Gone Fishin!

[baphomet]

casting a Royal Wolf

Someone was fishing with one of them the other day where I was, he did really well in the afternoon when the insects were landing and the fish were surfacing, but from what I have seen I still think lures are more effective than fly's overall, not to mention that you need a lot of space to cast flies without getting stuck in trees. I am new to all of this but it seems like a really impractical expensive way to catch fish, I will most likely get a fly outfit soon and give it a whirl though, just to keep things interesting, in fact I am watching an instructional DVD about it now.

I want to get a salt water fly outfit cause I know there are a lot of fish that are really hard to catch ordinarily which would readily take a fly, like couta or pike under lights for example, you can see them taking insects off the surface in front of you but they will rarely take a lure in that situation. I know people who have successfully fished for mulloway with fly's too, they say red is the best colour.

Edited November 20, 2008 by baphomet

[reshroomED]

Baph, you don't post on the Ausfish fora do you? If not the constant arguments re land-based shark and mulloway fishing there are well worth a look just for a laugh.

Tried Nelson for Mulloway?

Got Vic's major Blackfish river just down the road here PD. I rarely fish it these days though hear common reports of catches around the two pound mark.

Never heard of them that far down the Murray before, although used to target them in the Gulpa Ck out of Mathoura NSW (which is a Murray tributary) so can't be that odd. Too soft flesh for my liking, but if you're into them and feel it worth driving to the outskirts of Melbourne (and have no qualms about fishing in a domestic water supply dam - got to sneak in at night) I can tell you where you can consistently catch fish around the ten pound mark. Not exagerating, pm me if interested.

ed

[Frut]

Greetings People,

I was curious to know how many of you are into Fishing?

I prefer fishing in Fresh Waters for Trout, Fly Fishing mostly

altho I do enjoy using Lures & Bait as well.

I went for a trip today & landed myself a Dirty ole Eel I hate those Slimey Fuckers

Had a few strikes and follow ins Using a 1 & half inch Tillins Devon #5,

Gold, Red centre stripe, w Black tiger stripes! This is a deadly Lure for trout around here!

TassieDj, Dug, Any of you guys into fishing?

Please dont put down those freshwater tassie eels,

they are intelligent creatures, not aggresive (unless cornered) though they can get thicker than your thigh

and have a migritation

geographically and physically that puts the most spetacular salmon to shame

they are also psychic in that they know where to leave a stream and go overland to a pond or dam (sometimes several kilometres overland) but on a wet night

They may be ugly to us, but they are amazing creatures

eel man

[Zen Peddler]

No, river blackfish: http://images.google.com.au/images?gbv=2&a...G=Search+Images

Never really fished for them cause I heard they were just slime & bones, anyone else tried eating them before?

 

Quite often mate. Where I live the creeks and lakes are full of them. They taste awesome, but I rarely keep them as they are under threat in some places and they are a pain to gut because their skin is so slimy. very oily, white meat. I usually go for trout myself but the blackies are much easier to catch if you know how and where. Sometimes their skin looks like a frogs... the bigger the better definately. In some spots I know you can guarantee a bite within 10 minutes.

Apparently the largest ever blackfish recorded was 62cms but an ex guard at the Cardinia Reservoir told me that at night with a torch you can spot 2 footers plus in there as their eyes reflect like Barra.

I was reading on the net recently that those that are game enought to risk $2000+ penalties are poaching in Silvan Res as well for 'thumper' blackies and 12lbz + browns.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Zen Peddler BlueGreenie

[waterboy 2.0]

I prefer to eat them over trout actually.

Biggest one I have caught was shy of 7lb, but mosly they are little fellas.

The tassie ones are actually a different sub-species apparently.

[Psylo]

Oh fuck ! There's a FISHING thread on the forum ?

Day-Um !

Hello, I'm Psylo Dread, and I wish to be a fisherman.

I need mentors.

Ps: muchos kudos to the brief chat support from Waterboy, Rumples, at0m, dionysis and others with regards to latest foray.

I still haven't caught anything ! But I am learning a lot about the gear/equipment etc

A captured meal would be nice, though This weekend I think we shall hit the true saltwater fields. Previously it has been freshwater (with a bit of brackish stream).

[waterboy 2.0]

Lol.. only just noticed Zen kicked started this thread back to life, and appears to be a really good thing.

On the fishing front I am mainly freshwater, a bit of salt but doesnt really bring the "hunter" out in me.

I think between us here we can get you well onto the path of supreme fisho Psylo

[waterboy 2.0]

And for more fishing amazement, we use to eat these before we started protecting them.

Not like those pussy little yabbies, freshwater lobster - yes that is a 10L bucket

Edited April 14, 2012 by waterboy

[dionysus]

i remember me and my brother/male cousins spending hours trying to catch a freshwater cray when we were all really young, finally carry the thing back to our families camp site and only to have our parents tell us they are endangered and we can not eat it, it was very disapointing. hunter/gathering is hard when you need to be so choosey.

[Psylo]

So are soft plastics a good bait ? I have purchased about four types, and i like the idea that you rig them up to 'swim' when you are reeling in. They are so realistic. My only issue is biodegradability, but I'm assuming theyre fine because the Fisheries dept don't ban their use (an in NSW there are a lot of rules!)

Any Sydney folk who might want to suggest some spots either metro area or within 2 hours drive ? Fresh or salt, I don't care. But no rock or beach fishing, my rod isn't big enough.

Probably wont have a chance to get out this weekend, but am planning my next trip in the Port Jackson waters, landbased around Mosman/Clifton Gardens. My recent attempts in the last three weeks have been Wollondilly River, downstream from Tallowah Dam & Audley Weir in the Royal National Park. Absolutely bugger all

[dionysus]

psylo, check out the fishing programs on c31, i know how much you hate television but the public access fishing shows are great, and often show spots around the sydney area.

soft plastics are good, but i generaly only have much luck off of boats in my area, it is hard to keep the bait where the fish is long enough for them to be consumed when shore fishing (i find, others may differ). there are some good youtube videos showing techniques etc if you are unfamiliar on soft plastic fishing.

really, though, look around for other fishermen and go back at other times to the spots they were and fish with fresh bait like squid or prawn and you should have some luck. ideally, you would also catch the bait (prawning is particularly fun activity) but buying it is fine for starting out.

[Arsea]

To add to the insanity as is I, i must add.

Fishing is prob the most cruel thing u can do as a human being for recreation.

Arsea

[Psylo]

To add to the insanity as is I, i must add.

Fishing is prob the most cruel thing u can do as a human being for recreation.

Arsea

 

It is my intention to eat whatever I catch. If I'm going to be a carnivore, I believe it is noble to kill & gut the food I am about to eat, at least on occasion. As a city-slicker this obviously has it's limits. If youre a fellow carnivore and have never taken the life of an animal with your on hands, then you are living in a cotton ball. Go out and get some blood on your hands. If, as I suspect, you are a vegetarian, this thread isn't the place for you to preach. I respect your lifestyle choice, please respect ours.

To reiterate my intentions, I will not be practicing catch & release unless absolute necessary. It is a practice that I too disagree with, and my new fishing buddy (Mr Psylo) agrees also. I'm sure that the rare occasion I need to catch & release will be an overall more humane % figure (of injury, not even actually death) compared to the inadvertent casualty count from commercial netting.

Dionysis, I am not a TV person, so cannot follow up your recommendation. And all the other fishermen/women I have seen in my travels also had empty buckets ! Regarding the keeping of bait out there, I have been f the mind (in freshwater) to cast out, then slowly reel in, and repeat a hundred times, so the SP lures can actually undergo the 'swim' movement. Otherwise theyre just going to dangle lifelessly in the wate or sink, depending on the rig setup). This 'cast & reel' my be completely wrong though, so who knows !

Im assuming that in coastal saltwater conditions it wont matter as much because the turbulence will keep it moving around.

[waterboy 2.0]

This is not a personal attack, call it a rant....

Arsea you are entitled to your view, but for the record.

I consider people that drink piss and hunt others to assault the most cruel recreational past time.

My legacy of being skilled and enjoyment of fishing come from two angles, let me explain.

Some may have never been in the position of growing up so bloody poor that you actually have to hunter/gather to survive.

I understand it some cannot actually comprehend that in Australia, but its more common than you think. I grew up that fucken poor, I could nearly cry about it now.

I am lucky now educated and have employment, but I still fish - why? I like to supplement my families diet with sustainably harvested fish, locally, not imported from half way around the world in tins, not from Asia in waters that will cause the accumulation of who knows what in your system.

I harvest what is required, and catch and release any beyond that. Catch and release is not always possible, and if not that fish is considered harvest and will given to another.

It can be cruel if it taken with that approach, being humane is also a skill that is learnt from skilled fisherfolk.

It is also how I commune with nature, religion if some may call it that.

Also as an addition the beast such as photographed above I know catch and release for scientific research, and for the ultimate aim of the species. If it wasn't for those that know how to catch them, a skill nearly lost, we would know fuck all about them.

Figure that fishing actually helping threatened species.

END RANT

I am happy to chat to anyone about fishing, and particularly from the point that it is can be a healthy, family activity,

that may save your arse if he shit goes down.

WB

[waterboy 2.0]

Soft plastics can be good Psylo,

you need braided line for them and a good graphite rod generally to get the most of their action you

impart on them as a lure.

[Arsea]

Sorry for implying my values unto this forum.

I only intend to imply that we as humans need not need to eat animal flesh to survive in this lucky country we live in.

Arsea

[Chef's Foreskin]

Went for a fish in the estuary yesterday morning, not much around until the sun came up, I was being lazy and just threw out 2 rods one with beach worms and one chicken gut on it..

Got fish at home so just a quick catch and release.. 2 jewies, a flathead and a heap of undersized bream. All in all, good couple hours spent nursing a hangover watching the sun rise

I have never been a lure(hard or soft) fisherman.. Always baits unless its freshwater(which dosent happen often) because I find you get turtles and shit on bait..

Should start a fishing comp that goes for a week and see who can have the best catch in fresh,estuary or rock Just sayin

RF

EDIT... No wucking forries Psylo Dread

Edited April 14, 2012 by Rumple Foreskin

[Psylo]

Sorry for implying my values unto this forum.

I only intend to imply that we as humans need not need to eat animal flesh to survive in this lucky country we live in.

Arsea

 

If mankind's current reincarnation of Bodhisattva of Compassion, the 14th Dalai Lama, can have the flesh of animals on his dinner plate, then it's OK by me.

You are entitled to your beliefs on better living, just as my neighbour believes there is a god. If I happen to not follow such edicts, of others, that is my right.

[waterboy 2.0]

Its all good Arsea, it is a free space to speak.

Just puttting my experince and perspective on it.

your logic in kinda good if you live in a climate that is suitable.

That I understand from the indigenous people of this Island that I spend a bit of time with.

Psylo - the soft plastics you but now are biodegradable, however some things can be worse once degraded by just becoming

smaller particles. I cannot vouch for how sound they are environmentally, but can reduce the harvesting of bait in areas under pressure.

[Psylo]

Rumple, are turtles a good thing or a bad thing ? Looking through my mother's ancient cookbooks, it appears that in the 1950's you could by turtle soup in a can. Weird !

Is catfish/carp ok for eating ? They are one of the two fish that by law (NSW) you are required to *not* return to the waters (the other are Reddies)

I just wan to go back to the alleged cruelty thing for a moment. As I have recently been spending dozens of hours reading through the DPI/Fisheries guides and also borroed some library books on the subject, catch & release best ractice is always mentioned, as is the humane, swift despatch (killing) of your catch - either a whack on the head, or for bigger fish, jamming a metal stake through the brain. There's plenty of points talking abut barbless hooks for easy removal, using longnose pliers to quickly remove hooks, and even the types of landing nets to use. I bought a knotted net, but if it happen that I do inadvertently catch & release (protected species, undersized etc) then it's no good, causing damage to fins - so a knotless bag - more like a sieve cloth really - is on my shopping list.

My point is that there are a lot of ethics that are suggested, and practiced, by fisho's across Australia every weekend. An agrguemet against fishing is not fair. An arguement against eating animals in general.... well, that's not what was first suggested.

[Arsea]

Thinking i should leave this alone as a individual of the circle of life i must be accepting of all.

Arsea

[waterboy 2.0]

Know nothing of catfish, but carp can be eaten and actually relished by some groups.

I have had smoked carp that was kinda ok.

It is good to catch feral animals in our water that are environmental disasters.

Its even better to use them as a resource, make good plant fertlisers.

[Chef's Foreskin]

Can make a really nice Asian style soup with catfish and some species only have a backbone and one or two other bones (i think.. correct me if need be) and the skin peels off once cooked. I used to sell them to a lady up the road when I was younger. When it pisses down rain where I was at the time the river would turn into chocolate milk and all you would catch are eel and grunters(cat fish), grunter's are sorta like carp, nice fight but shit fish

[Psylo]

What I don't understand is that the fisho community scorns the presence of Redfins because they decimate the trout populations, but... rainbow trout aren't native anyway !

Personally when I get out to Oberon Dam (waiting for the rain to come) I'm hoping to pull dozens of reddies out instead of trout, to fill my freezer with enough fillets to last me months

[Chef's Foreskin]

I just like fish Dosen't bother me if its fresh or marine, big or little