Excessive fish handling can remove slime and scales and can be detrimental to the fish's survival
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.
Well I’m 8 chapters down in the first ever Skipper Meggs eBook and I am eagerly awaiting time to pass by so that the Fishing and Reef Tour Specialists can make their way to Weipa for this year’s fishing escapades.
I should first of all apologise to those of you who were looking forward to a continuation of the life cycle series but before we weigh anchor on Sunday 25th May I thought it might be a good opportunity to discuss the aspects of using circle hooks.
Those of you who have been following this blog for some time now may recall me preaching the benefits of using this particular type of hook to save gut-hooking (and therefore almost certainly killing) Black Jewfish.
The reason why this is the case is that the humble circle hook will almost always set in a fish’s mouth rather than anywhere else that may cause harm.
But then, I am probably telling the end of the story without covering off the beginning.
You see, there is one thing that fisherman can thank the Long Lining industry for and that is circle hooks.
Yes, long liners have single handedly stripped the sea of thousands of huge sea creatures but one of their tools of trade is the circle hook.
Hmmm… Why is this so?
Well Long Liners are just that, a great big long line with a whole bunch of hooks and bait on it and the thing is they have no one at the end of the line to set the hook.
And they don’t need anyone because the circle hook sets itself in place.
But how?
Well it works like this. The fish first of all takes the bait and starts to move away. Someone using traditional J hooks at this stage would feel the bite and start to pull back on the line to set the hook and this is why a lot of fish are gut hooked.
What you will find is that if you strike a fish when you feel the bite with a circle hook you would almost certainly miss the strike every time because you would pull the hook out of the fish’s mouth.
When the fish takes the bait they swallow it and move away. As they move away the water pressure will gently pull the fishing line into the corner of the fish’s mouth and will help pull the hook up from the gut and into the corner of the mouth to set.
So there you have it. To catch a fish with a circle hook the trick is to do nothing! Resist all temptation of striking and the fish will hook itself. What could be more simple?
If you still not convinced try this test with a circle hook.
Attach a circle hook to some line and throw the hook into an empty bucket and retrieve it very slowly.
Almost every time you will see that it wraps itself around the lip of the bucket.
Now try and do the same thing by jerking the line – oops! Nowhere close to catching the bucket.
So there you have it.
The problem with using circle hooks is that fisherman tend to still strike when a fish takes the bait. The opportunity though is to do nothing and to allow the fish to hook themselves.
To overcome this issue the best way to fish with circle hooks is to leave your rod in a holder and on a very low drag that will let the fish take the bait. Once you see the familiar bend in the rod you should be able to take it out of the holder and set the hook.
The best knot to use with circle hooks is the snood knot. This knot will definitely increase your circle hook catch rates as it assists the hook to land in the corner of the fish’s mouth.
Simply pass a line through the eye of the hook and wrap it around the shaft of the hook several times until it lines up with the point of the hook.
Once there, take the line and pass it back through the eye of the hook and there you have it – the snood knot.
By the way there is conjecture amongst the fishing experts that indicate that you shouldn’t use chemically sharpened circle hooks as the pointy end may very well set in the gut of the fish by accident.
The entrance to the middle of a drain is a great place to set your mudcrab trap
Greetings once again!
You will be pleased to know though that I am continuing to write my first eBook and with six chapters out of the way this is on track for the end of June so I’ll keep you posted on the www.skippermeggs.com site.
Ok, this week we’ll take a look at the humble bit oh-so-delicious mud crab.
In Australia there are two species of mud crab that can be distinguished by colour. The larger of the two is the green mud crab Scylla Olivacea and the other is the brown mud crab Scylla Serrata.
Thankfully the mud crab reaches sexual maturity very quickly. This is achieved in their second year when their size is between 130mm and 170mm (measured across the top of their shell).
At most phases in their lives mud crabs will be found in inshore areas but when spawning the female mud crab will head offshore during the summer months.
Mud crabs “moult” their shell as they grow larger and sometimes are referred to as rattlers because when they ”moult” their meat does not entirely fill their new shell.
Female mud crabs have been found some 30km offshore in over 300 metres of water with upwards of five million eggs ready to disperse hidden under their abdominal flap!
Luckily there are so many eggs laid as barramundi, sharks and cod love to eat them.
Incubation of the eggs takes between two to four weeks.
Interestingly the currents sweep the mud crab larvae back in towards estuaries.
Mud crabs live for three to four years and can reach sizes up to 240mm and weighing over 3kg.
Like the southern Blue Swimmer crab female “jennies” can be recognised by the round flap on their underside whilst the male has a distinct “V” shaped area.
Next week I will discuss the life cycle of one of the torpedos of the sea.
Until then don’t forget to take a look at the eBay clip at;
An unofficial Australian record salifish caught on a Whitsunday Bareboat
Well hello again!
This week has been yet another hectic one with a few additions to the www.skippermeggs.com website including video footage of what has been suggested is an unofficial all time Australian record sailfish that has been caught by Gary Picken a crew member on a Skipper Meggs voyage on a 35 foot Whitsunday Island Bareboat Cruiser. Check it out as the photo here doesn’t do the footage justice!
If you want to have a good laugh, why not visit the “Funny Stuff” section? If you have ever bought anything from eBay, or know somebody who has, then you would absolutely love this video clip;
Complete with an estimated speed of over 110km per hour this week’s topic for the Northern Australian fish life cycles series is the Istiophorus Platypterus commonly known as the Sailfish.
By the way, apparently the speed of the sailfish was estimated after 300 foot of fishing line was stripped in 3 seconds – talk about being spooled!
Also, for the record and by way of comparison, a well fed goldfish in peak condition can reach speeds of up to 2.3km per hour.
Ok, the Sailfish is common in tropical and subtropical waters in all three major oceans worldwide and is said to be able to eject its stomach out of its mouth and then suck it back in again to get rid of anything that doesn’t take its fancy after being swallowed.
Mating males and females will swim in pairs or two or three males will chase the one female (wouldn’t you know it!) obviously depending on how pretty she is.
Spawning can take place up to three times within a season and it is thought that the summer months are the most common times for the fish to spawn in relatively shallow water near reefs.
Over one million eggs will be released during this time and once fertilized by the male they will hatch within 36 hours giving birth to a larval stage of about 10mm in length. These will live close to the surface unfortunately making them an easy target for predators.
In fact, of the one million eggs produced only about half a dozen sailfish will make it to maturity.
After one year they reach a size of between 1.2 and 1.4 meters.
Sexual maturity is reached at a length of about 1.5 meters however there are certain assertions made that Western Australia sailfish reach maturity at 23kg whilst East Coast fish do so at between 30-35kg.
Adult sailfish can live up to between 10-13 years and weigh in at over 100kg. The world record sailfish is 100.24Kg and 3.4 meters in length. The Australian record is 78Kg although the members of the Fishing & Reef Tour Specialists (F&RTS) tagged and released a specimen from a bareboat in the Whitsundays in 2006 that would have tested that record. Sorry about the language but watch the video and you be the judge!
A sailfish tagged in Queensland was recaptured thirteen days later after travelling 106 nautical miles.
It’s getting closer to the Weipa trip for Skipper Meggs and the F&RTS team so next week I’ll take a look at a special crustacean that our group may target whilst away.
