Port Lincoln Fishing Report 17/12/09

Fisheries Information
Checking female Rock lobster for eggs
Fishers are reminded that all female Rock lobsters carrying eggs must be returned to the water immediately. This is not only a legal requirement supported by hefty penalties but a moral obligation as well. Berried females have the capacity to carry thousands of eggs and therefore help replenish the Rock lobster stocks.
Be sure to look carefully under each pleopod (swimmerets under the tail) of all Rock lobster. Eggs generally appear as small orange or brown, opaque balls carried on the fine hairs of a Rock lobster tail. All Rock lobster carrying eggs must be returned to the water regardless of whether they are carrying two or 20,000 eggs. By returning the Rock lobster to the water you are helping PIRSA Fisheries maintain a sustainable fishery for all.

Children and bag limits
Fisheries Officers often get asked by recreational fishers how daily bag limits apply to children fishing with adults.
Daily bag and boat limits apply to persons who can catch their own fish unassisted. Therefore if a child is unable to catch fish unassisted they are not entitled to catch their daily bag limit of fish, nor is their portion of catch entitled to be included in an overall boat limit. An adult assisting the child however, may catch their own daily bag limit of fish.
For example if two adults and a child who is unable to fish unassisted are in a boat fishing for King George Whiting then the daily boat limit becomes 24 (instead of 36 as if all three persons were able to fish unassisted). This applies to all recreationally caught species of fish, shellfish and crustaceans.

Elliston
Still good numbers of tommies, gar and squid being caught from the jetty around dusk and dawn.

Sheringa
No reports from people fishing on the beaches but Mark from the Road house has managed to find some big whiting off the main beach.

Farm Beach
Most boat anglers are happy with whiting catches, some of the inshore areas and around the sticks have a lot of small fish mixed up with the legal ones. Some good fish have come in from towards Point Sir Isaac’s.

Coffin Bay
The entrance into Dutton from the ledge has proved a good option for some whiting and tommies with a few snapper being landed from seal corner recently.
There have been some large schools of garfish along the ledge for boaties and land based anglers.

Port Lincoln
Some of the reefs around Boston Island have lots of trevally and a few squid and whiting. The local jetties and wharf at night time are good places to try for a feed of tommies.
Boat fishermen are still pulling some snapper out of Boston Bay and further afield there are whiting at Thistle and Spilsby.

Tumby Bay
From the jetty a few squid and tommies are still being caught, the marina has a few mullet and tommies amongst the pesky trumpeters. The boaties have been getting a feed of squid around the bay, garfish and tommies are hanging around the weed patches, and some small catches of whiting on the inshore drops. Unfortunately the trumpeters are annoying the boaties as well. At the northern end of the groups some nice whiting have been found but not many and very few snapper have been seen or caught for some time.

Port Neill
A few snapper have been caught out wide in the last week. Good catches of squid and tommies are being reported from the local jetty. And some yellowfin whiting are moving around the beaches.

This report has been supplied by Spot On Fishing & Camping World - Port Lincoln