Show Notes
Ben Wiseman took out his first AYC Competition win this year at Wyangala Dam. I wanted to get Ben on for a chat because his story to wining this year’s comp is very cool. The Social Fishing Team fished Wyangala Dam a week before the competition this year and we shared heaps of information inside our membership platform. Ben took that knowledge on board and applied it to his fishing the following weekend, which helped his and his mate take out the win. Here is a message I received from Ben a few days after the competition: “G’day Rhys, I just wanted to get in contact and let you know how your recent trip report on Wyangala helped me take out the biggest cod and win the recent AYC Wyangala Cod Classic. We used livescope to try and find fish and temp them into biting, to work out a plan of attack for the rest of the weekend. After several hours of scanning for fish and finding some but we weren’t able to get any to commit. After a disappointing session we decided to use the tactics that you described in your trip report from the weekend before and put the livescope away. We started flicking unweighted swimbaits at the shallow points we had marked around 5am before the sun came up, after a couple of hours with no success the sun was finally up, and we were in full sunlight then my lure got engulfed at 7:45am by a 710mm cod on a shallow point. Feeling pumped but sore from casting such a large lure for so long I decided to start casting a Gantia before the next shallow point that we had marked earlier. First cast at the point and my rod loaded not long after my lure hit the water and I was into a big cod. After I got it near the boat and a few lunge’s down deep we managed to get the fish into the net, it measured 1075mm at 8:50 am. I ended up with the biggest Cod for the weekend and our combined efforts got us the win with a total of 2115mm for out two biggest Cod and landing the most fish for the weekend beating at lot of other accomplished teams and anglers. Only after reading your report and deciding to put the tactics you described in to practice, we able to take out the Win. It has definitely changed my perspective on live sounders as we beat a lot of teams that were running it on their boats.” Thanks, Ben Wiseman Become an SF Member today: https://member.socialfishing.com.au/sf-membership/
2:00 – Intro 3:20 – When Ben started fishing the AYC 8:30 – Ben’s Sessions fishing before the competition 11:00 – Story from the AYC competition from this year 30:00 – Advice for using live technology for the first time 35:00 – How would we approach a new dam
More from The Social Fishing Podcast
We recorded this one on the banks of Wyangala Dam, halfway through our 2026 team trip. Dane Hegvold has been writing reports for us for three years now, and we probably should have sat him down for a podcast a lot sooner. He runs us through the Bathurst region, which is a genuinely good place to be based – trout country up around Lithgow and Oberon, the Macquarie River, Ben Chifley Dam fifteen minutes from town, and Wyangala, Burrendong and Carcoar all inside an hour and a half. Dane's own story is worth the listen too. Years of trolling the same lures in the same spots without ever asking why, then a stretch chasing marlin and tuna out of Botany Bay, then three kids and a move back to freshwater. He talks about what changed when he joined the membership, and it comes down to something simple: pick a species first, then work back through the season, the conditions and where the fish will be holding. He also shares his two best sessions – a 93cm PB on the Macquarie with his son in the net, and a 112cm fish here at Wyangala on this trip. The part I could not stop thinking about was a two-day drift Dane did on the Macquarie where the water was filthy the whole way, with no rain and a falling river. He found a gauge with a turbidity reading on it, saw it had spiked from around 10 NTU up to 95, and rang me to ask why. What we landed on after an hour on the phone was a rollover – the same stratification event we have talked about in lakes, happening in a river. Worth a listen alongside episode 99. We finish on the app Dane has quietly been building for two years. PrimeTime brings session planning and catch logging into the one place, then maps your catches against the pressure, the moon phase and the time of day so you can see the patterns for yourself. It is free while it is in beta, and the story of how his daughter named it is the best moment in the episode. Enjoy the chat!
Nate Archer is back on the podcast, and this time we're deep into winter barramundi in the impoundments – genuinely one of Nate's favourite times of year to chase them, even though most anglers write the season off as too cold and push it to the bottom of their list. We go right through how the fish behave once the water cools down. Nate breaks down how to read wind direction and water temperature to find the warm pockets barra push into on a sunny bluebird day, why keeping your lure high in the water column and your retrieve dead slow matters so much more in winter, and how to fish weed-choked bays (or “broccoli towers”, as Nate calls them) without spooking easily-stressed fish. We also get into the difference between chasing them without live sonar – casting the edges and staying stealthy – and using it to find bigger fish holding out in deeper, more stable water on a miserable overcast day. There's a great analogy in here too: why a small, shallow bay swings in temperature all day like a cup of water left in the sun, while a big, deep bay stays stable like a swimming pool – and why that's the key to finding winter barra. Nate also shares the story of a client's barra from his very first week guiding, a 120cm fish so solid it pushed 42kg on the scales. We finish up talking about the massive change in Nate's own life since we last spoke. After eighteen years as a carpenter, he's hung up the nail bag for good and gone full-time as a fishing guide, chasing barra and Murray cod across southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. He talks us through the moment he decided to make the jump, where he guides now, and the numbers from his most recent trip. If you've been putting winter barra fishing in the too-hard basket, this one will change your mind. In this episode: 0:35 – Nate Archer Returns to Talk Winter Barra and His New Guiding Career 3:50 – Why Winter Is Nate's Favourite Time to Chase Impoundment Barra 6:40 – Reading Wind and Water Temperature to Find Warm Winter Bays 12:30 – Lure Choice and Retrieve Speed for Shallow Bay Casting 14:30 – The Exception to the Rule: Fishing Faster in a Clear-Water System 17:25 – Approaching a Bay Stealthily and Casting to One Spot as Fish Move Through 22:30 – Reducing Splash to Avoid Spooking Winter Barra 25:00 – Fishing Weed Structure and “Broccoli Towers” in the Bays 37:50 – Live Sonar on an Overcast Day: Fishing Deep and High in the Water Column 40:25 – The Cup v Swimming Pool Analogy for Water Temperature Stability 43:10 – The 120cm, 42kg Barra From Nate's First Week Guiding 46:30 – Presentation Choices on Live Sonar: Subtle by Day, Bigger Baits After Dark 51:10 – Planning a Full Day's Session Around a Sunny Bluebird Day 56:40 – From Eighteen Years as a Carpenter to Full-Time Fishing Guide 1:03:10 – Where Nate Guides and How to Book a Trip 1:06:30 – Nate's Latest Trip Numbers: 38 Fish in Ten Days and 68 Cod at Glenlyon and Leslie
We're back on the river for our annual river drift – the trip we do every single year, three boats deep on the Murrumbidgee for three days chasing Murray Cod. This time the podcast looks a little different. We normally sit down around the campfire on the last night to record, but this year we ran out of time, so Dan and I recorded this one on the water instead, kicking off with our first cast on the third and final morning.
We hosted our third annual members event in March 2026. This year we went back to Burrinjuck Dam, and it was our biggest edition yet. New and improved clinics and games, over $16K worth of giveaways and more importantly a priceless opportunity for members to connect. Enjoy this chat with Rhys, Dan and Nate as they discuss the event, the funny times and what it’s all about. It’s an event unlike no other and you don’t want to miss out next year!
Welcome to another member’s podcast! In this episode we are heading up to the Gladstone region chatting with local guide running Gladstone Fly & Sportfishing, Cory Gooch. Cory loves chasing freshwater Barramundi and spends a lot of time fishing and guiding on Awoonga Dam. In this chat we talk all about impoundment Barramundi, the basics of catching Barramundi and casting to the weeds, along with plenty of chat on fishing Lake Awoonga. We then move on to talk about Cory’s ABT win, how it all went down and the tactics he used to win the competition. Book a guided trip with cory: Gladstone Fly & Sportfishing