Release Weight Problems
Submitted by Seaquest on Mon, 2010-01-18 10:42
After the wind had finally dropped on Sunday we headed out off the Cape to find some fish. First drop and my mate was on to a good fish. A few minutes later he had a good size dhuy on board. After a couple more drifts and a few other species boated a second dhuy was caught. We decided to release this fish so we could keep fishing but this proved to be quite hard work. The release weight I had was way to small for the fish and didnt have enough weight to pull the fish under. Ended up making my own release weight out of several sinkers and a big hook. After a bit of stuffing around the fish finally went down for a sucessful release. Things went quite after this. Managed a couple of sambos on jigs on the way home to top of another good day.
Oceanside Tackle
Posts: 2803
Date Joined: 23/07/09
How big/heavy was the
How big/heavy was the release weight you had??
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Blank Cheque
Posts: 221
Date Joined: 28/03/09
Same problem
A few weeks back. A 12 kg Dhu will not go back down with the standard release weight. Spoken with fisheries so expect some changes next year. We did the same and then it was the problem of winding it back up again after release. I have now made my own. After reading the regs it states that you must carry a appropriate release weight and the DOF have confirmed that it does not have to be a Rec Fish type release weight.
Garry
Its a little late to head home early
Seaquest
Posts: 1132
Date Joined: 22/10/09
Not sure of the exact weight
Not sure of the exact weight of the release weight but it was the second biggest available. Just brought a 40oz, biggest you can buy but still not big enough IMO.
Tim
Posts: 2497
Date Joined: 26/09/06
20oz
You must have had the 20oz. Thats the smallest you can buy.
The 40oz you have now is not the biggest. There is an 80oz and also a 120oz available.
This thread has some pics http://fishwrecked.com/forum/new-120oz-heavy-duty-release-weight
Looks like tou had a good day out apart from the release weight isue. Some nice fish there.
deepwater
Posts: 1921
Date Joined: 09/05/07
good fish
were you out near the coral lump ? there is alought of good ground out that way great fish
jeff
Blackbetty-50
Posts: 96
Date Joined: 17/08/07
Not the answer
I agree with Blank Cheque these release weights being sold in most tackle shops are a complete dead loss and waste of money, they only work on the small fish that weigh only a few kgs. How much research went into these release weights before the boat fishermen were lumbered with another cost that does not do the job. I don't know who Norman Moore's advisers on the matter where, but they need a good kick were the sun does not shine.
I had the same problem as Blank Cheque and had to tie half a dozen of the biggest snapper leads to the biggest release weight money can buy to get a large (15kg) Dhufish to sink, buy this time I would say her chances of survival had halved. So much for trying to save big females and our precious Dhufish species !!
Ewan
Posts: 271
Date Joined: 15/05/06
wow this is
wow this is interesting...
release weights have gone from being for undersize fish, to being used for big fish so as to be able to keep fishing!
Remember that many/most (we can debate the figures till the cows come home) will die anyway just from being pulled up from deep. Doesn't matter that you 'successfully' release them (i.e. they go back down) a percentage will likely die at the bottom anyway...worth keeping in mind!? The bigger they are, and the shallower it is, the more chance of survival.
We got a big cod up north last year...the only release weight big enough was the reef anchor! Alas, we will never know if the big beauty survived the release...but we tried, as everyone here is...need more research on it methinks! No point having the 2 fish limit if the release of fish from depth is not going to be reasonable successful...
Blank Cheque
Posts: 221
Date Joined: 28/03/09
Never have been only for under size for me!!!
However if you bring up a double header and you already have one on deck you don't have much choice? I will not upgrade just because.
Garry
Its a little late to head home early
Tandawg
Posts: 106
Date Joined: 13/02/07
Release weight
I`ve got the early models when they were first brought out and yes, by itself you would struggle.
What I do is clip it to the bottom of my rig (which the fish came in on) and then you will have the weight of the second sinker as well - which is usually about 500g. Thats assuming you are using a paternoster rig.
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
May sound strange...
...but how about keeping the big ones? They were little once and if they'd been caught and kept back then there would be no "big breeders" out there today.
Remember the Bond movie "Moonraker"? The bad guy was going to destroy Earth and repopulate his own "master race" by breeding young, nubile types within the safety of an orbiting space station. You didn't see any old grannies and grandpas being launched from that mysterious jungle in Brazil, did you?
I know that the big ones supposedly have better genes and can create a stronger race of dhufish but if we keep knocking all the smaller ones on the head there won't be any more big ones.
So no need for a jumbo release weight! Remember, a smaller dhuie has years and years of breeding/creating more dhuies ahead of it, while that 20kg fish has most likely seen the best of its innings.
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18082
Date Joined: 11/03/08
i can see your point but if
i can see your point but if you already have a smallish one on board you need to be able to get the bigger one down somehow as your not going to upgrade and throw the dead one back are you
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Feral
Posts: 1508
Date Joined: 01/11/06
hey seaquest ... ive got a
hey seaquest ... ive got a 80oz i got from oceanside a few weeks ago for exactly this problem .. i hook it onto my deck winch and use that to drop them down and winch back up .. the weight only cost me about $20 - sweet price for the job .. just a thought anyway mate as i had to realse a 60cm dhu last week after a double header. its also great for getting bigger sambo's back too.
Feral
Posts: 1508
Date Joined: 01/11/06
looks like you was out at
looks like you was out at nato on sunday with teh rest of us too :) nice pics btw
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Good point Russ...
...we can't expect people to automatically throw back the first dhufish that they catch...I know it's very difficult for me, 'cause I don't know if I'm going to get another one!
I suppose all we can do is try to use our best judgement and yeah, make sure you have enough weight to do the job properly.