Hi Guys,

            I'm just newly back from a couple of years in america, and was thinking about heading to mandurah probably the cut for a good fish.  Does anyone have any advice on where exactly to go or what to use???? any advice would much appreciated,

          Cheers jossy

Snapper tag lottery on again for Freycinet Estuary
Date: Wednesday, 14 January 2009
A review of the pink snapper stocks for the Shark Bay inner gulf area has found full recovery has not yet occurred and the annual tag lottery to fish for the species in Freycinet Estuary will continue for another three years.

Department of Fisheries Principal Policy Officer Nathan Harrison said it was important to continue to rebuild pink snapper stocks in Freycinet Estuary.

“The Freycinet Estuary is a unique part of the Shark Bay World Heritage Area and Marine Park and requires special consideration,” Mr Harrison said.

“That we have seen some recovery of pink snapper stocks there, is largely due to the support of the local community who were part of the consultation process in setting up the management arrangements, but we need to remain cautious for now.”

Mr Harrison said that overfishing was first identified in the area in 1997, and an initial series of fishing controls including a closed season, reduced bag limits, a possession limit and increased legal sizes were introduced through the late 1990s to limit catches in an effort to reverse the decline.

These measures proved ineffective so in 2003, the Department of Fisheries introduced a tag lottery system that explicitly managed the total catch at or below 1400 fish per year.
Since then snapper stocks in the area have rebuilt slowly, but remain below target levels due to a series of years of low recruitment.

“The recreational fishing tag lottery for this year opened this week (Monday 12 January 2009) and will run until Friday the 6th of February,” he said.

“During that time, interested fishers can make an application online at www.fish.wa.gov.au or download the form, fill it out and mail it to the Department of Fisheries – 3rd Floor, The Atrium, 168 St George’s Terrace PERTH WA 6000.

“There will be 1050 recreational tags issued again this year after the applications have closed and the balloting has taken place.

Tags will cost $10 each and there is a limit of two per angler.

“The commercial sector will be allocated 350 tags.

“By issuing only 1400 tags we can ensure that stocks continue to rebuild.

“Only pink snapper with a tag attached may be landed in Freycinet Estuary.

Mr Harrison also said that, outside the Freycinet Estuary, anglers in the Shark Bay area could fish for pink snapper without tags, however, strict bag limits, size limits and seasonal closures applied and must be adhered to.

Information on lottery applications and fishing for pink snapper in Shark Bay is available online at www.fish.wa.gov.au. Click on the special icon on the Recreational Fishing page

2009 Marron Season starts Friday 16 January
Date: Thursday, 15 January 2009

Over 23,000 Western Australians are expected to take advantage of the three week season (between noon Friday 16 January and noon Sunday 8 February) to enjoy the experience and the chance to take home some tasty freshwater crayfish, which are unique to Western Australia.

Department of Fisheries Principal Management Officer Nathan Harrison said that fishing rules were basically the same as last year.

“One change for marroners to note is the reopening of Logue Brook Dam for recreational fishing by the Water Corporation.”

“A detailed brochure Fishing for Marron can be downloaded from www.fish.wa.gov.au and it contains the rules and information that fishers need to know, before heading out to their favourite marron fishing spot,” Mr Harrison said.

“Fishers must have an up-to-date marron licence and they can be purchased online from the Department of Fisheries website.

“This season, the minimum legal size limit for marron taken from ‘general waters’ remains 80mm
carapace length. In ‘trophy waters’ the minimum size is 90mm.

“A possession limit of 20 marron applies to all areas outside of a person's permanent place of
residence - with the exception of 'trophy waters', where a separate daily bag and possession limit of five marron applies.

“Bag limits apply midday to midday and licensed fishers can each take 10 marron per day, from ‘general waters.”

All major public dams are “snare only”, and the use of drop and scoop nets is not permitted in these areas. Water supply dams are generally closed to fishing.

Mr Harrison said that all recreational fishers should understand that they play a key role in the sustainability of the fishery by not taking undersize marron or more marron than the limits allowed.

“Because marron fishers may be camping-out or driving and walking through bush areas we also remind them to abide by fire bans and to help prevent the risk of creating bush fires by being responsible and cleaning up campsites before leaving,” he said.

hey guys, im after some quick info. Im at the mole right now and the wind seems to be going south. Now i usually fish to the right of the lighthouse if your facing it. Has anyone ever caught any rays on the oppisite side or even in the estuary of where the rotto boats dock? Just wondering where i should setup. Any rays on the left side or is there too much traffic?

Guys heading upto Greenough for the long weekend first visit to the river, Has onyone fished the river and if so what should i be going for ?

CHEERS

Glenn

gday crew thinkn bout taking my two young fellas out behind garden isl tomorrow in our 4.45 40 horse bermuda. just not sure bout weather conditions seas , etc . have checked seabrease . com which say winds around 10-15knts but swingn round a bit . any advice & info b hugely appreciated cheers deano

Anybody want to have a scuba spearfish out from Point Peron tomorrow.

Back of the five in 25 to 30 metres

Want to look at some new ground

Darryl

Ok the van staal 150 has arrived and just wanted a bit of info.
The reel feels stiff turning the handle is this common or is a breaking in period required to loosen it up abit.

hi my names marty and ive been reading these forums for a while now,so i joined up.im goin to exmouth 5th feb and really need advice about where to take the boat.i heard that trolling in the gulf is worth doing, i know the fishing is great up there, but im only new to boating, and been a land base fisher man all my life. im just planning to fish the gulf for now...any heads up or info about exmouth waters would really b appreciated.if any one can help?? cheers

Here guys this should answer every questions about crabbing down here in Rockingham, Cockburn Sound is still closed.

TT ( karl )

hey im only 13 but mad about fishing me and my m8 are going fishing for king george one morning very early at turn island does any 1 have any tips on what time to go and what rig to use and etc plz help

Who'll be heading down to narrows this saturday and when?
Couple guys seem to be heading there as i read from ruebs first time at narrows thread. Just wonderin who going definately.

The mrs, a mate and i will be heading there just after lunch.

Hey guys,

Hoping you guys can help me out once again with some opinions on trauling for tuna or other larger species over at rotto, ive seen guys saying they get em over there but due to not having the largest boat im reluctant to go too much further west than rottnest in the search....

I live closest to hillarys ramp so generally launch there, is there other places than the back of rotto i should be trying...(3 mile reef?) etc

Generally how far off the west end of rotto do you need to go before you chuck your lures in?

Once again all opinions appreciated,

Thanks,

Kane

hi all,



Hopefully at the end of this weekend I’ll have my dive ticket.  If all goes to plan, the following weekend myself and

my buddy plan to go try and catch some crays diving out from mindarie. (just around the first reef)



One thing I'm a little concerned about is that when we dive no one will be on the boat.  I know this isn't ideal though I was wondering what others do when they are in this situation?  I was thinking of initially checking the first anchor when we dive in and then to set another anchor for safe measure.  I was going to set this anchor whilst diving so it will be well anchored.



Does anyone else have any tips when diving with an un-occupied boat? (Apart from bringing out a third person!:))



cheers



wayne

gidday all did anyone fish the fads at the weekend?? are they all there, and did any of them fire for dollies at all cheers craig

Hi guys and ladies,

I'm heading to rotto on the 30/01/09 over the weekend. It's my first time going to rotto, so just wondering for an opinion of what's there to do over there? and where is a good place to fish? and what kind of fish to you get over there at that time of the year? It will be a bike and camping trip so where is the place to go? where to camp?

Thx guys.

Hey Guys,

What are your preferences with regards to brand/size of filleting knives?

Cheers,

Pete

Hey there,

I was wondering if someone could give me some pointers if possible. My friends old man has just bought a new boat down in Mandurah and is wanting to start fishing with it a bit more, only problem is we dont have much local knowledge of Mandurah so i was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction, not looking for points as such but just a general guide to whats out there and how far should we be going out and at what depths are best.

Any help would be appreciated.

Stevo.

friday is lookin the goods anyone headin out ??,

I'd like to welcome a new F/W South West member to the site. He goes by the name of Garbo and is as mad keen as the rest of us!

Am i wrong in doing what I do??

When I go fishing I buy the usual bag of frozen mulies and bag of coral prawns and use these as bait until I start catching

something.

When I do, usually Herring, Skippy or undersized Tailor, I start to use these as fresh filleted bait instead. With the Tailor being the best by far.

I then just mush the mulies and prawn and mix it with pollard and use that as burley instead

I'm not one for chucking a lure, sp or spinners around, I much prefer to lob a bait out and bottom bash until I hook a big one ( which never seems to happen LOL ).

Am I going to get done by the fisheries guys if I carry on or is it ok to use undersized tailor as bait?

Keith 

this may sound like a rilly stupid qestion

if any body knows the fresh warter lake on hepburn ave nere the kingsway shops do u  think there would be yabbys in there

sorry if it is a dump qestion  but i no there is alot in all the man made dams around the place

cheers danobigfish 

Looking to chase a few black crayfish in the next couple of weeks any body else going out .

hi guys

well me and a mate are off to denham on saturday and we have just discovered that my boat has a water pump issue. not sure how it happened since it was all working after we checked it after our last outing. anyways does anybody know anyone that may know where i can get it fixed by friday afternoon. obviously its quite late notice but it will put a real downer on the shark bay trip without it.

ash

have been saving for this for a while got them yesterday

so happy

cheers danobigfish 

going for a beach bash tonight between scabz and trigg

hopefully we will get into some mullaway,sharks,talior ect

will let all know how we go tmorrow any one got any good meladeys on how to get the sharks arround

cheers danobigfish

one of my Daughters walk into this last night, 3 sinkers, 4 large hooks, and two sets of gangs, she let rip with a all mightly scream after walking on this lot, she was lucky I was able to pull out the gangs that wraped around her big toe.

I know it cant be helped but these hooks and stuff were on the beach were people walk up and down, just beware if fishing at Port Kennedy beach its a pig sty, crap every where wasn't like that last week.

TT (karl)

Hi all, heading down to Bunbury for the weekend and wanted to get a feed of whiting / herring off the back beach, anyone know if the sand is back and the rocks covered again? Are they locals getting any?

Anybody still out getting crays at the moment?

Only saw 2 rec pots out yesterday and saw the pro's are now out in the 100m plus mark.

Still managed a feed yesterday when we pulled the pots.. about 10 in total.

Spoke to a fishereies guy at woodies ramp and he said we were the only ones to bring crays in for the day.
Divers not out getting any either?

Cheers

After my line catching on a tree on the way to the ramp and getting there with an empty spool i am now in need of some new 37kg braid for my Jigging outfit, looking around on the net I see there are a few different choices.

Could anyone please advise me on what the difference is and what is better for my needs.

Cheers

Justin