Innehållsförteckning för November 2018 från Fishing World

SHIMANO'S CATANA FD REEL SHIMANO'S Catana has been revamped for 2018 and is perfect for anglers who are looking for a high quality reel at a reasonable cost. There are four reels in the re-launched Catana range, from 1000 to 4000 size, with the C2500, 3000, and 4000 HG having high retrieve ratios from 5.8 to 6.2:1 thanks to the presence of zinc DC gears. Perfect for freshwater, estuary and light offshore applications, the larger reels are capable of producing up to a massive 8.5kg of drag power. The AR-C spool lip design increases casting distance, controls the development of wind knots, and creates less slap on the stripping guide. They come with two SUS ball bearings, plus one roller bearing, so it’s smooth sailing all the way with these…

THERE are many sharpeners on the market that offer guide angles, extra-fine hones and some electric models will whip up a great edge quickly on your filleting, boning or skinning knife but, for those of us out there who want to work from basics, this tool will appeal. Realistically-sized for use right up to large blades, it has a working surface of 195 mm by 60 mm and, as the name says, it has four working surfaces of differing grades of diamond abrasive grit. Ranging from a very coarse 200 grit through 400, 600 and finally to a fine 1000 grit, you can very quickly reset a damaged or well worn/blunt blade primary bevel angle. With thin blades, like the Swiss Army knife pictured, you could start at 400 grit,…

WITH the recent releases of a number of new gel spun polyethylene (GSP) fishing lines on the Australian market at the recent AFTA trade show we thought it was timely to take a look at the state of play with these wonder lines and how far they’ve come since they first hit our shores. From a personal viewpoint I think that generally each new generation of GSP lines gets that bit better. However, I’d qualify that by saying that just like everything in life, you really get what you pay for with these braided lines and the handling characteristics of some of the cheaper stuff out there leaves a lot to be desired. From a rigging viewpoint the FG knot has revolutionised the joining of heavy leaders to GSP lines,…

DEPENDING on what you fish for and where you fish, polaroiding may be very important or completely irrelevant. No matter what you fish for, being able to spot and observe fish in the water is a valuable skill to have out on the water. To me, polaroiding fish is essential when targeting trout or fishing the saltwater flats. I also use it extensively when chasing carp or even blackfish from the rocks. I often polaroid baitfish when fishing lures for longtail tuna, golden trevally and even snapper. We’ve even polaroided yellowfin tuna down a cube trail. Some anglers seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to spotting fish. That talent very rarely just happens but is usually the result of a lot of time spent looking into the…

Q SHOULD I USE AN OVERHEAD OR SPINNING REEL FOR JIGGING? Dan e-mail A The decision comes down to what feels and works best for you. Every angler is different and some prefer one or the other. Spinning reels are generally larger and more weighty compared to their overhead counterparts for jigging, but a spin reel offers versatility. It can be used for many other styles of fishing, so the cost of one reel might cover jigging, popping and downrigging, etc. Most spin reels can swap from left to right hand and even accommodate a handle on each side which can be very useful in heavy handed applications and fights with big angry fish. Personally I use and have both, however, if I could only take one, I would pick…

THERE’S nothing quite like witnessing the sight and sound of a fish engulfing your lure off the surface. Watching a fish emerge behind your lure and experiencing the thrill of a spectacular visual strike makes surface fishing an all-time favourite for most anglers. Walk in to your local tackle shop and you’ll be confronted with a wide selection surface lures, all with unique shapes and actions that lend themselves to various fishing scenarios. Figuring out which lure is suited to each species and situation can be challenging so the purpose of this column to give a basic rundown of the different types of top water lures and lures are and how they work SURFACE WALKERS AND PADDLERS Paddler, walker or crawler style lures have a wide cupped bib or wings…

WE might like to think of the barramundi as one of our national icons but the truth is it ranges up through Papua New Guinea to Japan and India, where it’s known as Asian sea bass. It’s not ours exclusively. It’s extensively fished for and widely farmed, even in the USA where it’s replaced Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) on many upmarket retraurant menus. Well handled and prepared, it’s an excellent table fish, whether it’s wild caught or farmed. Poorly cooked, left sitting around and served at big sit-down dinners it’s about as appealing as rubber chicken. So while we can be sympathetic to our local barra farmers who only account for 7% of global production feeling that they’re disadvantaged when competing with imported product, claiming again that the local…

HAVING never fished swimbaits before a recent southern cod trip, I was going in blind with a new Rapala X-Rap Peto. I was keen to see how the curiously named lure performed – Peto, pronounced pet oh is apparently Finnish for “beast” and in the northern hemisphere the lure has aptly proven a hit with big pike. While not specifically designed for Murray cod the Peto looked like it might have the goods for targeting our premier native as well as a host of other Aussie sportfish. It features a tough ABS body upper which blends into a durable soft plastic tail that’s attached via a stainless steel plate and is replaceable – the Peto comes with a spare. Typical of Rapala’s X-Rap range the 20cm swimbait features strong looking…

I RECENTLY had the pleasure of building a custom rod for our editor’s brother, Mark. This rod had to be spot on as it was for a specific style of fishing in the Nepean and Hawksbury systems targeting Aussie bass in tight cover from Mark’s Jackson kayak. Anyone who fishes this way knows the problems that can occur when fishing tight spots. Firstly, most rivers and creeks have a fair bit of over-hanging greenery, so the blank needed to be short for casting. Also the short length was useful for storing in the ‘yak while moving from pool to pool. After some research and hearing what Mark needed and wanted, the blank I settled on was the “Neritica” NB2566M-F. The blank had to be trimmed down to 5’8”, the required…

1 Five-year-old Sonny Tracey with a 50cm flatty caught near Port Stephens, NSW. 2 Rocci Tracey, aged four, with a tailor caught at Soldiers Point, NSW. 3 Fourteen-year-old Charlie Cook with a big 80cm dusky flathead in the Tweed River, NSW. Charlie released the flatty after the photo. 4 Eleven-year-old Archie Cook caught & released this 60cm flathead in the Tweed River in NSW. 5 Julia, aged six, Olivia, aged five, and James, aged three, got into a school of redfin at Lake Hume in Victoria. Each month we will select five lucky winners for our Grin & Win section. Grin & Win winners will each receive a cool Shimano cap and Squidgy DVD! E-mail your entry and contact details to: pictures@fisho.com.au Please include your name and age and details…

ACCORDING to legend, Casanova (the legendary Italian lover), ate 5 dozen oysters every morning, in the belief that they were ‘performance enhancing’. For decades oysters have had the reputation for such things and scientists don’t seem to disagree, rather they note that oysters are loaded with zinc, and that zinc is linked to both libido and testosterone production. So, given their value as a gourmet, romantic food aside, we must wonder if we the recreational anglers of Australia, give oysters the recognition they deserve. We see that the oysters found in commercial leases and on rocks and pylons, as fish habitats that provide excellent estuary opportunities. But oysters offer much more… Oysters are the vacuum cleaners or kidneys of our estuaries and coasts. An adult oyster filters up to 100L…

A QUALITY torch is one item fishos can't live without. Head torches are useful, as are lamps, but around camp or in the boat, a really powerful hand-held torch is an essential tool. Nebo is a relatively new player in the Aussie light market with a full range of quality products at decent prices. I've been using a few Nebo products over the past few months and I'm particularly impressed with the Redline Big Daddy. The Big Daddy is one of those torches which makes others envious with its impressive brightness and robust build quality. At 2000 lumens, the Big Daddy is no slouch when it comes to brightness. It's also waterproof with a IPX7 rating, which basically means it can be submerged to a metre. Other features include a…

ABOUT 26 years ago I fished in the Barra Classic in the Northern Territory and came home thinking about how the format of that competition could be translated into a competition based on catching flathead. I was an active member of the Gold Coast Sportfishing Club at the time, but it was a period where line class fishing was the main game, and it took a while to convince people in the club that the idea was feasible and could work. With the help of people like Mark Battersby, Mark Cherry, Phil Imhoff, Brad Job, John Sirrotti and other we started to put the ideas together, with the help of this magazine and also Councillor Dawn Critchlow of the Gold Coast City Council, we managed to get the event off…