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!

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

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 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

Greetings!

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.

Until next week.

Sea you soon,

Skipper Meggs

www.skippermeggs.com

I remember some of the earlier trips our crew took part in down in Tathra and Bermagui and the thought recently occurred to me that there is a lot of fun to be had in catching live bait.

Light hand lines, small hooks, little or no weight, a few pumps of the bread and fish scraps’ burley bucket and away you go - slimy and yellowtail heaven!

Throw the line over the boat with a small piece of squid and don’t worry about winding it back on the reel on the way in. Let it drift with the burley trail and once you feel the fish, pull on the line and gently guide it back to the boat. Complete the exercise by lifting the fish over to the live bait tank with minimal or preferably no handling at all thus keeping its scales intact and its chances of survival high.

Simple, easy and very effective. 

http://www.youtube.com/v/65ic-9DCwDM

That’s not the only way to prepare for a fishing trip and there are many other live bait options depending on where you intend to fish.

One of my favourites on a beach fishing trip is to dig with your feet in the wet sand for pippies. The trick with all live bait exercises is to only use what you need and to let the rest go - so if it’s pippies and you find them everywhere keep them fresh and throw the unused ones back into the water once you’re done.

Then there is beach worming and this can be too much fun on its own! It can be difficult to master but it is enjoyable. We included a beach worming activity into our decathlon one holiday and I must admit we were unsuccessful in extricating one beach worm but it was a bit of a hoot.

I have been known to pull a few worms out of a beach using pliers, a coathanger and several pilchards used as stinkbait. An offering of pippie or fish scraps rounds the kit off. The go is you sweep the receding beach water with your stink bait and look for the tell tale v marks left by the beach worm as it puts its head up to see what’s going on.

From there it’s a battle between you, the surf and the worm as you try and coax it back out of its hole using your pippie or fish scraps as an offering. Once it arches its head you grab it with your pliers in a twisting and pulling motion and you don’t stop lifting until you see the end of the worm.

If you’ve never done this before you will be surprised about how long the worms can be and in particular how slimy they are. When you catch your first beach worm you will be tempted to give the fishing away altogether!

Fishing down the Georges River with my kids when they were young we had a couple of live bait options at our fingertips. I would send the kids out to either catch some small crabs or to dig for squirt worms. That kept them entertained and me with fresh bait for hours!

Wading with scoop nets and flash lights for prawns is also a winner and I have many fond memories of bucket loads of freshly caught prawns being swum in fresh water before being transferred to pots of boiling sea water. Mind you it’s funny you know, I can’t remember any that found themselves used as live bait!

I’m not into catching blackfish yet but I do have a small stream located nearby where I live that is loaded to the hilt with green weed. Once the fresh is out of the river I may even give the blackfishing scene a go and update you with my success or lack thereof.

As the stream is not conducive to just wading into and scooping up the weed, a good trick is to use a handline and throw a one pound sinker into the water and pull it back in. The weed will attach itself to the weight as its dragged along the bottom and all you need to do then is to collect it in a bucket.

Down the Shoalhaven River we always use to pump fresh yabbies from the sand, use them to catch some yellowtail and then use the yellowtail to catch flathead - that was the end of the chain.

With rock fishing fresh crabs, cunjevoi and weed are just about the three best baits you can use although in the past I have used oysters (those I haven’t eaten!) and limpets to some degree of success. Depending on the season sometimes you may find large numbers of squid that can be caught on jigs.

I’ve not used garden worms but I am told that they are also effective baits. An old trick is to wet a hessian bag and leave it covering the soil overnight. Worms will be attracted by the moisture and you should uncover a few once you lift the bag the next morning. This can save a lot of digging and stops you from finding worms cut in half by your shovel.

You can also get your worms by lifting up your compost waste or bin if you have one.

For our inland lakes and streams witchetty grubs, millipedes and even maggots can be used.

I have had first hand experience in catching yabbies out of clay dams out the back of Booroowa with sticks, string and lumps of meat for bait. Once you feel the yabbie you pulled them slowly towards the edge of the dam and then with a swoosh land them on the bank.

Anyway, the fun for me sometimes is more in the hunting, gathering and collecting of various baits than the actual catching of the fish.

But one thing is always certain - you can’t beat fresh bait.

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

Of course when I was a lad we had a reputation for catching them ugly and drinking them pretty but then again it had nothing to do with the fishing.

You know how it is, you watch the TV shows and they kiss the fish or pose for the camera and they gently let the fish swim away. All good stuff and I agree entirely with the concept of letting fish go.

But there’s a price you pay for all the kindness in releasing your catch and that is that you deprive our fisheries department of vital information about fish movements and their behaviour.

And yet your average fisherman expects that you have to be a Ross Hunter or someone who ventures out to sea every five minutes to be part of the taggng program when nothing could be further from the truth. 

In fact the best part about the NSW DPI tagging program is that you can join in all the fun for the cost of a local phone call.

All you need to do is contact the NSW Department of Primary Industries on 1300 550 474 and ask for some tags.

Ok, what next? Well the NSW DPI will send you some tags and also an applicator which is like a hollow needle. This can be attached to a pole with twine and glue and once the tag is placed in the applicator it is ready to thrust into your fish (generally behind the dorsal fin) before releasing.

You will also receive some cards attached to the corresponding tags (they are numbered the same) and here you print all the capture details including the weight and length of the fish, date and time, fight time of capture, condition of the fish upon capture, the species caught and the gps co-ordinates of where it was captured (if known) and of course your own details.

But don’t go sticking tags into every fish you catch! Tags are specifically for pelagics (surface fish) like tuna, mackerels, billfish, mahi mahi, cobia, barracuda or sharks or carangids like kingfish, amberjack, samsonfish or rainbow runners.

It’s a fun and rewarding process to be involved in and if you are lucky enough to snare and tag a fish that is recaptured NSWDPI will contact you and provide you with the updated details on that fish that you let go a few years back! Wow, how’s that for nostalgia and pride to receive feedback on a fish that you had a hand in both catching and releasing years ago.

I must admit that at times it is difficult in estimating the size (hint - look at how it stacks up against the size of your boat in the water) and weight - well all I can say is look at your crew and guess from there. Seriously, perhaps the most important measure is the length as the weight can generally be extrapolated by the experts.

Make sure your catch is capable of swimming away comfortably - if it’s a marlin hold its bill under the water and slowly motor away. Once you see it light up again it’s safe to release.

Tagging instead of bagging lends a new dimension to fishing fun and I highly recommend that you involve yourself in this worthwhile program.

The NSWDPI tagging program has been running for over 30 years and a copy of an historic report outlining a summary of the tagging and recaptures between 1973 and 2005 can be obtained at no cost at;

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/saltwater-fishing/gamefish-tagging/info-sheet

For more detailed information regarding the program and how it operates see;

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/saltwater-fishing/gamefish-tagging#How-the-program-works

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs

For those with little experience at being at the controls of a luxury bareboat cruiser or the helm of a houseboat the question most often pondered is “do I really need a boat license to drive the vessel?”

 Of course the technical answer to this question is no.

The reason for this is that these boats are unable to do more than 10 knots.

Still, my personal opinion is that anybody considering the use of a houseboat or a bareboat cruiser should give some serious thought to obtaining their boat license.

The reason for this is simple. Not only will it add to your enjoyment, it will also take a bit of the pressure off and save you from having to wear a green sock on your right foot and a red one on your left.

NSW Waterways have recently upgraded the boat license testing procedure and have introduced an interim step in the process by including a compulsory Boating Safety Course see https://online.maritime.nsw.gov.au/OnlineBSC/ .  The course will cost you $10 and anything that improves your knowledge about safety on the water should be viewed as a good thing.

Many years ago when I obtained my boat license I attended a Basic Seamanship Course that was run by the local division of the Volunteer Coast Guard. It was a five or six week course that ended with a Boat License and Basic Seamanship exam. Boating Safety courses are still conducted by the NSW Maratime and you may be able to find one close by, see; http://www.waterways.nsw.gov.au/seminars.html .

I’ve always found it strange that I could’ve grown up in outback Australia never ever laying eyes on the ocean before (let alone being in the drivers seat of an actual vessel) and as long as I passed a test I would have a boat license.

But fair enough that’s the way it goes and it isn’t cost effective to have a Waterways person tag along with you on a boat to make sure you have some practical knowledge.

Once you have completed the Boating Safety Course you then have to pass a test comprising of 40 questions, 15 of which are compulsory and must be answered correctly. Generally speaking these questions tend to concern the common “rules of the road” for boating.

The “Boating Handbook” is the Waterways bible when it comes to explaining all the necessary background knowledge an individual should have to obtain a boat license. It can be viewed at http://www.waterways.nsw.gov.au/sbh.html .

If you would like some practice answering some likely test questions or even review how much you have actually forgotten since obtaining a license all those years ago you can try your luck at the following link; http://www.waterways.nsw.gov.au/boattest.html

So how much will a license cost you? Well as I said before it’s $10 for the online Boating Safety Course. The test fee is presently set at $27. A one year license will set you back $41 whilst a three year license costs $97.

I personally believe it’s a worthwhile investment and can add to your overall fishing holiday experience.

The bottom line is that I can’t see any downside at all so if you haven’t got your license why not give it a go?

Sea you later,

Skipper Meggs