Page 68 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine

FMemale anglers right in the picture to catch fish
ORE and more female an- and interpret what’s on their boat’s “I just became obsessed with look- glers want to learn how to sounder screen accurately, and then ing at the sounder constantly,” she read sonar sounders prop- to set about identifying and catching said. As a result, Minjaia undertook
erly, and comparable to reversing a the fish it’s showing. one of Ryan’s courses to learn about
boat trailer, their preferred first stop for instruction is not from a partner who thinks he knows what it’s all about.
Irrespective of whether its 2D tra- ditional imaging, side imaging or down scanning, they’re turning to Australia’s foremost fishing coach Ryan Moody in increasing numbers to learn how it’s done, and they’re doing it on-line. The COVID-19 lockdown has provided the perfect opportunity for many female an- glers to take on the structured, on- line courses including learning from Ryan’s real-time recordings of on- screen imaging and understanding what it is actually showing.
wonky holes – areas where under- water springs flow up through the sea floor and stir up bait for serious reef fish. “Some of the points Ryan makes in the course about wonky holes you go, wow, okay – that’s what happening there.
Whether it’s Annette Swaine, ex-police officer now running a boat hire business; Melissa Kenny who runs a cleaning business and drives trucks on a mining site; Minjaia Welham who’s a teacher’s aide, or scores of others from a myriad of backgrounds and occupations, they have one thing in common. That’s the desire to know how to tune
They’re learning critically im- portant concepts like when a grain of rice is actually a barramundi; why smaller images on the sound- er don’t always mean smaller fish; how a diagonal line is not actually something to ignore but rather often a fish rising in the water column; the different profile a fish has when it’s looking directly at the boat’s side scan transducer than when it is sitting parallel to it and scores of other key factors. Collectively, it galvanises into the deadliest fishing asset you can have on a boat – knowledge.
“When the kids were very little, I was always at home and I thought ‘No, I’m going to go out fishing too’. It was more so to prove a point than to actually catch fish. But I got my first 96cm nannygai and I was hooked from there on. And that’s my favourite kind of fishing - nan- nygai from wonky holes.”
Melissa Kenny with a healthy nannygai.
“I’ve always loved fishing. I think it’s more the peacefulness and I love the ocean,” Melissa said. “Many, many years ago, when I was a teen- ager, I was kind of homeless for a bit. I always went to school but I would save bits of dinner, I had my $2 handline and I’d go down the creek fishing. That was my way of dealing with a lot of what was going on in my life back then.
Minjaia from Mossman, Queens- land said she used to sit in the fam- ily boat looking over her partner Nick’s shoulder.
Melissa from near Townsville has undertaken a number of Ryan’s courses starting with barra basics. She has her own boat, the 5.5m fibreglass centre console, Miss Ad- ventures Too.
Fortunately for her, some wonky holes are located just 30 minutes boat ride from where Minjaia lives. As well as trophy-sized nannygai, Minjaia has extensive lists of red emperor, red bass, fingermark, mar- lin, mahi mahi, giant trevally and coral trout to her impressive pisca- torial tally.
Minjaia Welham caught a cracking mahi mahi.
Page 68 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, June 2020
“I did Ryan’s barra basics course first – I’ve since been through the course countless times. Each time you go back through it, you pick up something you didn’t see or hear the first time – there’s so much infor-
“I loved that whole challenge of going out and trying to target a spe- cies and catch that species. It’s my comfort zone and there’s no stress in the world.
* continued P69 www.bnb shing.com.au