AT the age of seven I was introduced to the sport of fishing through my grandfather on the scenic Brisbane Waters on the Central coast.
Being a keen boater and fisher himself, each visit up the coast would include various trips venturing past Half Tide Rocks of Broken Bay, targeting the usual bread and butter species such as bream, whiting and flathead. Little did I know that those voyages with my pop would ultimately become the building block of my greatest passion.
Since the days fishing with my pop, my love of fishing continued to grow stronger after each trip. I began to learn new techniques, explore new systems, employ new tactics and meet new peers along the way who shared the passion as I did. Throughout my young teenage years my fondest memories of fishing included the early starts fishing for bream in Hen & Chicken bay, traveling down south to Windang breakwall casting to schools of winter salmon with ganged pilchards, and the quest to catch my first fish on a lure. Luckily, my first fish on a lure came quicker than expected: a 50cm flathead which belted my Squidgy Fish in plain sight along the bank of Narrabeen Lake.
As previously mentioned, my fishing hunger continued to grow each trip I embarked on right up until this day. My passion for fishing with lures obviously outweighed fishing with bait, however, I still use bait on occasion for species that still require a high level of skill to capture, including luderick and blackfish off the rocks.
I have been lucky enough to fish in various waterways in and out of Sydney and experience some extremely memorable sessions chasing species such as bream, bass, estuary perch, mulloway, flathead, tailor and salmon on a variety of different forms of lures. Whilst I have no complaints capturing any of these species, my favourite species to target include bass and estuary perch. This is solely due to the habitat they are caught in, and the fascinating surface strikes they display when honing in on a surface lure!
Matt and a nice bass caught on a surface lure in a remote honey hole.
Finding a potential bass-holding creek nowhere near urbanisation is something I have always found time to do around school. Bush-bashing through dense shrub for hours to finally come across an unpressured crystal clear pool makes finding ticks and dodging snakes all worthwhile. Being in such a tranquil environment is what I love the most about this form of fishing; the bass are just a bonus.
One particular memory that comes to mind involves stumbling across a secluded skinny creek high up on one of Sydney’s busiest waterways. Kayaking with keen fishing mate Cam, we’d opted to continue paddling further up the river casting at every snag we came across. As the water became brackish, my surface lure got hit by a small fish which turned out to be a juvenile bass. This led us to believe that there would be more fish up the system.
As it turned out, Cam and I spent the rest of the day discovering one of the most tranquil tributaries we had ever fished which was in fact not too far from suburbia, as remote as it looked and sounded. The bass we caught that day were not overly huge, but big enough to provide for a fun afternoon. Since this day we have found various other creeks hidden by canopy up the back of systems of Sydney, with some holding exceptionally fine specimens or strong populations of these aggro natives.
Matt and regular fishing buddy Cam with a solid 43cm bass caught on one of the boys’ bush bashing expeditions.
Another form of fishing I am constantly involved in is chasing the elusive mulloway on the local banks of the Georges River. My fondest memory involves a big fish I recently managed to deceive on a lure. My Squidgy Fish got belted by a good fish just as we were about to call it a day and head home. The tide was running fast, the sun was beaming down into the water and there seemed to be no signs of bait fish in the area. I was adamant that there was no way I was going to hook a mulloway this session, let alone in a metre of water! I had lost my chance.
A younger Matt with his PB 70cm flattie at Narrabeen Lake.
Following the hit, line started screaming off the spool and within two minutes all that was left was backing. About 100 metres out into the lake, a huge mulloway emerged thrashing its tail across the surface. You could probably imagine how I was feeling, having to re-engage my mind from drowsing off as a result of the 5am start. Adrenaline had replaced fatigue and after some nervous moments during the battle an enormous mulloway in excess of a metre was beached on the bank side. I couldn’t sleep for 18 hours following that fish, even though I was about to collapse from fatigue just prior to the hit!
Success! – Matt with his ripper jew.
Matt started fishing at seven and now at 16 is super keen!
I’m extremely grateful that I was introduced to fishing by my pop. At the age of 16, I hope that my passion for fishing continues to grow and I receive the opportunities to embark on new experiences and adventures revolving around fishing. Whether it be catching my first kingfish, scoring a trophy bass on top water or discovering a creek that no one has ever touched before. Ultimately in 10 years time, I hope that I can rewrite this with more memories to share as my passion continues to get stronger.
