delboy

help me please ,my 8 year old son is a very keen fisherman and absolutley loves his hobbie,the other day he was telling me how he caught a little chub down our local meadow river saying how he loved the feel of the little fish ,smell ,texture,ie .He was so proud in telling me his love for fishing ,i was really pleased to see he had a strong interest,robert has caught severall big fish toie 8lb zander , 5lb pike little carp ,he caught two eals last weekend,anyway my big ? is he told me he didnt want to go to oz as he wont be able to catch this type of fish anymore ,is this true??? as you can imagine he is very upset, please can anyone give some good supporting stories on their own fishing
adventures ie photos, advice,and how he will enjoy fishing in oz.Hope he can read replys with enthusiam and excitement thanks allison :scared: A mum in need

Florida_03

Rex Hunt Fishing Adventures

delboy

thanks florida its cool should keep him happy

Florida_03

You're welcome, but if he gets sick of Rex, and who doesn't, try these.

Sportsfish Australia

Escape with ET

cresta57

Hi Alison,
My son (10 at the time) sailed from New Zealand via various other islands to Oz last year. On this journey he did quite a bit of fishing from the back of the boat, as they sailed into Oz waters he caught a rather large fish (tuna I believe) after struggling for quite a while he was just about to land it when a shark came and had a mini feast on it. Josh was heart broken that he had done all the work only for it to be snatched from his grasp. Frightening I know but do remember they were in the middle of the ocean. Somewhere in the house we do have a photo of it (the bitten tuna). I have to say I was terrified when his grandad first told me about it, but according to Josh it was one of many highlights to his 18 month trip. When we went to Oz to collect him to bring him home for school, we had a couple of trips out to the Barrier Reef and I really don't think your son will be disappointed by the specimens that he will be able to catch they are so colourful. In the meantime if he takes pictures and keeps a scrapbook of the fish he catches whilst still in the UK then he will be able to compare them with the Ozzie ones. Whereabouts are you planning on settling??

Debbie

DagBoy

Whereabouts in Aus are you heading? I cannot speak for the other states, but in Qld there is a lot less interest in (and therefore fewer facilities for) freshwater coarse fishing, but that does not mean there is none. I just did a seacrh in google on Queensland + fishing + regulations and got this Department of Primary Industries (equivalent of MAFF) site Qld FishWeb. It lists the 29 stocked dams (lakes) in Qld that require a permit. I have not fished any of them so cannot comment.
I used to fish a lot when I was a boy (came across my old fishing gear in a box the other day - my last UK river license was dated 1978!) but I gave up years ago - until I came here. My wife and her family have always fished and I have taken to it again - only now it is boat, surf and estuary fishing.
There will almost certainly be some good fishing opportunities wherever you end up - if you are going to be near Brisbane I would be happy to find out more.
Cheers,
DagBoy

Wendy&Mike

Have a look at Fishnet especially the FishFile for all the varying species available.

Mike.
This is a murray cod.

PeteY

Trust me.....your son will LOVE the fishing out there. For me its one of the drawcards the country has.

There is a huge variety of species that can be caught.....thought mainly in the sea. A few species, depending on where your moving, that your son might recognise from the uk include :

Eels
Tench
Carp - NOTE : you have to kill them if you catch them as they are on the noxious animals list.....vermin in oz (illegal to return them)
Perch
and trout...

Its the new species he should be looking forward too....Leatherjackets, whiting, aus salmon, barramundi, bream, snapper, mullet, flathead....the list goes on and on and on and on!

Some of my best memories in oz were sitting on the end of a jetty with the wife chatting and catching wierd and wonderful fish.

Cheers

Pete.

One thing i might say.....a few (not many) of the fishes are particularly spikey in aus....so your son might need a hand if he catches species like flathead (nasty spike on gills), leatherjacket, nasty spike on dorsal fin. Nothing to be worried about....there are similar spikes on fish from the UK......

Fishing gears cheap out there too........

itsasecret

Im mad on Fishing in the Uk. and enter lots of fishing matches. This is what im going to miss the most.. but having said that Oz is not as big on Coarse fishing as us brits and you have to adapt to there way of fishing different species, which should be fun.
I have £1,000's of tackle some of which I may not need as Im moving to Brisbane there maybe not too much call for fishing a 16m carbon pole, but i will be taking the lot with me just in case I stumble across somewhere and who knows I may show the native fellas a thing or two about how the Europeans do it.!

There is a few coarse fishing clubs already set up in Sydney/Perth and Victoria and most of them are made up of expats, so if you intend to move to one of those areas, get in contact and they will show you whats what.. Im moving to Brisbane as of yet I have not found a coarse fishing club in this area, who knows I may set one up when ive settled in.

PeteY

If we end up in brisbane....im looking forward to trying for some of the bass that are around the area...

I like a bit of lure fishing, so that should be quite a nice challenge.

Im also keen to get up to the reservoir just inland of the sunshine coast.....can't remember the name at the mo, but its meant to be pretty good for saratoga. Now THATS is wierd fish!

delboy

thanks everyone your replys r all so encouraging , icant wait to let robert see when he comes home from school, i will get him to attach the zander he caught in the river ivel bedfordshire,he was in the local newspaper with it.We r heading perth, (we think}? but r still looking into other area ,going for a trip to perth in october, now i have another ? can my son fish whilst on holiday,ie is there daily permits places to fish and what about taking any tackle will he be aloud??.Thanks everyone to take the time in replying it will really cheer him up. allison

delboy

only the photo ,dont get too excited. lol .

PeteY

One of the great things about fishing in Oz, is that its almost always free!!!! In some states (not sure about WA...) you need to pay a license, in Vic you do for example.

Taking fishing gear on the plane is fine (ive done it loads), but no netting, and make sure everything is clean and free of rust.

When you get there, pop into a local tackle store and have a chat. They will normally be really helpful and point out wheres best. Failing that....buy a pack of cockles or prawns, and head to a local jetty..... You will be surprised what you can catch