Storms at sea in small boats – real life stories
Last week on our return to Cairns from holidays, we were caught unawares by an electrical storm at sea. One minute it was just wind and rain, and we felt pretty safe in our Black Watch 40, Mood Swings. Nek Minit – lightning flashed all around. To make it worse, the clear zipper ripped and we…
Making memories fishing with kids
Fishing with kids is both challenging and hilarious. Earlier this year we did a delightful blog post with our 7 year old neighbor Mason. We met Mason at the ANZAC day dawn service after he confidently approached us exclaiming, “Hi Ryan Moody, I watch all your videos” before parroting “I’m Ryan Moody helping you fish…
Online fishing courses – Living the Dream
Would you believe it’s almost the end of the decade, (depending which logic you use, year 0 or year 1) and hasn’t 2020 been a doozy!! If you’re anything like us, realizing that struck a bit of a chord. Cast your mind back to ten years ago. What were you doing in 2010? How old…
Offshore fishing for sailfish
Sailfish are a stunning fish and one of the world’s most highly regarded sportsfish. They are super fast, can attain speeds of up to 70 km/hr and they grow big, to around 100 kg! They are spectacular due to the large dorsal fin or “sail” they use to herd bait. The “sail” is full…
Fishing Reel cleaning and maintenance
Today I’m going to cover an often overlooked aspect to your fishing, namely rod and reel cleaning and maintenance. As a charter boat skipper for 30 years, I used to go through a ton of gear and over time it costs a lot of money. So the best bet is to look after it. It’ll…
GARMIN ECHOMAP Ultra review
In this fish finder review, we take a look at the GARMIN echoMAP Ultra 105 and 125 sonar units. As followers of this blog will know, I’m a huge Garmin fan, although I have used Lowrance, Furuno and Humminbird in the past. It doesn’t really matter what brand you prefer. Far more important than the…
Top Darwin fishing charters
As you may know, we love heading to the NT and often take a fishing charter around Darwin. That is when we don’t make the long trip and take our own boat. Having your own boat to explore the NT is the ultimate. But it’s such a long way hence we sometimes prefer to jump…
Fishing for barra in Darwin
I have been asked many times in recent years if fishing for Barra in Darwin is the same as on the east coast. In my experience, I have found them to have pretty much exactly the same habits everywhere. The only difference is you get a smaller window to have a crack at them aggregating…
Salt spray on sunglasses is the bane of every small boat angler.
As a professional fishing guide for 30 years, I have had to remove salt spray from sunglasses maybe 30 times a day. Modern fishing shirts and polyester jumpers just seem to smear it. The cleaning cloths provided soon get wet and salty with the end result being more smears. Even towels don’t work unless you…
Choose the right sinker size
You’ll catch more fish if you choose the right sinker size. If you fish too heavy, fish will feel the weight and drop the bait before they’re hooked. Too light and you won’t be on the bottom. It’s critical to choose the right sinker size and get your bait on the bottom when fishing for…
