Plenty has been said and written about fishing for Murray Cod in Lake Mulwala, but today's guest is far more qualified to dish out the advice than most. Jack Hocking was born and bred in the Mulwala area and grew up learning to fish both the lake and the Murray River downstream of the dam. These days, Jack makes a living as a professional Murray Cod guide, taking clients onto the lake to experience amazing cod fishing first-hand. 

________________ Today's ALF episode is a "PLUS" edition, meaning that Team Doc Lures members are getting a little more help from Jack than the listening public. If you'd like to support the ALF podcast you can get a little extra too - "PLUS" episodes, audio masterclasses, tackle deals, livestreams and more. It costs less than you'd pay for a cup of coffee per week and the value is immense! Check it out at https://team.doclures.com ________________

Show notes for today's episode are available at https://doclures.com/lake-mulwala-murray-cod-jack-hocking

Australia's recently released National Recreational Fishing Survey is a very important body of workthat points to a bright future for fishing in this country.

The survey didn't just poll anglers, it polled 20 thousand regular Australians to quantify fishing participation rates, attitudes to fishing and the economic and wellbeing benefits that fishing brings to our community. Best of all, it shows the overwhelmingly positive impact that fishing has on Australians.

In today's episode I took the opportunity to chat with the top scientist and statistician involved in the survey, Andy Moore, and reflect on the highlights of the findings. 

If you'd like to watch this intervew on video and see the powerpoints that Andy refers too, it's available at this link: https://doclures.com/nrfs-results-andy-moore

Indy is a marine scientist, passionate fisho and project manager for Tuna Champions, a program dedicated to promoting sustainability in recreational tuna fishing. With those credentials she's well qualified to share a few tips with us about how we can go about hooking and landing some quality SBT! So enjoy the conversation and make a few notes as ALF Host Caitlin Berecry-Brooks extracts some great info from Indy.

_______________ Enjoying the ALF Podcast? Please consider joining our team to show your support and help keep the show on air. For less than you'd pay for a cup of coffee per week you can get access to audio masterclasses, "PLUS" episodes, livestreams, online research tools and more. Check it out at https://team.doclures.com  _______________

Full show notes for today's episode are available at https://doclures.com/southern-bluefin-tuna-indy-thompsen/

Bream are one of the most common, though not always the easiest, targets for Australia's lure fishing enthusiasts - and Sydney has plenty to offer those who sling lures at this species. In today's ALF episode resident host Andrew Death chats with Tom Slater, tournament bream fisher and Product Development Manager for Daiwa Australia. The waters around Sydney are Tom's home ground and he definitely has a knack for extracting some quality bream from them. This interview has plenty of tips for the lures Tom like to use and the techniques he's developed for fishing them.

_______________

This is an ALF PLUS episode, so Team Doc Lures members can enjoy listening to some extra pearls of wisdom from Tom that will definitely help move the needle on your bream fishing. There's also Deathy's Big Bream Masterclass series, fishing maps, tackle offers and more available to Team Doc Lures members. Chedk it out at https://team.doclures.com/death

_______________

Full show notes for today's episode are available at: https://doclures.com/sydney-bream-tom-slater

There seems to be a growing snobbery around the topic of lure fishing vs bait fishing. Yep, I gravitate toward lure fishing, but surely there is room for both. 

I'm not sure exactly why that is, but some of the commentary would suggest that elements of the lure fishing fraternity see bait fishing as being an "easy" way to catch fish. And by inference, lure fishing must therefore require more skill and those who catch fish on lures must be better anglers.

I'd argue that bait fishing is easier for beginners to get results, and perhaps there is a greater possibility of "fluking" the occassional trophy fish on bait than on lures (maybe). But in many ways it's easier to catch larger numbers of fish on lures and often better quality fish, too. 

So when the question comes up "why would you fish with lures when you could catch more fish with bait?" I guess the answer has to be "the same reason you fish with bait when you could catch more fish on lures!

_________________ If you're not having the success you'd like on lures, maybe it's time to get involved with Team Doc Lures? You'll find a whole bunch of resources just for lure fishers, including masterclasses, tackle deals and a bunch of other stuff designed to help you catch more fish using lures. Check it out at https://team.doclures.com _________________

Show notes for today's episode are available at : https://doclures.com/myths-lure-vs-bait

Today's ALF episode is great news for the tens of thousands of anglers across Australia's north who don't own a boat and would love a better land-based fishing experience.

Central Queensland sponsored angler, fishing writer and YouTuber Luke Galea spends a lot of time fishing from the shore, despite having both a boat and a kayak to fish from. He finds that shore based fishing allows him to take advantage of opportunities to wet a line that he couldn't use if he was restricted to boat fishing.

Knowing how and where to fish from the shore enables Luke to make a quick stop on the way home from work to chase bread and butter species like bream, whiting and flathead, or target icon fish like barra, jacks, queenfish, GTs, threadfin and more. Windows of as little as 30 minutes aren't work launching a boat for, but the results from shore casting can be very rewarding.

_______________ Keen for more help with your lure fishing? By joining Team Doc Lures you'll be supporting the Australian Lure Fishing podcast. In return you'll receive:

• Members-only audio masterclasses
• ALF "Plus" episodes
• Livestreamed workshops
• Access to members-only tackle deals
• Discounts from our tackle partners
• The keys to our exclusive fishing research tool
• and More!

The cost is less than you'd spend on a cup of coffee per week, so it's exceptional value. Check it out at https://team.doclures.com _______________

Full show notes for today's e[pisode ara available at: https://doclures.com/land-based-mackay-luke-galea

The humble flathead is an awesome sportfish and a great training ground for anyone wanting to explore lure fishing. Super accessible to most of the Australian population, often a very willing lure taker, gives a good account of itself on light tackle...... and pretty damn good on the chew if you want to take one or two home for a feed. In todays episode I explore a few interesting facts about flathead gleaned from the scentific literature. Understanding how different their vision is from that of other fish species, their use of their highly evolved body shape and the ways to get a lure in front of them and get it seen can help improve your results. 

___________________ In the ad-free members version of today's episode we go even further, looking at the flatheads cone of vision, exploring whether UV is a factor and delving into their other sensory systems such and smell and vibration detection. Team Doc Lures Members get a bunch of these pro-level resources, interactive fishing maps, audio and video masterclasses and plenty more. Support the ALF Podcast by becoming a member today! https://team.doclures.com  ___________________

Sunglasses for flathead fishing: https://team.doclures.com/product/tonic-polarised-sunglasses-package/

More flathead fishing episodes in the doc lures archives: https://doclures.com/flathead-fishing/

Show notes for todays episode are available here: https://doclures.com/understanding-flathead

You don't need to fish tournaments in order to benefit from listening while a tournament guy at the top of his game shares tips and hints. Anyone who's keen on bream fishing with lures will benefit from today's conversation between Jon Chen and Andrew Death, but especially those who are planning on fishing in Victoria's Bemm River system.  Jon unpacks a myriad of tips and tricks that have been behind his excellent tournament resuts on the Bemm in th past, and shares what he'll be doing in an upcoming tournament.

______________

Today's intervew is a "PLUS" episode, so Team Doc Lures members are getting extra info about how to make and use resin head bream jigs and how to systematically break down the Bemm system to  find where the fish are feeding and what they are biting on. To get access to all PLUS epiosdes, along with audio masterclasses, livestreams, eBooks, online resources and members tackle deals, check out Team Doc Lures membership now! https://team.doclures.com

_____________

Show Notes for today's episode are available at https://doclures.com/bemm-bream-chen-death

Topwater flathead fishing has never been so brutal! In today's interview with Russell Babekuhl we discover a whole new side to the humble flathead that few people know exists. It's a style of shallow water, hand to fin combat where oversized crocs obliterate topwater lures and use their might to smoke the angler in oyster covered structure. The stories are more like what I expect from yellowtail kingfish or trevally fishos than those who target flathead. It's inspiring stuff!

_____________________ This is an ALF PLUS Episode, so there is a members-only version with extra help for those wanting to target topwater flathead. Support the ALF Podcast by becoming a member today and you'll get all of the "PLUS" episodes, plus audio masterclasses, video livestreams, online fishing tools/resources and access to our exclusive tackle collective for great deals on tackle. And it will cost less than you'd pay for a cup of coffee per week. Check it out at https://team.doclures.com _____________________

Get the good oil on Forster Fishing Spots at: https://doclures.com/fishing-at-forster/

Catch all of our flathead fishing episodes at https://doclures.com/flathead-fishing/

Show notes for todays ALF Episode are available at https://doclures.com/forster-flathead-russell-babekuhl

Many ALF listeners love their land-based fishing, and right now conditions are perfect in North Queensland for a little beach lure flicking. So to inspire and inform you, we're running a repost of my interview with gun Townsville angler and repeat ALF podcast guest Vinnie Versfeld. In this conversation Vinnie shares his tips for sight casting to a ton of different species on the flats. From barra to queenies, jacks and the bread and butter species, Vinnie takes us through what we need to know about chasing tropical fish on the flats.

_________________________ Keen for some extra ALF goodness? Support the podcast by joining Team Doc Lures and you'll receive extra resources such as members only episodes, live streams, tackle deals, fishing research tools and a bunch more to take your fishing to the next level.  https://team.doclures.com  _________________________

Show notes for today's episode can be found at https://doclures.com/townsville-flats-sight-fishing-vinnie-versfeld/