(RickyMartinFishing) Drew & Kyle

Name:  

Drew and Kyle

Location (City/State): 

Shellharbour, NSW

Profession/Job: 

Drew (Energy Sales), Kyle (Avionics Technician, Navy)

Favourite angling location?  

The ledge

Favourite species to chase?  

Drew: Northern bluefin tuna

Kyle: Cobia

Favourite style of angling? 

Land-based game fishing.

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

Drew: I was hooked the moment I landed my first leather jacket from Merimbula Spencer Park jetty when I was four on a peeled prawn. My father got me started.

Kyle: There had always been a healthy fondness for fishing since primary school taking the 3.85m tinny out drifting for flathead, then into my early 20’s spinning for salmon and tailor. But my true love for fishing came in my mid 20’s when Drew and I put our brains together and began our journey into the land based fishing life. We fed off each other’s enthusiasm and passion for the sport.

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

Drew: Wash fishing with cunjevoi, crabs and peeled prawns for drummer, bream, and groper.

Kyle: fishing out of the tinny for snapper and flathead around Merimbula and Pambula.

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

Drew: You get out what you put in. LBG really provides one of the last frontiers for fishing escapes where you can achieve angling goals and chase angling dreams that very few people get to experience. For a dreamer like me, the feeling of what if, or what could be, or what might happen, is addictive and nothing provides that more than LBG fishing.

Kyle: Those early mornings, being outside, the anticipation of what’s about to swim past the ledge. Every time I go fishing, I have that dream that this could be the day that dream fish jumps on the end of my line. I never feel like I’ve wasted a day when I’m out fishing.

Who or what inspires your angling?

Drew: Early on fishing media figures like Kaj ‘Buschy’ Busch were who I looked up to, as I grew older hearing about the halcyon days of LBG through the 80s. I found reading about these days highly addictive. More recently names like Phil Atkinson and Andrew Mayo who have managed to combine the written word and photography provide great inspiration. Finally, it’s all those anglers who keep coming back year after year, season after season, not going to the dark side and buying a boat. It’s the blokes that stay on the LBG scene not because they have no other option but because LBG is the style of fishing they want to do.

What has been your favourite moment/memory in fishing?

Drew: The first memories that come to mind are of gaffing/landing some of Kyle’s best captures. We don’t fish on ledges where there are multiple gaffmen, its usually just me relying on Kyle or Kyle relying on me. Gaffing Kyle’s almost 40kg cobia, made me feel sick to the stomach. I would much rather be on the rod and lose my own fish, then lose Kyle’s fish of a lifetime on the gaff. However, the thrill and satisfaction of successfully gaffing a fish of a lifetime for a mate is unmatched.

Kyle: I can put this down to a fish I caught in New Zealand. I’ve always loved kingfish and the size they can get to have always amazed me. Back in 2020 we headed to New Zealand to chase some XL snapper and kingfish. Two weeks in we had a weather window for one of New Zealand’s most famous ledges. By then the bodies were hurting after 2 weeks straight of fishing and camping the beautiful coastlines of the north island. 

After a 6km walk in with unreasonably heavy packs we set up camp ready for the big day ahead. That morning the topwater gear was deployed. Three hours into casting a 130gram OTL lure the arms were ready to fall off when a 25kg kingfish demolished my stickbait. The adrenalin dump was something else as the Saltiga started singing and I went to war. Two minutes later, which felt like an hour, this beast was at the ledge, and I couldn’t get the smile off my face. 

What’s your angling goals for the future?

Drew: 30kg northern bluefin tuna will probably be a goal I’ll have to the grave. Finding ways to capture LBG fishing on camera while still being able to fish to my maximum ability is a tightrope walk I want to keep improving at.

Kyle: At the back of my mind always sits a 20kg longtail, 20kg Australian king and a 20lb snapper in Australia.

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

Drew/Kyle: Specific to LBG, clean up after yourself, respect the water and respect the ledge. Be prepared to fail over the course of weeks, months, and years. 

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

Drew/Kyle: Carefully consider the idea of compromise to hopefully bridge the gap between the non-fishing public and you as a rec angler. We will be locked out, or worse, if we aren't willing to intelligently compromise and articulate our position so that we can continue to practice the sport. Taking an all or nothing approach isn't an argument that will win support for our sport.

What does the Daiwa brand mean to you?  

Drew\Kyle: Increasingly unmatched in its pursuit of perfection, especially in the domain of reels. Every year daiwa manages to improve products in ways to make angling more fulfilling and helps you chase your goals.