TACKLE World opened their new store in the NSW Central Western city of Orange in December 2015. Ian Mclean who owns Tackle World in Orange is a keen angler, and in just a few short months had already signed on as a major sponsor of the Burrendong Classic fishing comp held each Easter at the dam. This was a fantastic commitment for a business just starting out.
Amongst the many prizes that were given out during this year’s Classic was a day’s fishing aboard the Tackle World boat, skippered by another keen and talented angler – and Tackle World employee – Michael Collison. Additionally, one of the conditions of this prize was that it had to be won by a junior angler and so the look on my five year old grandson’s face as his name was pulled from the hat was absolutely priceless.
A month later on a glorious blue sky day myself and Josh met Michael at the ramp at Burrendong Dam. Tackle World presented Josh with a beautiful Silstar Tactical one piece rod with a Shimano Sienna reel pre-rigged with braid and leader, as well as a Tackle World Murray cod shirt and a tackle bag full of goodies including Berkley Gulps, various hardbodied bibbed lures and a heap of blades. To top this off the esky was full of salad rolls, drinks and nibbles for the days fishing – these blokes certainly know how to spoil a keen young angler!
Michael is one of the top anglers fishing the freshwater comps like the Australian Yellowbelly Championships (AYC) and recently took out first place in the Burrinjuck round of the AYC. His plan for the day was to vertically roll Berkley grubs through standing timber, which is a method that probably sees more golden perch caught consistently all year round than any other.
The first tree we side scanned showed fish holding throughout at different water depths. After spot-locking above the submerged tree we all dropped grubs to the bottom and began slow rolling them back up. Golden perch could be seen on the front sounder following the grubs up off the bottom but there were only a few very tentative taps. Thinking out loud as to why they were so reluctant to bite it was then I eyed the small back pack Josh had brought with him, goodies packed for him by his mother for what was going to be a long day.
As soon as I opened the bag there it was, banana disguised in a cake form! A round table discussion took place, debating what to do with the vile offering. Michael, having prior experience with this kind of sinful business, offered to fall on his sword and consume the slice of cake so it wouldn’t trouble us any further. This was one of the bravest things I’ve seen in a lifetime of fishing and sure enough, as soon as he had finished we had another drop for an instant hook up. Michael handed the rod which was bucking wildly to Josh to wind in a superbly conditioned golden perch!
Rolling grubs through the timber is quite exhilarating as it is a form of sight fishing. Michael targets fish he can see on his front sounder and can watch them rise to a grub or fall back to the bottom and can work the grubs in the face of the fish – he can even tell you the approximate length of the fish on the sounder!
The rest of the day was spent with Josh fighting golden perch and the odd redfin apart from a lunch stop where we walked the bank to stretch our legs and flicked small plastics at cruising carp, where Josh soon had his arms stretched along with his legs! This was a great day for both Josh and myself and I was like a sponge soaking up as much info from Michael as I could absorb. Josh, who had a big 12 hour day from pick up to drop off handled it well for a young bloke who has just turned five.
Rolling grubs through standing timber is no doubt one of the best, sure fire methods of catching golden perch. Many people refer to this tactic as “grubbing” or “Gulping” as using Berkley Gulp jigging grubs fished on ¼oz. jig heads produces incredibly consistently. Some anglers say any colour is fine so long as it is black.
Ian Mclean brings a lot of enthusiasm to everything he does and is currently running the Central West Tackle World Fishing Masters competition. This is run in the local surrounding lakes and Ian is in the process of organising guided fishing from his shop for iconic species like Murray cod. Other species on offer will be golden perch, silver perch, catfish, redfin, European carp and trout. Methods of fishing for these species will take in all forms of fishing be it lure casting, flicking plastics and even fly fishing. Keep an eye on the Tackle World Orange Facebook Page for more details.
If you’re keen to sample the fantastic fishing that Central Western NSW has to offer, I highly recommend you come along to this month’s round of the Central West Tackle World Fishing Masters held May 14th and 15th at the beautiful Wyangala Dam (The Copeton of the South). Contact Ian Mclean at Tackle World Orange on (02) 6361 8924 or mobile 0478 083 066.
