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Are the masses that are flocking to the shops unnecessarily in blind panic realise that now is the worst time to be in places with high densities of people in terms of coming into contact with this virus? The behaviour of many people at the moment is a disgrace.

Are the masses that are flocking to the shops unnecessarily in blind panic realise that now is the worst time to be in places with high densities of people in terms of coming into contact with this virus? The behaviour of many people at the moment is a disgrace.

Are the masses that are flocking to the shops unnecessarily in blind panic realise that now is the worst time to be in places with high densities of people in terms of coming into contact with this virus? The behaviour of many people at the moment is a disgrace.

I have been catching some impressive gummies around Edithburgh.Try the rips around Saltana Point around dusk.Use squid heads on a running rig.I know its not against the law to catch and keep females but after gutting a good size female a few years ago and finding over 30 pups happily swimming around inside her,i have made it my rule not to keep females.The one I am holding here is a male.

There is another way of people learning the consequences. Natural Law! They continue to take undersized fish, no more fish left, lesson learned. Doesn't help us in our lifetime though.
There are far more fishos on Strike Hook than there are fishieries officers, it seems that we already have the resources, we all just need to grow the kahunas to use those resources. On top of that, Strike Hook fishos won't charge you a fee to participate in something that humans have done for thousands of years for free.

When it comes to people taking undersized fish - I took the cowards way out and just stopped fishing where other people were - no more crowded piers  - no more crowed jetties - no more crowded hot water outlets for me.

Melbourne has hotspots where huge amounts of people gather and behave poorly - I just avoid those spots now. In one spot you would have no time to fish, if you confronted every one shoving undersized fish into safeway bags between the rocks.

It used to be infuriating and having a word, only stops the problem while you're there.

In alot of the spots I fish - I've never seen anyone else fish - its much more relaxing - no more people casting over the top of you - no more getting snagged on other people snagged lines - no more sitting in a tip of rotting bait in discarded bait bags - while I do miss the social aspect and camaraderie between fellow enthusiasts who do the right thing - in some spots the righteous are in short supply.

I do have a couple of spots where I'll see the same faces and although we dont speak the same language - we communicate through nods smiles and hand gestures. What we do have in common, is a respect for the water were fishing. And sharing the water with those who respect it - is now a prerequisite for me casting out a line

Dont know what the answer is, license with a test is really the only way to reach everyone....but then people will fish without a license so you still cant win. Bigger fines and more fisheries officers are required. 
Was fishing easter monday at the local which was unusually busy. There's myself fishing barbless hooks and putting anything back that's not at least a cm over the limit to be sure im doing the right thing.......... then there's Groups of people spread out who all know each other all keeping everything they caught. From a distance i knew they were doing the wrong thing but from that far away i couldnt be 100% sure so i kept quiet a while and watched. then one of them walked past me to put a fish in a mates bucket and as suspected it was a 20 ish cm king george whiting. I told them loud enough for all the mates to hear that it wasnt legal size and it needs to go back...which he did put that one back ....but then they just kept keeping everything after that any way. Pissed me off so much and did leave a report with fishwatch . 

It was clear, I was pretty much just backing what you said. I always correct people when they come in the shop blaming one particular race 

Indeed it is, race & ethnicity have nothing to do with it. I was hoping that it was clear that i wasn't singling out any one or  other sector of the community 🙏

@vogon I do not know the answer, but it frustrates the hell out of me.
I do know that there are those that do not know the rules & are surprised when told that what they are doing is illegal.
There are those that do not know the rules but don't care to know them. and
There are those that know the rules but don't care to follow them.
In the shop we are constantly talking to people about fish bag & size limits as well as safety equipment rules laws and it is very disheartening when you get replies like "they've got to catch you" or "I don't do it very often" or "that's not right"
We had an older gent one day tell us that he often gets his 30 Whiting, "fishing by himself", when we told him that it's not allowed he said "the boat limit says 30" we explained that the personal bag limit applies up till 3 people then the boat limit applies, we even showed him where it says that in the size & bag limit flyer from PIRSA but he still wouldn't have it. He's either very ignorant or is planning to use the old "I didn't know" as his defence when he gets busted.
Maybe the answer is more compliance, bigger fines, hit them where it hurts (back pocket). If they've got something to be scared of they might comply more.
And it's not just any one race, it is across the board
 
and you thought your's was long winded 🙂

Wouldn't take SkyNews reports as gospel Mike they play loose with the the facts and plenty of dogwhistle political messages in their reporting. Just my opinion.
Hope everyone is coping ok in these trying times and staying healthy. At least at the moment we can still go out for a fish.
Cheers all

Wouldn't take SkyNews reports as gospel Mike they play loose with the the facts and plenty of dogwhistle political messages in their reporting. Just my opinion.
Hope everyone is coping ok in these trying times and staying healthy. At least at the moment we can still go out for a fish.
Cheers all

I am a health care worker and amateur prepper, so I'll share some of my thoughts. At this stage the restriction is only travelling interstate. Social distancing is easier out of the city and the fishing is better but there are a few down sides I can think about.
 
If you do go, some of the things to think about are
How is your health? Are you in a high risk group due to medical issues or age? Medical resources thin out rapidly when you get out of Metro Adelaide. While community transmission of Covid is low in SA, things are changing rapidly day to day and week to week. Also as the outbreak continues, local country hospitals will rapidly be overwhelmed and may not be able to assist you. Have you got any contacts in the West Coast that you could stay with or could help you if things get bad? Do you have any family or friends that need assistance back in Adelaide. If you were stuck somewhere are unable to get back to Adelaide, would this be an issue. I see you are reasonably self sufficient already. How much food, water and fuel do you carry and how far could you travel if suddenly things were locked down or if fuel supplies got interrupted? Would you be able to get back to Adelaide if fuel was short? How good is your phone and internet network? I had trouble calling my parents today on the mobile network. They are in Melbourne and I got a prerecorded message from telstra saying that the network was having issues. Have you got any other means of communication is mobile communication and internet go down?  
 
 
Likely hood of full lockdown is low at the moment but this is what you want to be keeping an eye on
https://www.health.gov.au/news/australian-health-protection-principal-committee-ahppc-coronavirus-covid-19-statement-on-22-march-2020
The AHPPC advise the government on public health measures. They have already spelt out their trigger for full lockdown and this will be the thing to watch
 
 
 
Or maybe I am overthinking this and we should all go fishing...
 

I use 80 pound leader to 30 or 50 pound braid, and have had a devil of a time with knots. Knots failing (even when glued) and knots catching in guides. With my terminal gear, the "Slim Beauty" turns out as a "Nylon Nightmare". Sure, it is easy to tie at sea, and holds well, but boy, oy boy does it ever jam up in the tip and other guides. 
There is no doubt of the multiple benefits of the FG knot for such heavy terminal tackle, but blowed if I could remember it, and I seemed to need another hand (at least). There must be jigs out there on Google? 
Sure is, and the easiest to use and cheapest to buy is actually an Aussie backyarder by the name of "FG Wizz". 
Watching his "how to use" pitch, I was struck that, hey!!, the bobbins he uses look like the washers on my "Laserlite" fasteners from the deck renos, and also that the flexible rods look like pieces of tent pole or old fishing rod.
Hmmmmm, I reckoned I had "the makings" in my shed. Scrounged or saved because "they will come in useful one day".
Tonight, in isolation like everyone else, with the ABC broadcasting nothing but Coronavirus dilemmas followed by Amazonian destruction on 4 corners. What to do? 
Well, I made myself a copy of the "FG Wizz". Once the glue sets, I will be tying FG's like a pro I reckon.........
I figure that such a copy might be somehow illegal, but some of you might choose to buy one instead -- so this is free advertising I reckon. The bits and pieces I used are shown here, but comprise only the cup washers from Laserlite screws, stainless flatheads with washer and nut, a piece of broken tent-pole, wall plugs, and a hardwood offcut. This was all I could drum up, but it looks the goods.
The important bit is the "How To" video of the FG Wizz. See 
 

Had the chance to run a couple of these in my last two session and below are some early thoughts. I'll also continue to post back in here as the summer goes on.
To start with, im coming from a view where the Sugarpen is the gold standard in my eyes. The Pen casts like a bullet, skips across the water beautifully, is quite a flexible lure in terms or its applications and has a success rate that is widely accepted as high. So every commen / view I have on sBT's stick bait will be relative to the Pen.
That being said.
1st impressions:

On the RHS are the 4 "Bangas" as I have affectionately named them. On the LHS are the same 4, mixed in with 4 Pens to give you an idea.
- the blank is almost exactly the same. Same length, same profile/shape. The only differences I can ascertain are (1) a small "scale" finish as opposed to the Pen's lateral dots, and (2) the casting weight is marginally further back in the Pen.
- the blank has a rattle, where as the 70mm Pen doesn't. This appears to be due to the blank having the casting weight in the "chamber" as oppsoed to right at the tail end of the lure like the Pen does.
- the assist hooks they come with look good. Size wise they are maybe a #6 equivalent, possibly even a #4. The braid / assist robe used actually glows bright orange under black light/UV
On the water:

- the blank sits differently in the water at a stand still. Where as the Pen sits almost 45 degrees (head up, tail down), the blank sits realtively flat with no discernable difference in buoyancy between any end of the lure. One of the blanks sat upside down at rest - maybe it was just a dud - but the others seem to be fine.
- casts well, much like the Pen does. To be honest cant tell the differece in that regard.
- seems to swim fine. Ever so slightly different action to the Pen, but this could also be due to the lack of belly trebel on the blank. Might pull the trebel off one of Pens then compare like for like.
Importantly - Results:
The plan I have used is - find the fish with my normal toys, then throw the "Bangas" in and see if they bite.
Trip 1 was pretty tough, nothing in my kit bag really got the job done. However the blank did seduce a couple of roughly 24 models.
Trip 2 was also tough, the wind was up and I wasn't confident the blank would create the water disturbance I needed. Normally in these conditions I would be throwing the larger 95 Pen. However I persisted and nailed an early to mid 30s!
RHS is Trip 1 (~24cm), LHS is Trip 2 (30+cm)
Note - I have cut the dangly bits off. I found they looked like weed and once I removed them I got more engagement for the fish.

@southie THE BANGA overall a good blank and very comparable to the Pen.
More feedback / photos to come over the remainder of summer.
Cheers
TL

Tried a tiny stream around the Lobey area this morning. The wheather was pretty average. only 11 degrees in the hills, wasn't expecting much activity.
A bow n arrow cast into a murky twig infected hole and this juvenile could not resist. 
simple grub i tied years ago.
Spotted this guy high on a bank, snuck behind him and made a short cast
Trecked a few km's, with hardly any sightings.. Overall a quiet morning. When i arrived back in the Barossa it was 18 degrees and the sun was shining..
 

I often watch fishing show on tv and youtube and one that i really like (although in it's last season)is big angry fish, one of the guys has been developing these scoots (as he calls them) basically they are saltwater flys tied onto a sp jighead, these are nothing new they've been around as long as i can remember in on form or another, i bought some tinsel, thread and glue some time ago but kept forgetting to make them until i was watching an episode the other day were they went scoot fishing (no bait).
I pulled out the gear i had bought and some craft supplies i had got from my daughter and proceeded to make a few test ones.
These are what I've made and thought i would share, and ask if anyone has done anything similar for saltwater use?

I won't be watching the grand final.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

I tend to buy mid priced reels you can get some quality gear for $100-$150
Then I service myself bail rollers seem to be  most of my problems
Might get another fin nor lethal 100 for spares & extra spool😉
Awesome heavy duty reel $128  
The free Rapala reel with 30lb braid from fish mag has exceeded my expectations 
Very smooth drag great feel & has accounted for lots of big fish 7ft bronzy, big gummies snaps etc

SportFishingScene is where I get my servicing done, usually after them getting drowned in a sand monster.
 
This what I do for my basic reels, I buy Sienna's for around $40 and servicing is usually about $30 so I just run them into the ground and replace every year or so.
On a kayak where it's always getting exposed to salt and sand so it's not worth using good expensive gear.

Going by those prices I'm thinking its more economical to buy mid priced quality reels, work them hard, but with care. Obviously avoid water and sand intrusion. Wash them down etc. after use and replace them with new ones when they no longer perform to acceptable levels.
Seems wasteful though....such a throw away society we live in now days.
I guess the cost is wrapped in the service person's pay. The value of those reels listed above would however justify their servicing costs.

Going by those prices I'm thinking its more economical to buy mid priced quality reels, work them hard, but with care. Obviously avoid water and sand intrusion. Wash them down etc. after use and replace them with new ones when they no longer perform to acceptable levels.
Seems wasteful though....such a throw away society we live in now days.
I guess the cost is wrapped in the service person's pay. The value of those reels listed above would however justify their servicing costs.

Going by those prices I'm thinking its more economical to buy mid priced quality reels, work them hard, but with care. Obviously avoid water and sand intrusion. Wash them down etc. after use and replace them with new ones when they no longer perform to acceptable levels.
Seems wasteful though....such a throw away society we live in now days.
I guess the cost is wrapped in the service person's pay. The value of those reels listed above would however justify their servicing costs.

Going by those prices I'm thinking its more economical to buy mid priced quality reels, work them hard, but with care. Obviously avoid water and sand intrusion. Wash them down etc. after use and replace them with new ones when they no longer perform to acceptable levels.
Seems wasteful though....such a throw away society we live in now days.
I guess the cost is wrapped in the service person's pay. The value of those reels listed above would however justify their servicing costs.

Going by those prices I'm thinking its more economical to buy mid priced quality reels, work them hard, but with care. Obviously avoid water and sand intrusion. Wash them down etc. after use and replace them with new ones when they no longer perform to acceptable levels.
Seems wasteful though....such a throw away society we live in now days.
I guess the cost is wrapped in the service person's pay. The value of those reels listed above would however justify their servicing costs.