Australian Lure Fishing

The resurgence of Southern Bluefin tuna numbers in the past decade has opened some amazing sport fishing opportunities on Melbournes doorstep. Setting himself the challenge of nailing a 100kg+ tuna on a cast stickbait, Andy Smith has come close, learned a ton and not lost one ounce of his enthusiasm for the mission. In episode 211 I talk to Andy about how others can get involved in the hunt on SBT...

South Eastern Victoria is something of a southern fishing Mecca. Lots of species in XOS sizes attract anglers from Melbourne and elsewhere in droves. One species that probably gets less attention than the rest is the humble estuary perch. In Episode 210 I talk to southern Fishing gun Ben Faro about his suggestions for targeting this cool but often frustrating little fish! Full show notes available...

Prior to the banning of commercial netting in Lake Macquarie the capture of a jewfish by a recreational angler was worthy of a story in the newspaper. Thankfully these days there are plenty of jewfish in the system for anglers to enjoy. Local gun Mark Williams reckons It's not too difficult to catch a quality Lake Macquarie jewfish once you figure out their habits. And luckily for us, he's only to...

With over a million Murray Cod (give or take a few) released over the decades, Lake Eildon has developed a reputation for putting trophy cod fishing right on the doorstep of Melburnians.  So it's fitting that one of the most familiar faces in Australian Fishing, Melbourne lad Paul Worsteling takes us there and shares his tips for getting onto a few quality fish.  https://doclures.com/eildon-murray...

St George's Basin is one of three trophy flathead fisheries in NSW, and like the other two boasts a recreational angler driven tagging program in collaboration with the Fisheries Department.  Local angler David Johnstone is a member of the tagging team and of the metre plus flathead club. In this episode he shares his tips for targeting trophy flathead in the basin. Full notes: https://doclures.co...

How does a fish's sense of smell differ from that of a human being? And what about taste? How do these two senses help a fish find or decide to take a lure?  Episode 206 of the ALF podcast is about exploring some of the lesser-understood aspects of fish sensory systems - at least from a fishing perspective! Full notes at: https://doclures.com/smell-taste-fishing-lures-greg-vinall/

Bowling Green Bay is a large expanse of water that has 3 major river systems and some 20 smaller creeks and inlets emptying into it - all of which produce quality barramundi at various times of year. Today's ALF guest is John Campbell, a local who grew up fishing the Burdekin River system. John has been on a number of fishing TV shows, fished the ABT circuit and has helped hundreds of people catch...

Permit are generally considered a fly fishing only species, and a particularly challenging one at that. But Townsville enthusiast Peter Agapiou has spent an enormous amount of time and energy figuring out how to target the species on spin gear and has enjoyed some pretty cool success!  In this episode Peter shares his tips for permit fishing on lures and how to bag plenty of other species along th...

If you've ever been told that big flathead can't be caught in the winter months then today's ALF episode with Sand Flat Fishing Australia's Karl Attenborough is about to rock your socks! Karl consistently catches quality flathead in ankle to shin deep water, right through the winter months - and he does it on surface lures. Exciting stuff! Full show notes at https://doclures.com/nsw-mid-north-coas...

To Australians, recreational fishing holds a very special place. Despite declining participation in virtually all forms of outdoor activity in recent years, fishing remains extremely popular And socially acceptable with a very large number of Australians. All of that said, we have some significant knowledge gaps. We know that fishing is important to the social fabric of our country. We know it's b...

Blowering Dam in southern NSW holds some absolute stonker yellowbelly, but has been dubbed "Lake Disappointment" by anglers not acquainted with the fishery. Today's ALF guest is Wayne Dubois, who reckons he's never had a fish less day in 30 years fishing the dam. In this episode he shares his tips and tricks for targeting yellas In Blowering, hopefully dispelling the reputation of the lake. Show n...

Cobia are one of those cryptic species that seem to turn up unexpectedly when you're offshore, inshore, even in the flats at times..... yet they never seem to be around if you go hunting for them!   In Episode 202 gun angler Shaun Taylor shares a few tips for finding, tempting and landing this highly prized species.  Show notes: https://doclures.com/hervey-bay-cobia-shaun-taylor/

Queensland's Boondooma Dam is a fairly large expanse of water, but with a few tricks it's pretty easy to find the fish, according to former ABT Tournament angler Dylan Mott. In this episode of ALF Dylan takes us through his strategies for finding the fish and coaxing them to bite, not to mention his tackle and lure preferences for this particular storage.  Full show notes at https://doclures.com/b...

The Gippsland Lakes area is famous for its bream fishing, but it's also the home of some monster flathead, as local fishing icon Brett Geddes explains in this episode. Brett shares some secrets for finding and tempting the flathead from his back yard, explains some interesting observations from rec angler fish tagging and even delves a little into his hand made lures. Full show notes at: https://d...

The Gold Coast is loaded with estuaries and rivers and all of them hold good numbers of quality, oversized mangrove jack.  In this episode of ALF, Gold Coast jack specialist Shane "Shaggy" Seghers shares a few tips and tricks for targeting the red dogs in his back yard in the Southern Gold Coast.    Full mangrove jack archive: https://doclures.com/mangrove-jack-fishing/ More info on Gold Coast Fis...

Port Stevens boasts a massive estuary system that's well within reach for many NSW central coast residents. Despite the proximity to large human populations, the system fishes remarkably well and there is no shortage of great fishing opportunities.  In this episode of the Australian Lure Fishing Podcast Port Stevens guide and fishing personality Paul Lennon shares his tips for targeting the local...

Each year schools of frigate mackerel pass through the Wollongong area and offer anglers a couple of brief months of light tackle, land-based fishing madness.  Wollongong resident and high-profile angler Vicki Winter-Lear is among the anglers who love to take advantage of these annual runs. In this episode Vicki shares her tips for getting in on the fun! https://doclures.com/wollongong-frigate-mac...

Central Queensland is a land of opportunity for anglers, but for Mackay region fishing guide and personality Paul Dolan, it's all about the barramundi.  Paul takes us through fishing his favourite dams: Teemburra, Eungella and Kinchant in search of metre plus Barra from the surface.  Show notes at https://doclures.com/pioneer-valley-barramundi-paul-dolan/

For most anglers, fishing the Exmouth area is all about the amazing reef fishing on offer, or perhaps the Bluewater pelagics that are found in abundance.  A lesser known but nonetheless very exciting opportunity is the amazing mangrove jack fishery that sometimes offer cricket scores of this hard fighting tackle smasher. In this episode Ben Svenson shares some little known secrets about jack fishi...

The Great Sandy Straits on Queensland's Fraser Coast is fishing paradise. The relatively sheltered waters and loaded with more species than you could poke a stick at.  In this Episode of the Australian Lure Fishing Podcast well known Queensland angler and celebrity chef Andy "Phippsy" Phipps helps us to find and catch Squid in his part of the world. Then he shares tips for preparing and cooking a...

Mallacoota is a destination with a reputation for holding healthy populations of quality yellowfin and black bream. That said, the popularity of the area with tournament organisers and holiday makers has seen the bream become increasingly wily.  In Episode 192 we head off with tournament champ and 'Coota regular Richard Somerton and get some great tips for year-round sight fishing for bream on lur...

Blue Marlin are a year-round target for Brisbane game fishers, but the winter months are the most popular for targeting the species. in this episode Australian Fishing legend Matt Price shares a few tips for targeting them. Matt is the only person in the world to have completed all six of the IGFA Royal Slams, including the Billfish Royal Slam. Full show notes at https://doclures.com/brisbane-blue...

The township of Marlo in the East Gippsland area was devastated by massive bushfires during the summer of 2019-20. Now rebuilding their lives, the local community is calling on anglers to start returning to the area. In this episode I chat with Melbourne fishing personality Mitch Chapman About the awesome fishing to be had in the area During the autumn months and the local businesses who could rea...

Sydney Harbour and the headlands and rocky shorelines to the north are home to large numbers of yellowtail kingfish ranging from barely legal "rat' kings to metre plus models that claim plenty of tackle each year. Ben O'Brien is a Sydney-based sponsored angler who has fished this area for twenty years and over the past five years has really honed his kingfish fishing skills. In this episode he sha...

Human beings are such visual animals. For most of us, sight is out primary sense, with the other senses playing second fiddle. Other animals are different, of course. Dogs, pigs deer and numerous others have extremely good sense of smell and/or hearing. That's pretty much accepted and we don't really question that their primary sense isn't vision. But for reasons that escape me, anglers often assu...