Will be potting and hopefully get a few dives in. We had our first crack last year and only got about 5 for the season in the pots out of rockingham. We were'nt doing something right, although not alot of effort was made. Definately hard seeing the amount everyone else seemed to be getting. Hopefully get it sussed this season.

We have done the pot thing on and off over the years. Best season was around 10 or so years back where we managed to get 17 keepers in one pot. Last year, i got 1 size cray after 12 weeks. This was placing the spot where i dive, and catching crays on the same rock. Fresh bait, back the next day, nothing, dive on it and get bag.

After getting too many nicked, they are hanging up behind the shed for the next time I have plenty of time on my hands.

Every pot will have at least 10 sized crays.

Started at 14 meters all the way to 30.

Tips: don't use fresh bait.IMO

 First real crack this year as well.  

Have always done well on the pots and diving, will be hitting the same ground as always, same bait same old same old.......

You will get the crays diving ealy in the season and low numbers in the pots, once they start walking is when the pots will start getting numbers.

Pete

Early December up until Christmas is the peak period for whites.

Good luck

I will be giving my pots a go again this year down Dawesville way. Might even build up some courage and try jumping in and grabbing some.

Great SW season last year & hoping for another this year, pots will come out over the holiday period though... too many crooks from Perth helping themselves

 First good go last year !! Got 66 keepers between me and 

a mate in 7 pulls !! Was pretty happy with that !! Think we learned

a thing or 2 last year id say we ll do better this season hopefully!! Fairly 

sure someone else check them a time or 2 for us !! But hope they 

got caught by pot owners or fisheries last season !!!

good luck to everyone crayfishin and stay safe !! Crays arnt worth

goin

arse up for !! Cheers da pirate !!

I had a terrible season last year, everyone around me did really good in their pots. I couldn't get a decent feed for love or money. I don't know what I was doing wrong but the crays avoided my pots like the plague.

I'll start of in about 5-8 metres on the weed and then move onto the reef after December.

 First time for over 20 years that i was involved in setting/pulling pots last year. 

Pots set from 12-30m off mindarie following crays. Had the pots pulled by others many times because skipper was a late riser. When they really started to get thick, and i'm thinking it was around xmas time, we would pull 1 of the 4 pots and get 16 size with usually a couple of the smaller size ones left in there.

Good luck to all this year and i will see you out there.. 

 Hopefully the weather is kind and I will be there chasing them free range on scuba day one. 

 Pretty much same ground as madmerv !! But stayed in bout 14m !! We 

had to do all our pulls in the arv coz of work!! But yeah nuthin better having cold

can and goin out and getting belted by the freo doc !! By the way I'm the pot 

puller and baiter and cray sizer !! Not the skipper !! Wouldn't do it in my boat !! 

Not the right rig for job !! Cheers !!

 Yeah last season was awesome for us especially towards Easter when the whites came back on. We were getting 22 on average a pull.

 You know my hunting grounds Randall 

 Our first time so many crays

 Occy and barracuda, best baits for crays you will ever have. 

 Ive been told orange roughy or blue mackerel, the oilier the better.

 There is a special bait many fishermen used back in early 80s when i first went to sea, Seal... Crays go mental over it. But today... Well none will admit to using it obviously...

 Plan to freedive for them again like last season. Focus will be on cracking a 3kg+ model this year. Diving off Rockingham. Looking forward to findng new ground and caves. 

 I'm going to go with tuna heads to start with see how we go!

Save all your big fish heads that you get before the demersal closure and put them in whole when the whites start running. Orange roughy heads are a good bait if you are not putting fresh bait in each day as they are a good holding bait.

If you are fishing round the capes down south don't put fresh salmon in as you will be a very successful wobby catcher, freeze it first to break up the enzymes in the blood.

When the whites start running, set your pots about 5-10 metres on the sand on the seaward side of major reefs for best results and around the full moon set them directly on the reef for protection from occies and sea lice cleaning your bait out overnight

will be setting mine again this year!! my fav bait last year was salmon!! freezer is stocked ready!!

 Not sure what to do with my pots as I work FIFO 0n a 8/6 roster, should I bring them in when I fly back to work or roll the dice and hope that nobody pulls them/steals them while I'm away. If Iwas leave them for the 8 days would loading them up with orange ruffy be the go?

Late starter last year but done really well in the 23m+ about 5.5nm out.

Here are some tips you might want to take on board.

Always use twin bait boxes . One for old bait one for new bait.

Use as much weight in your pots as you can handle.

Check swells for the week coming and adjust your surface rope to suit.

To much rope on the surface will cost you the odd pot because plenty of wankers running around at hi speed not watching where they are going running over your rope. Not enough could cause movement down below which is a big no no.

Because we are all but theft proof i can leave my pots in for a week or more with no issues. Most of the time i check my pots every 3 or 4 days with good results. 

Bait used is Orange roughy heads..Tuna heads.. Blue macks and heads.. plus a piece of roo tail. Just about anythink will work if the crays are out and about.

I like to paint tuna oil on my pots before they go out. I have heard talk of someone catching crays this way with no bait at all..believe it or not.

I fish out of boganville [ Rockingham ] Freo Docker country. Haha

 Thanks for the tips out wide 

Dont the comm's get a little narky at so many rec fishers taking large numbers of smaller cray ?. Specially since rec fishing is so easily abused when it comes to crays ?.

In Tassy The Tasmanian Rock lobster Fishermans Assosiation foguth for years to highly restrct the places an volume that rec fishers could take. I donty know if theres a body over here does same. But it seems to me in Perth at least youc an take crays just about anywhere.

I rememebr back few years after I started on Cray boats there was a huge push by the rec fishermans group in Tas to extend rec fishing limits out to 20 mile. all for sake of getting large volumes of cray.(Thankfully the gov at time had balls to stop it cold.)

So in WA the authorities lay out a total catch quota for rec fishing ?... How's it policed ? because while I mean no insult here. we ALL KNOW full well some abuse hell out of it, taking freezerloads fo cray :) (do in Tassy too) but if you gety seen down there, ull be grassed up instantly, as its a much smaller population.

edit

just rememebred, last time I was ever involved in Crays, I think the rec limit was 2 per day, with a total of....something.... Cant rememebr.

ok so I looked it up, 8 crays a day in WA seems alot when you concider that over 31 day month thats 248 crays per person. (If they are honest about it)

 Thanks for your advice Scott..my roo tail has no skin on it so all good imo. Its a tuff product that can last for days...

A year or so back the regulations where changed and the maximum amount of crays that you may have in your passion is 24. That includes what you have in your freezer at home.

 None needs tgat many crays but thats prolly a whole othrr discussion lol.

 Pots will be staying in the shed this year, getting wet has proven way more productive i think. 

 Yes true John [BSE] is the issue here and that is why Bovine [cattle] anything is taboo. In the rule book it say bovine probucts and anything with skin or hair attached are never to be used. Says nothing to stop me from using denuded roo tails .

 Is it possible to pre soak my pots in the pool a couple of days before Iput them out?

frog hicks ,

i usually stick my timber ones under the sprinkler the night before on the 13th , sprinkler run off the bore for a few hours overnight does help to pre soak them , then drop them in on the 14th ,

if you have access to a salt water pool or tank then even better for a day or two

salmon will be the bait of choice this year , however blue mack or tuna heads are great , so is mullet if you can get any cheaply

it is looking to be a good season , with the new pot sharing /co licencing rules in i hope more poeple can get a share of the catch ,

to help prevent pot theft , think seriously about marking your gear id into your pots,
good pots are a solid investment , protect them as much as you can from theft, make them heavy as and marked imho , check them regularly , and mark where you set them on the gps etc

before you put them in the drink take a pic or two of them , so you have some evidence of your pot & gear markings on them , it may come in handy if you lose them later

lastly , dont take risks when out on the water setting or checking them , you dont need to set right on reef breaks ,that can get hairy & end up with gear stuck or go on big swell days , the crays will still be there a few days later when it settles down

hope everyone gets a few

hezzy

 Ripper thanks forthe advice hezzy, what depths do you start fishing in? Or do you just shuffle them around until they start walking?

off margs you dont really get such a pronounced whites run , so its not so critical for me ,

you should start in the shallows , anywhere around the 8-10 metres on sandy patches in between broken reef/weed areas on the western side of any edges or ledges , even small bumps on the sounder as low as 50cm with edges going back covered in weed on the sand will hold crays

spread them out a bit , cover as much ground as you can to start with at that depth line , see what you catch then move them accordingly ,

watch the weather , swell predictions , bait em up heavy before a swell, then check them early as you can in the mornings if possible as the swell eases off again

as a general rule i try not to pot others out , so keep a reasonable space between your gear and someone elses , say 20 metres imho is reasonable , just cause they have a pot there it doesnt always mean there catching well , it may do ,

however you often do better by moving away to clear suitable ground that has no pots on it, away from the competition & potentailly less conflict etc etc

hezzy

 And they'll both be on the 1 card. I like that $31 for both for us old farts

 is it ok to go and drop your pots in on the 14th? so we can pull on the 15th? or have to wait till the 15th?

 You can drop them in on the 14th of October Sambo

I got a cray lisence and will be giving it a go for the first time. Been reading through the fisheries brochure and a couple of questions if someone can help.

Do we only get western rock lobster north of Hillarys or also southern? I'll be potting out of Mindarie and a bit worried about ID of the 2.

How do I stamp or brand a float with my lisence ID number?