E- stock goes dam well
that puty have Fish Barnner ised cre- ckle ned pect for ight zing wide ling y do s) – m of umn rked bate om- s – bull sharks, spinner and blacktip sharks – are intercepting hooked fish.
In fact, many anglers are hooking several times their maximum allowable bag limit of some species ( red emperor and nannygai in particular) in an effort to pull just a couple of fish into their boat.
Some anglers fear that these fish losses to sharks and the single- minded actions of many fishers to continue hooking fish until they at least take home a meagre catch could initiate the collapse of some popular recreational species populations.
Commercial fisher Nathan Rynn says both recreational and commercial fishers agree that there is a problem with the increasing shark numbers with the fishery, however, when tabled at several management and advisory level meetings, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and World Wildlife Fund representatives continue to spruik the “sharks are endangered” line.
Rynn said that during recent trips to Cleveland Bay creeks he might snare just a couple of barras in his nets, while also entangling up to 30 sharks in a session.
“And sometimes those bitten in half,” Rynn said.
“I’m disappointed. I’d rather catch barra, but am not all that devastated because I have a small market for shark, but figure I’d see less and less each trip, but that’s not the case.
“I’ll go back on the next tide and I’ll snag another 30 sharks. They’re not going away... we have a problem.” barra are
Recreational fisher Rick Ryznar says he and his mates recognise that sharks are certainly an important part of a healthy fishery, but numbers are now way out of whack.
Ashlee measures up
Junior anglers are kicking goals, with quality fish pulled from local inshore waters during recent weeks and others pulled from the snapping jaws of hungry sharks when fishing deeper waters.
Ashlee Baker caught her first largemouth nannygai when she fished the popular Bunnings shoal, otherwise known as the Nemisis Wreck, recently with mother Lenise and father Rick Ryznar. The tasty red fish measured just a couple of centimeters better than the 40cm minimum legal size and was the first of five nannygai landed.
Ashlee learnt that the fish tended to bite best when the tide was slack before showing less interest as the run picked up during the flood tide.
Youngster nets whopper
Meanwhile, brothers Rico and Dominic Avolio fished with their father Adrian Avolio and grandfather Ray Field last weekend at Morrissey’s Creek.
Dad Adrian opened the account, showing the boys some of the finer techniques used to fool a couple of quality whiting, before young Rico responded in the best possible way. The youngster was justifiably proud when he pulled a whopping 53cm grunter or barred javelin fish to the boat.
Big breakwater catch
Fishing- mad junior angler Oscar Smith didn’t really need a boat to catch a big gold spot cod last weekend, although they did so while floating within nearly touching distance of the Western Breakwall.
Mate Archer Dury helped heave the catch high for a photograph following what would have been a titanic battle when hooked so close to the rocks. The good mates were then just happy enough to admire the fish before putting it back to grow some more.
Gold spot cod are protected by a 38cm minimum legal size and perhaps more importantly, also boast a maximum allowable size of 120cm.
And Townsville youngster Riley Snell, 14, fished wide of Taylors Beach with his Uncle Muddy ( Allan Fuller) last weekend.
Conditions were good and doggie, or Queensland school mackerel- accommodating. Riley fooled a couple of the tasty speedsters that measured well beyond the 50cm minimum legal size.