Alaska News

When surfcasting goes gonzo

When it comes to extreme sports, vertical skiing, BASE jump, kite surfing, paragliding and an assortment of others spring to mind.

Fishing? Not so much. Lean back, launch a lazy cast, pop open a beer, await a strike.

But the Australian anglers of an outfit called MorningTide Fishing are changing that, landing big fish from a treacherous rocky shoreline Down Under while fending off waves in a surf that never quits.

"We would watch fishing shows on TV and compare them to the way we fished," said MorningTide angler Aaron Briggs of Barmah in New South Wales. "What we found was it would never add up.

"We're trying to catch tuna, mackerel, and other pelagics from the rocks and we're constantly getting hammered by waves and hooking solid fish ... Basically our average days fishing were so much more exciting then a whole season of the best fishing shows on the telly, so a light just went off in our heads and we said we gotta make a fishing show."

They fish the east coast of the continent from New South Wales to Queensland, landing yellowfin tuna up to 35 pounds, sharks, cobia and other fish.

"To be honest, we've lost our biggest hookups," Briggs told Grind TV. "It's heartbreaking."

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Still, they release most of their catch unless a fish is obviously injured.

What sets MorningTide videos apart is that the anglers sometimes plunge into the salt water with their prey when their line gets hung up.

"We jump in when a fish has run us into a reef but we're still connected to the fish," Briggs told Grind TV. "That has to be one of the worst feelings in fishing -- where if you tighten up, you're going to snap your line, and if you leave it loose, you're going to get spooled. If there's still a chance of landing the fish, we'll jump in (to attempt to free the line)."

Most of the MorningTide anglers have been around water and surfed most of their lives. They wear wetsuits for safety, but not life vests nor helmets.

"Our take on life vests is they are amazing if you can't swim, but would be very dangerous for us because, well, what's the first thing you do if a set (of waves) is going to land on your head? Dive as deep as you can and swim out past it. The last thing we want is to be unable to swim under waves," Briggs said. "A helmet might be a good idea, though."

How about motoring farther offshore beyond the crashing waves in a boat, like most of the world does?

"We see boats as cheating," Briggs said. "The feeling of landing a fish off the stones is so much better than a boat."

With the group's photos and videos getting more and more exposure on the Internet, the Aussies are using their platform to promote catch-and-release fishing.

"Frankly, there aren't a hell of a lot of fish left in the sea," Briggs said. "We hope that if people see that we (land-based game fishermen that expend lots of energy on every fish) are willing to release our fish, then maybe they will look at their own actions as a fishermen and adopt a C&R style, or at least reduce what they keep.

"For the nonfishermen who is a consumer, we hope they will take a second to think about the fish they are buying and what is and isn't sustainable, what is and isn't endangered, what is farmed and what is wild."

Other MorningTide videos:

Catch and release mission: http://bit.ly/15M4mkU

Only a fisherman knows: http://bit.ly/15R230Q

Contact Alaska Dispatch News videographer Tara Young at tara@alaskadispatch.com

Photos: Tough Australian anglers fish the ocean in Morningtide Fishing

Tara Young

Tara Young was a video journalist for ADN.

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