigger game fish

[Rodney]

Australia is not promoted as a fishing destination because we are so fixated with salmonids in BC. MrGrey had a nice bag of catches but that video doesn't really represent how good the fishing is in Australia. If I only get to choose one place to fish for the rest of my life, Australia would be it. Silver trevally, whiting, garfish, mullet, bream, flathead, Australian salmon are just your typical bread and butter species that you can get year-round.

If someone finds a fishing rod on the bottom of Port Phillip Bay by Melbourne, please return it to me. There might be a shark or sting ray attached to it. The target species that we were after when I lived there had no mercy on our tackle. Forget flyfishing, most species are simply too strong and fast for 1:1 ratio gear.

Most people go to Queensland for queenfish, GT, tailor on the beach. Black marlin up to 1,000lb spawn in the Great Barrier Reefs. When boat fishing, most people pop for spanish mackerel, dogtooth tuna, barracuda, etc.

My favorite area is the south eastern coast where people rockhop for black and silver drummers, or target yellowtail kingfish, yellowfin tuna etc from both land and boats.

Don't put your fingers in the water up north when fishing for barramundi, since a predator is a prey for something bigger.

If you are sick of catching fish that are 10kg plus, head to Southern Australia where it is famous for king george whiting, one of the tastiest species I've ever had. They cost $20/lb. Silver trevally are extremely fun on light tackle. Australian salmon taste ok, but they school in large numbers and you can just stand at one place all day tossing 15g lures and hooking 1 to 10lb fish until you are so sick of fishing. Squid fishing is awesome in spring and summer. Once you've had calamari from fresh squid, you'll never want to order calamari in Greek restaurants over here again. They simply melt in your mouth when deep fried an hour after being caught.

Western Australia is relatively unexplored. They have most of the game species (or species in the similar weight class) that people target on the east coast. Some people get bored of catching them from boats, so landbased gamefishing was developed, which is basically livebaiting under a balloon for tuna and marlin from cliffs or highspeed lure retrieving.

If you still really want to fish for trout, then go to Tasmania for browns.

Here are some videos to get you fired up on this cold winter day.

Yellowtail kingfish in Southeastern Aus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=898XbEceUnQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0CTyfjDeGc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0Cp6yFhSrc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1LEXf1oLDE

Snapper and gummy sharks in Port Phillip Bay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSk7IlIA-o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c82X3Je_N8Y

Yellowfin tuna in Western Aus (but you can do pretty much the same thing in Eastern Aus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELLjeLFU6Eg

Retrieve as fast as you can for Queenfish, GT, dogtooth tuna and spanish mackerel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKIJedFklNo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFiYqS5VVbo

Fishing in mangrove for barramundi and everything else that has a big mouth and sharp teeth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ntY9wXQZ1M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmYQwMPyWAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlF6X0pSGZc

Casting big lures on the beach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE1XVy_0Q-k

Australian salmon in Port Phillip Bay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd_ZzU-bOLg

King george whiting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6tcoN_c0Ys

Landbased gamefishing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AclX2BF6VWc

Remember that it's shark water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM4deBTpTj0

Oh well, back to discussing what someone is doing wrong in his salmon and steelhead photos. Sigh.

[Rodney]

you went all the way to australia and you caught and kept dog fish?
most of the fish you kept were small are there any bigger game fish

That's a gummy shark, commonly eaten as "flake" at fish and chips restaurants, very good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R23Xq2fEetE&feature=channel

The third fish is not a trevally. Hard to tell what it is but definitely not a trevally. The fourth fish is a slimy mackerel, not a yellowtail. Yellowtails are typically smaller and has a shorter head, its girth is also smaller/flatter than slimy mackerel.

[Rodney]

Yes. Australian bass are not that heavily fished because they are only available in a small portion of the continent. Most fish are small, but canoing down the heavily covered small creek and casting into snags for them would be pretty fun.

Just saw these barramundi videos late last night, simply amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHROhL5XcPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysrn7TTowxw

[Steelhawk]

Rodney is surely our expert in Australian fishing (as he has lived there) and his knowledge about it shows. Wonder why people move away from Australia.  Its fishing is so fantastic. I dream about catching the Australian 'Hai Mao' (black drum). It is a delicacy and expensive fish in parts of Asia. Once, in an Asian fishing magazine, I read that some fishermen have to use expensive chum product from Japan in order to catch these from reefs in Asia. But the same group of fishermen went fishing in Australia and reported they just used dog/cat food mix and what have u for chumming and catch more of them. Tell you how good fishing is in Australia. The perfect retirement life for me is 6 months here, 3 months Hawaii, and 3 months Australia. Wow. Just have to find ways to afford it. 

[Rodney]

Not an expert, but just fished a lot while I was there. I'm disappointed that I hardly took photos during those years, not just for fishing but other outdoor ventures. There was five-day canoing expedition where we navigated through a river with cliffs on both sides, and kangaroos stood on top and watched us going by. Fishing back then as a teen was pretty much catch and kill if it was legal, and we were very successful at it.

The grass is always greener on the other side, but there are of course downsides. I hate ants in Australia... Big spiders are shocking when you see them for the first time (ie. jumping onto the table until the fist-size spider walks by) but you get used to that after a few times. Ants, what a nuisance. Leave a trace of sweet food in the house, the next day you end up with a thick ant trail. Seal off the sugar jar, or you'd also end up with a thick ant trail. Don't get a bull ant in the tent, unless you want a dance party in the dark. Don't sit on a bull ant nest by accident, you'll end up in unusual dance moves. Don't pull a bull ant off the skin while it is biting... Funny enough, I only saw two snakes during those years when I was there. I was chased by an emu. I mistakened and talked to a kangaroo as my friend outside a tent in the morning because I didn't have my glasses on.

The perfect retirement life for me is 6 months here, 3 months Hawaii, and 3 months Australia. Wow. Just have to find ways to afford it. 

The best/cheapest way to do this would be to find an Aussie who loves skiing and trade accommodations with he/she during our winter/their summer.

[Steelhawk]

Ya, hot places mean ants, lizards, roaches, spiders etc... Just like Hawaii. But great fishing is with it all.

Finding an Aussie to trade accomodation is a good idea. Hmmmmm, how about starting from this forum.....   Any Aussie members?

[MrGrey1]

Yes, you are right.. not to many biggies here in pictures. But I fished a few places and sometimes its no time to bug people fishing with you or handy camera available. I also walked to the local bay (Gannamatta Bay - Port Hacking Rd.) right after our super just for some fun fish... I loved even the small GT's, Barramundi, Flatheads, Snapper and Bream fishing too. Forgeting all the names already..

My daughter is making plans for our next visit already. It is a fishing paradise for sure. I already warned her, I'll be missing some places because of fishing I want to do..
When you're there with your family, you have to see all the things with them. Visited Sydney, Blue Mountains, Surfers Paradise, Brisbane - Irwin's Zoo (the wanted to see and hold Koals, Roos etc.) Next time I'll donate more time ti fishing yet.. It'll be on my own turn! LOL

But I have a tons of beautiful memories for sure..