An Interesting Comparison: Jetty Fishing AUS vs US

[sbarnden 397]

I though I would report on a interesting comparison that I made during my trip to Jacksonville in Florida when we decided to visit the beach and go for a walk along the pier.First of all, when we got the the pier there was a big gate and sign saying what you can and can't do on the pier. (No jumping, leaving trash, or shark fishing apparently).Then in order to go on the pier you have to pay. $1 for pedestrians, $4 for fishing. That I found a little strange coming from Australia where pretty much all our jetties are public use. But hey, I paid my dollar at the shack and got let through the gate.One good thing I noticed about this system was there was a shack where you had to pay to go through. Naturally in order to cater for other requirements it acted as a small shop for drinks, bait and tackle right at the start of the pier which looks really convenient.The other good thing I noticed about this was that the pier itself was in excellent condition, well maintained, with plenty of covered rest shelters in the middle with benches. And best of all bait cutting and fish cleaning stations with big cutting boards and running water. These were positioned at fairly regular intervals along the pier.And it seems the price doesn't put many people off. The place was fairly packed. Lot of people fishing with live shrimp and poddy mullet.Down the end was a heap of people fishing for cobia. The fact that they almost never caught cobia and pretty much always caught sharks was just a coincidence since shark fishing was completely banned. Sharks just happen to keep going for the large baits they have out for catching cobia.They used an interesting setup to set their baits too since all the baits were kept high in the water so they were nearly floating. They had one rod with a heavy sinker (not sure if they had another bottom bait on those lines as well) cast out as far as they could manage and used a second rod with a floating clip to run a second line down the first so the bait floats near the surface anchored by the guide line.There was one disadvantage to this and that was there was a seabird seeing all these floating meals. So every time it started diving toward their baits all the fishermen had to shout out and makes lots of noise to scare it off.Saw a couple of catches while I was down there along the pier length.First catch we saw was a small stingray.Second was a guitar shark (ray?).Saw a few people with those nets which at fist I assumed were crab nets but apparently need to be used since large fish are regular caught which are too heavy to reel up on the line.So what do people think about user paid fishing jetties? I can't fault the quality or convenience but somehow I think it wouldn't work so well over here where there are so many free options and lower quality fishing (we don't get anywhere NEAR the size or variety of fish from our jetties).

[Ranger 48]

I think given the services and facilities, I'd be happy to pay $4.00 here for the priviledge.I'm not a fan of fishing licenses (for a number of reasons), but I believe this type of arrangement is a TRUE "user pays" system, where the income generated from the facility goes directly back to maintaining the facility.

[Savagelip 4]

More fishing inspectors patroling our local jettys is whats really needed imo..

[afishyfish 4]

I wouldnt mind seeing that happen here. If the jetty is owned by a private person/s I'm sure the funds would get re-invested.Good to see such great facilities, and surpriusing to hear how well the arrea fishes too

[Skudded 0]

All based on the facilities really, I wouldnt pay a cent to fish any of the jetties we have now thats for bloody sure. Extend most Metro Jetties out 100m and set them up like this and I would deff be more willing.Savagelip this could work to help watch what people are catching, if you have a gated exit then catches could be randomly checked to make sure you are only catching fish according to legal limits.

[archerfish 685]

Good report, sbarnden...

[OLD SALTY 0]

This was a great and interesting read! If there was a purpose built "pier" ( sorry its always gonna be a jetty for me.) for this exact purpose i would def pay the $4.00 fishing fee. Top work cheers!

[4THALOVE 45]

wish they would do a simple questionaire that you have to sign on our jetties that has to be read and signed by all fishermen/women to say they understand the rules for fishing our jettys so when they get caught taking undersize -too many they cant use any excuses

[MarsOne 137]

Awesome system IMO - rates of people doing the wrong thing would surely be lower in such an environment as well. Use of specific licenses such as this are great - as Ranger hinted at. Want to fish for trout in streams? Pay a trout license, etc etc.

[Highfly 0]

Yeah !Lets voluntarily pay another tax we dont have to yet yeah !Lets start it right at $4.00 and maybe soon enough it can be $20.00 or $50.00That should stop the grandpas and grand kids catchin small tommies and mullet yeahThose old blokes and kids have depleted our fish stocks on Adelaide 5 short piers.Another terrific idea :whistle:

[snake 1]

:c that! i wouldnt pay to fish on a jetty!!! thats what we pay council rates for!!!!

[jagger 24]

You pay to lauch a boat...you pay to drive onto some of our beaches in summer..what's the difference?The ramp provides facilities that you pay for such as this pier. Nice to see it can work in other countries (i'm sure it's not the only one) but far to many people here that just can't see forward. SA in particular ! We really don't like change that's for sure.

[bent87 0]

great post