DerekD

BLOODY being the keyword. One of the those posts I don't know if I should like or unlike. Glad to hear @sashkello was able to walk away from it.

There is a backstory behind these photos which I hope goes someway in helping you understand why they are so significant to me in my growth as a photographer. I’ve enjoyed photography since I was a kid but between the gear, the film and developing costs it wasn’t the cheapest of hobbies. Around 2005 I was given a Canon EOS 350D which opened up my photography world. In addition to the personal photography I ended up doing events such as weddings now and then. This camera really helped me grow as I could try things at very little cost beyond the original outlay. I learned about composition, lighting, working with people, etc. Over time I was also finding limitations with the gear, especially in low light so I walked into my camera store to fix this issue and the brief that I want to take photos which make people say “Wow!”. The solution was to buy a newer camera (Canon EOS 80D) with better sensor, higher ISO and better lens. With a bit of practice I started to get more of the photos I knew I was capable of. About 2 years later Canon released the full frame, mirrorless camera with eye detection (Canon RP) which I added to my collection. I bought it specifically for portraits and found it partnered really well with the 80D as they each have strengths which complement each other. During the Covid years I found and started following a photographer in Melbourne and his how to videos on working with light and models. His explanations were clear and his style and work really resonated with me. Early this year he advised that he was doing three day workshops in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. The first two days being studio and advanced studio photography were of less interest to me as I don’t have a studio and probably never will and I couldn’t justify the cost. The third day which was coincidentaly on my birthday was of real interest. It was learning how to find and shoot in natural light. I put my name down and went to the course last Sunday. Turned out to be a fantastic birthday present to myself. While the overcast weather was not optimal, Peter and Bec had taken the time to scout out locations in the Darling harbour area which could be used for the lessons. On a sunny day it makes it very easy to show where the light is coming directly and where it coming in as a reflection. An overcast day means the lighting is diffused and comes from multiple directions. One of the first things Peter explained was that in a scene bright colours such as a bus sign can be a distraction so he had us set our cameras to monochrome. For those less familiar with photography a lot of cameras can shoot in both JPG (what the camera thinks are the best settings and compression for the photo) and RAW which is the unadulterated data but it can be manipulated more easily later. On my 26MP camera a large JPG is about 6MB and a RAW file is about 30MB. While the JPGs and what I was seeing would be in monochrome I could go back later and put the colour back in using the RAW files. Next thing is he made sure we knew about zebra-ing which is a function in modern camera which shows when parts of the photo are blowing out (typically white-ish areas which are looking overexposed). He then had us switch to manual. While a little harder at first it allows you to keep pretty consisting lighting over multiple shots. In the various auto modes the light values can jump around between shots depending on the aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings. He also introduced us to the Peak Focussing function which is a neat little trick mirrorless cameras have – in manual mode the section of photo in focus can be made to light up in colour. I used eye detection for this session. Essentially Peter taught us to find and paint with the light. You can’t see light but you can see shadows and use these to work out where the direct or reflected light is coming from. There were three models and he rotated them around at various locations (including an underpass and a park station) to explain the concepts. At times I was torn between following him and taking a few photos of the models at each of the stands. I learned ways of photographing I had not known of before and I also had a few epiphanies along the way. I’m not a professional photographer as such. I am self-taught. I was in the company of people that do it for a living so I was a little intimidated at first but then realised my way of connecting with and directing people to get the photo I wanted put me in good stead. It was when I had a particular model to myself or realised something wasn’t working for me so made small changes that I started getting the photos I really wanted. In the end I took about 1,700 photos of which I have to delete a lot of the early ones due to a struggle with focus and camera settings. It annoyed me at first but I reminded myself this was why I was doing this course. These are just 4 of the ones I took but they are to me the photos I want to be able to do far more consistently. While not at a peak in my growth they do represent a pretty big milestone in that (to me at least) I am reaching the point when I can now reasonably expect to get an “OH WOW!” photo when I had out for a session. Camera used was a Canon RP (mirrorless) with Sigma 50mm 1.4 lens and Canon 85mm 1.8 lens.

Hi @SpeedyGiraffe49, Lovely report. Felt like I was reliving the day. It has been a real pleasure watching your skills grow and how things started to click into place. I enjoy the questions you keep throwing out there as they are well thought out and at times have really forced me to think about the response and then to put it in a context that makes sense. Your upbeat attitude and your sense of humour made it a really fun day for me and looking forward to the next one when schedules permit. Looking forward we have a few more types of lures to work through then we also have the heavy gear, luderick on weed, yabbies, freshwater. Hoping you are not a quivering ball of nerves trying to process all the information at the end of it all. Regards, Derek PS. The fact that you are offered to help others already is something I respect greatly.

Hi all, Each year I mentor several people and we spend a lot of time on soft plastics on light gear. In particular I teach them a retrieve with minnow type lures (usually 3 inch) which is probably the most effective technique I have in my arsenal on the pelagics in Sydney harbour when they are feeding on the small silverish baitfish. Essentially I match a 3 inch type minnow with a TT jighead in 1/4 or 1/6 oz for casting distance and a 1H (heavy gauge wire) hook. See photo below. I don't like the darter jigheads for this as the resulting motion is not a smooth as I like. Using a pulsing motion of the rod tip away from the lure and a wind for each pulse of the rod tip and you can get that lure darting left to right and back again with at least 30cm movement. It is an eye opener for every person I have taught. One day I might make a video on it but for now see if you can work it out. The movement is as per the video below. I worked this out with the Berkley powerbait minnows and it is important that you rig them as straight as possible so they don't end up with a bias to one side. Why do I think it is so effective? The defence mechanism for most baitfish is to ball up which makes it difficult to focus on an individual fish. When one is broken away from the school it is an easier target for the predators to focus on so it starts to use a darting motion as a defence. The problem is this movement is also a red flag saying I've broken away from the school and am thus an easier target. All I am doing is replicating this movement but throwing in a pause now and then to allow the predators time to hit the lure. Most of the hits will be on the pause. The slightly heavier jighead ensures the lure is always moving and it makes it very easy to work the full water column at a reasonable speed. Two of the people I have mentored in the past year are @Robbo from Sydney and @linewetter and in the course of the lessons I have shown them another 3" minnow type lure made by Berkley which I found one year as a boatshow special. These were even better in that they had the same movement as the original power minnow but were a lot more forgiving when being rigged. They also came in white which really stands out and gets hit by the pelagics. I don't think the white puts them off because if it looks like a baitfish and moves like a baitfish then it probably is. In fact I seemed to do better on these. I have also done really well on the smelt, pearl blue, and pearl watermelon colours in the Berkley range. I've been using the boatshow Berkley minnows sparingly as I can no longer get them at a decent price and the white is a real struggle. Seems both my students were paying attention to the lessons as when I caught up with Rob he said he had a little present for me - a packet of white 3" minnows which he'd tracked down from the States. Put a really big smile on my face. A couple of days ago I had a call from Alex asking to catch up as he had a little something for me. 10 packets in white which he'd tracked down through his States connections and a beautiful thank you note. These are absolute gold for me, and even better for me is the effort that these two gentlemen made to track these down. The time they have given me is the real gift and even more importantly are the friendships I've made with two awesome people. If you ever get the chance take the time to mentor other people. You don't need to be an expert because even if you are only a few steps ahead of the person you are teaching it will help them grow. There will also be other returns for your time which will be even more value to you over the long run.

You can catch them all over Sydney harbour but they move around so 15 minutes or several hours can make all the difference between catching some or the donut. Read:

Think this was the report which came out of that session:

Hi @monster bite The photograph that was posted was of the old North Sydney wharf which I believe you are still allowed to fish from (at least from what remains of the old one). Several years ago as part of the upgrade of several wharves in Sydney harbour a new one was put in place next to the one you see in the photos. Yes you are correct in that you are not allowed to fish from the new floating wharf. The North Sydney wharf area was and still is a popular spot for a lot of people fishing probably due to the easy parking and amenities in the area but there was likely to be a lot of mess afterwards and probably the reason for banning it on that particular wharf. It is a shame you can't fish from the new wharf but probably understandable. When it was just put in and still fenced off for construction and was already sign posted as no fishing I've seen several people work their way around the fence to fish off the new one. Coincidentally, I've also seen police launches pull up at the same time and ping them for it. Regards, Derek

Hi @linewetter and @Mike Sydney Really glad to see two people I've mentored catching up and getting along. Hope you have many more fishing sessions together and I'm looking forward to more reports. Regards, Derek

Hi @monster bite Personally I look up tides and winds to see where I can and can't fish. If it is a north easterly and top of high tide I go to A, B or C. If it is a southerly and a low tide then I go and fish at X, Y and Z. I think people have been caught up in the fallacy of tides. You watch a fishing program and the host says "No run, no fun" or " fish one hour either side of top or bottom of tide" it sounds like great knowledge but it is probably bad advice. This is not to say the tides and wind don't have an effect but you have to look at a specific area to see and learn what that impact actually is. I like to fish topwater and if I go to the areas I like to fish, on a super low tide, I am casting out on to a sand or mud flat. Can't work out why but I never catch anything then (being silly here to drive home a point). People are also putting people rules on a fish. Do you really think there is a fish in Sydney harbour looking at its watch and saying "fish, we are almost one hour off high tide so lets start feeding for the next two hours and then stop till we are one hour off low tide". If that was the case then it would be extremely easy to pick my fishing windows. Look at the data if you want but treat it academically and just go and fish anyway. While my line is in the water I have a chance of catching something. If I bring my fishing knowledge into play about what is likely to work, what the fish are likely eating my chances of catching something go up dramatically. Regards, Derek

The camera was the Canon EOS 350 and was released in late 2005 with an 8.2MP (huge right) sensor. I'm still blown away how good the photos are from that camera if the light conditions are reasonable and I've done several weddings with it. Think I've taken over 50,000 photos with it and still have it but I struggled with it under poor light conditions so picked up two newer Canons in the last few years. I lost contact with Han and I don't know if Juul ever made it out here but in one of the EyeFish episodes they visited him in Amsterdam.

Hi @linewetter. If you are looking at dropshotting then consider stand out hooks and then maybe pencil sinkers. We used these in a paternoster style format when fishing for Zander in Amsterdam. We just threaded the front of a 3" minnow onto the hook and the hook design kept it hanging square to the line and off the bottom. The pencil sinkers are less likely to snag up in the Dutch canals where we used them. Surprisingly the takes from a Zander were surprisingly timid considering how big and powerful they look. Think flathead crossed with a bass and sharp teeth thrown in. Here was the report I did back then:

Hi @Little_Flatty Can't slip anything past you. To be fair, my lure journey essentially started with soft plastics and I grew outwards from there. This was a trip back into my lure fishing roots to solve a problem I was having with the bass at Manly dam. My go to is spinners there and they are very effective but I wanted to start catching some of the ones in the deeper water. The challenge is there is a lot of weeds and other snags so I wanted a weedless rig that I could fish through clutter. I figured a floating plastic lure about 40cm above the bottom might do the trick. Still working on it.

Hi @linewetter, This is one of those posts where I don't know if I should like it (awesome fish) or unlike it (broken rod). I know how hard those silver trevally fight as I've also had a 55cm model while on the kayak on the medium gear. That you landed it on the ultralight gear is a testament to how far you have grown. Wait till you get your first decent king on light gear. Thought we'd covered how to land good fish on light gear but may have to cover this topic again. Coincidentally, @Jakob Duus contacted me last night after his first success fishing lures back home in Denmark and I am really hoping he does a report as it was an awesome fish too and a great story. We live chatted just after it happened and his excitement and the joy in his face was contagious. That fish has sealed his fate. He is hooked for life now. Regards, Derek

Basically the Sugapen 70mm is an awesome lure in itself but they are a little harder than other lures you can buy off the shelf to get a tight walk the dog with. However once you nail it then all the other topwater lures (poppers and dying baitfish) I demonstrate, work with that same retrieve. Bit like learning in a manual car and then finding driving an automatic is pretty easy in comparison. Starting the other way round is a lot harder.

Where are you based? Teaching someone topwater with light gear usually takes me about half a day. I teach one specific retrieve with a sugapen 70mm which, once learned, works with walk the dog type lures (Sugapen and Slippery dog, K9, etc), popper type lures (MMD splash prawns, Skinny Pop Jnr etc) and dying baitfish (OSP Bent Minnow or Berkley Bender). The basics are easy to show but learning it is a bit like rubbing your head and patting your stomach - it often takes the student a while to make it look and feel natural. We then discuss about changing cadence and pace to tease up the fish. This is also followed up with discussions on where and why. In my first light lure outfit article I've included a section further down on hardbody lures and specifically topwater: