During the past few summers the guys from Shimano have ventured north, always on the lookout for new locations and species to enable them to field test their latest tackle to the limit. Places such as Cairns, fishing for giant black marlin, and Papua New Guinea, giving tackle the ultimate test on rampaging dogtooth tuna or explosive Papuan bass, had been fished with great success. And while these places were great testing grounds they were more than a little out of the way and it was time to look for a place a little closer to home.

This year we decided to try a destination more accessible to those who may not have the time or "wherewithal" needed to fish some of the more exotic locations - so we set course for Coffs Harbour aboard John�s 43" Mariner "Triton", which was to be our base for a month as we not only explored the bluewater fishing but also the fishing on offer for the fresh water enthusiast. Coffs Harbour, situated roughly midway between Sydney and Brisbane, would have to be one of the most underrated and overlooked fishing destinations on the map. John Dunphy�s brother Terry is fortunate enough to live in the Coffs area and after listening to his endless reports on how good the fishing was we decided the time was right to have a good look for ourselves.

It matters not if you prefer to use a Calcutta to cast little Rapala Shad Raps at bass, fish the inshore reefs with Baitrunners for snapper and pearl perch, or troll vast canyon areas wide of the shelf with big Tiagras searching for mighty marlin, Coffs has the lot.

The Fresh Water Scene Of all the options available to us while in Coffs the one we were really looking forward to was exploring the valleys for bass. Fishing the sweetwater also turned out to be a great way of escaping the confines of the boat when the weather turned foul, preventing us from putting to sea.

A couple of hours drive from Coffs there are some excellent rivers that hold good numbers of bass, yellowbelly and of course the ever-present catfish. The majority of these locations are out of the way and can only be reached by 4WD which works in their favour and ensures they stay unspoilt while preventing over-fishing. After a southerly gale set in buffeting "Triton" with sheets of spray that crashed over the breakwalls of the Coffs Harbour marina leaving everything encrusted in salt, it was time to secure the boat, break out the baitcasters and head for the hills to try our luck on the freshwater scene.

I must point out that while the target species in these river systems is the Australian bass, you will from time to time have an eastern cod attack your lure as it is these river systems that they call home. The eastern cod is on the endangered species list (and has been since 1982) and must be released as soon as possible, as were all the fish we caught ( after a quick photo) regardless of the species. Our good friends and Coffs� locals Dave and Toni Irvine were in the final stages of setting up their "Platypus River Tours" charter service and after spending several days with us fishing for marlin they returned the favour by inviting us to fish some of the river systems their tours will cover. It was an offer we took them up on several times and while the locations and camps may have differed the fishing was always great.

Trip No 1: Camp Basic This was a "take only what you can carry" trip and although we sure ate well, our camp site was a little on the sparse side - no tents or tarps for protection, just a ground sheet, sleeping bag and camp fire under the stars. Not too hard to work out where the name Camp Basic came from. On this first trip Terry Dunphy, Graham Waters, Robin Oxborrow and I spent two days covering 20km of the upper reaches of the Nymboida river by canoe, fishing any likely-looking holes as we worked our way downstream gliding from one set of rapids to the next.

The whole trip was such a buzz that the fishing really was a bonus but even so we did tangle with some excellent fish. By the end of our trip the four of us had released about 30 good fish, we probably could have had higher figures if we had worked harder but that is not what the trip was about. It was a whole package - right from the drive in to the drive out, just a bunch of friends having a great time while getting away from a rather unpleasant Pacific Ocean.

Trip No 2: Camp Luxury Dave has sole rights to the use of several large properties and a farm house which is used as accommodation. It is this location that we immediately named Camp Luxury as it provided accommodation with a roof, kitchen and proper beds - and to make life a little easier there was no need to manhandle the canoes around rock bars, just load them on the Range Rover and drive to the next deep section of river. We had a full crew along for this trip - Dave, John Dunphy and John�s son Drew, (better known as "Little Maxie" due to the number of tangles he caused) led the way in the aluminium punt, followed by Mark Mikkelsen, Andrew "ET" Ettinghausen and Max Graham in the first canoe with Bill Heaton and myself in the second, while Terry Dunphy and Kevin Ball made their way along the river bank on foot.

The canoes bumped their way over the first small set of rapids before slowing to lazily drift along the first of the numerous deep holes that had been gouged from the river bed. It was these holes that we soon discovered held good numbers of fat, healthy fish. ET was the first into the action and his unmistakable cry of "I�m on!" broke the silence as he hooked up on his second cast of the trip. Bill and I arrived in time to take a photo or two before the fish was released unharmed and while we were mid-way through congratulating him he amazed us all by hooking up on his very next cast. After that it was a case of every man for himself as lures went in all directions peppering any hole, fallen tree or rock overhang that looked like holding fish. As the days passed, our tally steadily grew as we worked our way from one section of river to the next. One hole in particular produced at least a dozen good fish, all within the space of half an hour.

Some of the strikes were quite savage as the fish exploded on the surface the minute the lures hit the water. At other times the lures would be shadowed all the way back to the boat only to be crashed just as they were about to be lifted from the water. During the day we found the deepdiving lures such as the Rapala Fat Rap and Shad Raps outfished all others - especially if they were a combination of lime green and orange such as the Fire Tigers. Surface lures were tried but only produced a couple of follows, however that all changed once the sun went down. During night sessions surface lures were the go as the fish ventured into the shallows in search of food.

With no moon, lights or stars, casting in the dark was certainly interesting to say the least, but after hitting numerous rocks, untold trees and each other we finally figured just where the river was. In these dark conditions the only noise to interrupt the silence was the gentle "bloop-bloop" of the lures as they slowly swam their way back towards us, then without warning this stillness would be shattered as the lure would be crashed, the surface strike being heard all along the river leaving all present in no doubt as to what had happened and the angler concerned either locked tight into a fish or standing there shaking as the knees turned to jelly.

On these trips most nights finished early with a few quiet drinks as we sat around staring into a blazing open fire while reliving the day�s events. Around us the sounds of the night slowly built while in the distance large fish could be heard in the shallows feeding on unsuspecting insects and bugs that ventured too close to the water�s surface. Our thumbs twitched nervously as we glanced at our rods before returning to stare at the fire. I guess the port was too smooth and fire too warm and a bed too inviting. Besides the fish would still be there in the morning. Platypus River Tours is based at Coffs Harbour and you can contact Dave and Toni Irvine by phoning their office on (066) 53 7532.

The Saltwater Scene While mackerel can be caught from December to June and yellowfin abound between June to December, few would realise marlin may be found all year round. This should come as no surprise as the shelf is only 15 miles from the harbour and it is then only another mile or so to the first canyon. Marlin may be caught anywhere from the 40 fathom line out but it is around the canyon areas that the majority of fish are to be found. These canyons are rather extensive and in the area between Sawtell and North Solitary Island there would be 10 separate canyons alone, the majority having some amazing bottom formations where the depth sometimes changes 100 fathoms in near vertical drops. If ever there was a location to produce a blue marlin over the magic 1000lb mark this would be it. A few days after we returned from our Camp Basic trip, John arrived with his son Drew and decided to catch up with Terry, his wife Jan and son Mark - and what better way to do this than by spending a couple of leisurely hours trolling along the Continental Shelf.

The day was one that we often dream of - calm, warm,deep blue seas with only a light NE breeze and clear skies; very relaxing indeed. We set course for the shelf and while John and Terry set out the lures and explained what to do should we hook a fish to both Mark and Drew, I made myself comfortable on the flybridge chatting about our trip to Jan. I almost dozed off behind the wheel while watching the Pakulas working in our wake until Jan nonchalantly asked what the large black fin was that just passed the boat. Talk about instant whiplash, I spun around so fast I�m sure I heard several vertebrae crack, just in time to see the dark shape of the beakie as it turned to zero in on the lure on the starboard rigger.

As if in slow motion the marlin slashed at the lure several times before snapping the rubber band on the tag line and peeling several metres of line from the spool. By now I had the big diesels belching clouds of black smoke as Triton lurched forward churning the ocean to foam, but was disappointed to see the rod straighten and the lure slide to the surface; the hooks had failed to find their mark. Missed, I shook my head in disbelief and pulled the throttles back to trolling speed when the call of "go, go, go we�re on, we�re on" caught me off guard. I glanced back down to see the fish coming back at the lure and watched in amazement as Terry free-spooled the reel for a couple of seconds letting the lure slide into the marlin�s mouth before setting the hooks - but something was not right, the yelling and hollering about a hook up was still going on yet Terry was silent. A quick glance in John�s direction and I soon knew what had happened. As I gunned the boat we had a second fish come in on the port rigger which caught us all off guard. Terry saw the first fish return to follow the lure back to the surface before feeding it more line and now we had a double hook-up with only Mark and Drew on the deck. Things were about to get interesting. While Mark has done his fair share of fishing and had been involved in tagging the odd marlin Drew had not, but to their credit they wasted no time getting the remaining rods cleared, readying the gloves and tag poles while trying not to laugh as their fathers whooped and hollered their way around the deck trying not to fall over each other as the fish tried their best to tie them in every knot imaginable. Two fish jumping all over the ocean before heading in different directions sure made it hard to position the boat to give either angler any help. Fortunately for us while Terry�s fish was now running hard and deep, John�s was slowly coming to the boat and as I pivoted the boat to give John a better angle to fight from it looked as though we were going to have our first shot with the tag pole. Twenty feet from the boat the double knot broke the surface followed by the trace. Mark had the gloves on, knees locked into the gunnels as he prepared to take the trace while Drew stood nervously at his side getting ready to set the tag in his first marlin. It sure was a good sight from the �bridge, a real family affair as the brothers fought the fish while their sons prepared to do all they could to help their fathers. Mark stretched out for the trace but before his fingers could make contact the marlin made another jump showering the cockpit with spray while throwing the lure high into the air and gaining its freedom. Instantly Mark called "lost it, let�s go for Dad�s fish, we need this one". I pushed the throttles hard spinning Triton on the spot and started to back down on Terry�s fish. By the time Terry had the fish under control and all but the last 30m of line back on the spool John had the gloves on and was running through the steps on tagging with the boys. If enthusiasm was anything to go by then they sure looked ready. The fish made one final attempt to dive deep but Terry was now in full control and instead of going deep the fish arced towards the opposite side of the boat, the taut line leaving a rooster tail of foam in its wake as it headed towards John who was patiently waiting his turn on the trace. Taking several quick wraps on the line John soon had the fish within tagging distance, presenting Mark with a perfect tag shot. To say the boys were ecstatic would be an understatement, even though we lost one fish no one really cared and after removing the hooks from Terry�s fish and taking a photo or two for the family album we decided to call it a day and head for home. Not a bad start to our bluewater fishing - a total of 90 minutes trolling for two fish hooked and one striped marlin of about 80kg being brought to the boat! The real bonus was seeing the boys getting right in the thick of things and having a ball doing it. The next day we were out again with several locals and tangled with several yellowfin in the 30 to 40kg range before finally tying John into another striped marlin. This fish really performed well, spending more time airborne than in the water as it turned the ocean to foam. This time the hooks held and another 80kg fish was released wearing a bright yellow streamer courtesy of the fishery�s department.

During our stay we spent as much time as possible out on the canyons chasing billfish and while we never managed to boat a big blue we certainly had enough up, with a couple in the rather large category busting us up early in the fight. We also spent several mornings soaking baits for pearl perch and snapper in the 5 to 6kg bracket. The most disappointing aspect of the trip was the weather, as frequent storms severely restricted the time we could spend at sea. Even so, with the limited time we had we saw more than enough action to entice us back in the not too distant future. Anyway, there was always the bass fishing to fall back on.