Chasing Records

Craig Rist is one of our regular writers. He has a burning desire to capture a World Record, but for the time being he is looking at Australian Records as a way forward. The following account is generally about Australian GFAA records.
Two fish that have potential as World Record captures in Tasmania are mako shark and southern bluefin tuna.

Bluefin time again

John Orchard takes a look at the lures you need to catch one of the toughest fish around - and without doubt the most highly regarded fish for sashimi in the world.

Early Season Game Fishing

with Leroy Tirant

With Christmas behind us a lot of anglers are now on their summer holidays. This sets the mind thinking as to where to spend the holidays with or without the family. Usually this time of the year some early reports start to filter in of Albacore at the shelf, and bait schools start showing up on mass. This gets game fishermen warm to the heart and they start breaking out the heavy tackle to head to the blue water for some serious trolling. Each year is different with the average size of fish being usually smaller than later in the season and showing up in sometimes the strangest of places. Last year it was Merricks reef that produced good sport early. So how do we give ourselves a better than average chance of turning a reel? Well there are a few different ways to look at it and if you slowly put the puzzle together with a bit of homework you can tip the odds in your favour.

Game Fishing - Tasman Peninsula and South

John Orchard

Once again it's that time of year when avid game fishermen pull out their gear and give it the once over in anticipation of the arrival of the mighty Southern Bluefin Tuna. These powerhouse fish put both angler skill and product quality to the ultimate test each year and anglers look forward to the challenge.

Game fishing Tasmania

Mason Paull
I have been game fishing in Tasmania for about 18 years. With the onset of the warm East Australian current, most game fishers eagerly await the first of our target game species, albacore, stripey tuna, yellowfin tuna, striped marlin, mako sharks, blue sharks and so on. This article is a guide to the game fisher who is just starting out.

Tassie Yellowfin Tuna

Mason Paull
The yellowfin tuna is one of the great sport and game fish of tthe world. Thunnus Albacares is sought after by all tassie game fishermen and is highest standard, which we all would like the achieve. The power and beauty of these fish is something you will not forget once you have done battle with one of these powerful tuna. Sadly these tuna are plundered all down the east coast of Australia and around the world. These tuna are apex predators, meaning they are near the top of the food chain, they will eat anything that crosses their path. Their main diet consists of slimey mackeral, jack mackeral, pilchards and number one on their menu is sauries. They also will follow trawlers around and eat trawler trash that is thrown over the side of these boats.

Bluefin mania continues

Brown Dog!

Here we are into June and the game-fishing season is well and truly in full swing in the south, but not just the south. Over the past month we have seen many albacore in the 15 - 20 kilo range caught off St.Helens - not to mention the huge Australian record bluefin that weighed in at an incredible 153 kilo's. But it is in the south of the state that anglers are really having a ball!
Eaglehawk Neck is on fire as those anglers that fished the recent Southern Bluefin Championships found out. I am not aware of a single boat that didn't land multiple bluefin for the competition and organisers even ran out of "catch & release" tags on the first day, certainly the best competition to have been held out of "The Neck" for many years.

Land Based Game Fishing

Simon Kernan

Thinking back to the day before, and the 3½ hour hike through the bush, I wondered if today was going to be any different from the many trips before to this location.

The bluefin cometh

Cool currents
As the weather cools and sea temperatures slow start to decline, preparations (and hopes) turn toward the possibility of another good blue fin tuna run. Digressing momentarily, I received a phone call from Leroy at Big Fin Sports fishing. The result of conversation was the Land Based Game article, I previously mentioned was placed in the hands of "Simon" who without doubt has LBG miles on the board both here and interstate.  Simon has had some fantastic captures including a few good Kingfish captures from places here in Tasmania and is indelibly qualified on the subject matter.
So again at short notice I was again asked to stab my little sausages on the keyboard and come up with an article for aspiring anglers chasing blue fin tuna. The article is a follow up with technical information and is again aimed squarely between the eyes of the more beginner, novice or inexperienced blue water wanderers.

Chasing chooks

Tim Anderson takes a look at one of the mainstays of Tasmania's gamefishing. Albacore are not as regal as marlin, yellowfin or bluefin, but they are fun to catch and great to eat.

The build up
What smells like fish and tastes like chicken? This question has so often been asked by the likes of Cheech and Chong and although the very term conjures up images of "hedgehogs" and alley cats, rarely has the question been posed in this arena.

The answer I am looking for in this forum is obviously albacore tuna.

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