G’day, my name is Robert Busby, but my friends call me Buzz and my fishing background is a humble one; I was introduced to fishing at a very early age and immediately fell in love with this recreational past time. As time went on it became clear that fishing was now not only my passion, but had developed into a lifestyle and one that I would live and breathe to this day. Over the years I have fished a vast number of different unique locations and employing equally unique techniques to suit the fishing environment. I am always looking to better myself by developing my skills and knowledge base and I’m always open to suggestion, with a willingness to learn new methods and concepts.
44 GALON GROUPER
In early 2012; my brother, Steven, and I travelled to the remote Roper River, located approx. 750km’s south east of Darwin, embarking on our first of many extended fishing expeditions to the isolated reaches of the Northern Territory. Unbeknown to us, we were about to stumble on one of the most remarkable fishing adventures either one of us had ever experienced. This trip saw my brother and I land numerous Barramundi in the high 90cm range and me landing my first meter plus Barra, which measured 107cm. This trip was not only special in the sense of how it unfolded in the best possible way, but also that it paved the way for many trips to ensue over the following years.
108cm of ROPER RIVER AWESOMENESS!
I approach each fishing trip, no matter how big or small, with the upmost of professionalism, attention to detail and thorough research on the area, the tides and the conditions and intentionally go out of my way to make each fishing trip count and give myself and my fellow trip companions, the best possible chance. I am a family orientated fisherman with my wife Amanda and our four children, Kahel 10, Dakota 8, Savannah 5 and Idalia 21 months. The beautiful thing with having a family is it gives me the opportunity to share my passion for fishing with my wife and kids and the ability to pass my knowledge and experience onto the next generation. Fishing isn’t always about who can catch the biggest fish or the most, a lot of the time it’s about sharing your fishing experience with others and who better than to do this with than your family. My current boat is a 4.2 meter Bermuda 410 Salmon; not exactly an ocean going vessel by any means, but it does the job and is perfect for inshore waterways and excels in estuaries and rivers when chasing Barramundi and other inshore species. The small stature of my boat also enables me to travel to remote locations, launch in relatively unfished waters with maintaining a very small footprint and disruption to the immediate area.
DAKOTA AND HER BARRA
Although generally speaking, my fishing is localised to estuaries and rivers, however, I occasionally have the opportunity to head offshore and target the larger pelagic and deep water species. When fishing inshore and chasing Barramundi, I will occasionally troll, selecting lures to suit the depth where the fish are feeding and colours to suit the day and the bait in which the Barra are feeding on. That said I’d much rather target Barramundi by casting and flicking lures, in and around snags or at the mouth of creeks during the outgoing tide, preferably during the wetseason. My usual approach with lure selection to such applications is by having, my own person creation, a bucket with custom grooves cut into the rim at 2 centimetre intervals, allowing me to secure the bottom treble of each lure for quick and easy access and to avoid unwanted tangles. This method has served us well with quick lure changes as opposed to rifling through countless tackle boxes and wasting valuable time.
FISHING – GET IT IN YA!
When fishing offshore, trolling for Sailfish and other pelagic species with skipped garfish is my preferred method; however, I will also employ large deep diving and or skirted lures when the need arises. For the offshore bottom species, I’ll usually employ a single Gamakatsu Big Bait circle hook snapper rig, baited and sent straight to the bottom; not a great deal of technique involved, but that’s where finding good bottom and good bait choices come into play. Another method I enjoy in deep water is using soft plastics and or jigs sent straight to the bottom and ripped back up to the surface, an exciting experience when jigging for big fish in deep water.
I am a keen and avid fisherman, who loves to fish and will always jump at the opportunity when it presents itself. I have always used Gamakatsu hooks for all my bait applications, such as skipped Garfish, but I also use them with my skirted lures, which is the particular lure I landed my very first Black Marlin (265cm short length), while on an extended 4 day fishing trip out at Flat Top Banks, Northern Territory. This particular skirted lure was equipped with twin Gamakatsu 7/0 Big Bait Hooks, of which only one of the hooks found its mark within the hard plate of the inner top job of this fish and held its own for the duration of the fight. Even though I was using braided line, the resilience, stamina and pure strength that this hook displayed, with zero stretch or any assistance afforded to it by the line, further confirmed the reliability of these amazing hooks. I am grateful for not only been given the chance to hook the Marlin, but also the opportunity to fight and land this amazing fish with so many adverse variables weighing against me.
Gamakatsu – Always reliable
I love fishing but what really floats my boat is when I have the opportunity to take my family and friends out for a fish, particularly those who have never done so before and give them the experience to catch a fish; the smiles on their faces and gratitude is a very rewarding and grounding experience.
I am extremely grateful to the Frogley’s team for extending this amazing opportunity to me and look forward to our future endeavours together.
Tight lines and I’ll see you out on the water.
Cheers
Buzz