Fishing Australia

Hi all,

Here is a bit of a sneak peek at something I have been up to...

I recently headed to Exmouth in Western Australia for one of the biggest angling challenges I have ever had to date: fly fishing the tropics from a Kayak.

Long time followers of my reports and columns will know that I was a fly fishing guide for near on a decade and also love my kayaking so I am comfortable doing either, but to combine the two amongst the current and bomies at Ningaloo Reef was something else.

The challenge was made a lot easier due to the fact that the craft I was testing, the new Hobie Pro Angler, is designed to be stable enough to stand up on.

Never the less when you hook a rampaging golden trevally on a 9 weight fly rod things are always going to get hectic, but at least I had more speed than an electric motor to chase the fish down- phew what a blast.

Other anglers are putting new age kayaks to the test around the world and it is without question the biggest growing aspect of fishing thanks to the innovations being made. However, while the Americans lead the way with products, us Aussies are giving them a run for their money with the type of places and fish we are tackling.

Interestingly enough while I was away the Pro Angler scooped up a number of awards including the “Best of Show” at the prestigious ICAST convention in the USA where officials described it as a cross between a bass boat and a kayak.

You can catch the first Pro Angler test on Aussie TV as part of Episode 10 of Fishing Australia on the 8th of August, 5 pm Saturdays on WIN and Channel 9, around 2 pm on NBN and 1:30 pm Imparja check your local TV guide for details.

I am proud of the result, hope the rest of you like it.

Rob

PS: In the meantime You can view the visit the ESPN website to view the ICAST hobie video review at: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4334813&categoryid=2999329