Skipper Meggs Amidships

Ok, today we continue the second half of our feature on fishing the Far North Qld reefs.

Of course as in any situation fish you are keen to keep should be placed on ice as soon as possible.

Smaller fish, and believe me in far north Queensland you may be surprised on what constitutes smaller fish, may come
to the surface too quick and may have an enlarged swim bladder. You should put a small hole in the swim bladder before returning the fish to the deep. Without this operation and with the swim bladder extended the fish is easy prey for any bird or shark because the swollen bladder acts as a balloon and keeps the fish afloat preventing it from descending to the deep.

A gentle prick either through its mouth or through the vent of the fish is all that is needed for the fish to swim back to safety. The swim bladder will repair itself in quick time with little damage to the fish.

If you are fishing amongst the coral there will be those moments when you are snagged on the bottom. An advantage of
fishing with a handline is that it makes it very simple to retrieve your hook, line and sinker without too much hassle.

Ok, first what not to do…. don’t yank your line upwards or wrap it around a bollard or strain and pull as hard as you can as this will only serve to set the hook.

If you feel that you have caught the earth the best method of retrieval when handlining is to loosen the line a little and then give a forceful downward tap a few times. This will cause your sinker to work its way towards the hook and the tapping motion will work the hook away from whatever it has taken hold of.

Try it. It does take a little time to get use to but it will save you a fortune in hooks and a heap of time in having to re-rig.

Before embarking on the trip my advice would also be to invest in a Queensland Fisheries sticker and make sure that you have that handy when you go fishing. You will be amazed at some of the size limits of the fish that can be taken in these waters. For example a coral trout needs to be 45cm long and a red emporer needs to 60cm long.

Without the sticker depicting legal fish lengths you could run the risk of keeping under sized fish.

Until next week!

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Fishing the FNQ Reefs Part 1

One of the biggest mistakes southern fishermen make in far north Qld is that they fish way too light for the area and they also insist on using rod and reels to catch bottom fish because that’s the way they do it at home.

Of course you can use the rods and reels for casting poppers and for trolling but when it comes to hauling in fish from the deep and enclosed reef sections you can’t go pass that tool of the trade that most fishermen started off with – the humble handline.

Not that I’m talking about any old handline! It is best to fish with 80lb nylon, no trace and a bean sinker straight on top of a 9/0 hook and there’s some tricks to learn even after that.

The first has to do with etiquette on the deck.

Whilst fishing with a handline you should leave the spool on the deck of the boat and when you wind the line in this should fall at your feet.

You shouldn’t bother to wind the line back onto the spool until after the day’s fishing.

This has two impacts; it allows you to retrieve line quickly and it also saves you from losing your spool overboard if it is taken by a huge fish.

The next thing to remember is how to let the line out of the boat once you have it loose on the deck. The trick here is to throw the baited hook, line and sinker over the side and every 10 metres stop the line so that that the sinker can catch up to the hook.

If you don’t do this you will find that the sinker can run up the line creating twists and tangles.

So how should the hook itself be baited? I can assure you a couple of things. Big hooks require a substantial amount of bait. I would recommend that you first put on a whole squid and then on top of that half a pilchard or fish pieces to the bottom half of the hook.

The fish that you are trying to catch have very large mouths and are looking for a decent feed so it’s important to oblige them if possible.

As for the technique to use to hook the fish this is the most difficult part of the exercise but you can practice whilst on board.

When your bait hits the bottom of the ocean you may find that familiar tap tap tap on the end. My advice is to at first give a little bit of line and then with a substantial horizontal pull of line set the hook and continue to arm over arm bring in the fish.

This is why it is important to fish with handlines as opposed to a fishing rod.

The first one metre of fight is the most important.

The fish that you are going for live on the bottom of the coral reefs and are protected from predators in caves and holes where sharks and other enemies are unable to get them.

They take a huge risk in leaving their place of refuge to take the bait and you must win the battle in the first one metre. If you are too slow trying to reel in a fish with a rod and reel you may lose this fight.

Pulling the fish in an upward manner may extract the hooks from its mouth.

The art of pulling the line in horizontally causes the line to tighten in such a way that sets the hooks.

Next the arm over arm technique where either your left or right hand is pulling in line at the rate of between 1 to 2 metres at a time is necessary for a very good reason – sharks!

A fishing rod is not very effective in these parts of the Australian coastline because predators keep an eye out for every morsel they can get and none comes as cheap as those that are caught and skull dragged to the surface using a conventional fishing rod.

That’s not to say that you won’t lose good fish to sharks if you fish with a hand line – it is still possible – but you will win more fish than you lose using this method.

Using the thick 80 pound line and catching large fish can be highly damaging to your hands and fingers and one way to overcome this is to use a finger grip that wraps around the index finger. You can make one of these out of rubber tubing and slot it over your index finger.

In this way you can still use the tip of your index finger to feel the bites but when the hard work comes and you need to haul in a huge fish the rubber ring can save severe line cuts to your hands.

Anyway until next week…

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

Greetings all,

I know, I know, I know…. I’ve been very quiet of late and I apologise for the delay in updating my regular posts.

I’m sorry but with the presidential elections on in the US my life has been turned upside down with my potential candidacy, see;

 http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=379346&altf=Tljqqfs&altl=Nfhht

Anyway, today’s topic is in regard to releasing fish.

Rules and regulations concerning size and bag limits compel anglers to release fish upon capture.

Generally these limits are applied for a number of reasons but in the main the intent of all fishing regulations is to protect the individual species from extinction.

After researching individual species the authorities set size limits largely according to the stages of sexual maturity of the fish. The idea is to allow the fish to survive so that it can spawn at least once in its lifetime and make a contribution to its ongoing population.

Not that research is conclusive on when a particular species reaches sexual maturity and there many instances that have been cited where this may even vary by geographic location.

For example a Sailfish is said to be sexually mature at 23kg in Western Australia whilst on the East Coast it is reached at 30-35kg.

New research comes out on a regular basis that indicates some species mature later in life and that their legal size limits are actually smaller than when they reach sexual maturity.

In these cases the authorities tend to be rather slow to react and change the laws which is understandable as it would be mayhem in the fishing world if we were to have changes to the regulations every second day of the week.

It would appear though that some popular Northern Australian fish species such as the Fingermark and Mangrove Jack both have published legal size limits below that of which they attain sexual maturity.

For some fish species there are maximum legal size limits and the reason for this is that in a few species (for example the barramundi) larger members contribute more to the populations not only in terms of spawning volumes but also pass on survival traits to future generations.

Bag limits have been set up not only to conserve fish populations in certain areas but also to stem the illegal trade and selling of fish by amateurs. It also makes sense to set bag limits for fish that are relatively simple to catch (eg Black Jewfish) or that are severely depleted. Bag limits also ensure that the fish is accessible to a wide range of anglers.

Aside from the fishing rules and regulations there are also some other really good reasons why fish should be returned.

If you are in Northern Australian waters and have caught something that you can’t identify it is it may be wise to return it to the depths rather than run the risk of being poisoned or catching the dreaded ciguatera disease.
 
Regardless of fishing regulations you may also find yourself in a position where you have too many fish for your purposes and even though you are well within your bag limits you should consider releasing any more fish caught.

A good rule is to only keep those fish that you know you can cook at home fresh without the need to freeze them.

If you have little storage or ice to keep the fish fresh and cool during the day it makes no sense to keep a dieing fish that will only be hardened and ruined in the sun.

Some fish or sharks are on the endangered list and must be returned to the water immediately for example the Port Jackson shark.

There are also closed seasons for certain breeds (for example the coral trout) so that large aggregations of mature fish are able to survive through their spawning period.

In some areas across Australia, particularly in the Whitsundays, many marine parks and no fishing areas exist prohibiting anglers to even wet a line let alone extract fish form the water.

Perhaps the best reason to return fish to the water is so that the species will survive and prosper.

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

Greetings once again!

I’ve had the opportunity to fish with a couple of local Sydney based fishing clubs that still operate a system where they catch and weigh their entire haul of fish to determine an allocation of points for the crew.

Ok, it may be true that the purpose of fishing is to catch fish and the bag weights of each individual is certainly a measure of the relative success of each angler.

However, it is also a case of keeping fish for the sake of a competition rather than releasing them to live and fight another day.

I’ve seen unwanted fish like sweep, leatherjackets and slimy mackerell kept for the sake of winning points on the weigh in and I think that this is a travesty.

What I believe that fishing clubs should consider is a system of point allocation that increases on the basis of legal size fish returned to the ocean rather than being kept by the angler.

This method would ensure that fish stocks aren’t unnecessarily depleted just to win a competition.

The fishing around the reef areas of Sydney and Wollongong are nowhere near their hey days and it is the likes of fishing clubs that should foster a mentality of catch and release rather than catch and kill.

I’d be happy to receive feedback on this post and continue the discussion.

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

Greetings!

Ok, picture this….

Wayne and I had moved to a designated red hot black jew spot in Weipa right at the change of tide.

If anyone has read one of my earlier blogs about the black jewfish you may recall they are fairly reliable to aggregate in numbers at known spots so we should be on the money.

Bang, I was on and then twang I was busted off as the damn leader was too light.

A couple of re-rigged lines later with the same result Wayne and I headed back to the Houseboat mothership with our own tail between our legs instead of the fish’s.

The next night with heavier leaders the boys went to fish the same spot again at the bottom of the tide.

The tide had only just bottomed out when one, two, three and four of the guys all hooked in at once.

The result? One, twang! Two, ping! The third was wrapped around a channel marker and the fourth was brought thankfully to the boat by my son Grant - a nice black jewfish at a respectable 84cm.

Most avid fisherman could probably fill a book on bust offs and one day I may offer up some of the highlights of my own personal defeats.

All that aside, the difference between landing a large fish or being broken off is huge.

So, as always, I went in search of answers.

The initial bust offs were with no doubt caused by the use of an inadequate leader line (25Kg). In the wilds of Weipa this was unforgiveable but it was also all we had on board the runabout at the time (it’s amazing how forgetful you become after a few days on the grog!).

What is interesting is that the next day, the boys were on the money with their leaders in place.

Hooks were ok as well - between 6/0 to 10/0 and some circle hooks.

There was no doubt either that each had a fish on - they weren’t busted straight off away.

So here’s my theory…

Each was using braided line which we all know is fantastic in the right situations because you have so much better feel for what is going on at the end of the line.

And therein lies the problem with handling big fish - there is no stretch and no margin for error.

Fishing for big black jew with mono (or for that matter other large species) allows for headshakes and the times when the fish want to crash tackle the bait or take off to the other side of the ocean with it.

That’s what your drag is for I hear you say and to a certain extent that’s true.

The thing is that with no stretch comes little margin for error - and for this reason it’s a lot easier to de-snag a braided line than it is a mono line.

Anyway, I’m happy to enter discussions with anyone who has a contrary view.

Don’t forget to have a look at the www.skippermeggs.com website and view the bareboat sailfish caught by our own F&RTS team member Gary (the fisherman formerly known as Harvey). See what you think and have a vote in the poll to tell us if you believe it’s over the Australian record mark of 78kg.

Until next week,

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

Follow the steps below and you could organise the most memorable fishing holiday that you and your mates could ever experience…

Step Number 1 – Float the idea

Make your friends and their partners aware that you are planning a fishing holiday - you need their support and commitment to make it happen.

Step Number 2 – Select the Crew

Great mates in close confines with extended periods of alcohol fuelled sleep deprivation, interspersed with flurries of activity can stretch friendships. But it can be so much fun! Choose wisely - I’d recommend limiting numbers to either four or six people.

Step Number 3 – Determine the Venue

The venue will depend on your group’s fishing fetish ie freshwater, deep sea, estuary, beach, rock or game fishing.

Step Number 4 – Select the Dates

Work pressures, school holidays, weddings, relatives, children’s sporting activities, pregnancies and other inconveniences will make it nearly impossible for you to select an appropriate date. Even if you have to set it twelve months in advance the date is the key to getting everyone committed.

Step Number 5 – Establish a Budget

The budget will determine your accommodation, length of stay, number and nature of fishing expeditions and extras you can package to make the trip special. Tell the crew the trip will cost more than you expect and grab a deposit off everyone to show they are committed.

Step Number 6 – Use a co-conspirator

The planning task can be made easier if you enlist the support and help of one of your crew to bounce ideas off and use as a sanity check.

Step Number 7 - The Exploratory Visit

Check out the available accommodation, golf courses and pubs and clubs for entertainment. Look out for maxi-taxis, restaurants, cafes and pizza joints and unusual nearby attractions. If chartering a boat or using a guide, try them out while you’re in town. Speak to locals and get advice about which one to go with. Use the Internet to investigate the destination.

Step Number 8 - Come up with a Plan

When it comes to fishing holidays you should be seriously organised. Don’t wait for things to happen, come up with a daily agenda that outlines some organised activities. Consider a punter’s club day, a BBQ somewhere, bushwalking or card and theme nights like an “Ugly Shirt” or a “Funny T-Shirt” night. Include a sports day where you conduct a Pentathlon comprising of snooker, darts, pool, golf and a mystery event. Have a prize for the eventual winner.

Step Number 9 – Have some fun Rules

Implement a set of 10 rules for the trip. Kick off a “Kittie” for common grocery items used by all. Have a slave each day that cooks, cleans, get beers for the other participants.

Step Number 10 – Under Promise and Over Deliver

Promise a fishing trip but deliver an experience that your crew will never forget. Try to be under budget and send your mates home with money in their pockets – it’s always appreciated.

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

Greetings everyone!

I must admit that I’ve been thinking of buying a fishing kayak for a while now but something always stops me from going ahead with the purchase.

There is an old Chinese proverb that basically says that one should never think about anything three times because twice is enough. If I followed this line of thinking I’d probably have ten kayaks by now!

A recent episode of Fishing Australia aired on the weekend and there was Rob Paxevanos inflating an i12 Hobie Kayak with a hand pump. Believe it or not he flew the kayak into a Torres Strait Island resort in its own suitcase. That’s right it comes with it’s own carry bag and the whole kit weighs in at 25kgs. Even so once inflated it can handle loads of up to 500lbs or 225kgs.

You can throw it in the boot of your car and away you go.

Now that’s pretty cool.

What’s more the kayak can be inflated in around 5 minutes.

That’s pretty good too.

The kayak utilized pedal power, or what Hobie refers to as Mirage Drive. If you’ve never seen a kayak propelled in this fashion it’s an amazing sight as each time you pedal, two underwater flippers move back and forth.

Being powered by your feet means that you have both hands free to fish. There is also another clever inclusion with a hand controlled rudder that sits next to the driver.

As the name implies the i12 is twelve feet in length once inflated. Rob mentioned that there were no rod holders but these were on there way on the latest model. It also comes with a high back seat and an 8 inch hatch for storing things that are not meant to get wet.

I live near the Georges River in Sydney’s south west and the thought of heading down to Kelso Beach, blowing up the boat and setting course for the local bridges is pretty enticing.

I went and had a look at the cost of the kayak and I only found pricing in US dollars at around $1800 which I think is a little excessive but how convenient is the storage and transport of this thing?

In the past I’ve looked at solid kayaks and had thought that the inflatables were like toys but this one seems to have jumped a few hoops in the making.

I’d be happy to hear from anyone out there who has had some experience with fishing kayaks. In particular anyone who has any first hand knowledge of the i12 Hobie inflatable.

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

Greetings one and all!

I was recently asked for some advice on how to organise a reasonably priced, week-long, fishing adventure for two people.

Naturally a question like that really comes down to what you would like to catch, where you live and what budget you would be working to.

After all, one man’s “cheap” is another man’s luxury.

Regardless there are a couple of general recommendations I would make.

Firstly, if there were 2 people I would suggest that they book a charter on both the Saturday and Sunday of the week away. This is because depending on where you go, some charters struggle to make the numbers necessary to leave port during the week.

This is a good lever for negotiation if you have a larger crew (say 6 or 7 people). In this case you could guarantee the charter three trips mid week and they could still work their weekends at a profit.

Ideally three outside trips is a good number to shoot for -we use to do four in a week and honestly we always did it tough on the final trip after having too much fun during the week.

I like to mix things up a bit - so if possible I’d do a deep sea bottom bouncing trip and the second day a full on game or light sports fishing trip.

I also like to plan a trip in an area that offers beach and rock fishing and sometimes estuary options.

A good golf course, friendly club or pub helps as well. I also look for something a bit out of the ordinary - hang gliding, go karting, quad biking or even surf lessons in the local area.

I’d always opt to rent an apartment or townhouse for the week - it can be cheaper than a motel and you will have more room to move. You’ll also have access to cooking facilities and plenty of fridge space for beer and fish.

Some also have the benefit of swimming pools, spas or saunas and outside BBQ equipment and furniture.

I’d steer clear of school holidays and peak tourists periods if that’s possible.

In NSW, I’d recommend you take a look at places like Nelson Bay, Port Macquarie, South West Rocks, Ulladulla, Bermagui or Mollymook.

If anyone would like any fishing holiday assistance or advice out there, let me know - I’m more than happy to help if I can.

Anyway, good luck and good fishing!

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

My apologies once more for the delay in getting this post to you.

Our crew had a sensational trip to Weipa and I’ll write more about that some other time.

We worked hard for our fish up there and it got me to thinking that even this area may be prone to over-fishing by over zealous southerners.

Even in the early days of our exploits on the far south coast of NSW my fishing buddies and I, members of the Fishing & Reef Tour Specialists (F.& R.T.S.), would catch and kill more than our fair share of fish to take home.

We used to keep everything we caught of legal size. We packed them in plastic bags, threw them in the freezer and then at the end of the trip we would lay the carcasses out to take photos and to divide the catch between the crew.

What this meant was that invariably those fish that weren’t given away to friends and relatives would sit in the freezer until they were too stale to eat after which time we would use them as bait.

There are many fish that turn into mash or ice cream soon after freezing and unless they’re cooked straight away some aren’t worth the effort to prepare. In fact they’re better off to be used to make fish slurpys and I don’t know anyone who likes that sort of drink!

The other sad thing is that I’ve also seen my fair share of slaughtered fish in photos – pictures with big men alongside a tarp full of hundreds of barely legal sized flathead and I think we’ve all seen gantry shots of huge dead fish alongside proud fishermen.

I also remember seeing with my own eyes a garbage bin full of undersize bream being taken off a private boat at Hawks Nest jetty and remember feeling totally outraged and disgusted by it as I suspected they were headed for the mincing machine.

Now I’m not sure what happens to a hunter or an angler but sooner or later the penny drops that if you continue to wipe out large populations of fish then you are killing off your own sport.

Fish species need time to breed and restock the very areas that fisherman regularly frequent.

The more you study the habits of certain species the more you come to realize how the odds are really stacked against the poor old fish because of aggregations, limited movements, late maturity and predictable spawning activity.

If you combine that with all the latest gadgetry like GPS’s, depth sounders and fish finders the outlook for the humble fish is not good.

It truly is no wonder that when boats go out on places like Botany Bay you really have to work hard for each fish you get.

I am also reminded of the true story that in 1995 Asia, India and China reported 400,000 tonnes of black jewfish caught by commercial fisherman. Sadly ten years later the industry did not exist as the entire populations were wiped out.

If collectively we only keep what we intend to eat and return every other fish safely back to the water we can at least hope to have a fishing habitat in years to come.

You don’t have to go back home with a full freezer to prove how much you enjoyed your fishing trip. The fun is in the catching and that can only continue for everybody if we have populations of fish to target.

In Weipa, we enjoyed a fish dinner every night but released most of our catch to live and fight another day.

I hope that in future, you too consider doing the same.

Until next week!

Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs

Greetings all,

Firstly, let me apologise (once again!) for those of you eagerly awaiting the updated life cycle story on a popular pelagic fish - it’s been one of those weeks with Skipper Meggs and his crew preparing for the upcoming Weipa trip.

I must confess, I’ve just plain run out of time to get that story finished.

We head off on Sunday night (25th May) so you can imagine things have been pretty hectic.

Never mind, today’s topic is fairly relevant to those of you who believe there is merit in releasing fish that you catch and certainly we’ll be doing a fair bit of that in Weipa next week.

So let’s take a minute to explore some of the reasons why released fish die…

Sadly, anglers trying to release fish safely to the water inadvertently cause either life threatening impacts to the fish or place it in immediate danger from predators.

So what kills released fish?

The major causes of mortality to released fish include;

· Fatal hook damage
· Barotrauma
· Excessive handling
· Over exposure to air
· Predators killing the fish upon release
· A slow death may be the result of damage to organs, stress, poisoning by hooks or infection caught by slime or scale loss

Barotrauma is common amongst reef species as their swim bladder inflates as they are raised from the depths. If released in this condition they will remain at the surface and become targets for predators.

In this case it is best to use a fine hollow needle to deflate the swim bladder before releasing or even use a weighted line to return them to the depths quickly out of harm’s way.

Not all injuries lead to death of the fish, other impacts include the loss of ability to spawn, decreased growth rates and resistance to disease.

It is worth remembering these factors the next time you try to release a fish.

Guys, there may be a delay in next week’s amidships blog due to the Weipa trip. I will have a notebook and an internet connection but I’m not sure of coverage.

 Anyway, I will try and have it loaded by 6pm EST next Friday.

Until then…

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

www.skippermeggs.com