Friday, September 30, 2011



"The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad."
                                                 AK Best


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Drunk Fishermen Hit Nuclear Sub!

Drunk Russian Fishermen Crash in to Nuclear Sub
We don't see a lot of Russian fishing stories, but when we do, the are often doozies!  Take for example the boatload of drunk fishermen who crashed in to a nuclear submarine at Avachino Bay on the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday according to the Interfax news agency.

Apparently the submarine's crew had seen the approaching fishing boat and tried to warn it of the imminent collision, but the vessel ignored the signals. Interfax reported that a navy inspection team checked the trawler and found all of its crew drunk.

A Russian Pacific Fleet spokesman  said that the incident caused no injuries and inflicted only "insignificant" damage to the anchored submarine and that there was no radiation leak. Imagine the insurance claim form for that one!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

When Good Swordfish Go Bad!

Check out this amazing swordfish video from american, Sam Root. Sam and a few mates were having a slow day swordfishing off Florida's Duck Key, when theyfinally hooked up at the end of the day. Root, a photographer, grabbed his camera and jumped in to get some underwater images of the fish.

That's when things started to go pear- shaped! Check out the video:





You can read the full story of the attacking Swordfish and see more attacking swordfish pictures at Root's blog here:

Friday, September 23, 2011

Kiwi Fisherman eats $100K Tuna

Monster Bluefin Tuna caught in NZ
We've got an enormous amount of respect for our fishing brothers "across the ditch" and an enormous amount of envy towards one particular Kiwi Fisherman.

New Zealand fisherman Jeremy Walker caught a monster bluefin tuna on Monday weighing in at an amazing 305.8 kg and valued at about NZ$100,000 (about AU$80,000) if it had been sold at a Tokyo fish market.

The massive bluefine tuna was hooked on a game fishing trip off Westport in the South Island and locals are calling it a "once in a lifetime fish". Walker isn't planning to sell it though, telling media that , he's got plans to bbq the fish and eat it.

See more of this very big NZ tuna in the video below.




Thursday, September 22, 2011

Record Tuna Taken on Fly Off Christmas Island

Englishman Chris Cook recently landed a record-breaking Tuna while fishing of Christmas Island with a camera crew shooting a short fly fishing movie called Casting at Shadows. The 128 lb yellowfin tuna is the largest fish of its kind caught using fly-fishing methods according to the International Game Fish Association (record pending confirmation).

"Initially we were thinking it was a shark." said Cook. ""I was shocked because we hadn't gone out to catch a fish that big, so this was a nice surprise to be able to incorporate into the film.The sheer size of it was scary at first and it cast a huge shadow."

It took Cook three hours to reel in the giant yellowfin tuna, and three of the crew had to help to drag it into the boat after tying a rope round its tail. Cook's was on Christmas Island filming from June 30 to July 15 and was intending the movie to be a feature about bonefish and giant trevally but he is delighted to include his record yellowfin.

"[Christmas Island] is one of the most stunning and remote fishing destinations in the world." Cook said. "It took us two days to get there but it was worth the effort."

Casting at Shadows shows Cook fly fishing for Bonefish, Giant Trevally, Sharks and a lot more in one of the most untouched and stunning locations the world has to offer. Available online here or view the trailer below.


Wednesday, September 21, 2011



"The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span
the hours spent in fishing."
                                                Babylonian Proverb


Sunday, September 18, 2011

Catch a Fish as Big as a Car?

Who wouldn't love to catch a big 1500 lb bluefin or some other big sports fish the size of a small car? Well, this guy obviously thinks if you train hard enough, you'll be ready when the time comes!



According to blog posts, this fellow is waiting for an upcoming tuna trip to Prince Edward Island in Canada and going stir crazy in the meantime, so decided to see if he could use his gear to tow a small Nissan hatchback with his fishing gear!.

We don't recommend you try this at home - For those interested, he was using a Savage rod and a Tiagra 80 reel and a rented Nissan.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Best Whole BBQ Snapper Recipe

Best BBQ Snapper Recipe
Is this the best Whole Snapper Recipe for the BBQ? We asked our readers to send in their best whole fish bbq recipe,  and this great recipe sent in by Bazza is our staff pick, Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Ingredients1.8kg to 2 kg whole snapper, scaled and guttered
1 lime thinly sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Mint leaves, chopped spring onion and lime wedges to serve

Ingredients for dressing
4 garlic cloves, chopped
5cm piece of ginger, peeled & thinly sliced
3 long red chillies, sliced
1 /4 cup caster sugar
1 / 3 cup fish sauce
2 limes, juiced

Method
Pre heat the bbq grill on a medium heat. Rinse the belly cavity of the fish and clean any blood from the back bone area, as this can make the fish have a bitter taste. Dry it with some paper towelling. Score the fish every 2.5cm intervals on both sides of the thickest part of the snapper's body to help it cook evenly.

Place 3 sheets of foil on the bench that you are working from. Place the snapper in the middle and arrange the lime slices in the belly cavity.

Drizzle both sides of the fish with oil and season with pepper. Cover the fish with a sheet of foil and fold in the sides to enclose.

Place the fish on the BBQ grill for 10 minutes, and turn over and cook for a further 8 minutes on the other side. Remove from the bbq and carefully unwrap. Test the fish is cooked using a fork, seeing if it flakes apart easily.

Place on a platter and let it sit for 4 or 5 minutes.

For the dressing, place the ginger, garlic and chillies into a food processor and turn it into a paste. Transfer it to a saucepan.

Add the sugar, fish sauce, 100ml lime juice and 2 tbsp of cold water. Bring to the boil and reduce it to a medium heat and allow it to simmer and reduce to become thick. Set aside and allow it to cool.

With your snapper on the serving platter, pour over the dressing. Garnish with mint and spring onions, and serve with lime wedges.

Best Wine Match for BBQ Snapper?

If you're looking for a great wine to match your BBQ whole snapper consider a Semillion from the Hunter Valley. We'd recommend the 2009 Semillion from 201 Estates as a great choice.  Although Semillon is very much the overlooked white varietal in mainstream drinking circles, it is in fact the perfect match with any kind of grilled seafood in general and barbecued prawns in particular.

Unlikely Sauvignon Blanc (which has strong aromas that often overpower seafood), Semillon is only lightly aromatic and therefore lets the flavour of the food show through. Whilst some wooded Chardonnays are prefect for creamy seafood dishes, they are often too heavy for grilled seafood and again the flavour of the food is lost. On the other hand, Semillon is never oaked, it is light and crisp and has a slightly citrus flavour which complements the typical drizzle of lemon over any kind of grilled seafood.

To order online or for stockists of the 201 Estates Semillion 2009 visit thier website.


Win gourmet BBQ Pack from Wiltshire

No gourmet bbq is complete without the right tools, and some of the best come from Wilthire Bar B. If you missed out on our great Wiltshire father's day giveaway don't dispair as we have two prize sets of some of the latest in BBQ gadgets from Wiltshire Bar.B – to help turn your BBQ into a gourmet experience!

Perhaps the most exciting item is the Wiltshire Bar.B Pizza Stone Set, which enables traditional stone baked pizzas to be made on the BBQ! The set includes a pizza stone, serving rack and pizza cutter.  Then there’s the Wiltshire Bar.B Mini Meat Thermometers that help you to produce your steak to rare, medium or well done.

Also included is non-stick BBQ Basket which is the simplest and cleanest way to barbeque sliced vegies, prawns and those smaller items – it keeps them all together while you stir & cook and a set of the BBQ Egg Rings with handles. All these new products are available from Bunnings, if you miss out on our prize.

Each prize set is valued at $79.95. Simply enter your name and email below before Midnight October 5 to go in the draw.










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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Storm WildEye Live Series Lures

This short but informative  video from Fishing World's Jim Harnwell gives a couple of useful tips on how to fish the the Storm WildEye lures to acheive the maximum potential.
 
 
A few of us are quite impressed with the WildEye's natural looking plastic lures.
All Live Series lures feature flash foils and Storm’s signature holographic WildEyes for added realism, and they come pre-rigged with the right Rapala VMC hooks so anglers can spend less time baiting hooks and more time fishing.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Bad Day Fishing

US Warship Mistakenly Fires on Fishermen
They say a bad day fishing is a better than a good day at work, and the FishMax crew can certainly vouch for that (we've had our share of bad days fishing) but we've never had as bad a day as group of American fishermen whose boat was mistaken for a target by a US War Ship and fired upon!

US Media have reported that late last month the USS The Sullivans, fired upon a boat carrying a number of North Carolina men out for a day's fishing.The reports say that the comander of the navy ship that fired on the fishing boat has been relieved of his duty, but no word on whether the US Navy has bought the fishermen new underpants!

(And no, the USS The Sullivans is not named after the long running Australian TV show, but rather 5 brothers called from the Sullivan family all of whom lost their lives during the Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942)

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Taking Snapper at Coromandel Bay, NZ

Occassional contributor Rhett Thorne from Mad Keen Yak Angling tells us about a great day NZ Snapper Fishing.

The Author's First Coromandel Snapper
While on a recent trip to New Zealand, we stopped at Coromandel Bay [Ed: Coromandel is 2.5 hrs drive from Auckland on the Eastern side of the North Island of New Zealand] , where we were taken fishing by the Mussel Barge Snapper Safaris. We left in a group of around 15 and travelled out into the mussel farms where we bottom fished using baits like squid and cubed pillies. 

Within about 10 seconds of our baits hitting the bottom, we were pulling up snapper like there was no tomorrow. My first snapper, being the biggest of the trip ate the tinniest chunk of pilchard, but then again elephants do eat peanuts. 


Dusk at the Mussel Farms

After about half an hour the fishing had settled down a little, so I threw out a whole squid which hooked up onto a beast of a fish. The skipper called it for a kingfish, but in no time the fish pulled me into the mussel farm and broke off my 15kg line. Other than snapper, we managed to catch plenty of little yellowtail, Aussie salmon (which the Kiwis call Kahwai), a couple rat kings and small shark.

The tackle usually associated with snapper fishing is a spin combo, like the Okuma Trio or V-System spins, but with snags 7 meters on either side of us, we had to beef up our gear in order to land the fish.
 
All in all, the day was packed exceptional fishing. The fish weren’t necessarily huge, but they were great fun. Next time you’re in New Zealand, drop into, Mussel Barge Snapper Safaris; it is as cheap as $50 for a fishing adventure of a lifetime. 

Words and Pics: Rhett Thorne - reproduced with permission. Read more of Rhett's fishing adventures at Mad Keen Yak Angling.
 
 

Friday, September 2, 2011

Product Review - New Filter Water Bottles


Bobble Filter Water Bottles are Tough
 Disposable plastic bottles use valuable resources, clog our waterways and of course, cost too much money. Fishermen and women were probably amongst the first to know that water in throw away plastic bottles is an environmental no-no.

During a day out off Caloundra, Qld, we field tested a new reusable filter bottle called "Bobble" which has recently been launched in Australia and New Zealand.

The Bobble Water Bottle's ingenious design removes chlorine and contaminants from tap water and so you can drink crisp, clean portable water without incurring the significant costs – both environmental and monetary – associated with plastic bottles. As water passes over the carbon filter, the negative ions of contaminants are drawn to the carbon granules – leaving the water crisper and cleaner tasting than ever.
Made from recycled plastic and free of BPA, Phthalates and PVC, bobble is this spring/summer’s must-have reusable accessory. bobble’s low price will mitigate the cost of regular bottled water consumption, which can cost individuals hundreds of dollars annually.

Certainly we found that the water stored in the Bobble tasted great, at least as good if not better than purchased bottled water. The Bobble is also suprisingly robust. It actually appears flimsy when empty, but the bottles we tested had no problems withstanding the usual pumps and thumps the contents of our esky suffer during a day out on the ocean with no leakage.

Bobble is available nationwide and priced from $9.95/$14.95 For stockists please visit http://www.waterbobble.com.au/