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catch and release blues...


roobs

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seems everyone's getting upset about what people are saying on the forum. i really like this site and agree with most of the things people say- i think that it's important that people have freedom of speech as well, as long as it's not contravening the rules of the forum. based on those rules, i think beach fishing for sharks results in a high mortality rate, based on what i've read, and i think that i'd have to say that i'd rather a live shark than a happy fisherman. i'm certainly for catch and release, but doesn't it seem to people that it results in a lot of dead sharks? even if people aren't killing them and they are washing up on the beach the day after then the rangers have a point. i've found plenty of dead sharks at cape moreton and honeymoon bay- i thought they were killed by dolphins. i'm sorry if i upset anyone by saying this but if it was a warm blooded animal then the shit would hit the fan. maybe we need to re-think catch and release for large sharks as not un-lethal but less lethal.

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Good point Roobs.

I have actually mentioned to certain other people in the past that maybe a general discussion on successful release techniques would be a better way to go about the problem than starting a sledging match.

So that in mind, my sharking is limited, however both decent size sharks did swim away. And swim away quite strongly.

I think this happened, and remember this is purely opinion, because we kept the release of the sharks to a tight time frame. By the time the sharks were in the shallows it would have only been 1 or 2 mins before they were on their way back through the breakers. Also they were never removed from the shallows. You can get some pretty sweet brag photo's with the shark still in the water :)

I have also heard people mention sharks washed up the next day of these actual caputres with blue cable hanging from their mouth. However i know this to be false as a special hook remover was contrived to knock the hooks out of the sharks mouth as thus the trace as well. The worst injuries these sharks suffered were a couple of lost teeth, but anyone who knows anything about shark biology will know this is of no consequence.

As for the bags, the bags i have used have always been hessian and therefore bio degradable. My opinion is sharks have been around for millions of years because they are a tough durable animal. With reasonbale release techniques i think the majority survive.

But this is just opinion, i would love to open the floor to better suggestions for release practices. There are a lot of younger sharkers here and it would be beneficial for certain.

Regards.

Angus

Post edited by: Angus, at: 2007/02/20 09:24

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Mate my little fishing team has seen about 20 sub-metre sharks landed. Of these sharks quite a few had hooks still in the mouths, or even inside their gullets. Clearly some of these sharks had been previously captured and released or lost during the battle. The presence of hooks in gullet/mouth don't seem to affect the fishes feeding habits and all were in good condition otherwise. Sure its a slightly different situation than with XOS sharks, but none-the-less the end reasoning is the same. I believe sharks are rather hardy and given the battle isn't excessive and they aren't out of the water for too long they should survive. Oh we have also seen sharks with various wounds (from other sharks) some of which have been mainly healed and others that were obviously inflicted on the way in. So yeah I think they are pretty tough. If I am not keeping one for the table I don't have a problem releasing it.

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Compared to the beach netting and drum line program, fisho's targeting and catching a few sharks off the beach is a drop in the ocean , so to speak.

Personally I have never let a shark go (alive), never will. So methods for releasing are not my specialty.

Shark fishing is legal, and as long as people do it as humanely as possible, the do gooder's should just get over it.

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i'm with you there feral though i have released a vfew big ones alive,and nurses of course.

back in the seventys it was nothing to have a hundred sharks following the o9ld mans trawler off the gold coast, we'd sit on the roof of the wheelhouse with the old 3.0.3. and pick them off for fun,didn't matter what species if they stuck thier heads up we'd pot them.

kinda makes me sad now thinking of the possibly thounsads of then we needlessly killed or hurt badly:(

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Your remorse is good Jeff (Karma to you) - I know how you feel - Since the catch above I have tried to let everything unwanted go back alive and in good condition.

I changed my approach after I saw my own photo, it kinda made me feel sick and sad.:sick:

I love sharks:kiss: :kiss:

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roobs wrote:

is it possible beach fishing is more harmful than boat fishing?

it probably is roobs, caught from a boat thier body weight is allways supported by the water as its ment to be.even if they are only draged into the shallows it has to be stressfull and being half out of the water and knocked around by waves cant do something thats designed to be suspended by water much good

thanks brian good to see were all growing up and mooving with the times. one or two for a feed the rest for fun

Post edited by: jeff f, at: 2007/02/23 12:14

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jeff f wrote:

roobs wrote:
is it possible beach fishing is more harmful than boat fishing?

it probably is roobs, caught from a boat thier body weight is allways supported by the water as its ment to be.even if they are only draged into the shallows it has to be stressfull and being half out of the water and knocked around by waves cant do something thats designed to be suspended by water much good

thanks brian good to see were all growing up and mooving with the times. one or two for a feed the rest for fun<br><br>Post edited by: jeff f, at: 2007/02/23 12:14

In saying that Jeff, the tigers at Fraser nearly beach themselves smashing into rays. They put themselves so far up on the sand it can take them a few decent waves coming in to wriggle back into swimmable water. Hence stingray baits are a good option for fraser!! :P

I have heard reference made of Tigers caught at Fraser with dozens of stingray barbs around their face and chest. I imagine these would have been earned feeding in just this manner.

Angus

Post edited by: Angus, at: 2007/02/23 14:57

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