Another Big Squid talk night at Fishing Fever

With the success of the previous talk night at Fishing Fever on the subject of catching big squid the store was hounded to do another so Tuesday night we did just that.

Its been very clear that in the last few years the popularity of squid fishing has been on the constant rise, the anglers thirst for knowledge and willingness to try new things has opened this type of fishing up to a whole new market. It was only 5 years ago when you would struggle to find anything other than a 2.5 sized squid jig in an Australian tackle store and with our understanding of squid and how they feed more people that  target squid are now looking at bigger and better sized squid.

Setting big squid as a target can be very different than just simply looking for squid, most people who are chasing squid at this time of the year are doing so to have fresh bait or as a secondary species, that said there are now many dedicated squid anglers in this country who chase down squid as their primary target. Knowing that we can now concentrate on teaching people how to find just big squid and target them and it is not as clear cut as some would think.

The night was another big success with all seats full of people with open minds and a smile, I really enjoy when the audience participates with the seminars as it is easy to measure peoples interest when they ask lots of questions and this night was no exception, great bunch of people and a great shop.

For more info on upcoming talk nights and whats happening around the store check out Fishing Fever's web site and sign up for the reports, this will mean that when the store holds information evenings you will be the first to know and have priority on a seat as they are limited. Massive thanks to Lee Rayner for inviting me along and joining in with him and to the staff who looked after everything was a great night, also thanks to Peter Ward for snapping of a few pics on my camera.

We Won, Anglers of Australia stand proud

Fellow Anglers,
Today was a momentous day for Australian Anglers, for the first time in 20 years we stood up and protected our rights to fish in our own waters without fear and intimidation by over powering government intervention.

Proudly as anglers we can stand up knowing that our fight was fair and a campaign run with fact and integrity built on a solid foundation of information not propaganda. When the opposition stood up for recreational fishing the greens who wanted to squash recreational fishing voted against us. Amendments were re written and a clear concise decision to incorporate the terms rec fishing and charter rec fishing was included as a protected group was named.

Sadly our comrades in our domestic commercial fishing industry have been dealt a blow with the planned amendments to allow local domestic small scale commercial fishing to maintain arbitrary power free were not successful.

At this time of the year when anglers are generally more concerned with fishing than the politics of fishing we stood up and soldiered on to achieve what we needed to KEEP AUSTRALIA FISHING - I ask you all to raise your virtual glasses and toast yourselves on a battle hard won. Cheers to all who did their bit you all know who you are.

 

Special thanks need to go out to Mr. Dale McClelland, Mr Daniel Stanilovic and the team at WEFISH for the countless hours put in above and beyond what we could have ever expected, forever in their debt. 

 

For continued information on rec fishing issues that we will continue to fight for look up WEFISH info blog to see the work that Daniel has put in.

Talking BIG squid at Fishing Fever

Last night I had the privilege to stand next to one of Australia's best known angler's Lee Rayer and talk to his many customers about catching big squid.

We have conducted many seminars on catching squid at Fishing Fever over the last couple of years, however on this occasion it was targeted on catching only BIG squid. Sadly the night was booked within hours so many missed out but rest assured that there will be more in the very near future. Lee kicked off the evening talking about the many variables that are taken into account and why targeting big squid is very different than just targeting squid in general. We went through many of the various techniques on using bait and discussing squid them selves along with habitat and water conditions before the pizza arrived and a short break was taken so we could gorge ourselves on pizza

All full and garlic scented we all got back into the business of talking BIG squid. We both got lots of questions about what we had been talking about which is a great indication of the level of interest in squid fishing and new eging techniques.

 For those who missed out contact the store on 039590 9899 for details and dates on the next BIG squid night at Fishing Fever.

Fun with Gekii Yoshida.

Attack on Mr Yoshida, During my last trip to Japan there were many occasions where I was in stitches laughing but none more so than on this occasions.

As you would have seen by some of the clips earlier in my blog, I conducted an interview with Geki Yoshida, one of Japans best known and most popular bass fishermen, as I had caught some good sized Bass in Lake Gogawa Japan. What happened after the interview was the subject of much hilarity.

Geki boarded our boat to conduct the interview from another boat and was not aware that the bracket on the electric motor was faulty and had been playing up all day, this gave us the opportunity to have some fun with a Yoshida attack. Camera on, Mr Hiraiwa asked Geki to pull the electric motor up so we could get going. The rest is in the clip. For any one who has had a faulty electric motor bracket  this will give you a few laughs, very funny stuff, also I can not take responsibility for his fast learning of the word bullshit!

Squid talks coming up

Its that time of the year again where I start meandering over the country talking all things squid,  I have been inundated with requests in the last couple of weeks from stores and clubs to run clinics and seminars and have been working with some to square some dates away, we have a few locked in for Victoria and are working on dates for the rest of Australia with plans for one in SA in about 6 to 8 weeks. I will post dates as they come to hand but for now here is a couple that are squared away.


Sept 11th - BOOKED OUT - a second night is being orgianised.
Fishing Fever BIG squid night, learning methods for targeting big squid starting at 1900.
Contact Fishing Fever in Mordialloc 03 9590 9899 for more details.

Sept 26th
Knox Boat Fishing Club
General meeting - Guest speaker Paul Carter talking squid.
For club membership details contact KBFC on the web site.


Oct 5th
Hooked on Bait and Tackle
Squid fishing in Australia with Gan Craft presented by Paul Carter, will be concentrating on catching squid in the southern end of PPB and learning the ins and outs of squid by understanding the way they feed breed and how to use that information on the water.
Contact Hooked on Bait and Tackle 03 97483811 for more details.

New ipad fishing magazine

In the last few weeks a new magazine has been made available on the ipad, the magazine called Fish Down under and is the brain child of Damien Venn an Australin angler who recognised the growth in online media in the form of applications, magazines and books on ipads and tablet devices, with the growing trend in print media moving to electronic media the demand has been met with this new magazine. The magazine is focused on Australian Fishing of all types and represents the broader angling community in Australia with articles by both known and new up and coming writers. Best of all its free to download with an auto subscribe so once you download it and click subscribe it will automatically arrive on your device on each new edition.

The latest issue contains written articles, video's, product reviews, latest news, reports, boats and political news. It even has a piece written by me about chasing pinkies on plastics and fly.

Download from istore here

All up its a free fishing magazine available for downnload from the istore on the ipad, simply search Fish Down Under and it will be on your device in minutes.

Victorian Anglers say NO to the super trawler

Victorian Recreational fishing got itself a back bone today.
For 20 years Victoria has not seen support for a cause that all recreational anglers can get behind since the anti scallop trawling days, today I was honoured to spend a measly few hours to join in with more than a thousand anglers to for a cause that we all could get behind for our own reasons. 

No matter what the individual reason for

being there the support was very humbling and to be involved from pre planning through to the protest was a memorable experience.
That said this is not the end, it is only the beginning of a long battle of many battles that recreational fishermen have ahead of them, I trust that after today anglers in this state recognize this and understand the importance of their voice as one not as a single angler in the crowd, every one involved should pat them self on the back and stand strong knowing they did their bit.

To the folks launching their boats and going fishing while we prepared our fight this morning hang your heads in shame as you are part of the problem and you will be remembered.

Massive thanks go out to Dale McClelland, Daniel Stanilovic, Barry Tanner, Geoff Fisher, Ben Scullin, Lee Rayner, Russel Conway, VR Fish, Frank De Luca, Abbas Hammoud, Hary Boat Man Baker, Luke Scicluna, Charlie Micallef and the cast of many I may have missed who dedicated their time to make this happen, you are all a credit to the cause for the work conducted on the ground and behind the scenes to make this happen.
THANK YOU

This Video clip of the days proceedings was done by Charlie Micallef, a brilliant job in a very short time, passion personified and a big pat on the back.

More footage from Lake Gogawa with Geki

More from Gogowa Dam, this clip is shared with Geki San, Geki is the funniest guy I met in Japan and always made me laugh, he is also one of Japans most skilled Bass anglers and was an absolute pleasure to meet him but more so to be able to go and have a fish with him, some of my best ever memories right there on film, again excuse my engrish

Bass footage from Lake Gogowa in Japan

Please enjoy the footage posted by my friends in Japan of my first big bass landed in Lake Gogowa during my most recent trip, the best part of this clip for me was the look on Mr Hiraiwa's face after the fish was in the boat and the high 5's all round. I was very fortunate to have the best guide humanly possible on this lake so again many thanks to Mr Hiraiwa for his time and expertise on this piece of water, please excuse my engrish, communication can be a task.

New Australian colors are on the shelf

After heaps of brain storming and hard work the new Australian colors designed by yours truely are now on the shelves in some stores and will not be long until they are in all stores, I put lots of thought into this new range of colors and they are all designed with Australian Squid fishing in mind, there is only limited stock on these colors so make sure you get in before they are all gone.

These ones are on the wall at Fishing Fever in Mordialloc so for those local to the store get down to Fishing Fever and get yours fast before they are all gone or contact the guys at Fishing Fever on 95909899 or click on the link on the left had side of the blog page to get all their details.

Its been a long time coming but they are now here.

AFTA wrap up

Gan Craft Display and Gosen

Before heading up to AFTA I had all these grand plans to go and visit every one and browse upon all the new toys on hand, that almost happened but we got so busy on the stand at times it got hard to get away.

I arrived on Saturday night at Coolangatta airport and had a small wait for the rest of the team to arrive, so I moved outside to enjoy the nice contrast in weather, when I left Melbourne we had high winds and sideways rain  with a top temp of bout 12 degree's, the Gold Coast was experiencing a wonderful 19 degrees no wind and sunshine. Once we had all got on the ground a cab to the accommodation was organized.  In previous years I had always stayed in resorts that were limited to a one bedroom kind of set up and very quiet and boring, this year Stephen from Gladiator had arranged a 6 bedroom house on the water, I was not too sure what to expect but upon arrival I was amazed at the size and age of the place, it was a very modern and very flash place with a massive kitchen, pool and pontoon to fish from. I was wrapped with the set up.

New Australian Colors

I had not yet met every one so this gave us all a chance to catch up, I already knew Steve, Marg and Niel but I had also met Lee (Vic Sales), Chris (North NSW Sales) and Anthony Thorpe who was a central coast Bream guru and pro staffer for Bait Breath and Tackle House. All very different people but we all seemed to gel and get along just fine.

The Stand

The next morning we all made our way to the Gold Coast convention center to set up the stand, this was the first year in 4 years that Gladiator had made an appearance at the show so it would be interesting to see how things panned out. All working together we got everything sorted out and set up with plenty of smoko's in between. This meant that we could now head back to the house and get a bit of fishing in.

Ocean Master

Show day had arrived and every one was pumped to get going. things started off a little slow but soon took off and we maintained a very busy stand all through out the show, I was able to catch up with a few friends from Japan and from the many parts of Australia I had visited talking squid, I had a few quick trips around the show for a quick browse but did not have the time to have a real good look at some shiny new toys.

The next few days flew past, Tuesday I managed to get out and catch up with a few folks at the casino which is a normal event at the show.

Anthony and Chris

I did not work out how successful the show was for Gan Craft as I was not taking orders, I left that part to the sale folks, but I am sure that more retailers are aware of the product and brand than ever before, was a great show for me and was great to catch up with everyone.

Was a quick flight home, I slept all the way from the moment I sat down to the moment we landed.













Random pics:

Gosen Aorika Fire Braid

Violence Jerk

Aussie colors

Gladiator Mutants

Kozami surface lues

Kozami

Gladiator lures

JF Labs

Mutant

Mutant

IMA

ima

Bait Breath

various Gladiator

various Gladiator

Smash Baits

Smash Baits

Mepps

Little Jacks

Tackle House

Tackle House

Good Gosen

Gan Craft

Gan Craft

Keeping busy

More busyness

Anthony and Kosta hooked interview

Kosta and me interview for hooked magazine

Young Mok and me

Hayato Yamauchi

More with Hooked Up Magazine

Big week ahead with AFTA

Every year the Australian Fishing Tackle Association holds a trade show giving the opportunity for wholesalers and distributors to show their wares to the retail stores and to launch new products for Australia. I have been to the last three (3) and have enjoyed them equally. This year is a whole new kettle of fish for me though as I am going as a Gan Craft Pro Staff to represent Gan Craft on the Australian distributors stand, Gladiator Tackle.

As much as I am not looking forward to the hours upon hours of standing on my feet I can never say that talking tackle has ever been a chore and I am genuinely looking forward to spending some time yakking with the many folks I have met around the country conducting seminars as far away as Perth and other states but also the local ones here4 in my home town Melbourne.

Last year all the big boys playing with the toys at AFTA

So my bags are packed and I am off to the airport again to head to the sunny (I hope) Gold Coast for a few days of talking tackle and playing with all the big boys toys that will be on display.

Western Port weekend.

Finally a break in the weather during a miserable Melbourne winter, I have been busting to get out for another egi bash in Western Port.

I made the decision to head out fairly late in the afternoon on the previous day so I had not organized a fishing partner for the day, my regulars were all off doing other things or already planned fishing. I have recently joined a facebook group about Melbourne Squid reports and there are heaps of keen people who have asked about going out in the boat so I put a quick post up offering a seat on the boat out in the Port. I checked back in on the post a short time later, Matt was the first to put his hand up from the responses so I contacted Matt and orginised to meet at the Hastings boat ramp at 0800 the next morning.

I was feeling pretty orginised, however, some one forgot to change their alarms on their iphone and it was not Matt, DOH. I rang Matt to let him know I was running about half an hour late.

I arrived at Hastings right on 0830 to find Matt waiting in the car park ready to hit the water, was not long after that we were on the water. Now when I say we had a break in the weather conditions were not perfect. From the launch location at Hasting things were lovely and calm, there was a slight breeze from the south which gave me some reason for concern as the tide was just starting to head out to the south which means as soon as I stick the boats nose out from behind Sandy Point things would be very different and very different it was. We had a few moments of airtime making our way south down the Port, it was like a washing machine in some places. I moved out of the deeper tidal water and made my way into the smoother shallow water for the journey south.

We arrived in our spot where I found Clint and Paul from the Bass Straight Game Fishing Club also trying their luck, from all accounts things were a bit tough, I could have run but the water was the clearest I had seen since launching so I just had to have a few casts.

It took about 5 minutes and I found my first squid, it was only about 15cm in the hood size and caught on a 3.5 sized jig. Not deterred I punched another few casts out and before long we had one of around the 1kg mark in the boat. Still not a big squid but better than the first.

We spent another hour in this area before I gave up, Clint and Paul had already made the move about half an hour before us. The tide turn was due so I though about a little place about half way up the port that would clear up for a while until the tide started to roar.

We arrive to again find Clint and Paul giving the squid a try but they were again struggling and were preparing another move, again I stuck it out for a while. This ended up being our spot of the day landing 6 out the 8 squid for the day in the area. It was pretty tough condition wise and Matt managed his first for the trip in this spot. We did manage one a bit over a kilo from here also.

I made one more move near Stoney Point and found the water was coffee colored and full of weed so it was decided that we make our move back to the ramp and call it quits.

Was great to have Matt aboard, always enjoy having new people on the boat, keeps things interesting and means you are always meeting new people with the common interest being fishing.

I had done a radio interview 2 days before, the last question I was asked was if I was to go squidding on the weekend what color would I use, I said that I would use a Gan Craft size 3.5 in Pink Head Shrimp and in every photo is that very same lure.