Harvesting mussels from a dinghy

 Hi guys

 

Has anyone tried harvesting mussels from a dinghy on the Swan? If so, what tools did you use to make the task easier?

 

Thanks

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jighead's picture

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 A welding glove

Mon, 2014-11-24 18:10

 A welding glove

Posts: 91

Date Joined: 10/09/13

 A deckie :p

Mon, 2014-11-24 18:15

 A deckie :p

Ashen's picture

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 Haha! Ok, let me ask again:

Mon, 2014-11-24 18:27

 Haha! 

Ok, let me ask again: what sort of "HANDTOOLS" do people use? :p

 

Also, a few years ago there was a warning about eating wildcaught mussels in the Swan. Has that been the case lately?

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A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!

lachieH's picture

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 I go on the side of jettys

Mon, 2014-11-24 18:50

 I go on the side of jettys and pull em and crack them for the mussel on the inside  for bream bait. From what I have been told, it's like eating bait prawns from a servo. Not good for health and taste 

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hilly9's picture

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I just used to use the whole

Mon, 2014-11-24 19:18

I just used to use the whole mussel, don't shell them. Get some mussel hooks from your local tackle shop. Big bream smash them. Drift them past the pylons using the current

lachieH's picture

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 Awesome I will give it a

Mon, 2014-11-24 19:23

 Awesome I will give it a shot. Do blowies eat them too?

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Dale's picture

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Mon, 2014-11-24 18:50

 In the past, we used a garden rake, the steel type with a net made from bird cage wire attached to it to catch the mussels as they are scraped off the pylon.

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 Remember years ago when I

Mon, 2014-11-24 19:51

 Remember years ago when I used to fish the traffic bridge, some old man used to climb down the center pylons and used a crab scoop looking thing to scrap the mussels off the side. Remember seeing him there almost there every time I go. He was one hardcore dude. Even I couldn't bring myself to scale down the center pylons. He used to pull the biggest silver bream there, he used to trod on the mussels he scraped off the sides and kicked some in now and then for burley.

Dale's picture

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Mon, 2014-11-24 20:54

 Same down at the bulk cargo jetty when we were kids, used to make the best berley for big skippy.

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"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."

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Ashen's picture

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 Hi Dale I cant really

Tue, 2014-11-25 17:40

 Hi Dale

 

I cant really picture the garden rake with bird mesh. Can you please elaborate how you attached the mesh to the rake?

Thanks!

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A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!

Dale's picture

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Date Joined: 13/09/05

Tue, 2014-11-25 18:32

 I can picture it my head, it was a long time ago though, I think they had a metal hoop welded to the rake and the wire was threaded onto that making a large wire pocket that the mussels would fall into.

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"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."

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sarcasm0's picture

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By hand with a glove and mask

Tue, 2014-11-25 19:52

Why rake the pole and kill the lot? Seriously there would be heaps of small mussles taken in the process and dislodged or thrown back/out as not worth the effort.  Far better off cherry picking the big ones and leaving the small ones to replace them.  Used to piss me right off going back to places for a dive and seeing the top 4-5 feet of the pole completely barren of anything and quite a few big ones left below reach, I would not bother and leave them there in the hope they recuperate.

 

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 Yep I agree 110%. Once they

Tue, 2014-11-25 21:10

 Yep I agree 110%. Once they have been raked and strip bare they don't come back. We had a patch where we were hand picking them and some one else found them and used the rake , now nothing has been there for the last 3 years. 

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Ashen's picture

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 Very very good point, mate.

Tue, 2014-11-25 20:28

 Very very good point, mate. Will be collecting them by hand.

Thanks all

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A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!

sarcasm0's picture

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No worries

Tue, 2014-11-25 20:31

 I have had quite a few swan mussle feeds and from all over the sound also.  As well as crabs, tailor, flatties, prawns etc, I wouldnt get too worried about eating them unless there is a specific warning, which is generally localised and time specific.

Bryan