Land-based Fishing Botany Bay: Mulloway Madness

Dive into the essentials of land-based Mulloway fishing in Botany Bay with expert angler Tom Munro in this episode of the Australian Lure Fishing Podcast. Tom shares why Botany Bay is a top spot for targeting Mulloway, especially during the quieter winter months. He details his preferred gear and lures, such as the Squidgy Biotuff Fish, ZMan Slim Swimz, and Zerek Fish Trap, and explains how water clarity, tides, and weather influence fishing success.

Learn Tom’s effective casting techniques and location scouting tips to improve your catch rates. Whether you’re new to fishing or an experienced angler, this episode is packed with practical advice to enhance your land-based fishing skills in one of Sydney’s most popular fishing destinations.

Tune in for a masterclass in targeting the elusive Mulloway and refine your approach to land-based fishing!

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Keen for more info? This is an ALF "PLUS" interview, so listeners who support the ALF Podcast by becoming members receive access to the extended version of the podcast. Find out the specifics of which conditions fish best and how to choose landbased fishing spots in Botany Bay based on conditions. Members also get access to audio masterclasses, online resources, livestreams and my upcoming soft plastic lure bootcamp. Check it out at https://team.doclures.com/
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Check out our archive of interviews about fishing for mulloway.

Full archive of interviews about Botany Bay Fishing Spots

Sharpen your skills with soft plastic lures by joining my Soft Plastic Lures Bootcamp

Check out the rod I'd use for land-based Botany Bay Mulloway: The Jabbers Deft Flicker

Full show notes for today's episode are available at https://doclures.com/land-based-fishing-botany-bay/

 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Well, ALF listeners, we are definitelynow into the throes of winter and that
means that a lot of the fair weatheranglers that turn up during those summer
months, during the pleasant times of year,they're staying home and staying warm.
The serious guys and galsthough let's just say they'll
put fishing ahead of comfort.
So they'll be out there catchingsome quality fish and it's a
great time of year to fish.
Particularly if your homewaters are highly pressured,

(00:23):
like Botany Bay for example.
Now obviously there are someseasonal factors to consider, not
every species is around in winter.
Some new species come in winterthat aren't necessarily around
during the summer months.
The great advantage you have is lessboats on the water, less commotion.
Fish are less shy.
Often if there's a bit of floodwatercoming down, the water might be a little
bit murkier, the fish might be feedingmore aggressively and so on and so forth.

(00:46):
And so it is for anglers who fishBotany Bay, as my guest today does.
Those cooler months provide some amazingopportunities to target Mulloway.
So we're going to get intothat in just a moment.
But before we do, we're going to betalking a lot today about fishing with
soft plastic lures, which is fortuitousbecause in a few short weeks, I will be
launching my soft plastic lures bootcamp.

(01:08):
The Soft Plastic Lures Bootcamp isall about exposing you to a range
of techniques and tactics that youcan use with soft plastic lures.
It's species independent, it doesn'tmatter whether you're fishing north or
south for bream or trout or Mullowayor barret, it doesn't really matter.
But it takes you through everythingyou need to know about fishing
with soft plastic lures in avery methodical step by step way.

(01:28):
And you can go back to it overand over again and reference the
videos and reference the materials.
Now, if you're a Team Doc Lures member andyou've been a member for a little while,
then this is absolutely free for you.
And if you're not a Team Doc Luresmember you get 12 months membership when
you sign up for the boot camp, whichgives you access to all those resources
that are available to my members likelive streams and audio masterclasses.

(01:49):
And of course, the extended editionof various podcast episodes,
including today's episode,which is an ALF plus episode.
So Team Doc Lures members,you don't need to do anything.
You'll receive an email in duecourse telling you how you can
access the Soft Plastics Bootcamp.
Everybody else, if you're interestedin expanding your knowledge on how to
fish with Soft Plastics Lures, thenjump over to DocLures.com/bootcamp/.

(02:13):
That's B O O T C A M P,DocLures.com/ bootcamp.
And there is a link in the show notes.
So if you go to the show notes for thisepisode, you will find a link that will
take you straight through to where youcan find out more about the bootcamp.
No obligation to sign up.
You can just go and check itout and see what's involved.
But with that folks, it's time forus to start today's episode of the
Australian lure fishing podcast.

(02:35):
So let's shake off thecold and go get started.
This is the Australian Lure FishingPodcast, where our mission is
to help everyday sports fishersexperience extraordinary lure fishing.

(02:57):
If next level fishing is your dream, thenlet us provide the tools and information
that will bring that dream to life.
Tune in as our expert hosts chatwith Australia's best anglers
and share their tips for success.
Then check out our website.
It's one of Australia's largest andmost popular online fishing resources.
But right now, settle in to listenas ALF founder Greg Docklew's vinyl

(03:21):
delivers today's episode throughthe nerdy lens of a scientist, lure
maker and sport fishing tragic.
Hey there folks, time for another episodeof the Australian Lure Fishing Podcast.
And what a treat we've got for youtoday, because we're going fishing
in Botany Bay, one of Sydney's mostpopulous waterways, one of Australia's

(03:42):
most populous waterways, I should saywith Sydney just to the north, all the
southern suburbs, of course, and allthat sort of stuff all around Botany Bay.
It's a world built up area.
Lots of people fish there.
and George's River as well, of course,the airport right there on the banks
at the northern end of Botany Bay.
But some quality fish to be caught there,and even for those who are land based.

(04:02):
And that's what we're going to talkabout today with our guest, Tom Munro.
Tom is an absolute gun when it comes totargeting the mighty Mulloway in Botany
Bay, and we're going to focus on that.
He catches lots of otherspecies too, I'll tell you.
Go and have a look at his Facebookprofile, his Instagram profile, you're
going to see plenty of big flathead there.
You're going to see some qualityMurray cod as well, but Mulloway his
passion, and that's something that he'sworked out over the last four or five

(04:25):
years when he's been lure fishing forthem for the last four or five years.
He's been fishing for a lot longerthan that, but I'm not going
to stop telling Tom's story.
I'm going to let him tell it himself.
So Tom, welcome to the episode,mate, or welcome to the
Australian Lure Fishing Podcast.
It's absolutely tremendous tohave you on board and I'm looking
forward to a great conversation.
Oh, thanks Greg.
I'm very honored to be on theshow, so thanks for having me.

(04:48):
Mate, you have absolutely earned itjust judging by your social media
and having had a chat with you andgot a bit of a sense of who you are.
And we're going to give our listeners asense of that in just a moment as well.
But mate, some quality Mullowayon your profile, all coming
land based from Botany Bay.
And I think that is, that speaksfor itself really when it comes
to targeting fish on lures.

(05:09):
Mullies they're one of the tougherones and in a populated area like
Botany Bay if you Consistentlycatching quality fish there.
And I'm seeing lots of meter plus fishcaught and released, which is really nice.
Then you're doing pretty well, mate.
So look, we're going to get into how yougo about doing that in just a moment.
Before we do though, let's introduce youa little bit more fully to our audience
with some getting to know your questions.

(05:30):
You up for
Yeah, yep.
Sounds good, Greg.
Fantastic.
Mate.
So obviously Mulloway, that'sthe target species tonight.
That's the species that we're going tofocus this conversation around, but lots
of other species, I've already mentioneda couple, what else do you like to fish
for when you're not targeting the Mullies?
Yeah probably my other favorite speciesof the Mulloway would have to be flathead,

(05:52):
especially the sort of biggest size ones.
Not that I catch a great deal ofthem, but when they get to that
size over 80 centimeters, they'rejust a different fish entirely.
And
They are.
Yep.
so it'd have to, it'd have tobe the larger flathead to target
and Also Murray Cod as well.
I haven't done a whole lot ofMurray Cod fishing, but I'm lucky

(06:14):
enough to know some gun Murray Codfishermen up around Tamworth area.
People of the likes of Nick Golledgeand Andy Golledge have showed me
the ropes of Murray Cod fishingand got me onto some good fish.
Yeah,
Got some good mentors there, mate.
And I think that's that's what you needwhen you're going after a species like
cod, they are reputed to be the fish fora thousand casts as are the Mulloway.

(06:36):
Anyone that you can.
Bring on board that knows the speciesknows the locations and can just,
flatten that learning curve a little bit.
That's always a good thing.
I reckon.
very true.
Yeah.
And people to be competitive with as wellthat you always want to get a one off on.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Yeah, that's always.
Yeah.
That's a good thing, to be pushingeach other along and always trying

(06:57):
to do that a little bit better.
That's definitely going topropel everybody forward.
Yep,
So obviously you've got plenty to keep youbusy around the Botany Bay area, and I'm
assuming Judging by the flathead images,I'm assuming port yeah, port hacking is
probably an area that you fish as well.
Will I be right in saying that?
Yeah, a little bit.
Yeah, I've got one spot I particularlylike at Port Hacking, but definitely

(07:19):
Botany Bay more than Hacking, but
Okay.
All right.
And then the big flatties arecoming from botany as well.
Yeah.
Okay.
Excellent.
Wow.
Wow.
Okay.
Very good.
All right.
Look like I say, lots to keep you busythere, lots of different species and
you've mentioned a few of them, but ifyou could head off to somewhere else,
mate, and you could target somethingelse for a little while, take a week off,
head off to any part of Australia, nophones, no computers, no responsibilities,

(07:43):
just you and a fishing rod.
Where would you like tospend that week and why?
It's a good question.
It'd have to be cod fishing becauseI don't get to do it all the time in
Sydney and would have to probably begoing back to that New England area
around Tamworth fishing the Peel andthe Namoi River and just setting off

(08:05):
on foot and casting big lures for cod.
I think it's pretty hard forit to get better than that,
so you're like the cod from therivers rather than the lakes.
yeah definitely River Cod is, that'swhat sort of keeps me up at night.
Yep.
As it should.
All right.
But have you got a speciesthat you haven't caught yet?

(08:25):
So something on your bucketlist that you'd like to tick
off before you kick off?
Yeah I've recently been watchingthe, on YouTube, as most
fishermen do, and anglers are.
I watch a lot of fishing YouTube videos.
I've been watching the Colby Leskovideos of him catching jungle perch and

(08:45):
I think that's a pretty cool species.
Just because of the sort of places ittakes you walking in the rainforests,
just, in small river systems and they'rejust such an amazing fish as well.
I'd love to go and target them one day.
I've never done it.
So yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Stunning species to look at as well.
Very photogenic fish invery photogenic locations.

(09:08):
Yeah.
It's certainly an awesomeway to fish, right?
If you go after, after the jungle perch.
Mate if we were to rummage through yourtackle box, this is a question that
trips a few people up, but if we were torummage through your tackle box, what's
something we might find there that theaverage angler probably wouldn't have.
Okay.
Let me think.

(09:29):
Oh, look.
That's a tricky question.
I find I usually go for prettysafe gear because it's the fish
that are pretty unpredictable.
But if I had to choose something at themoment, it would be pompadour because
I know a lot of people have them in butI've been trying to target Mulloway on
one so I guess that's a bit I guess thatcounts as something that's a bit unusual

(09:54):
And have you succeeded
I hooked one two nights ago
Yes.
and I got dusted on some structurebut all I know that's all I
need to know to keep me going so
yeah yep.
An expensive lure to keep getting dustedon though You wouldn't want to do that too
often.
I know it's that's fishingthough right it just

(10:15):
absolutely.
Yeah.
No, no pain, no gain.
I, the prize, all that kind of stuff.
Very good.
Mate, have you got a favorite piece offishing tech or a favorite fishing gadget?
Obviously being land based, it's probablynot going to be an electric motor or
a sounder, what's in your tech line.
Yeah, I'd have to go witha good pair of waders.

(10:36):
Know they're not exactly high techbut I think for the type of fishing
I do, access is really important,like getting out to places that
not a lot of people can get to.
And a pair of waders for me has.
Proven to be really important.
Yeah
Yep.
Yep.
And for those up North, likemyself, who can't figure out why

(10:58):
you'd ever want to wear waders itgets a bit cool down there, mate.
Yep, that's right We don't have theluxury of Sitting in air con this
time of year as you said before so
No, that's right.
But also you don't get stung orbitten like we do quite as much.
So yeah there's pros and cons,there's trade offs both ways.

(11:18):
yeah, that's right.
That's right
If you can spend a day out on BotanyBay having a fish with anybody on the
planet, this could be a family memberor it could be a, I don't know, high
profile fisho or sportsman, anyone youlike really, but somebody you'd like
to spend a day fishing with, castinglures at a few mulloway and just chewing
the fat and having a good day out.
Who would that be?

(11:39):
Oh gee, I've Got a couple of answers.
My, my first thoughtwas probably Rex Hunt.
I had Rex Hunt's FishingWorld at my house.
That book growing up as a kidand I used to read that a lot
and that got me pretty excited.
But
Yes.
I'd probably really, to be honest,have to say my dad because he's
famously a pretty average fisherman.

(12:01):
He still hasn't learned how to put aplastic on properly after all these years.
And, but.
The thought of getting him onto areally good fish is pretty exciting.
So
Yep.
Yep.
Yep.
Awesome stuff.
Nothing better than a fatherand son, father and daughter
getting out in the water together.
That's awesome.
And building, building that bond andhaving a great time catching a few fish.

(12:23):
Very true.
All right, mate.
Last of these, gettingto know your questions.
Are we going to really startgetting stuck into how you go about
catching Mulloway in Botany Bay?
Mate, I want you to tell us a storyof your favorite memory of catching
a Mulloway in Botany Bay on a lure.
And I want you to relate it to us ina way that we feel like we're standing
on the bank, watching it all unfold.

(12:44):
Okay.
Yeah.
I'd probably have to go themost recent, really big Mulloway
I caught which is my PB.
I was at my local favoritespot at Botany Bay in a howling
southerly at night all by myself.
And I was lucky enough tocatch a 129 centimeter one

(13:07):
Yikes.
On 12 pound line, which was a bit,
Nice.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well done.
But yeah, it was like areally long fight and.
I had to walk out into the water,which was past chest deep and
in the pitch black to land withthe water coming into my waders.
And yeah I'm sure, the feeling of

(13:27):
I
the moment I grabbed it, when yourlegs start shaking and yeah, I
think that's something I'll neverforget for the rest of my life.
Cold and wet, waders full ofwater, big smile from ear to ear.
I can tell you I didn't feel the cold.
No, that's right.
That's right.
129 centimetres, mate.
That's a fantastic fish andgreat effort on 12 pound line.

(13:48):
So well done.
How frequently do you pullmetre plus fish out of Botany
Oh not very, to be honest.
A lot of Yeah, very rarely, but I do,yeah, 80cm plus, we've caught a few
yeah it's not something that occurs,but I do put a lot of hours into
it there's, the thing with Mullowayfishing, I think there's still so much

(14:09):
I have yet to figure out, but that'sthe beauty of it, you just keep getting
little hints and little clues and I'vedefinitely gotten more consistent.
So it's just that little bitof improvements that keep
you going over the years.
And
Yeah it's incremental.
And it comes with spendingtime on the water.
As you said, I love that you mentionedthat you don't always catch meter plus

(14:30):
fish, and this is the thing that, a lotof people, they see the Instagram pages,
they see the Facebook pages, they see theYouTube channels, they see the TV shows.
And I think that you go out thereevery time and catch these fish,
but they don't understand thatthere's kind of two phases here.
One is.
Learning how to catchthem in the first place.
Then the other is perfecting thatand increasing your strike rate and

(14:51):
putting in the hours and a lot ofMulloway fishermen spent a lot of
hours out on the water between fish.
And how often.
Would you have a donut a day whenyou're out chasing the mullies?
Oh, definitely.
It hap, it happens quitea lot to be honest.
Yeah, like less and less,but Yeah, they're just,
sorry, I've just had a mental blank.

(15:12):
We'll have to
That's right.
do you want to ask me the question?
So I love that you mentioned, that it'snot always about catching meter plus
Mulloway every time you go out and youdo have to work for them because a lot
of people see the Instagram, they see theFacebook and they see the YouTube, not
just yours, but other people's as well.
And they just assume that every time yougo out, you're going to catch a meter.
And every time you go out, you're goingto catch a bucket load of Mulloway,

(15:34):
but that's not the way it works.
Not at all.
Yeah, I regularly have doughnutsand although they've gotten less
and less as the years have gone on.
Yeah, I, there's still a very trickyspecies to nut down and I don't
consider myself an expert by any means.
And yeah I've a long way togo to get to the level of some

(15:57):
Mulloway fishermen out there.
But yeah, that, that's all the fun of it.
I it sounds weird, but I like it when ittakes a long time to catch a good fish.
Say if I have five nights in a row out inthe cold doughnutting, it ups the stakes.
And then when you finally do land a goodone, it just, the reward's even bigger.

(16:19):
Sweeter Yep.
Yep.
I totally understand that, mate.
I know exactly where you're comingfrom, but I guess the point I'd make
is, if you're not the sort of personthat is willing to put in those hours,
if you're not the sort of personthat's happy to go out and have a few
fishless trips between fish, you thenmaybe target a species that's more
consistent, but there's plenty of otherspecies around that you can target.

(16:40):
That's definitely good advice.
I think.
but if you really want that rewardof catching Mulloway on lures and
getting more and more consistent,as you say, now it gets easier.
It's not, doesn't come as easilyas some other species, but it does.
Definitely get easier.
Yeah, you've got to earn that.
It's not one of thosethings that just happens.
So really enjoyed, yousharing that with us, Tom.

(17:02):
So that's fantastic, but let'smove on and have a bit of a chat
about how you go about targetingMulloway in this system, right?
So let's start by perhaps gettingyou to tell us something that you've
learned over the last four or fiveyears that you've been chasing them.
But maybe the average angler whogoes out for the first time or maybe
he's only been out half a dozen timeschasing Mulloway might not know.

(17:25):
Yeah.
I think with Mulloway and BotanyBay Botany Bay is such a pressured
system, what I've learned.
Is that it really pays off to getinto those less accessed areas.
And it's a bit of a challengeland based, but yeah just maybe
walking the extra distance or goingsomewhere that not a whole lot

(17:47):
of people fish pays off big time.
And Yeah that, that's why I was sayingbefore with waiters it unlocks a lot of
land based spots like drop offs and allthat, that a lot of people don't go to.
Yep.
yeah, I guess the other thing as well isYou can catch them in any type of water.
On I don't really fishdeep holes very often.

(18:10):
I'm mostly getting my mullowayin very shallow water.
Yep.
couple of meters.
A couple of meters max,sometimes one meter.
Yeah, it's, it moredepends on the conditions.
But yeah the thing I've learned that'shelped the most is paying attention to
Rainfall, wind and moon phases, I think.
Yeah.
Yep.
Yep.
Nice.

(18:31):
That's a really good segue into the nextquestion that I was going to ask you.
In fact, it's a good segue into the nexttwo questions I was going to ask you
because, The first one was going to beall about the types of structures and
the next one was going to be about theconditions that lend themselves to bite.
So let's start with those structures.
You've mentioned you don'tnecessarily need deep water.
And this is something we hear a lot from.
From keen Mulloway fishersis that these fish come into

(18:55):
quite shallow water to feed.
They feed on whiting, they feed on mullet,they feed on bream, they feed on luderick.
Those are species that quiteoften are found in shallow water.
And so that's what, if you find aMulloway in shallow waters, more
than likely, it's there to feedand Mulloway in deeper water, maybe
feeding, or it might just be resting up.
So tell us about, and I don't wantspecific spots here, because as

(19:15):
you said, Botany Bay is a pressuredfishery, but tell us about the
kinds of structure you look for.
What, if you were looking at a patchof water, either you're standing on the
bank, having a look or perhaps lookingon Google earth or whatever, and trying
to plan a trip, what would you belooking for that would tell you this is
a likely spot to go and give it a crack?
Yeah, I always look fordrop offs on sandbanks.

(19:37):
I look at areas where I think baitwill be pushed and if there's an access
point where you can walk out to a dropoff into from about one meter to a
couple of meters, then that to me saysyeah, there could be Mulloway there.
Given the right
Okay.
And in terms of, so it's mostlyabout drop off some water depths.

(20:00):
There's not really anything about thestructure, reef, weed, anything like
that, or water currents, you look for
See yeah, definitely somewhere with abit of current flowing through is ideal.
But, I, because I fish so light sortof 10 pound line, 12 pound line I
prefer there's not heavy structurearound because yeah it just adds

(20:24):
to the challenge of learning them.
But yeah, I love fishingsandbanks, I guess is the, is
the main sort of structure.
Okay.
Yeah.
This is not a species that typically isgoing to dive into a reef and brick you,
you're talking, know, your recent catch ameter 29 fish, if that's pulling a lot of
line out and there's a bit of rock there,there's a great opportunity for that

(20:45):
line to touch the rock and it's all over.
Oh, look it's happenedplenty of times before to me.
Yep.
I'd imagine that would be the case.
Anything else we need to knowabout picking a spot, mate?
If we were for somebody who's not donethis style of fishing before, let's
imagine, we're looking at Google earth.
Is there anything that we should belooking at there other than the drop offs?
Yeah, I would start, yeah, placesthat a lot of current pushes past it.

(21:09):
Definitely it's worth looking at somedeeper water fishing them with heavier jig
heads and vibes and those sorts of lures.
But yeah, saying that though, itjust continues to amaze me all the
different spots Mulloway pop up.
In fact, some of my most consistent spots.
Mulloway spots, I'd fish forquite a while before realizing

(21:31):
that you could get them there.
And they're not really atypical on paper Mulloway spot.
It's, they keep breaking the rules for me.
I'd say go into looking at spotswith an open mind and knowing that
you probably can catch Mulloway.
in most spots in an estuary.
So it's more about what the conditionsare that you can catch them in.

(21:54):
Yep.
Yeah.
And I can totally relate to that.
I remember as a uni student, we usedto fish for them off the beaches.
And and for a long time we werelooking for channels and deep holes
and, we're looking for the right kindsof beach structure, but we have one
guy who, he was just a gun and he wasconsistently catching 25 kilo fish.
And and we couldn't figure outwhere he was getting them until

(22:17):
eventually we sprung him one nightfishing off the main beach, the
main swimming beach in town, which.
Wouldn't have ever been morethan about three feet deep, but
always had mullet all over it.
And so we'd always overlookedthat because it wasn't deep water.
And that was the firstplace he was going to.
And of course we never saw him outfishing because we were in different
places looking for the deep water.
Yeah, I totally relateto what you're saying.

(22:38):
I think there's some great advicehere for anyone who's thinking about
having a go nowhere is off limits.
These fish will move into shallow water.
They'll move into deep water.
They'll, they'll get around structure.
They'll work those drop offs.
Anywhere there's bait,they're going to be there.
So as you say, approach with anopen mind, throw the right lures
and look for the right conditions.
So let's move on to exactly that.
Let's have a talk aboutthose conditions, mate.

(22:59):
If I was to, if I was to turn up atyour place and say, Hey, Tom, let's
go out and chase a botany bay mullowaywhat conditions would you be hoping
for in terms of tides and windsand, water temperatures and all that
kind of stuff, what are the sort ofprime conditions for mullet fishing?
Yeah.
I think it's no secret that Botany Bayfishes best after a big dump of rain.

(23:22):
I don't know whether they get flushedout of the systems and Induces spawning
or whatnot, but yeah I tend to dobest when the water is not so clear.
And It's interesting in terms of winds andtides, each spot in Botany Bay is a bit
different, so my best advice would be tostart keeping track, I think every spot

(23:45):
in Botany Bay has it's good, has it's besttide, has it's best wind, so yeah as best
as keep track of when you're seeing them.
But I, my favorite conditionsare pretty much the most
miserable conditions to fish in.
I like a howling southerly anda lot of rain and dirty water.

(24:09):
Yeah.
and especially this time of year.
I always do best with Mulloway aroundanywhere from April to August, really.
Yeah, definitely the colder months.
Yep.
yeah, in terms of the tides I havecaught them on all different tides, but
I'd have to say probably the, the bighigh tides that come around are full

(24:35):
moon or a new moon when they're pushinginto areas they wouldn't otherwise.
And also around the slacktide of the low and the first
hour of the run, running tide.
Okay.
yeah they're the tides thatI do the best with Mulloway.
saying that, I've caught himright bang smack in the middle

(24:58):
of a tide, so who knows.
Heh.
That's a great point because, and Ilove that you raised, you can catch
them on any tide and that some placeswill fish better on some tides.
And I've told this story before,but I'll tell it again for
those who haven't heard it.
When I first started fishingfor snapper in Moreton Bay.
When I first moved to the Brisbanearea, I'd go out and I'd talk to some of

(25:18):
the locals who really knew the snapperfishing and some of them would say
you've got to fish on the incoming tideand others would say always fish on the
run out tide and others would say fishon the slack tide and they were all
accomplished anglers who were catchingplenty of snapper and it turned out
they're all just fishing different spotsright and so the fish were moving around.
And depending on which spot you fish,yeah, there was a good tide But these

(25:39):
guys each had one piece of the puzzle.
If they put all the pieces together,they couldn't fish on any tide.
But it took a fair bit of sorting out.
Yeah, I think the I think the big lessonthere is if you think you're gonna
catch fish, then you probably will.
Because you're a bit more dialedin, you're being a bit slower
with your retrieves, takinga bit more time each cast.

(26:01):
And that's a great point because,if we're out and we think, Oh, I'm
going to go out and have a fish.
Tide's not great.
Yeah.
Condition's not great.
Not really fishing in the right spot.
Wind's not great.
You in your own mind, you'vealready decided you're probably
not going to catch a fish.
And so you're a little bit half hearted.
You don't work the lures as well.
You're not as paying the attention thatyou should and all that kind of stuff.
Whereas if you go out with the attitude,I can catch a fish here anytime, any

(26:23):
tide, then you're going to be on point.
You're going to be ready to hit thosefish and really looking for opportunities.
So true,
Good, good.
All right.
Let's I think that's given usa pretty good starting point.
So we know in terms of thestructure what to look for.
We know in terms of the conditions.
So I love again dirty water.

(26:43):
That's that's a common Mulloway thing.
But once again let me.
Confirm with you tell me if I'mwrong, but again, you can still
catch fish right through the summer.
But winter time, they're probably a littlebit more active, a little bit less spooky,
they're going to be coming out of thoseflats in the dirty water, chasing the
mullet and prawns and stuff that havebeen washed out of the river systems.
And so they're just a bit moreactive at this time of year.

(27:04):
Is that, am I right in saying that?
absolutely.
This time of year suits my style offishing the best, but yeah, you can
catch them all the way anytime of year.
And yeah, I think once you're limitingyourself to one idea of when to catch
them, that's when, you stop puttingin the hours, but really they're
species that if you're just puttinga lot of hours on in the water you'll

(27:27):
slowly start to figure them out and.
You can catch them all year round.
The downside to a fish that can be caught.
On any tide, but you've got to fishdifferent locations or different
ways is you got to figure out allthose tides in those locations.
The upside is once you've got it figuredout then you can fish any time and
have a good chance of catching a fish.
Now, daytime versus nighttime, mate, youmentioned that your recent capture, the

(27:50):
PB 129 centimetres, That was at night.
How often do you fish during the day?
Oh, look, I mostly fishduring the day actually.
And I've caught plenty of Mullowayright in the middle of the day.
I remember one time me andmy fishing buddy, Andy.
We're fishing over Kernel areathis was years ago now, and we had

(28:12):
this magical session where we justcaught mulloway after mulloway
and that was bang on midday.
So yeah it really, yeah, it more dependson the tide, I think they definitely
feed during the day and at night, butyeah, as of late, I've definitely gotten
into night fishing a little bit more.
Any reason for that?

(28:33):
Not particularly, I don't think.
Just the way it's worked
yeah, I think, with daylight save daylightsavings ended and if you're working, you
don't have as much time to fish after.
So yeah, I've had to push my sessionsinto the night a little bit, but I've
found they've been really productive
Yeah.
Good.
Good.
I love fishing at night and doquite a bit of it, but particularly

(28:53):
up here during the summertime.
And that's all about being out in thecooler part of the day and and being
out when there's less people in thewater as well, but I'm not sure I'd be
fishing as much at night down South,but I think the colder get to be.
yeah, it's it can be abit sketchy at night.
Wading in the water when you're waistdeep and it's pitch black and it's

(29:15):
freezing cold, but I don't know.
So it's all part of the fun.
I think
Yeah.
you don't feel the cold when you get one.
No, that's absolutely right.
Yep.
Yep.
All right.
So what I'd like to do now, mate, isjust take a little bit of a deviation
and talk a little bit about tackle.
And I'm interested because you've alreadymentioned a couple of times you're fishing

(29:36):
10 to 12 pound sort of line classes.
So can you run us through for somebodywho maybe is looking to gear up to
target some Botany Bay Mulloway shorebased, can you run us through the gear
that you use in terms of rod, reel,line and leader, so the basic combo?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, most of the time I targetmulloway I'm just running a two to

(29:57):
four kilo or three to six kilo rod.
I've got a Shimano X Pride at themoment, which is just a great rod.
I really love bit stiffer rods.
I just find them great.
I don't know, it can go a long wayif you hook a slightly bigger one
but yeah, really light gear a twoand a half thousand reel spooled
with, eight pound, ten pound braid.

(30:20):
For me that's all I've reallyneeded Obviously if you're
fishing in heavy structure, thenI'd recommend going up a lot.
But yeah yeah, keep it light becauseyou'll get a lot more bites and yeah,
as you said before, they're not reallythe kind of fish to, they're not like
kingfish where they'll just aim for abit of structure and try and dust you.

(30:43):
But yeah, I think there's somethingrewarding as well about landing
a really good fish on light gear.
So that sort of adds to the challenge.
Yeah, absolutely.
And also, as we've already said,expect a lot of time and a lot
of casts, a lot of time spent outof the water chasing these fish.
That gets pretty tiresome if you'reusing heavy gear, if you've got light

(31:05):
gear and you can cast all day, itDoesn't bother you, doesn't wear you
out, doesn't get heavy in your hand,and so you don't feel inclined to
give in because the rod's too heavy.
So that's the other thing.
Also, you can cast with that sort ofgear, you can cast a fairly light lure
in a wind and you can cast it over thehorizon, go a long way on that gear.
I'm not sure if that's important whenyou're fishing for Mulloway or not.

(31:26):
Yeah, definitely covering abit of ground can really help.
Okay,
yeah, especially like landbased fishing as well.
Yeah, just doing a bit of a gridpattern with your cast, making sure
you're covering plenty of ground.
And I like walking as well.
So I'll always be on the movewhen I'm land based fishing.
I don't really, grindit out in the one spot.

(31:47):
Like I know some of my friends thatI fish with more into that, but
yeah, I like to walk around a bit,but yeah, in terms of Gear as well.
. Actually, I already answered that bit.
Sorry.
Sorry, Greg.
We'll have to
That's fine.
No, that's all good.
So tell us about leaders mate becausethat's the kind of missing piece of
the puzzle when it comes to tackle.
So we've got to add a 10 to 12 bandline and also the length of the rod.

(32:11):
What sort of length is your rod?
Yeah.
I'll start with leader Yeah,probably 10 pound, 12 pound or 14
pound fluorocarbon leader is what Iwould use for It depends if you're
throwing bigger profiles as well.
That's when I'd use 12 or 14.
But if I'm throwing sort of3 inch plastics and stuff,

(32:32):
I'd go down to, 6, 8 or 10.
Yeah yeah I use FC rock leader mostly,which is a fluorocarbon leader, which I,
Yes.
it's a little bit more expensive.
But, I rate it pretty highly.
I got a, got teased by all my fishingbuddies for being really loyal
to Jarvis Walker mono for yearsand years as my leader of choice.

(32:57):
But I've finally moved on from that, butI still think it's pretty good leader So
doesn't really matter, does it?
I think it's quite often we get a bitpretentious about some of the gear
that we use or people, recommend aparticular thing because they think
it's the ants pants, but others dojust as well with something else,
if it works for you, that's fine.

(33:18):
And I've recently.
Put it, put a couple of spools ofSchneider line, for leader And I've
been using fluorocarbon for a long time.
I got mono there for certain thingsas well, but every now and then
I switch over to the Schneiderjust for its abrasion resistance.
So mate if it works foryou, it works for you.
And that's that's all that matters.
But I'm.

(33:39):
Appreciate you giving us kind of anidea of that sort of weight range of
leaders that you're using as well.
Cause it's quite light.
A lot of people would assume, particularlyNortherners like myself, we'd start at 40,
50 pound leader fishing for barra up here.
Yeah, going down 10, 12 poundor less, yeah, that, that would
be very light for us, but it'sperfectly adequate for a Mulloway

(33:59):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yep.
You
And allows those lures to work better.
Yeah, that's right.
Yep.
Yeah, I think yeah getting a lightrod so you can get a nice action
on your lure goes a long way.
I usually fish with 7 foot, 7 foot rods.
but yeah I think, yeah, casting distancecounts a lot when fishing for Mulloway

(34:22):
land based but yeah, also somethinglight enough to get, be able to control
your plastic really well, especiallyif you're fishing with light jig heads.
You want to be able to feel what'sgoing on at the other end of that line.
Definitely, because sometimes aMulloway bite can be extremely subtle.
And yeah, that's why fishing withbraid and Keeping your line taut

(34:46):
the whole time much as possible.
So you really feel any really subtle bite.
Because some of the biggestMulloway I've caught have been
from the tiniest feeling bites.
And if I didn't set the hook,then, I might have missed them.
That's a great tip right there.
So anyone who's listening in, ifyou've got a pen and paper handy,
write that one down, otherwise comeback and listen to this episode again.

(35:09):
But that's a great tip.
Cause like a lot of people miss a lotof fish cause they're just not quite,
they haven't figured out that justbecause it might be a very subtle
little peck on the line or twitch in theleader, yeah, it can still be a large
fish.
yeah, absolutely.
And sometimes another tip I would sayis sometimes a slightly, depending on
the water you're fishing, a slightlyheavier jighead can actually help

(35:33):
you keep that line a bit tighterso you're ready to set the hook.
Especially if you're fishing in a bitof current or something like that.
So yeah, it's about
So that's it.
for the, to suit the conditions.
So
Yeah, the perennial trick is notbalancing the weight of the jighead
as light as possible to get theaction, but then, you go too light,
you're not going to feel the bites.

(35:54):
You're not going to keepthe lure where you want it.
It's not going to get downdeep enough, all that kind of
that's it.
Yep.
Absolutely.
Terrific.
Now speaking of lures, Tom, what Iwant to do next is go through your
top three lures for Mulloway fishing.
Just bear with me a second.
Sorry about
All good.
So speaking of lures, Tom, what I'dlike to do next is go through your

(36:16):
top three lures for Mulloway fishingin Botany Bay and get a bit of a
rundown on how to fish each of them.
But before we do that, I've got abunch of guys and girls who support
the Australian Lure Fishing Podcast byjoining my Team Doc Lures membership.
And for those guys, I often ask afew extra questions, a little bit
of extra meat around them that mighthelp them get a little bit of an edge,

(36:37):
you you're happy to reward my TeamDoc Lures members with a few extra
Absolutely.
Of course.
Fantastic.
Appreciate that mate.
So what I would like to talk about forthis this next couple of questions is a
little bit about the difference betweentargeting Mulloway land based The majority
of anglers who I talk to are fishingfor them out of a boat or a kayak,

(36:57):
certainly in bays and estuaries, that'soften the case, not so much off beaches
and headlands and that kind of stuff.
But I want to talk aboutthat land based aspect.
I want to talk about it, especially inthe context of highly pressured waterway.
And I also would just like toget into your strategy now.
I know you've been fishing for the lastfour or five years, for mulloway, and

(37:18):
you've actually made a concerted effortto figure out how to catch these fish.
And so I want to talk a little bit abouthow you've gone about that, because this
could apply to anybody whether it's.
flathead or, kingfish orsnapper or up north here could
be jacks or it could be barra.
If you really want to catch a species,you need to put in the time and the
effort to figure them out and goout and put the time in and actually

(37:40):
figure out how to catch those fish.
So I want to talk a little bit about that.
So let's start with the landbased fishing aspect, mate.
We've talked a little bitalready about waders and getting
that advantage of wading out.
The majority of people not doing that.
So that allows you to.
Reach areas that perhaps averageanglers are not reaching.
What else do we need to knowabout land based fishing, mate?
How does it differ?
Folks, as I said at the beginning,this is an ALF Plus episode.

(38:01):
So Team Doc Lures members,why are you listening to this?
Team Doc Lures members shouldbe getting the extended edition.
You should be getting the private feed.
Where you won't get this ad, you'll getan extra 10 or 15 minutes of conversation
with Tom where we go in a great detailabout some elements of Fishing 4 Mulloway
Land Base that you might need to know.
Things to understand about wind, abouttides, about moons, and about fishing

(38:23):
from the shore for Mulloway specifically.
All of that, of course, is in theALF plus edition, which my Team Doc
Lures members are enjoying right now.
So if you're not a member and youwould like to expand your fishing
horizons, then why not support theAustralian Lure Fishing Podcast?
It'll cost you about $2.50 a week.
You get access to audio masterclasses,live streams, online resources, and of

(38:45):
course the Soft Plastic Lures Bootcampthat's launching on the 1st of August.
So you want to be partof that to get involved.
It's team.
doclures.com.
Once again, T E A M team.
doclures.com.
Go and check it out now.
Otherwise folks, we'll just goback to the public edition of the
Australian lure fishing podcast andfinish up our conversation with Tom.

(39:08):
I love the idea of not letting thefact that it's a busy waterway get
in the way of catching some fish.
Yep.
Yep.
That's it.
Let's welcome back regular listenersto the Australian Lure Fishing
Podcast members of the public.
So we've had a great conversation,some really quality pro level tips
there for anyone who's particularlywanting to go land based fishing
for Mulloway in Botany Bay.

(39:29):
If you want to get aholdof that, definitely.
Consider joining Team Doc Lures.
It'll cost you less than what you pay fora pint of beer at the pub once a month.
But the knowledge that Tom has justshared with us, that'll last a lot
longer than a beer, that'll last youfor a lifetime and put you onto some
good fish, not just in Botany Bay,but other parts of Australia as well.
So definitely consider supportingthe podcast and doing that.
But Tom, now it's time for us to starttalking about the lures that you use.

(39:53):
And I know that Thousands and thousandsof lures that could be used and you
may have a hard time narrowing it down.
But what I'd like you to do is digdeep and give us three particular
lures that we should have with us.
Three lures that I guess would giveyou confidence nine times out of 10
that when you're on the water, one ofthese lures is going to do the trick.
And then we're going to go througheach of those lures one by one and

(40:15):
talk about how to go about fishing themand when to fish them, the conditions
that lend themselves to each lure.
So have you got three in mind?
Funny you say this because I getteased by my fishing buddies for
always using my old faithful Lures.
I do mix it up a bit, but yeah,without a doubt, my number one.
Go to lure is it's a soft plasticand it's the squidgy biotuff

(40:37):
fish in a hundred millimeters andspecifically in the natural bait color.
Now, I'm a bit worried about saying thison your podcast because I find it hard
enough to find these at the local fishingstores as it is but look, I, And as I
say, I don't know whether it's, I justalways fish with these lures when I think

(40:58):
that the conditions will be best forMulloway, but I really do well on them.
Yep.
They're just a good, they're a widebait profile, that hundred millimeter
they let out a really good vibration.
They have a great action in the tailand they're really durable as well.
They're not the sort of soft plasticsthat fall apart after a couple of uses.
And they're very, sparkly.

(41:21):
And I think the Mulloway like that.
Yep,
okay, cool, cool, yeah, it's got that,that shiny silvery mullet or whiting
sort of appearance about it, hasn't
yep.
has.
And a good indication.
We say often on the show, elephants eatpeanuts, just because hopefully some,
there's some chance you might hook a meterplus fish doesn't mean you necessarily
have to be using massive lures.

(41:41):
A hundred millimeter lure gives youa pretty good opportunity to pick up
some other species by catch a flatheadand that sort of stuff as well.
Definitely.
And I think with Mulloway as well.
is that sometimes I've had sessionswhere, you're throwing big plastics
the whole time and it, As soon as youdownsize, you start catching them.
They can be a bit fussy with profile.

(42:02):
So yeah, I think it, don't beafraid to throw smaller lures.
Okay.
Cool.
Cool.
All right.
So we've got the we've got the squidgies.
What's, what other luresmate, or is that enough?
Do we just, is that all we need?
No I'll go another soft plastic.
There's quite similar, but it's aninteresting one cause Me and my fishing
buddy Andy have caught a lot of ourPB's on this one three inch soft plastic

(42:28):
and we don't, we're a bit spookedas to why, we don't know why it does
so well, but it's a three inch Z ManSlim Swim in the color watermelon red,
and I, we have no idea, but we've,Andy's caught a 96 centimeter flattie.
I've caught a 94cm flattie on theselittle plastics, and we've also

(42:51):
caught some pretty big Mulloway.
Yeah, I don't know what it is aboutthat colour that sort of turns on
the bigger fish, but yeah, it'ssomething that I always have in my kit
that I'm ready to throw, especiallywhen the bite's a bit slower.
Yeah,
Sometimes we don't have to knowwhy we just need to know it works.
exactly.
Yeah, that's very true.

(43:15):
All right.
And do you have a third one, mate?
Yeah, I think Zerek fishtrap can go a long way.
They're a soft vibe.
Especially in the smaller sizes.
Something that gives off a vibration.
There's a particular color I really like.
This fluoro yellow color that,Yeah, sometimes, especially
when you're fishing drop offs.
And there's a bit of current moving.

(43:36):
A soft vibe can be really productivegetting to the bottom, yeah.
So as promised, mate, what I'dlike to do is just walk back
through those three lure choices.
So you've got the squidgy paddle tail.
You've got this, the Z Man SlimSwim, you've got the Zerek Fish Trap.
And I want to talk about for thefirst two in particular, because
obviously they're lures that.

(43:57):
come unrigged.
So let's have a quick chat about jigheads and hooks and that kind of stuff.
In terms of hook sizes and theweight range that you might
use in terms of jig heads whatwould you normally rig those on?
Yeah in terms of jigheads I'd liketo fish, it really depends the
depth of water you're fishing in.
You want it to Get towards the bottomwhen you're fishing with Mulloway.

(44:18):
So I tend to fish weight classes sortof 1/6, 1/8 in slightly shallower water,
1/12 or even slightly deeper water,1/4, but that's about as heavy as I go.
And I think it pays off touse a slightly bigger hook.
Yeah, so your 2/0s because I thinkthe slightly bigger hook, if you,

(44:44):
because we're using such light gear,I think they keep the line a bit
further away from the danger zone.
And I think you probably have aBetter chance of landing a good fish.
And I think the other thing with withMulloway, they in some ways are a bit
like barra, they tend to wolf a bait.
They've got a fairly big cavernous mouth.

(45:05):
That's an implosion feedingsort of a mechanism.
And so if you've got a four inch lureand it's got just a single hook in it.
Once it's inside that big cavernous mouth,there's a good chance it might come out
again without actually finding its mark.
So the bigger the hook and themore clearance it's got from the
plastic, the better your chancesof getting a solid hook set.
definitely.
Yep.
And I will say as well with thejig heads, I like to use the the

(45:27):
slightly thicker hooks as well.
I remember years ago I was fishing oneof our favorite drop offs and I had a
really big mullow way on for about 15minutes and the water was pretty brown.
And as it got to my feet, I liftedup, I could see my leader knot and

(45:47):
the hook strained and I never gotto see the fish and it was from that
moment on I stopped using thin hooks.
Yes.
yep,
Harsh lesson, one you won't forget.
slightly traumatized but yep, it'simportant to lose some fish to
Yeah, that's right.
That's right.
Yep.
Yep.

(46:07):
Yep.
Yep.
When you're starting to push theenvelope a little bit too much, if
you start losing too many fish andyou just pull it back a little bit,
definitely, yep.
So mate, let's have a talk aboutwe'll start with the two paddle tails.
Cause I imagine, the squidgyhas got a bigger, flatter tail.
The Slim Swim's got a smaller tail.
So yeah, slightly different vibrations,perhaps different working speeds.
But I'd imagine you're going touse those almost interchangeably,

(46:30):
would I be right in saying that?
Okay.
Yeah, just depending onthe bite and the water.
Yeah, it might if I'm really confidentthat there's going to be Mulloway around,
if it's prime time, those prime conditionsI was talking about before, a couple of
days before a full moon and the windsare right and the water quality is good.
Yeah, then I'd be throwingsort of bigger plastics.

(46:53):
But yeah, other than that I'd optfor the smaller ones for sure.
So walk us through your strategy.
You just fanning out casts andthen moving you, do you work
the lure in different ways?
Do you have a kind of, I'm going to dofive casts of a, I'm going to slow roll
it back and five casts where I'm goingto hop and drop or, what's your strategy

(47:16):
when you're fishing the soft plastics?
Oh, look, nothing too fancy.
Probably what a lot of other anglers do.
Yeah, I'm a big fan of thebig hops off the bottom.
I think Mulloway fishing, probablymore accentuated hops because they can
fish slightly higher up in the column.
I think that's why it paysoff doing bigger hops.

(47:39):
But yeah, just letting a lot of,as, as much sink time as you can.
A lot of the time Mullowaywill hit on the drop
Yes.
I think it's about alwaysbeing ready for a hit.
Yeah never assume the hit isn't gonnacome because you'll probably miss it.

(47:59):
Yeah, a lot of the timethey hit on the drop.
And I've watched, relativenewcomers to this style of fishing.
Not just for Mulloway, but for otherspecies as well, where they're working the
lure back and they're paying attention asthey lift the lure up and then they're not
fully on the ball as the lure is droppingback down, they're not ready to strike.
And if you think that, 80 or 90 percent ofyour fish come on the drop, you're missing

(48:19):
80 or 90 percent of your bites, not evenrealising that you're getting bites if
you're not paying attention on that drop.
So it's a hundred percent,attention, a hundred percent
concentration on what's going onat your lure the whole time, right?
Yep.
That's it.
How many casts do you put into the spotbefore you move on to the next spot?
It really depends on myconfidence on the day.

(48:42):
If I'm feeling like it's likely thatthey'll be there, I will grind it
out and put in a lot of casts overmany hours in a pretty small zone.
But, saying that though I'll probablydo no more than 20 casts before I move,
walk 10 meters or something like that.
Start again.
Yep.

(49:02):
Yep.
I am always a little biton the move, but yeah.
How often do you, do that sort ofhalf a dozen times and then jump in
the car and move to another spot?
Oh, that, that's pretty rare.
I like to grind it out at spots.
I think if I'm confident at one spot?
Yeah, I don't know.
Sometimes though, yeah, I think itcan pay off to drive around and try

(49:27):
a complete change?
Yep.
But then, the problem with thatis you're always thinking you
made a mistake and it turned on
Yes.
spot.
Yeah,
Yeah.
angler's curse, I think.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yep.
We all know it.
All right.
Very good.
Anything else we needto know about fishing?
Those soft plastics, mate.
Yeah, I think Yeah, just slower is better,

(49:50):
Okay.
I think don't rush your retrieve, andalso try different things try prawn
plastics especially around the new moontry big curly tails, don't get locked
into one thing, I know I sound like abit of a hypocrite saying that A lot of
my fishing buddies will agree with it.
Yeah, mix it up.
Don't be afraid to use small plastics.

(50:11):
And
cool.
All right.
Like I want to finish up talkingabout lures by just addressing
that Zerek fish trap, whichobviously, it's a different lure.
It they tend to have afairly fast sink rate.
Even you talking to the smallersizes, which I think there's
a 60 from memory, is that?
Is
Yeah.
I think it's The 60 I use.

(50:32):
Yeah.
And I've caught plenty of prettydecent sized fish on them.
So yeah, I think it's the vibration.
that works really well for these luresand especially when you're fishing,
So, like slightly deeper water.
I wouldn't fish themin very shallow water.
Yeah, I'd definitely go to myplastics and hard bodies for that.

(50:53):
But yeah, when you're fishing inthree meters of water and there's
a bit of current running pastfish traps can work really well.
yep, they certainly get down to depth.
I think, most of the boat and kayakguys, this is the lure they use
for teabagging fish around bridgepylons or not necessarily the fish
trap, but a soft vibe of some sort.
And it's a common lure to beused around deeper drop offs.

(51:16):
So it's five, six, seven, eightmetre drop offs as well around
Sydney Harbour and further north.
Very common lure and very popularwith the Mulloway, but I suspect
used less by land based anglersthan perhaps they should be.
So yeah this idea of fishing them inthree meters of water and fishing them
more horizontally rather than verticallyis it's really interesting to me.
So in terms of the action,mate, how do you work them?

(51:37):
Yeah, it is very different to plastics.
It's you're definitely moving yourrod tip up on a lot more vertically
Than you would with a plastic whereit's a bit of a side action But
yeah, you really because you're notdirectly over the vibes you want to be.
Yeah, lifting your rod tipup above your head rather.

(52:00):
Yep, and then I think they definitelyswim better when you do that.
And so you feel that as thevibe works and then you let it
drop and then you do it again.
Is that right?
That's it.
Yep.
And the bite, let meguess, comes on the drop.
Most of the time.
Yep.
I would imagine if it's coming on the onthe lift, you're going to get a pretty

(52:23):
solid hook set anyway, and it's going tobe a reasonably aggressive bite, isn't it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's pretty fun when that happens.
So watch out for those,but also watch that line.
Look for any sign as the lure is droppingback down that it's getting snaffled
by a mulloway And one of the greatthings about the fish traps, of course,
is they do work on the drop as well.
So there are some soft vibes out therethat work really nicely as you're lifting

(52:46):
them up and they vibrate beautifully,but then as they drop back down,
they just sink like a stone or worse.
They spiral down the fishtraps work in both directions.
Just because you can't feel it, youcan't see it, just keep an eye on
that line, be ready to hit the liftthe rod and and wind hard to set
those hooks if it does get taken.
Yep.
Yep.
Excellent stuff, mate.

(53:07):
Last question on the lures and then we'vegot one final question to bring us home.
Do you use scent at all on your lures?
I do.
I do.
I think when the bite's really slow,
Even if it doesn't necessarily work,it definitely gives me confidence
knowing there's scent on the lure.
But, yeah, there's definitely beentimes where I've put a bit of S

(53:30):
Factor on and especially when you'regetting very timid bites, it makes
the session a bit more productive.
Yeah, I would recommend using scent.
All right, mate.
Now, once again, folks, remember thatthere is a members only version of this
podcast episode with a whole bunch ofextra hot tips in there, particularly

(53:51):
for those who are fishing Botany Bayland based and that's available over
at Team Doc Lures, and there's also aset of show notes that are available to
everybody there over at doclures.com.
I think this is episode674 or something like that.
So if you zap over to doclures.comand you either type Munro MU NRO into
the search bar or you type in 674either way that should bring up the

(54:14):
show notes will be an mp3 you candownload a pdf you can download and
a whole bunch of interesting stuff.
I've got some really good articles on thewebsite as well for those who fish Botany
Bay about Botany Bay fishing spots and.
All sorts of stuff.
We've had a number of episodes,although I think this is the
first one we've had specificallyaddressing Mulloway and Botany Bay.
So I really appreciate youcoming on board for that, mate.

(54:34):
So that's all, as I say,available over at doclures.com.
Go and check it out.
And there's some tackle cheatsheets and all sorts of stuff there
that will help you out as well.
So Tom, this has been abrilliant conversation.
I knew it was going tobe a great conversation.
I knew I was going to enjoy it immensely.
And our listeners, I knowwill enjoy it as well.
But it is time to wrap it up nowand bring the conversation home.
What I'd like to do, and this issomething that happens a lot, as

(54:57):
we've already discussed when you'reMulloway fishing is that you have.
Tough bite sometimes, you can grindit out and not be catching any fish.
I want you to give us a couple of tips forthose days when it is a bit tough, mate.
What do you do?
What things do you change up?
What tactics can you try?
Apart from changing lures,you've already said cycle through
a few different lure styles.
What else can we do if the fish are notplaying ball and we just want to try

(55:17):
and somehow or other incite that bite?
Oh, yeah, I definitely think The mostimportant thing to do on those days is
one, not get in your car and drive home.
Yes.
But
Don't catch fish from the
couch.
yep, persist through the pain becauseyou never know when it's going to happen.
And I think, yeah, lighten up,just smaller jig head, smaller

(55:41):
profile, tie on some smaller leaderand slow down your whole retrieve.
Finesse it out.
Yep.
Yep.
and douse your lure scent.
And I think those things alone can goa long way and I'm enticing a bite.
So
Terrific stuff.
Hey, Tom, like I said, it hasbeen an absolutely brilliant chat.

(56:02):
I know tons of people are goingto appreciate you coming on board.
Where can we find you on the online,my social media, that sort of stuff.
Oh, so I've got an Instagram calledtom_catches_fish with underscores.
So that's where I post all my photosAnd yeah, that's where to find me.
And people can contact you there.
So folks, we will put a link.

(56:23):
So if you can't remember tom_catches_fishwith underscores, you can always go to
DocLures.com and click straight through.
Tom, fantastic, a great conversation,tons and tons of great shit great ships.
I was going to say great tips have beenshared and we really appreciate that.
So thank you so much for being sogenerous with your time and with your
knowledge, and we look forward toseeing you out on the water sometime.

(56:46):
Thanks so much for having me, Greg.
I really enjoyed it.
Thanks for listening to theAustralian Lure Fishing Podcast.
For free show notes, downloads,tools and resources, please
visit our website on docklures.
com or consider supporting theshow by joining Team Doc Lures
to receive exclusive members onlyepisodes, tools and resources.

(57:07):
But for now, tight lines andmay the fish be with you.