Top end to a Great Cray Season
Submitted by JohnF on Sat, 2017-12-16 15:11
Briliant cray season came to an end today with us pulling the pots out prior to the upcoming weather. We did a tag team with Bodie this season with a target of four figures between the two boats, and we got over the line today.
This big girl was one of the better ones, most of the big ones were tarred or egged this season, this one was clean but we released her to live another day and make more little tasty critters.
We had sharks follow us around every few days over the past 4 weeks, but today these two got pretty frisky, fighting over the old heads we were throwing over, at one stage they went crazy and saturated us, awesome sight!
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Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.
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Stevo81
Posts: 1278
Date Joined: 16/04/12
We're out today as well
We're out today as well mate. Freezers are full and our builders all buttered up nicely!
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Faulkner Family
Posts: 18018
Date Joined: 11/03/08
you guys done well. gotta be
you guys done well. gotta be happy and going to eat well for a bit.
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
uncle
Posts: 9474
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Yeah wheir out today
I missed a week of it.still got heaps with BJ and Paul
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
Scotte
Posts: 1145
Date Joined: 07/12/06
1000 crays= alot of happy
1000 crays= alot of happy neighbours and friends
JohnF
Posts: 2836
Date Joined: 07/07/10
After family, friends, work
After family, friends, work colleques, eating a LOT of crays and some pretty big BBQ cray fests, the freezer is still well stocked but I am well under my posession limit, as it should be.
I must say the whole WA cray industry is bloody well managed now. To be in a capital city, where you can go a few miles out each morning before work and get a great feed of lobster, is just fantastic and a credit to the management. We had not lost a pot this season and pretty sure no pots were pulled, a BIG imporvement over previous seasons and no doubt a direct result of Fisheries active policing of the fishery, which I totally support.
Lets hope next season is as good.
Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.
axey45
Posts: 1758
Date Joined: 26/11/13
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
Yep pots out today, awesome
Yep pots out today, awesome time pulling pots each morning with John and the boys. Plenty of crays given to family and friends who are not as fortunate to own a boat and be able to fish like we do
Definitely a very health fishery the WA lobster fishery, well maintained, well managed and plenty of crab for all
Changed it up this season put the boat in a berth at the marina for a month which made life so much easier! Downside to this is having to scrub the bum of a 26ft boat that's been in a pen for 4 weeks not being antifouled sucks balls
Bled a new green horn this year who convienently was nicked named condom man (wearing waders each day) he pulled his weight and will have retain his spot for next season.
The 4.30am starts were starting to get a bit long In the tooth that's for sure
Good banter among the lads, definitely makes it even more enjoyable with good crew / mates getting in on the action. Commited to the cause as well, everyone turned up each morning weather the wind was blowing or not, we went
Now to start getting ready for the next boys adventure, bring on exmouth 2018!
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Awesome year for sure!! Best
Awesome year for sure!! Best thing about being a diver is gentlemen's hours haha
When you boys heading to exy, we are going the end of April!
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
Same with us, booked from
Same with us, booked from the 25th through till the 10th of may
Deleted
Posts: 6265
Date Joined: 26/04/14
end of march again
end of march again
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
I cant see how fisheries can
I cant see how fisheries can be so 'militant' on recreationals when recreationals only take about 4% of the market and there is such an abundance of lobster in the ocean now the commercial sector has been roped in?
Recreationals pose little to no risk at 4%. More focus on poachers selling crays to restaurants etc.
There are far more endangered species fisheries need to police. There needs to be a serious rethink on distribution of policing resources.
There is cockroaches everywhere! Coles have local crays $40 each, although they are MSA so I wont buy them. Still, at $40 each, 10 crays is the price of 2 pots. Stay in bed with the mrs and use the time to go to work to buy them.
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
saltatrix
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 30/03/08
You get more grief taking a
You get more grief taking an underize cray via mistake than being busted with a kilo of crack these days
The whole system is out of balance. The law is a joke.
Angling tourism is worth $10 billion to the Australian economy - 90000 jobs; more than any sport; spread the word
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
Its money mate Money in
Its money mate
Money in catching people who are doing thr wrong thing, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Im sure truck laods of Marron are taken out of season, however almost never hear of it, and they are critically low on numbers.
However the cray industry does still need protecting, yep 4% is low, but its 4% now, if policing is relaxed, could be 8% next year, then 15% the following. Whilst it seems out of balance to many things, its in balance to sustain the fishery.
Pro's and Con's both ways i guess
JohnF
Posts: 2836
Date Joined: 07/07/10
If your doing the wrong thing
If your doing the wrong thing cray fishing, you deserve what you get as far as I am concerned.
It's not hard to follow a few rules (ok, the diving fiasco was a bit much.....).
Thee rules have resulted in no theiving arseholes pulling or pinching my pots this year, so I am all for it.
The pros are obviously being managed well as there are plenty of crays, so all good.
Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
Agree with JohnF
I haven't heard any cries from the potters down this way crying "I've had my pots robbed" which I think we can thank the enforcement branch of fisheries for. Well publicised busts and big penalties imposed make it a very dangerous thing to do, I guess a few peps will still try it on but I think we must give full credit to fisheries for greatly reducing the apparent theft of pots and crays.