The Rapala Fortnight Freebies Prize.

Hi there,

Yes, I did get very lucky : I won the first 2017 Rapala Fortnight Freebies prize for 2017.
What is that?
Some of you may ask...
Well every fortnight Rapala Australia do a little competition on their Facebook page. And every time a lucky participant get to received for over $200 of Rapala products.
And what did I had to do to become a lucky boy?
Well as it was the first Rapala Freebies of the year, they made it an easy one, so I was in with a chance...
I had to look online at what were their products and tell on their Facebook page which ones I would like to received.
And my choice was really simple, I wanted some fishing lures to chase the mighty Barramundi.
So I said that I would love to get some Storm So-Run Akame and some Twitchin' Mullet.
And that was it, I was the lucky one whose name came up in the draw.
Now, what did I received for such a big effort?
All of that:

All the Freebies from Rapala Australia.

So lets look at it a bit more closely.

Starting first with the ones I really wanted, the big bait:

Storm So-Run Akame.

This is a big lure, with single hooks, made to catch big fish. My goal with these is to catch a big Barramundi. It measure 19cm for 67g, and has a running depth of 0.3M. This looks like a good lure to use for big Barramundi, and I really hope to up my personal best catch on this lure.

Then comes the other lure that I was very interested to put my little fingers on, the Twitchin' Mullet:

Rapala X-Rap Twitchin' Mullet.

The Rapala Twitchin' Mullet is a lure that I really was hoping to win, because I had never seen it in shop in Darwin yet. But after looking at it online it seemed to be exactly the type of lure I would love to flick at some run off creek or even from the shore at some of my urban land based fishing spots.

It is a relatively small lure, 8cm for 13g with a diving depth of 0.3 to 0.6M, which is also what might make it a good land based fishing lure. It has a subsurface walk the dog action, and anyone who knows my fishing preferences knows that I love surface walk the dog lures. So this one should be really interesting to fish with.

As a companion to these two little lure came what could be described as their big brother, the Twitchin' Minow:

Rapala X-Rap, Twitchin' Minow.

This one is bigger and longer that the previous one. It is 12cm for 26g.

In fact there is two sizes available for this lure the 12 cm one and a smaller one at 10cm and 14g.

I am rather happy to have the bigger one, as it will nicely complement the smaller Twitchin' Mullet that came with it.

This one too is a shallow lure with a running depth identical to the Twitchin' Mullet, 0.3 to 0.6M that is. So I intend to fish both lures in the same zones, depending on what type of natural bait swim there on the day. Because as they say, the best is often to match the hatch.

With them came the Shadow Rap Deep:

Rapala Shadow Rap Deep.

This is a lure that I had never seen before, so it is more than welcome in my tackle box.

It is 11cm long for 13g, and is a slow sinking on pause lure.

It will be interesting to see how the Barramundi react to this lure.

It cam in the Clown colour, it is a colour with which I have caught Barramundi with in the past, so I am for the moment quite confident that it too should bring back a fish.

Then in all the goodies, I found some stickers, first this one:

Rapala Auto/Boat Emblem.

I do not have a boat, but I can see it placed on the bonnet of my car.

It will be like driving a Rapala's car, and will continue to make me day dream about fishing while driving to work. So you know, I could stay focused on the task at hand.

And now the proper stickers:

Full set of Rapala Pro Decal.

These stickers will find places on my pushbike and other perfect sticker's spots. My child has already spotted them and I might have to share.

Fishing lures and stickers, what could be missing here?

The cloths!

And here they are:

Rapala Coasting Lure T-Shirt.

Now for a guy like me who is borderline obsessive compulsive when it comes to fishing lures, what a T-shirt to wear!

To go with the shirt was a short:

Rapala Catch Boardies.

When I received an email from Rapala asking me about my pants size, I looked on their website, and this very short was my favourite. So the stars must have aligned properly, as this is the one I received.

And last but not least, you may have noticed it on the first photograph of this post, a bucket:

Rapala stainless steel lures bucket.

This is all what I received from the good guys at Rapala Australia for the Rapala Fortnight Freebies.

Honestly, it is more than what I was expecting, and I am very grateful for all of this, thank you guys.

If you live in Australia, you should definitively go on their Facebook page and try to enter the fortnightly competition, it is well worth it, and lets face it, not too so hard. So that everyone is in with a good chance to win.

Here is a last photograph for the road:

Storm, So-Run Akame.

The only problem for me receiving all these fishing lures early in the week, is that I had to wait nearly a full week before I would be able to test them...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

FFF Seadogs 2016 Prize.

Hi there,

Yes, I was lucky enough to win a round of the FFF Seadogs 2016.
And not any round but the last one, basically I really got in by the skin of my teeth.

So first what is the FFF Seadogs competition?
It is a friendly fishing competition organised by the FFF fishing forum, in Australia.
The competition is made of eleven rounds, and the angler with the best fish in a round win this round.
At the end of the year, the person who had the biggest number of points (Allocated by the sizes of fish entered in the competition each rounds) win the Grand Prize of Seadog of the year.

Now, I have entered this competition since it's beginning, and it is only the very first time that I win a round in it. This is a testament to the quality of the many anglers who compete in it every years.
And my win was I believe due more to sheer luck than anything else.
But hey, I will take it anyway.

So what did I win?
This:

Yes, all of this!

Now let's have a closer look at all these goodies.

First the Rapala:

Three Rapala fishing lures.

Yes, note one, not two but three Rapala fishing lures.

One Max Rap and two X-Rap XR-12.

The Max Rap swim at 03 to 09M (1-3FT.). And the two X-Rap dive to 1,2-2,4M (4 to 8 FT.).

Then come the Halco / RMG:

Three fishing lures from Halco / RMG.

This lot is made of a 40g Outcast in white, one of my favourite lure when fishing for Queenfish and other small pelagic from the shore. It cast like a bullet and fish love it.

Second is a Laser Pro 120MT, with a swimming depth of 1M. I have never fished with a Laser Pro, but many of my fishing buddies told me that they love it for Barramundi, so I will definitively try it.

And third is the ever reliable Poltergeist 80. A great little lure, which already caught me plenty of fish, and that I rate highly.

Then come the Reidy's:

Two of my favourite Barramundi fishing lure.

One of them is a B52...

Yes, I have said it before, my first ever Barramundi on a lure was on a Reidy's B52.

I have since always had some in my tackle boxes, and always make sure to have a few with me when ever I go fishing. 

The other is a Little Lucifer, these are great lures when fishing the billabong, or at the start of the run off season, when the bait is still relatively small. I have caught some fish with this lure too.

And then came the timber lure:

Deep River Lure.

This one is a Deep River Lure Mugil.

Deep River Lures are handcrafted in Queensland, and are very well finished. I already had two of them, and really like them, even if they are nearly too beautiful to be fished.

They are even signed under the belly:

Deep River Lure Mugil.

But what does the average angler would be with shiny lures and nothing to attach them to?

So here come the fishing line, from Platypus:

Platinum+ Braid by Platypus.

This comes just at the right time. It is here the beginning of the run off season. The time when I get my reels serviced and change the lines that need to be changed. With 300 years of 30lb braid, I will be ok for a little while. Platypus fishing lines are made in Australia and as such are well suited for the harsh condition under which we fish.

And last but not least, the Tonic sunglasses:

Tonic Evo polarized sunglasses.

Each round winner for 2016 was supposed to chose the frame of their choice, and they should have come with polycarbonate lenses. But the guys at Tonic Eyewear decided to give us a nice surprise, and send the glasses with real glass photochromic lenses.

Now that is some super cool stuff!

I already owned a pair of Tonic glasses with photochromic lenses, but I had them for several years and they have suffered the bad treatment that I inflict on my fishing accessories. So a brand new pair is more than welcome.

Oh and what kind of fish did I catch to get rewarded with all these nice things?

Do you remember a post I did in December 2016 about a Barramundi that broke my fishing rod?

That the one!

Yes it did broke my fishing rod, but it brought me a lot more.

I would like to give a big shout out to the FFF Forum for organising this great fishing competition.

And to all the sponsors in no particular order:

Reidy's, Halco / RMG, Rapala, Deep River Lures, Platypus fishing lines, and Tonic Eyewear.

Thank you all, you are making this competition even better.

Now what are my chance to win a round in the FFF Seadogs 2017?

Well, I wouldn't ask you to hold your breath on this one...

As so far I am yet to catch a Barramundi in 2017...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Reidy's Lures Winner

Hi there,

In each issue of the North Australian Fishing & Outdoors Magazine (NTMAG), a fishing report posted on the free fishing forum FFF, is reprinted and earns the writer a $150 fishing lure pack courtesy of Reidy's Lures.
And guess who won it this time around?

The Magazine cover and page 7.

Yes it's noted on page 7 that I won the Reidy's Lure Pack.

This was a great surprise and honestly it did make me very happy.

I love fishing lures, and Reidy's lures are right up there among my favourites to fish the local waters of the Australian Top End. They have a wide range of strong lures, with great action and colours. Basically the team are locals to the area and as such make the best lures when it come to catching the local fish. 

And because I am good at loosing my lures while fishing, it is always nice to get a few new ones.

I contacted the people from Reidy's via Facebook to ask when I could drop by to pick up my prize. Karen kindly replied that despite the fact that they close before I finish work in the evening, she would be happy to stay a bit longer for me to have the time to drive there and choose my lures.

Now talk about a great service, not only they offer the prize, but they were ready to accomodate my time schedule so I could pick them up!

So off I went to the factory that very day. Yes I couldn't wait! I was like a kid before Christmas, I wanted to get there as soon as possible...

The Reidy's factory.

Just on the outskirt of Darwin, the factory is just a short drive away and it didn't take too long to get there. Once there, I felt like Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory...

Lures, fishing lures everywhere... 

I didn't know where to look, my attention could not focus on any in particular, there was so many of them.

First I had decided what lures I was going to choose, then I would pick two of them.

Yes every lure would come as a pair.

Why?

Well it's rather simple really. The fishing report on the FFF Forum was the story of a fishing trip on Brett's boat and I had decided to share the bounty with him as a thank you.

After much inner debate, I made my selection and was able to walk out of the factory with a great bag of lures:

My favourite sort of party bag.

What is in the bag, some of you might wonder...

Here it is:

First two Big Lucifer in the H-CHAR colour:

The Big Lucifer.

I really like this colour, and think that it might be slightly underestimated by a few anglers.

I already had the B52 and the Junior B52 in this colour, but didn't have any lures in the Big Lucifer size. 

Now I do.

I really like the Big B52, simply because my best Barramundi so far was caught on a Big B52 and the fish measured 111cm (43.70 Inches).

This is why I went for the Big B52 in a newly released colour:

Big B52 in Midnight colour.

Karen had just told me that if I was after a certain colour in the range and couldn't find it on the shelves to ask for it, and that she might have it at the back.

Immediately I asked for this one and she got it from the factory storage area for me. I really wanted one like that and nearly took all the lures in the Midnight colour.

I never had a hardbody lure in black before.

Now I do.

Another lure that has been released only a short time ago is the Renegade:

Renegade in the colour 008.

As some of you might know, the colour 008 is my all time favourite in the Reidy's range.

If I had to have only one colour for all of my lures that would be the one.

When the Renegade was released I went to the shop to get one, and I wanted it in this very colour.

They didn't have it in this colour yet at the time, so I didn't get one.

Now I do.

For the grand final, I chose the biggest B52 that you can find, the B52 Big Ass 200:

B52 Big Ass 200.

This one is the largest of the B52's family, as its name suggest it is 200 mm long (7.87 Inches).

The lure is building a solid reputation as a big Barramundi lure, and can also be trolled fast for pelagic. In other words, a good all rounder, it was released in 2015.

I chose this one in the colour called Purple Rain.

Why did I choose to take it in this colour?

Well I didn't have a single lure in this colour...

Now I do.

And here is the full loot of fishing lures:

My Pack of Reidy's Lures.

Big thanks to the FFF Fishing Forum and Reidy's for this win! You guys made my day.

Now, I realise that on the first photograph of this post you can't read the full story that allowed me win these great lures...

Well you can buy the North Australian Fishing & Outdoors Magazine or go on the FFF forum to read it there. There is even a blue link to take you directly to the forum at the beginning of this post.

As to the quality of the photographs in this post, well please be indulgent, as this is the first time that I written a post, where all the images were produced with only my mobile phone.

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Million Dollar Fish.

Hi there,

Here in the Northern Territory, we have a new fishing competition. Starting in 2015, it might become an annual event.
The competition is called: The Million Dollar Fish.
Why?
Because, there is one Barramundi worth just that, a million dollar.

Imagine you go fishing a Sunday morning, and on the Monday, you don't need to go to work again...
Yes it sounds good, but how does it work?

Well pretty simple really, a Barramundi with a tag has been released somewhere in the Northern Territory waters, and if you catch it, you won the million dollar.
And there is a rather nice number of other fish, tagged too, with lesser money prize attached to them.
In fact if you wanted to know more about this competition, just follow this link.

Last night was the official launch of the competition.
An event that I attended of course.
And to my surprise, the Northern Territory Chief Minister, Mr Adam Giles, called my name, and gave me a prize, for being the first to register for the competition.
I really didn't expect it, and it gave a good laugh to a few of my mates that were there too.
One of them, Jason Rogers even took a photo of me receiving my prize, and allowed me to post the photo on this blog, thank you Jason.
And here comes the proof in picture, I was there:

Photo © Jason Rogers.

Yes, I am the little guy under the red arrow. It was in the big room at the Northern Territory Parliament House. I never though that my name would be called in such a prestigious location, that was fun.

So what did I win?

A cool fishing shirt, with the logo of the comp, the one from the NT Tourism Office, and of the other sponsors. A stubby cooler, a Fishing lure, Classic Barra 120 +10 in the Yellow Cherabin colour and a measurement sticker.

Here it is:

Cool prizes.

The competition requires that you catch a real fish, but they also have an online game, that you can play once registered. Which I did, and won a $100.00 gift card at the BCF shop.

I spent the money on a life jacket and a crab pot for my little one. as she kept asking if one day we could go crabbing. Yes she loves eating big mud crab. So now I just have to find someone who will take us on a boat to try to catch one or a few of these crabs.

Now with all these win before the real start of the competition, I just hope that I have not used all of my Mojo, and that I will still be in the running for a tagged fish...

Even if realistically my chances are not that big, with already over 30 000 entrants registered for the competition. Not just people from the Territory, but also from inter-state and overseas...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Channel 9 Prize.

Hi there,

Luck was on my side, and I have just won the Channel 9 Catch Of The Day prize.
What is it, you may ask.
Well it is a very simple kind of thing. You send a photograph of a recent fishing catch, in the landscape, or horizontal format to Channel Nine in darwin. With a few words to say what kind of fish it is and how or where you caught it. And if your photo is selected, it goes on television at the end of the news segment in the evening, during the weather forecast.
This is great way for Channel nine to interact with the Northern Territory community.
And in exchange, when your image is selected, you win a prize.
The email address to send your photo is: newsphotos@nine.com.au
Just put Catch of the day in the subject line, and Voilas!
If you live in the Northern Territory of Australia, you should do it, it is fun and if you have kids, this is an easy way to make them proud.

What is the prize?

• A Channel 9 backpack.
• A Channel 9 fishing hat.
• A Channel 9 fishing shirt.
• A Channel 9 branded Reidy's fishing lure.
• A first aid kit from St. John Ambulance Australia.

Now, what photograph did I send to win all these cool stuff?

This one:

Queenfish from East Point.

You might remember this photograph and the short video that went with it, from my post called First Try At Kayak Fishing.

This first experience in a kayak had been great, and suddenly had become even better.

And here comes the prize:

The Catch Of The Day Prize, courtesy of Channel 9.

Of course, my favourite in all this is the Reidy's fishing lure:

Channel 9 branded Reidy's fishing lure.

The lure in question is a Judge by Reidy's lure.

I love both Reidy's and this particular lure in their range of offering.

And yes, I am still collecting fishing lures with advertising on them, So I am very happy to have this one. As I didn't had a Reidy's with Channel nine advertising on it before, in my little collection.

This also means that this lure is going directly to the "collectors cabinet", and will never swim.

I can already ear all the people that say that lures are made to catch fish and not to stay dry in a display...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Two Days Boat Hire Prize

Hi there,

Yes I won a very cool prize...

• I won a 2 days boat hire prize.
• In the FFF Seadogs fishing competition.
• It mad me very happy.

The the FFF forum as an annual fishing competition, called the FFF Seadogs, and it is a great competition every year.

I didn't do very good in it last year, but not long ago, I learnt that I had in fact won a door prize, and what a prize!

A two days boat hire from Hooked-up Boat Hire in Darwin.

And here is the voucher to prove it:

Hooked-up Boat Hire gift voucher.

Hooked-up Boat Hire is a family business, started in 2006 and is doing great today. With now six boats to choose from when deciding to go for a fish.

Often while fishing, I have seen their boat pass in front of me, and they always look clean and in great condition.

So I really can't wait to go and use this voucher, and then write all about it!

For once, I will be able to invite someone to go fishing, instead of being the one who always hope to be invited.

I am really impatient about it, I think that it would be a great two days of non stop fishing.

Sadly I still have to wait a little while for the weather to be a bit better.

And If we can get lucky get a few fish that would get me a bit higher on the overall scoreboard of this competition. I have done not too bad in the second round (Which is not finished yet, so I can still get relegated at the bottom of the leader). But the first round was terrible for me, with a big fat donut. I had not been able to find any time to fish the first round, and ended with a big zero for it...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

My New Sunglasses.

Hi there,

I have just received my new polarised sunglasses that I will use for fishing.
And they have already been tested with success last weekend...

But first what are they, and how did I get them.

They are Tonic Eyewear sunglasses, and the frame name is Shimmer (mines are gloss black).
With high contrast copper photochromic glasses.
The kind of glasses that I was dreaming of, but was alway buying the much cheaper one, as I could not afford these ones.
So why did I finally got a pair of them?
Well, the Top End Barra Series also have prizes for the best picture of each rounds...
And the shop The Tackle Box NT, is offering a pair of sunglasses for the winner.
And lucky me, one of my pics ended with the most like.

So, what do they look like?
Here is a little pic of them in action, with my best Saratoga ever:

Tonic sunglasses and Saratoga.

In fact you are going to see this image in my next post again...

Because it was during the fifth round of the 2013 Top End Barra Series, and this very fish, won me the biggest Saratoga of the round, for which, I will receive, a new fishing shirt and fishing hat from the Tackle Box!

How cool is that?

This is a shop that I must visit one day, as it have the reputation of having one of the most extensive range of exotic fishing lures in town. And yes, people who have been reading this blog for a little while, will know that I like fishing lures...

Oh, and what was the photo that won?

You have already seen it, but here it comes again:

Beautiful light in Wilshire Number one.

And this is all for today.

It was a long time since I didn't win anything, and it might be a long time before I win again.

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

Mega Prize From The Show.

Hi there,

Not long ago, I went to the Royal Darwin Show 2012.
There, I won a really cool prize, just by writing my name and phone number on a piece of paper, and dropping it in the barrel.
Another proof that to win it, you have to be in it.

This was a free raffle organised by the Department of Resources of the Northern Territory Government. Thank you guys!

Every times that I went to the Royal Darwin Show, I entered this raffle, and had never won it before. When you are going to see the prize, you will understand why I was happy, even if it is not all about fishing.
In fact when I entered it this year, my partner told me that it would be great if we could win, as it had things for the whole family in it. From our little one, to her and for I, even a little thing for the mother in law!

So by now, you might want to see what it is all about, no?
Here comes the best grin and grip photo of all times...

Two happy chaps.

Thank you Matt.

Ok, you can't see much of it there, so here it is in details.

First the parts that will go to my little one:

An aquarium.

Yes a full aquarium, with a pump, some little coloured stones, fake plant and even a $25.00 voucher to get some fishes from the pet shop.

Ho yes the little one is more than excited with that.

And this is not all what she got...

Quartz mining and bugs.

Now the people who organised this prize, must have some kids, or are still very young at heart. Maybe both...

Because yes the quartz/crystal thing made her jump with joy, and the bugs are so cool!

Hours of play to comes.

Then there is the thing for my beloved, the mother of our child.

Garden stuff.

Some seeds, a book about gardening, a bug catcher, and a card to buy stuff at Bunnings!

(Bunnings is a hard-wear store with plenty of gardening tools).

Ms Frugal Down Under was happy to get all this for her garden.

And she even got the mega pot in which all of these goodies came to us:

The big pot.

I am not sure yet of what will grow in this pot, but it will be great I am sure.

In all of this, there was also something for my mother in law:

Beescreek Honey.

A jar of Beescreek Honey, made here in the Northern Territory.

It is always good to have some local product on the table.

Where ever you are, the local products consistently seem to taste better.

And what about me and the fishing?

Here it comes, I kept the best for the end...

Now we are talking.

A great fishing rod Crystal Blue Power Tip in the Fishing and Outdoors World edition, one of my favourite shop in Darwin.

With a Shimano Alvio 4000FC reel, this combination might become my lunch break combo. 

With that was a waterproof book of fishing knots by Geoff Wilson.

And one beautiful Barra Blitz lure, handcrafted in the NT by Nautilus.

The more it goes, the more I love these timber lures.

So yes a mega prize, with goodies for all the family.

What else could we ask?

Nothing much really.

I did went and try the rod and reel this morning for about half an hour from the Fishermen Wharf, and it worked very well. In fact I was even happily surprised by the casting distance of this little rod.

Yes it would have been good if I had caught a fish in the short amount of time that I was there, that would have made for a great pic for this post...

But I came back from my field testing empty handed.

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.