by The Captain | Jul 7, 2020 | All Stories, Rum and rations
When things go bang in the night – Grant Shorland reflects on the night his beloved Cubin’ went on the rocks. I’ve used the Bastion Point boat ramp in Mallacoota more times than I’ve had hot showers. It’s not the safest ramp, but when treated with...
by The Captain | Jun 25, 2020 | All Stories, Rum and rations
With its sweet, underrated flavour the humble bream is a mainstay catch for Australian fishos. This Spanish recipe from Miguel is guaranteed to bring out your inner conquistador. Arm yourself with a sharp, soft-filleting knife and be sure not to waste any of that...
by The Captain | Jun 15, 2020 | All Stories, Rum and rations
It was the biggest war on water since Kevin Costner took on the Smokers in Waterworld — Spearos vs Fishos. The battleground was out among the bait balls off Port MacDonnell in South Australia, and it all came to a head during the hot bite spring of 2019. The locals...
by The Captain | Jun 15, 2020 | All Stories, Rum and rations
The best way to eat whiting is nice and simple, right? Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Miguel. Instead, he welded Jack and Alli’s South Australian whiting fillets into a fusion of Aussie, Spanish and Mexican flavours, concocting these delicious crunchy, soft...
by The Captain | Jun 15, 2020 | All Stories, How to
Mick from Pickles Fishing & Outdoors tackle store in Eden shares his top 10 tackle treasures. There have been some great fishing innovations in my lifetime. Braided line, soft plastics, graphite rods and silicon carbide guides have all made their mark. There have...
by The Captain | Jun 2, 2020 | All Stories, Captain's ships
Shane Darlington knows that while a lot of fishos don’t give a rat’s arse what they’re driving as long as nature’s bounty is sliding over the gunwales, just as many want to be at the helm of a boat that’s looking sharp and styled to perfection. Welcome aboard the Moda...
by The Captain | May 26, 2020 | All Stories, Captain's ships
Inboard power advancements have come a long way this century. To see how far, The Captain’s crew climbed aboard an Aussie icon — a 20-year-old Caribbean 26 sedan — recently repowered with twin 240HP Volvo Penta Aquamatics (petrol variants). The outboard...
by The Captain | May 26, 2020 | All Stories, Captain's ships
The Captain is cruising the Australian coast, bludging free rides on the meanest metal rigs out there. We head south to Apollo Bay to check out the most decked-out recreational Stabi to ever hit Australian shores. In the dawn light, Kyle Briggs’...
by The Captain | May 23, 2020 | All Stories, How to
There’s only one thing more amazing than the jumps featured in The Captain – and that’s the fact that no-one has yet come a gutser. Obviously, that’s because of The Captain’s unflinching commitment to work health and safety regs. Now, before you...
by The Captain | May 23, 2020 | All Stories, How to
Mick from Pickles Fishing & Outdoors in Eden shares the secret of his simple but deadly Slurpee straw stiff-hook rig. Mick is the frugal type. He lives by the old creed — “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Which is kind of ironic considering he’s also proprietor...
by The Captain | May 20, 2020 | All Stories, Captain's ships
Paul Flynn loves his supersized Sailfish. His new rig is the first of the 3200 Platinum Sports range and features a beefed-up 3m beam and extended waterline length. It’s a dead-calm winter’s morning and The Captain’s crew is rugged up for a Sydney...
by The Captain | Apr 21, 2020 | All Stories, The craftsman
Like cars, some boats are built for speed, others for functionality. Some are rebuilt classics, while others are untouched vintage beauties. Every boat has its own individual personality. So, The Captain pondered, if boats were cars, what would they be? 1....
by The Captain | Apr 21, 2020 | All Stories, Captain's ships
On an expedition to the watery wilds of Vanuatu, The Captain encounters a fellow skipper with fishing in his blood. Russ Housby has the same obsession with blue marlin that Captain Ahab had with his great white whale — but a much better boat and Tiagras instead of a...
by The Captain | Jan 31, 2020 | Adventures, All Stories, Destinations
The Captain’s crew head to the Montebello Islands with a bunch of hotshot fishos aboard a flotilla of epic rigs. Brace yourself to be knee-deep in GTs, sailfish and spangled emperor scales. Every fisherman has heard tales of the bountiful waters of the...
by The Captain | Jan 19, 2020 | Adventures, All Stories
Jack promised his Californian belle she’d taste every part of Australia. True to his word, he whisked her away to the seafood frontier of Australia — South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. His chariot for this romantic mission is the appropriately palatial Whittley SL25...
by The Captain | Jan 18, 2020 | All Stories, Captain's ships
We first spy the SIC resting on the dry dock at Minyama on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The vinyl wrap on this 7.5m platey features a Poseidon character holding a jewel in one hand and a trident in the other. Considered one of the most bad-tempered and moody of the...
by The Captain | Jan 18, 2020 | All Stories, Captain's ships
The latest alloy artwork from AMM is built for sport fishing northern adventuring. It seems a shame to scratch that silky smooth duco, but what the hell, pass the Gold Bombers and drop the hammers. Boat-building brothers Barton and Matt Thomas recently invited The...
by The Captain | Jan 18, 2020 | All Stories, Captain's ships
The Captain is cruising the Australian coast, jumping aboard the meanest metal rigs we can find. In this issue, we head to the Sunshine State to pilot Ben Campbell’s 10.5m RipTide. LET ‘ER RIP The RipTide vessel wasn’t meant to be part of The Captain’s...
by The Captain | Jan 18, 2020 | Adventures, All Stories
Every sea captain dreams of their own remote tropical island — with accessories like a jungle cabin adorned with hunting spoils and a twin-rigged, high-powered vessel. Well, one couple is living the dream. In his infinite wisdom, The Captain reckoned no-one could tell...
by The Captain | Jan 17, 2020 | All Stories, How to
It’s not how many fish you catch that matters, it’s how you look doin’ it, right? Check out The Captain’s cheat sheet on how to get that setting-the-hook look. What you wear says a lot about the fish you chase, the gear you use and how many sponsors you bend over for....
by The Captain | Jan 17, 2020 | All Stories, Captain's ships
The Captain couldn’t pass up the chance to spend a day on the water with a bloke who loves boats, loves fishing — and who happens to answer to the nickname of “Legend”. Garry “Legend” Harman is a friendly, knockabout bloke. He’s a part-time concreter, a stay-at-home...
by The Captain | Dec 15, 2019 | All Stories, Captain's ships
In a Captain-first — actually, it’s probably a world-first, as nobody else would be so daft — we pit a brand spankin’ new Surtees 540 workmate worth $65K against a 93cm remote-controlled speedboat worth $900. Ladies and gentlemen, start your Fitbit. RC...
by The Captain | Dec 15, 2019 | Adventures, All Stories
Ed Richardson and his crack crew storm the remote beaches of King Island, Tasmania, stopping only to snaffle some giant crays. Ed Richardson has been threatening to take us to King Island for a while now. We would’ve got there sooner, except the damn Southern Ocean...
by The Captain | Dec 15, 2019 | All Stories, Captain's ships
“If you have to ask the missus for one of these game-fishing beasts, don’t bother calling back,” says old-school boat builder Erick Hyland. WHITEPOINTER Erick’s sales pitch for his Whitepointer 263 boats is pretty damn compelling. The Haines Hunter crew trained...
by The Captain | Dec 15, 2019 | Adventures, All Stories
The Captain’s crew is in Garibaldi, Oregon, on the US Pacific Northwest coast — on a trio of Stabicrafts. Huge mountain ranges covered in tall timber peer over the rugged coastline. Icy rivers meander out to bays where creaking timber trawlers and newer steel ones are...
by The Captain | Oct 24, 2019 | All Stories, Captain's ships
The Captain dives below in a quest to discover all there is to know about the sneaky world of submarines. A submarine, aka “sub”, is any naval vessel that can propel itself above and below the water. They had their first serious outing in naval warfare during...
by The Captain | Sep 25, 2019 | All Stories, Captain's ships
Anyone can slide a pilchard onto a paternoster rig and pull hard on a snapper, but not many can lay claim to catching snapper on topwater stick baits. Mike Bonnici can. It’s time for The Captain’s crew to find out how this renowned surface slayer rolls. Yep, it’s time...
by The Captain | Sep 11, 2019 | Adventures, All Stories
Discover the dirty little secrets of the South Coast bait ballers. When he heard that Grant Shorland had put up Glenn McGrath-like figures of 16 from 21 in a single session off Mallacoota, The Captain was impressed — and more than a little intrigued....
by The Captain | Aug 28, 2019 | All Stories, Captain's ships
If John Haines Sr is the father of Australian monohulls then Bruce Harris surely owns the title for Australian Cats. What’s more, Bruce doesn’t owe anything to the Yank designers for his achievements — he did it all with good ol’ Aussie ingenuity, designing and...
by The Captain | Aug 22, 2019 | Adventures, All Stories
Raf Vargas paddles the drop-offs around his island home of Guam, fishing to depths of 1500M. The day he captured a donkey dogtooth he become an instant yak god. Guam, part of the Mariana Islands chain in the equatorial Pacific, is a top spot for kayak...
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