Luderick or blackfish have somewhat of a cult following in their home waters, which extend from southern Queensland and right through the NSW coast to Victoria, and some parts of Tasmania. There is something about the peculiar techniques used to catch them that endears them to their most loyal followers.

Trout, both brown and rainbow, are often associated with old men in Tweed jackets smoking wooden pipes and casting fly gear more expensive than the family car. Sure, in some parts of the world this is still true, and you may be forgiven for thinking this is the only way to catch trout in streams. 

We all know bull sharks live in our rivers, and in fact, pretty much every river system from Sydney in the east, all access the top of the country and down to about Perth in Western Australia has a population of juvenile bull sharks. 

Garfish are a very available means of bait, food and fun, especially for kids. They’re forgiving nature and shear abundance makes them a very useful species, whether you’re looking for large baits for big fish, a few butterflied fillets for the table, or a little bit of fun for younger anglers

Everywhere in Australia there are certain ‘seasons’ that get local anglers excited. In the South West coast of the country - a part of the world where the fishing calendar is dotted by these seasons - there is one of the most impressive migrations in the country.

Tailor have a big following on the east and west coasts from bait fishers, who target this highly migratory species using dead baits in the beach gutters. While this is an artform in itself, many fail to acknowledge the great sport they can provide for lure anglers. As an added bonus, tailor shapes up pretty good on the plate as well, and being a schooling fish, once a school is found, multiple fish can be taken in short time.

There’s a lot of ways to catch jewfish, or mulloway, but these fish are arguably at their best when they congregate around rock walls and headlands following floods or rough weather.

There are many fish in Australia that have earned a reputation for their hard-fighting and gutter tactics in an attempt to win their freedom, and we hear about them constantly on social media and in magazines.

In a previous post we covered the equipment needed for traditional luderick fishing. Now we’re going to look at the specific technique! This practise has been going for at least 100 years and still works extremely well today.