rotare

In theory, you're unlikely to catch a snapper given they're supposedly few left swimming in the ocean.  But that aside....

Logically it will be a very hard rule to enforce.  You can catch snapper using various techniques, rigs and equipment.... which is the same for various other species .   On this basis I would suspect unless you specifically say or suggest you're targeting snapper if asked by a fisheries officer, then there would be very little evidence to suggest you were.  

No different to the rule that once you've caught your boat limit of fish, you're no longer allowed to target that species, even if practicing catch and release.  Ask anyone that has been on a hot bite when tuna fishing, how often that happens....  

I stayed at Denarau Island at one of the resorts 3 or 4 years ago.  We stuck to swimming in the pool as the water at the beach, which was only 20m or so from the resort itself, was always really dirty.  We'd taken our own snorkelling gear and were hoping to do some snorkelling within walking distance somewhere on the Island, but were advised not to waste our time due to the water clarity and the lack of fish anyways.  We ended having to pay for a day charter on a boat to go snorkelling and was taken 25-30km offshore to another smaller island where the water was clear and there was fish to see.

Not sure if it was the time of year when we went that explained the water being so dirty, but I had the impression the inshore waters around the popular resort areas of Fiji are reasonably polluted.  First thing in the morning every day there was an army of resort staff raking the beaches and cleaning up all the crap that would wash in during the night.  Illegal netting seemed a big problem as well, although it's undertaken by many in broad daylight, so can only assume the inshore waters get constantly hammered by the local Indo-Fijians.

Not the picture postcard description of Fiji you were probably expecting, but then again it is a 3rd world country.    

Not surprising.  Get on a hot snapper bite and they'll eat anything.  We've found all manner of things in the stomachs of snapper when filleting them - leather jackets, mussel shells, sea horses, stones and gravel..... so they probably aren't as fussy as some people might think if they're hungry.

Dave,

I reckon most rec fisherman would welcome a better level of representation.  However what I reckon has been a turn off by many is the behaviour by some of the representative groups.  Tit for tat shit slinging online, the lack of open conversation of different views and opinions, hard line views, then the total alienation with the commercial sector.  Perhaps this is what some people think is needed?  Personally I feel that a much more collaborate and pragmatic approach is required, which isn't where we are headed IMHO.

I'd like to also respond to some of your points in your previous posts:

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 The second point only really relates to SBT's at the moment and that is 'who would tow their 20 foot boat with their big 4X4 down to Cape Jervis or Encounter Bay, motor the 90kms out to the Pages only to catch one 8kg SBT?

I would, and do.  I have the 20ft boat and the 4X4. The effort to drive down to Cape Jervis and chase tuna, is not much more than launching the same boat and fishing the passage for snapper.  Most people who make the effort to chase tuna, don't just chase tuna.  Throughout the day they'll come across nice bits of bottom structure whilst trolling and stop and have a fish.  More often than not a tuna trip will see you come home with your esky not only filled with tuna, but nannies, snapper and trevally.  Then there's the by catch that you get whilst trolling, including big arse salmon, snook and the occasional kingfish.  

If people are travelling that far, chasing tuna only, then they're doing it all wrong....   

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Do you have any affiliation to any other groups that might have a stake? Your responses seem familiar, like I've heard them before?

See, your response here is typical and is exactly the point I was making at the start.  It's the condescending tone and your point that Jay R must have some hidden agenda.  He stated his position, yet why the need to question it?  Perhaps it's because he has a different take on things than you?

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There's the issue right there, you might be able to fish multiple times a week but most rec fishers are lucky to get on the water once a month so one feed is not really enough, this needs to be doubled.

And again.  I'm guessing you must know Jay R well to know how often he's fishing?  Or are you just speculating as it supports your argument?

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But the average size of a SA SBT is 8 to 10kg, even down the South East. an 8kg SBT will give you about 4.5kg of meat, how much a kilo is that one fish once you tow your boat to the launch and do the massive k's to access the fish? $100/kg  

If your justification for going fishing is based purely on kilo's of fish you can catch..... you're fishing for the wrong reasons.  If you're worried about the cost per kg of fish you catch, just buy it from the market as I can guarantee it's more cost effective and much less effort than catching it yourself....

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Come on mate, are you serious?

Maybe it's that the people you socialise with are not actually rec fishers, the fishermen with better boats and technology are the commercial fishermen, if that's the angle you're coming from, yes you would of course be very happy with the non-representation that RecFishSA provides us.

 

Once again you're implying that Jay R has some hidden agenda because his experience is different yours.  Why don't you just say you think he's lying and he's likely a commercial fisherman?  

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Painters and Dockers style representation is exactly what we're missing, there is absolutely no representation of rec fishers, we should be parking all our fishing cars/boats in North Terrace, you know that thing called democracy French farmer style.

If you're talking about acting like the unions have in Australia, all the best with that approach as history shows how well that worked for most longer term.

Anyways, I'm not trying to be argumentative.  Just pointing out that there's some interesting behaviours and common tactics often played out in these discussions and hence why many people are simply turned off from positively contributing.

Cheers.   

We caught some out in the boat last week towards Victor way.  Most were probably around the 40cm mark, with the biggest going around 50cm.

22 minutes ago, southie THE BANGA said:

Cheers mate. 

I was thinking of taking a lighter and heavier travel rod. Then a range of bream size to around 120mm hardbodies and a few plastics.

Been watching alot on youtube and starting to get an idea of whats around...

I reckon that sounds like a pretty good plan.  There's a decent sized tackle store 5 minutes from Palm Cove, heading back towards Cairns on the main road.  Well sign posted and you won't miss it.

Be a good idea to drop in and have a chat with them and get some local intel too.

I stayed up at Palm Cove not that very long ago for a week.  Didn't fish myself, but daily walked along the jetty for a bit of a look at what the locals were catching.

From what I saw, there didn't seem to be much consistency with regards to the type of tackle being used, from handlines, light spin outfits to big overheads and heavy lines.  Some were using dead baits, other live baits then the rest were trying their luck using all types of lures from plastics, metal slugs to hard bodies. 

I'd say if you're planning on flicking lures about, just take a spin rod that's good for casting along with a rod and reel combo that could be used to chuck out a bait to the bottom.  I'd say kits between 5-8kg range would be fine for the size of fish that were being caught.     

My preference would be more natural colours based on the type of bait fish the fish are feeding on.  Same deal with the size of the lure - the smaller the better.

Having said this, the tuna we caught the other day were full to the brim of tiny 20mm long leather jackets, yet they scoffed down pilchard sized lures of all different colours!

Much like my opinion on squid jags, colour of the lure probably plays less of an importance than the action of the lure.

An ugly fish?

Unusual, but looks like a cousin to a stone fish. 

Bet it tasted great after being crumbed and shallow fried?

I still say ban all nets, long lining & crabbers in our gulfs. Both need to recover for 1 year, 2 years, more?..I don't know that answer. Can we not get our fresh fish from WA or Pt Lincoln or the top end for example? Maybe not?. Surely it is extremely obvious that fish stocks in the gulfs are heavily depleted so why keep pussy footing around & act immediately. Too much talk & very little action for a long time now. Although SAFA & Recfish are constantly pushing the issue, there is still no resolve to the matter. It just seems that nothing will be done until it is too late or maybe not even then. 

 

Resources in this state have just totally been stuffed up over the years & this matter is no different.

I like your thinking, but I'm curious to understand whether rec fisherman think they are part of the problem too?

I mean, if rec fisherman are really really concerned about fish stocks and them being depleted, why dont they stop trying to catch fish too?

I just take the simplistic view, that no matter whose taking the fish, and no matter how many you're taking, so long as you're taking them your not helping fish stocks either. Perhaps people see it differently than I do?

I guess my point is that there's good merit in your suggestion, but if we really want fish stocks to recover and recover quickly then perhaps recs and the commercial guys should leave them alone?

In theory the blanket banning of nets and any other types of commercial fishing sounds really good..... for rec fisherman.  Hell, I'm sure the fishing would even be better for me at my favourite spots if other recs were banned from them too....except for me of course!

But without commercial fisherman I'm not sure how anyone who isn't a rec fisher will get to eat fresh, local fish?  Perhaps everyone else, but us, will be happy to eat the imported stuff....?

In all seriousness what is needed is a pragmatic approach to share the resource between the commercial sector, and recreational fishers.  As alluded by RJ, infighting, emotive shit slinging and finger pointing between recs and pro's isn't working and won't improve the situation long term for either group in my humble opinion.

The answer can be found here in this historic video about the construction of west lakes. Takes one back in time this video! 

 

Great video.

Union officials and OHS reps would have a fit now watching what went on at constructions sites in those days.

Love the flares and shirts too.  Funny how rolled curbs were such an innovation back in those days....

What's the fuss?  Don't you guys catch them that size too???

Thta's a big fish....

hey mate,

You should have a read through the current status of sa fishery reports from the Govt http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/236904/SA-Marine-Scalefish-Fishery-Status-Report.pdf

in these you will find examples of fisheries that have been or still are overfished. (ie mud cockles in the port river, garfish stocks and some stocks of KGW and snapper).  You need to know that the fish stock of species are split into regions, ie upper spencer gulf, lower spencer gulf, gulf st Vincent, SE etc. so a species may be classed as overfished (or the nicer term they use "transitional depleting") in one area but not (or sustainable) in another.

 

Also look at the recreational fishing survey http://pir.sa.gov.au/fishing/publications/rec_fishing_survey (which has results that  are somewhat controversial)

 

After you have grasped the content of these Gov't report (probably good to  google search some of the older reports too to get some historic changes)

 

I would then then look at some of the opinions from recreational fishing groups such as this, SAFA and RECfish sa (search this site on these groups submissions to the govt (haven't got time to find the links sorry))

 

summarise the information from all types of reports then draw your own conclusions.

 

Top marks right there

Good advice but don't forget Raff is probably only 14 or 15 years old, so some of those links may be information overload!

I've had a lot of success with the Shimano Colt snipers and Storm Koika jigs on the snapper and nannies, although drop your jig amongst a school of hungry fish and they'll just about take any jig that has a bit of action.

I enjoy jigging now for most species out in the boat. More often than not I'll start jigging before bait fishing, and there's been plenty of trips where we've got our limit of snapper without even having to touch a bait.

Although it's horrific to hear that somone has been killed or attacked by a shark, the stats show that on average only 3 people are killed each year from shark attacks.  If people were really concerned about saving lives of humans it would make more sense to focus on activities that kill much more people each year, than trying to cull sharks to reduce shark related deaths.

Globally and in Australia there is a trend of increasing shark attacks and deaths.  Experts say this is more likely due to an increasing global population and more people enjoying water based activities, more so than a massive resurgence of shark numbers around the world.

The irony is there are about 300 people that die from drowning each year in Australia.  Although not of all these occurred in the ocean, a good portion did, so on this basis there's a good argument to suggest that if people stayed out of the water they'd significantly help reduce the mortality rate related to drownings and shark attacks.

Hi Les,

Where can I find the 'Marketing Centre Science Report 1997' referred to in your attached document?

Do you have any reservations basing your media release on a study undertaken 20 years ago? If I'm to believe any of the discussions about rec fishing in the last two decades, there has supposedly been massive changes to rec fishing in that time. On this basis is a study completed on rec fishing 20 years ago, still relevant today?

Cheers.

I guess the OP's requirements need to be put into perspective as well at what he/she actually means when they say "what braid to put on it with out spending a lot of money". A "lot of money means different things to different people.

If you've never used braid before, even the cheaper braids will likely be a better than your average mono.  If this is the case then perhaps start out with a cheap spool from ebay first to see if you like it.  Whether you decide you like fishing with braid or not, at least you've only invested a small amount, and can upgrade to better quality stuff  immediately or down the track if you so desire.  By starting off with some average braid to begin with, you'll also understand and appreciate the difference between good and bad braid.

I started out using cheap ebay braid and had no issues with it, but still caught plenty of fish and wondered why I hadn't used it sooner.  It wasn't till I fished with others that were using high end braid that I realised there was a significant difference in thickness, feel and performance between cheap stuff and the top shelf stuff.

The high end, high quality stuff is good, but you'll pay for it.  Be aware though also that just because you're spending good money on a braid it doesn't always guarantee it's good either.  I've purchased before what I would consider middle of the road, brand name braid (not the cheapest, nor most expensive).  It looked thin and felt great at the shop, but when I put it on a reel and tried to tie a knot with it the line snapped at the knot every single time.  l've also had reels spooled at tackle shops from bulk reels that have been great, and other times the braid has been crap.  It's really hit and miss and it's only through trial and error that you'll find out what works and what doesn't unfortunately.   

There was a few of them under the boat that day .....

Slightly off topic, but has the Stepney got one closed down now too?  Drove past the store the other day and glanced over and it looked like the shop had been emptied.  Did a double take but by that stage I was too far down the road and past the store to confirm what I thought I saw.  Anyone know if they've closed down altogether or just moved to another premises?  

 

Rotare easily has my fave avatar on this site.

He says it's his missus, but somebody also told me it was his sister....

   

Nah, not my missus or sister, but my step mum.  We went fishing on the weekend and she caught this.

That looks back breaking work!  With hooks flicking through the air, gaffs flying and the risk of falling overboard I wonder how many injuries these guys end up with after a trip.

How's those automatic lifters / fishing rods!  Need a couple of those on my own boat

Thanks Bjorn.

Happy to contribute to the forum where I can, and winning the comp is a bonus 

Hopefully I can convert these newly acquired plastics into more fish! Stay tuned!