Hi, I'm Roger Osborne

Roger Osborne comes from a long line of successful fishermen

Roger shares his story...

"I was born into a fishing family with my grandfather Ron and father Bryan, both keen fishermen. I have been a fishing enthusiast since I was old enough to hold a fishing rod," says Roger.

Living At Collaroy Beach

"My earliest memories of fishing were when we lived at Collaroy Beach on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. My family moved there when I was 7 years old. Our house was about 300m from Collaroy Beach and 500m from Long Reef Headland.

"During this time, I started to learn the art of Beach Worming with my father, Brian.

"Luderick was my target fish. I fished off the Collaroy Rock Pool at high tide using a float and green weed for bait.

"My father Bryan Osborne still holds the family record for a fish caught off our back lawn! (see image right)."

Our Narrabeen Lake Waterfront Home

"When I was 12 years old, my father Bryan bought a waterfront property at Narrabeen Lake on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

"For me, it was like being on holiday all the time. The only homework that got done was spending hours in my boat everyday hunting and catching fish. I spent all my spare time fishing in the lake ( I never got any school work done !! ).

"Sometimes during the school holidays, I would pack some food and stay out fishing all night. I knew every inch of that lake. Every sandbar, every deep hole, the best weed bank edges. The best spots to get blood worms and nippers.

"We caught much fish straight from our back yard, including big Flathead, Bream, Mullet, Luderick, Whiting, and a 15kg Mulloway, which made the local newspaper ‘The Manly Daily”.

"The butcher at North Narrabeen agreed to let me stock his shop freezer with fish caught from the lake.  This is how I earned money. By the age of 14, I was stocking the local butcher’s freezer with fresh Whiting, Bream and Flathead bags. Each bag was filled with 4 fish and sold for $1 per bag (this was in 1975).

"Over one 2 week school holiday period, I sold more than 200 bags of fish  -  that’s 800 plus fish !!!

Roger's Teenage Years

"My Teenage years were spent fishing Narrabeen Lake, Narrabeen Beach, and fishing off the rocks mainly from Long Reef to Mona Vale.

"I was a keen surfer and member of Narrabeen SLSC where I was Chief Instructor and Inshore Rescue Boat (I.R.B) Captain.

"I competed in I.R.B Rescue competitions at the state level. During my teens and early twenties, I was also a crew member of the Long Reef Jet Boat Rescue Service. I spent many hours helping people on dangerous seas!

Rock Fishing

"Fishing from the rocks has been my passion all of my life from my teens. I have spent thousands of hours fishing from the rocks targeting all popular fish species including Snapper, Mulloway, Kingfish, Bream, Drummer, Trevally, Tailor, Salmon, Groper, Luderick etc.

"I still fish the rocks regularly.

CCA Fishing Club

"At 32 years of age, I founded Christian City Anglers Fishing Club which quickly grew to have more than 100 members. 

"We held weekly fishing meetings at Warriewood Surf Club and had a monthly competition covering Deep Sea, Rock & Beach, and Estuary Categories with annual awards for club champions in each section. 

"I was president of CCA for 10 years until family and business commitments needed more of my time.

Inshore Reef Fishing

"My wife bought me my first boat for my 30th Birthday ( what a champion !! ).

"I have since owned a number of boats and have fished offshore mainly launching from Long Reef Boat Ramp and Pittwater on Sydney’s Northern beaches with my main target species being Snapper, Mulloway, and Kingfish. I fished consistently from Long Reef for more than 10 years and often stayed out well after dark fishing for Mulloway.

"Long Reef was a challenging and fun place to launch and retrieve a boat. I had a special key fitted to my outboard to release the hydraulics so that I could hit the beach at speed.

"The trick was to follow a wave in and then hit the beach flat out with your boat often sliding 20m or so across the sand. It was then a dry winch up off the sand onto a specially built super strong trailer.

Fresh Water Fishing

"Over the past couple of decades, I have enjoyed pursuing some of Australia's freshwater fish, targeting mainly Aussie Bass and Trout (an introduced species)

"I have done extensive wilderness hiking into some of the most pristine locations in the Blue Mountains, Snowy Mountains and Tasmania with a group of mates.

"Often we have hiked into the wilderness for a week at a time. I have also enjoyed some very productive Trout fishing in Lake Jindabyne." 

These are some of the locations that Roger has fished:

• Upper Clyde River
• Lake Jindabyne
• Thredbo River
• Cox’s River
• Kowmung River
• Tasmania Wilderness Lakes & Rivers

ROGER’S FISHING Core Values

Truth, love, integrity, family, generosity, excellence.