Meet the Team

Dale Baxter

Introduced to angling by a family friend when he was a child fishing has followed Dale well into adulthood and by his own admission is a pursuit that will be with him forever. While chasing trout in Victorian rural streams was where it all began, today much of Dale’s fishing keeps him a little closer to home.

Bitten by the bream luring bug Dale spends much of his angling time on the water chasing urban bream, perch, and snapper in Melbourne, in most cases from his trusty Hobie kayak. With a connection to travel and a love to explore new water Dale has plenty of angling adventures planned for this future.

About Dale

Name:

Dale Baxter

Location (city /State):

Melbourne, VIC

Profession/Job:

Sales Executive at Porsche Centre Melbourne

Favourite Angling Location?

I have two. The first being my city Melbourne. It has great structure fishing and variety of species to chase. The 2nd would be the estuaries of East Gippsland in Victoria.

Favourite species to chase?

Bream, snapper, perch, and flathead.

Favourite style of angling?

All styles of lure fishing. However, structure fishing and sight casting to feeding fish and watching them eat your lures is at the top of the list for me.

When did the love of fishing grab you and was there someone that got you into it?

Like most people my fishing passion started when I was 4-5 years old. We would regularly go camping with family friends and Rick was of them. He was a trout enthusiast and I would tag along with him any chance I got when we were away.

What was the style of fishing that you did when your first started fishing?

As I was tagging along with our family friend, he was always chasing trout in streams and lure casting for them, which was productive. I found the joy in continually moving up a river. I never wanted to sit still. Exploring new water was a great challenge, always casting and retrieving.

What (e.g. escapism, competition, connection with people/nature) does angling give you?

Angling to me gives me everything, opportunity, adventure, hope, discipline, purpose, excitement, failure, growth, and escape. It is the one of those pursuits that no matter whenever you go you can be hopeful, no matter the weather, the tides, the conditions anything is possible. Each time out on the water is a new adventure, new learnings are had, and growth is experienced.

Who or what inspires your angling?

There isn’t a who that inspires my angling, I believe that it is about the challenge, the adventure, the camaraderie or where will it take me next? The next tournament, the next social session, the people you meet, all of this is why I do it. It is also a great way to detach from the daily grind, work and homelife. It gives you an opportunity to pause, clear your mind, reset, take in your surroundings and enjoy the balance it gives you.

What has been your favourite moment/memory in fishing?

There have been some achievements that stand out, catching a giant 215kg Blue Marlin in Fiji, wining my first tournament and watching my daughters catch their first fish these are all great memories for me.

What’s your angling goals for the future?

I would like to do some boat tournaments and try to be successful in those. Still chasing the elusive Melbourne 50cm black bream. More traveling with mates to some cool destinations and to tick several species off the bucket list, like GT, permit, bones, tarpon, golden dorado just to name a few. So, there’s plenty to try and achieve.

What advice would you give to new anglers entering the sport?

Probably the best advice is to ask questions and be a sponge, learn as much as you can, talk to anglers about their techniques and why they use them and no matter what just get out and fish, no matter the conditions (as long as you are being safe). You learn more from the tough days than you do from the successful ones.

What can we do as anglers to make our sport and the industry better in the future?

Probably the easiest thing any of us can do and it requires no skill, no gear, is to clean up after ourselves. If you go fishing and have a bait packet, old line, hooks, or any rubbish put it in the bin. Don’t leave any rubbish behind. If you see a mess and it’s not yours, go clean it up and put it in the bin. If we all do this the access we have will not be taken away. There is no reason for people to say that fishers are messy people. This way we can leave a positive impact on those that don’t fish and our environment.

What does the Daiwa brand mean to you?

Quality, innovation, reliability, passion for excellence and family. It’s always the people that make a great company and Daiwa Australia is full of so many great people whose drive is to give their customers the best tools to go fishing with.