Perth sharks and just size fish?
Went out ~20NM from OR yesterday and made the most of the nice conditions. Fishing was a little slow to start with but got a nice 58cm baldie around mid-morning. Found a school of pink snapper and had 10 or so hook ups in the space of 30 mins with 3 just undersized models coming on board before we ran into a shark problem! I've never had an issues with sharks taking fish in Perth unitl yesterday? Lost 2 complete fish to them and got this mangled 47cm specimen back. Moved spots after that one - no point donating fish. All fish lost within 10 meters of the bottom so not sure what was doing the damage.
Ended up with another just sized (40.5cm) baldie and decided to call it a day before the breeze came as the swell was well over 3m still.
The Fisheries research team were at the ramp on return recording fishing information and measuring catch. The small baldie ended up being 39.5cm by their measurements which I questioned as we measured it as being size before it hit the icebox. The young lass basically said it needed to be size at the ramp, and while they know fish do shrink on ice, it basically take at your own risk. I suggested photographing catch against a tape measure which she said may get you out of trouble with some officers but it's definetly not a fool proof method. Annoying kwirk in the rule that's for sure, as I always do the right thing. Also for species like baldies "releasing" a sized fish is essentially throwing a dead fish back into the ocean as they have a very high rate of mortiality from depths of 15+m. So if you throw back a size fish that dies, then go catch another one to keep you're doing more damage than good. I know there's no magic solution here but it's frustrating.
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Belly Fish
Posts: 499
Date Joined: 09/03/12
From experience
Having fished club competitions for over 30 years, where fish must be size at the weigh in, we do not keep anything that is just over size. All fish shrink on ice, some more than others. Breaksea and Baldchin would need to be at least 1cm over size before we keep them. Flathead are real bad too.
TorquenFish
Posts: 321
Date Joined: 30/12/12
Unfortunately I think I'll
Unfortunately I think I'll be doing the same in future - just not worth the headache. Shame though, as it puts additional unnecessary pressure on the fishery.
blitzed
Posts: 196
Date Joined: 03/02/11
F@#$* Shorks !!! Bring the
F@#$* Shorks !!! Bring the indos down
dodgy
Posts: 4580
Date Joined: 01/02/10
Petermac here got pinged for
Petermac here got pinged for one a few years ago. Took it to court and won. Posted the finding from the court a few years ago.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8152
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Was it the Queensbury Rules
Was it the Queensbury Rules court of appeal?
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
uncle
Posts: 9489
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Your running the gauntlet
if just size, gotta be at least 2 mil over
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
TorquenFish
Posts: 321
Date Joined: 30/12/12
Well it was 5mm over legal
Well it was 5mm over legal size, but I guess I'll leave a little more wiggle room in future.
Fathom
Posts: 619
Date Joined: 18/04/08
Fisheries stickers
The measuring stickers that fisheries supply are 5mm out in their favour. A just size baldy that shrinks 5-8mm on ice and measured on a fisheries sticker will get you in trouble
selthy
Posts: 296
Date Joined: 27/05/11
I know the stickers come with
I know the stickers come with disclaimers, but surely Recfish don't provide stickers to all and sundry that are 5mm out. Many on this site are well aware of size limits, do the right thing and return anythinbg close to undersize. But, what about the general punter who picks up a sticker from the hillarays marine research laboritories, their kid catches a just size fish (as per sticker), gets measured by fisheries and then gets into strife?
Fathom
Posts: 619
Date Joined: 18/04/08
Get a tape measure
Silver Fox
Posts: 1116
Date Joined: 19/06/14
Sharks are a pain in the rear end no doubt.
That's an interesting braid to leader setup you have there. There's some good tutorials on YouTube for the FG knot, really easy and quick to tie on the water. One that's a little more fiddling about but super effective is the Bimini twist to improved Albright. Wind on leaders are great!.
My wife understands why I clean my rods n reels in the shower....
TorquenFish
Posts: 321
Date Joined: 30/12/12
Never really used wind on
Never really used wind on leaders for anything other than trawling and if I want to drop the swivel out of the setup I generally just go the double uni knot. FG would be much nicer to pull through a rods eyes though. Bimini twist is way too much stuffing around unless you're sitting at home
Billcollector
Posts: 2084
Date Joined: 16/05/09
Bimini twist takes bugger
Bimini twist takes bugger all time to do while fishing just put the rod in the holder and use the reel handle to give you tension on the loop while tightening it up.
Silver Fox
Posts: 1116
Date Joined: 19/06/14
I concur...
Less than 60 seconds for a quick Bimini add another 60 for the Albright and you're back in action.
My wife understands why I clean my rods n reels in the shower....
sea-kem
Posts: 15021
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Yep bimini to GT for me on
Yep bimini to GT for me on all my set ups, never had one fail.
Love the West!
TorquenFish
Posts: 321
Date Joined: 30/12/12
I never use the stickers for
I never use the stickers for anything other than a size limit reminder. Always carry a soft tape measure for measuring all fish.
sunshine
Posts: 2624
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Sorry but I question using a soft tape measure
That will follow the contours of the fish making it measure longer. Fisheries use a flat end stopped measure so if you want accuracy and consistency that is how you should measure
TorquenFish
Posts: 321
Date Joined: 30/12/12
If you lay the fish on the
If you lay the fish on the tape not the inverse, it measures true.
sea-kem
Posts: 15021
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Bragmat is the way to go,
Bragmat is the way to go, lay the nose up against the back stop, can't go wrong.
Love the West!
Billcollector
Posts: 2084
Date Joined: 16/05/09
If fisheries want to be
If fisheries want to be pricks the only thing that will stand up in court is a proper tape measure.
sea-kem
Posts: 15021
Date Joined: 30/11/09
True or as I've seen very
True or as I've seen very fine pointed verniers.
Love the West!