If you ask any avid anglers what their preferred winter target is a lot of them will single out the glorious snapper. This highly sought after species is a prime candidate for most anglers due to their accessibility for land based and small boat owners, with amazing fighting capabilities on the right gear. Winter provides the slower trickle of current to fish and (usually) calmer weather days to target these ‘reds’ in the deep – a depth which I use significantly different tactic to targeting them in the shallows. I classify ‘deepwater’ anything from 50m to 100m +.

Large dogtooth Tuna have been my biggest adversary for years, the most frustrating sport fish I have encountered on jigging tackle. They are a true test of patience, luck and of course quality tackle preparation! Numerous large dogtooth captures are a real rarity, recently we were lucky enough to experience some world class dogtooth jigging with DropCast operated by Andrea Traverso in Vanuatu. 

For ‘southerners’ like myself, there’s nothing quite like a fishing trip to Northern Australia…
This part of the country is synonymous with big, lure-hungry fish, and lots of them! Throughout my relatively short life, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit a number of different fishing destinations in Northern Australia. From my travels, there’s one place that has a real hold on me… Weipa!

I’ve always had a fascination with high quality lures from Japan, they are the undisputed leaders of the tackle industry in my eyes. You need only look at the tackle world today to see who dominates in terms of looks, feel and revolutionary technology that’s constantly evolving year after year that consistently amazes us every year.

As the myriad of bays, islands and river systems glistened below, the first glimpse of our home to be, the MV Cannon came into view, a white speck in an otherwise harsh and wild expanse of greens, blues, browns, greys and reds of mind boggling shades. For me it was a place I knew well and loved, having worked onboard the old girl for a number of years, but having never flown in on the flying boat, the aerial view was something in and of itself.

As we enter the depths of winter, bitterly cold westerly winds have arrived with a vengeance, forcing many anglers to seek refuge indoors. Despite this, the rewards are there for those willing to brave the cooler conditions.

The winter months are typically one of the best times to target jewies on lures in the local estuaries. Whilst many things contribute to success in this game, focusing your efforts on three key factors will hold you in good stead.