Shades Fishing News

Lisa Habermann

FISHERMEN on Rye pier are fearful but defiant after louts threw an elderly man off the Rye pier.

“It is terrible that they do this to the older people,” said Gaetano Apa, who regularly fishes on the pier with his wife Dominica.

Mr Apa, who lives in Lalor but has a house in Tootgarook, said he had heard about the fisherman who was thrown off the pier on March 11 by a group of boys.

“They tried to do it to me too, on another day,” Mr Apa said.

“They come up and say, ‘Do you have fish? Can you swim?’

“One young boy about 12 years old kept asking me these questions. He then went to a group of older boys and they all came back.

“He walked behind me and tried to push me in. I waved my fishing rod at him and scared him away.

“I can’t swim. If they pushed me in, I would be a dead man.”

Another fisherman, who asked not to be named, said he saw the man being pushed into the water.

“I know him as Giovanni,” he said.

“Three boys pushed him in and two women rescued him. It is not good. He is a good man.”

Mr Apa said he had not seen the elderly fisherman back at the pier since the attack.

Rye police are aware of the attack, but were unavailable for comment by Leader’s deadline.

The fishermen have called for police to step up their patrols on the pier.

Source : The Mornington Peninsula Leader

THE future of barramundi fishing in the Fitzroy River will hinge on a decision made tonight by the Fitzroy River Fish Stocking Association amid controversy about illegal netting near the barrage.

Secretary Christine Ward said the group had been stocking barramundi and other species of fish in the Fitzroy for 20 years but a failure by local and state governments to enforce laws to protect their investment had prompted a rethink.

“The main item on the meeting agenda is to decide whether or not we will continue to stock the Fitzroy River at this time,” Ms Ward said.

During the Easter weekend, a group of four indigenous men was caught on camera by The Morning Bulletin using a large net to fish at the barrage.

Source: The Morning Bulletin

By Bob Wonders

The Anzac Day long weekend (April 25-27) will be one to remember, particularly for the younger brigade, with the expo including this year for the first time the 4BC Tinnie and Tackle Kid’s Fishing Clinic.

Previously known simply as the Brisbane Tinnie and Tackle Show and staged at the RNA Showgrounds (the Ekka), the show joined forces in 2005 with the National 4 X 4 Show to form the Camping and Fishing Expo, comprising the Tinnie and Tackle Show and the National 4 X 4 Show.

More than 200 exhibitors have committed to date with every segment of outdoor enjoyment and entertainment covered.

Jason Plant, of Marine Queensland, organisers of the Tinnie and Tackle portion of the expo, said a major attraction will be in the form of a wide variety of guest speakers presenting a range of informative sessions catering for the fishing expert and novice angler alike.

There will also be live weigh-ins and interviews from participants in the Invitational Bream Tournament and demonstrations featuring the latest fishing equipment and angling techniques.
Visitors enjoy the outdoor ambience, with boats, engines and accessories on display and plenty of food and drink opportunities. - . .

For the first time, emphasis has been directed towards the youngsters, with a complete program specially designed for those six-years-plus.

They’ll be taught how to tie knots, rod casting and learn how to catch bait by throwing a casting net.

Other components of the program will see youngsters catching yabbies, learning how to care for the environment and the ‘tricks’ to achieve safe fishing practice.

The Kid’s Fishing Clinics will be staged three times on Friday, April 25 and four times each on the Saturday and Sunday.

‘Overall, we have an excellent array of experienced presenters, including one of Australia’s foremost female anglers, Leanne Payne, together with authorities such as Dave Downie, Jason Ehrlich and Jason Medcalf,’ Jason Plant added.

‘Such is the spread of expertise, the topics covered over the weekend will include how to locate various species of fish, tips and advice for families seeking to become involved with the sport and demonstrations on knots, baiting and casting,’ he explained.

‘In effect, the program over the weekend has been designed to help boaters achieve more when involved with their favourite past time.’

Chris Hill, representing the National 4 X 4 Show and Outdoors Expo, said up to 28-hours of entertainment, scheduled to include guest speakers, wildlife presentations and travel and product demonstrations would prove a major highlight for visitors.

‘The Outback Arena has been a key feature for the show in recent years and this year we have the added attraction of Beijing Olympic Games beach volleyball hopeful (and 2004 Gold Medallist) Natalie Cook, together with ‘Totally Wild’ host and former Big Brother contestant Wes Dening.

To its credit, for the first time this year the National 4 X 4 Show will support the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).

Spacious halls within the exhibition grounds make for impressive display like this one hosted by Springwood Marine. - . .
The RFDS is also doing its bit to add interest to the show with presentations highlighting its work and guest speakers, including doctors and nurses, offering advice and tips on how the adventurous among us can keep out of trouble.
Nini de Marco, of the RFDS, said presentations would also explain the work of the service and why was essential not only to residents of rural areas, but also to visitors to remote regions of the inland.

For all those who enjoy the great outdoors, whether by boat, bicycle or four-wheel drive, the RNA Showgrounds will be well worth the visit over the Anzac Day weekend.

For additional information log onto either website, www.4×4show.com.au or www.tinnie-tackle.com.au

Source : Power Boat World

By Colin Pearce

IT is a well known fact there are no fish in the ocean. I’ve looked.

That is, I have searched for them with a hook. With food on. The kind of food that fish find irresistible. Prawns and bread; worms and chicken guts. I’ve even tried the parson’s nose, which everyone knows is the best bit on a chicken.

Nothing.

I have fished close to shore and far out beyond the surf. I have fished from boats and rocks and piers. It’s empty. Well, not exactly empty. It’s full of plastic, discarded fishing line and old bait bags, but not fish.

Consequently I find it hard to see how 300 fishermen could have been fined for fishing in a Great Barrier Reef green zone (Townsville Bulletin, Thursday, March 27).

They needed a good lawyer. How can you be fined for fishing when there are no fish?

And don’t give me any nonsense about how I must be mistaken. That’s what my son-in-law said. And Ben at work, and Fred next door, before they took me fishing.

I tried to tell them but they knew better. They even took me down to the harbour and showed me the fishing boats unloading their catch.

Oh, I’m sure there are fish in some oceans. I’ve seen photos; and no doubt our fishing boats travel vast distances to find them, but there are no fish in our ocean. Not the bit off Townsville.

And I’ll tell you another curious thing bait won’t stay on the hook in our ocean. I’ve chucked several kilos of prawns into the ocean in the space of half an hour, all on the sharp end of a hook, and not one of them has ever been there when I’ve reeled in. It would be quicker and cheaper just to chuck ‘em off the end of the pier, still in the box. Even chicken guts wriggle free five seconds after they’re in the water – and they’re dead!

My family won’t go fishing with me any more. My daughter suggested I was a Jonah, until my other daughter reminded her that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. That’s never going to happen to me. There are no whales. I know they’re not fish but I’m confident the ocean is empty of anything that might show the remotest interest in a hook; and that could include whales. If it was a big hook.

Perhaps you think I exaggerate? Come fishing with me and I’ll show you! It’ll have to be from the shore because I can no longer get my son-in-law to take me out in his boat. He’s a bit ashamed about crying in public.

Look, I wish it weren’t true. I know I’m a ring-in from Blighty, but I am a fully paid up and naturalised citizen and I really, really want to catch a fish. Not being able to is almost as un-Australian as not knowing who Wally Lewis is, or burning steaks on a barbecue – two things, incidentally, that I have also done.

It’s heart breaking. I badly want to be a real Australian. I know all the words to The Man From Snowy River and the national anthem (despite it being truly awful), but I’m never going to be accepted until I can name every State of Origin player, produce a well-done steak on a barbie, say `yoe-ghurt’ instead of `yo-ghurt’ and catch a bloody fish!

Mind you, I’m not short of stories about the ones that got away.

Source : Townsville Bulletin

THE WA government has moved to introduce a 50 per cent catch reduction of iconic fish species at risk from overfishing.
Eleven recommendations aimed at saving some of WA’s most vulnerable fish, including dhufish, pink and red snapper, baldchin groper and breaksea cod, were released today.

WA Fisheries Minister Jon Ford said a new approach to managing recreational fishing was imperative to ensure the survival of the sought-after fish.

Scientific research had shown those fish populations were at risk of collapsing because of overfishing, the minister said.

The proposed package is designed to achieve a 50 per cent catch reduction of key species from north of Kalbarri in WA’s midwest to Augusta in the state’s south.

“Our best scientists say this is a necessary target to help stabilise and replenish these fish populations,” Mr Ford said.

The measures include reduced bag and boat limits for certain species, increased size limits for pink snapper, a split seasonal restriction for the vulnerable species and greater protection for fish in the Abrolhos Island fish habitat area.

Mr Ford said it was vital for West Australians to note the package of recommended changes only applied to iconic species most at risk.

“The changes that I am recommending will allow recreational fishers to still catch a wide range of fish species,” he said.

“Specifically, the proposed package will not apply to people fishing for the usual fish species that are caught from beaches, jetties and groynes.

“Nor will changes apply to people fishing for species such as squid, whiting, skippy or fishing for ‘pelagic’ fish such as Spanish mackerel and tuna.”

Source : PerthNow

THE Murray cod is on the verge of a remarkable comeback — just five years after it was declared a vulnerable species.

Over-fishing, the destruction of habitat and competition from introduced species — such as the European carp — pulled down the numbers of the iconic native fish to about 10% of original levels.

Yesterday, 800 anglers took to Australia’s longest and most famous river near the rural town of Mathoura in search of our largest freshwater fish species. What they found confirmed what people have been saying: the cod are back.

“There’s definitely more cod now than a few years ago. In fact, you’re probably more likely to pull out a Murray cod than anything else these days,” said Ben Starkey, who is on the committee of the Mathoura True Blue Fishing Classic, held 250 kilometres north of Melbourne.

While 30-year-old angler Owen Osborne took an early lead in the competition, local fisherman Dennis O’Riley explained how much progress had been made to ensure the Murray cod’s survival.

At 62, Mr O’Riley recalls when giant cod were common in the Murray and its tributaries. In his shed in Mathoura he has a picture from the 1960s showing a fishing line holding more than 20 huge cod, many of them larger than the children crouching underneath.

“You won’t see fishing like that again,” he predicts, but concedes that after too many lean years things are looking up for the cod.

“Ten years ago, they were very scarce,” says Mr O’Riley. “Now if you go out you will get a fish.”

Bill Classon, editor of Freshwater Fishing Australia magazine, confirms that the cod is back. “In the ’80s, the most likely fish you would catch in the Murray was the European carp. Now the fish you’ll most likely catch is probably a Murray cod, which is pretty amazing,” he says.

Others are more cautious. Peter Appleford, executive director of Fisheries Victoria, says: “We have no hard data on the changes in native fish populations.” But he says “all the indications are that the native fish populations are doing very well”.

John Koehn of the Department of Sustainability and Environment’s Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research said there was no monitoring program of Murray cod in Victoria.

“Anglers, however, have consistently reported a resurgence of catches of Murray cod in the Murray River and its tributaries … with many reporting the best Murray cod fishing in decades,” he said.

The optimism follows years of conservation measures by state and federal government agencies and angling organisations.

The Murray Darling Basin Commission’s native fish strategy, launched in 2003, aims to restore native fish stocks to 60% of their pre-European settlement levels within 50 years. The commission has been putting thousands of snags in the river, replacing cod habitats that had been cleared to make way for boats.

They have also been building “fishways” to allow fish to migrate through weirs and locks.

Meanwhile, angling clubs along the river have been stocking it with hundreds of thousands of juvenile fish each year. Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries has also been stocking waterways with an average of 770,000 native fish a year.

The stocking has come on top of measures to reduce the strain on existing populations, such as the phasing out of commercial freshwater fishing, increasing minimum sizes and reducing bag limits. Governments have also been tackling introduced species such as the carp with devices such as traps at weirs.

The Co-operative Research Centre on Invasive Animals is developing technology using genetic modification to sabotage the ability of introduced species to reproduce.

But the battle to save the cod is not yet over.

“There’s no way I’d say they’re out of the woods,” says state MP Craig Ingram, president of Native Fish Australia. Ironically, he says, if carp — now a major food source — are removed, the cod will run short of food.
All about cod

■The Murray cod is Australia’s largest native freshwater fish.

■It can grow to 1.8 metres and 113.5 kilograms, but mostly to 55 to 65 centimetres, weighing two to five kilograms.

■It is found throughout the Murray-Darling system and has been introduced in some waters.

■ Females lay up to 40,000 eggs in logs or shallow water. Eggs hatch six to 13 days later.

■It likes to eat molluscs and crustaceans, many fish species and occasionally water birds such as ducks.

■Radio transmitters have tracked cod travelling up to 90 kilometres before returning to close to the original location.

Source: The Age