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Prawn Nets

Old Scaley

By Old Scaley
in Saltwater

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Old Scaley Mentor

Old Scaley

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Ok, every year I promise my wife that I will get out and get amongst the prawns. Once (a couple of years ago) I did make the effort to head to the southern Bay islands at the right time but was on my own and it looked a bit too hard to mix it with the crowds without someone driving the tinnie so I abandoned the mission. Seeing @Drop Bear and @Luvit going to the pine tomorrow reminded me that this year should be the year.  

I have a couple of 12 ft drawstring nets which are showing a bit a bit of age but are still serviceable. The problem is that they are more prone to tangles and hence bad throws than the top or bottom pocket nets and take a bit more time to get ready to throw. So to all you experts, what should I do: 

1.stick with what I have and buddy up with someone so I have someone to drive the boat

2. Buy a top pocket net and use my old nets for bait

3.Buy a bottom pocket net

4. Buy a top and bottom pocket net

5. Save the time and effort and buy prawns from a seafood outlet

Thanks for the advice team AFO.

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kmcrosby78 Mentor

kmcrosby78

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Funnily enough I'm hoping to give them a crack this year as well Steve (and funnily enough also once went to the southern bay islands with plans to, but realised they were too deep for my teeny tiny net .....).

I snapped up three 12ft top pocket nets in good/very good condition off Gumtree a year or so ago for $150 (with a large Waeco Cool Ice esky (hinges for lid are broken) and a set of waders. Am happy to lend you one if you like. Could also look at teaming up sometime if we can find a mutually suitable time.

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Tybo Newbie

Tybo

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Option 2 @Old Scaley. I had a drawstring net years ago, and while they work, they're a pain. When I eventually ripped the guts out of it on the rocks, I didn't lament; and would never get one again.

Just like fishing gear, no one net will be perfect for all. I have a top pocket, that I only use for prawns out of boats. I then have a mono net for bait out of boats, then a smaller cotton net that I use for casting up into mangrove drains. Drop, rope length and build are all specific to what they're used for. If you're chasing prawns, you'll be working a lot harder and casting more often if you don't have a top pocket, with plenty of rope, that you can get out into a big circle.

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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Yep I agree after throwing the top pocket for a few hours today I love it. Very easy to throw and seems to catch plenty. The ones I just ate were the sweetest prawns I have ever had the pleasure of eating.  Much better than any frozen ones I have bought. 

There are plenty of cheap top pockets with chain base on Gumtree at around the $100 - $150 (or even less) and there are some great local net makers that make much better quality but more around the $350 mark. 

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Old Scaley Mentor

Old Scaley

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10 hours ago, ellicat said:

I'd be happy to drive the boat if needed. I would also be happy to video any mishaps...for posterity sake of course.

 

Haha @ellicat Is that you and Ted on the mighty Force? I note you were still fishing in the dark. Waiting for a tow?    Will be in touch soon for a mid-week session on the prawns and/or grinner.

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ellicat Grand Master

ellicat

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2 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

Haha @ellicat Is that you and Ted on the mighty Force? I note you were still fishing in the dark. Waiting for a tow?    Will be in touch soon for a mid-week session on the prawns and/or grinner.

No, that was on Ted's bay boat. He was planking on the motor and fell in up to his neck. Unfortunately I missed that footage but got some of the aftermath. Still cracks me up.

It was a long session from pre-dawn to well into the night.

Look forward to a mid weeker !

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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36 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

So @Drop Bear I was searching the site last night for info on prawn nets and saw you bought one of these before the Blakesleys trip last year. https://castnethq.com.au/Top-Pocket-Prawn-Cast-Nets/Top-Pocket-Prawn-Cast-Net-Chain-Bottom-TPN10

is that what you used in the Pine today and would you recommend it?

Yep thats the one.

12 foot top pocket

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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37 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

So @Drop Bear I was searching the site last night for info on prawn nets and saw you bought one of these before the Blakesleys trip last year. https://castnethq.com.au/Top-Pocket-Prawn-Cast-Nets/Top-Pocket-Prawn-Cast-Net-Chain-Bottom-TPN10

is that what you used in the Pine today and would you recommend it?

Oh yes i would recommend it. I am not an experianced cast netter so dont really want to say they are great/rubbish but it workes really well for me today.

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Old Scaley Mentor

Old Scaley

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Update. Bit the bullet and bought a top pocket chain bottom 12 foot net using a voucher that my wife gave me for Xmas from a quality tackle store .  Decided to have a few practice throws in the back yard and man, it did not go well.  Most of my throws looked like I was advertising for the ABC. I have a 12 foot drawstring net that I can get a decent circle out of approx 80% of the time using a technique where I split the net in half, pick up 3 loops in the right hand, gather a bunch of the other side of the net in my left hand and then cast with a tennis topspin forehand. I did same with a mate’s 10 foot top pocket chain net in Burrum last week.

The chain on this net is not chain that I was expecting but more like a thousand small curtain rings. It is definitely heavier than I am used too and is testing my spaghetti arms. Also I have found that not all of the rings are closed tightly so they catch the net. I am in the process of inspecting every ring and will need to solder any that are not tight because multigrips just won’t close them.

i intend to persevere but might need to change my technique.  I will find a quiet piece of water later this week and practice throwing out of the boat. It will need to be away from @ellicat and his candid camera. You can expect progress reports but the mods may need to edit out the expletives.

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Old Scaley Mentor

Old Scaley

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Are you sure you aren’t coming along as @ellicat‘s spy camera operator to ensure my total humiliation. But seriously, as @Luvit said earlier in this topic, we need to stop planning it and start doing it. Actually Brian and I are heading to a secret location tomorrow to hav3 a practice. Crab pots, bait and plastics are also packed so we can keep options open.

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Old Scaley Mentor

Old Scaley

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Well, here is the promised progress report. Small progress but progress never the less. Departed POB ramp at gentlemen’s hours (9.15am) after loading Captain @ellicat and his sweet buns and tobacco supply. Then we headed for the bar, the Brisbane bar that is, not south passage bar. Actually we just went across the river from the tug station so we could drop the pots and then came back to the sandbanks opposite the tug station so I could have some practice throws without snagging the net. Managed a few ellipses, a couple of ABC symbols but did actually manage a couple of decent circles. Unbelievably a number of prawns chose that exact moment to commit suicide and even though a lot of them seemed to escape the net a cool half dozen were determined that this was to be their last day.

We decided to convert these, and a few herring that had similar suicidal tendencies into something fleshier and tried a spot where we have had success before. Had a few good hits and one bust off that we quickly decided was a jack, but not sure if it was a mangrove jack, a stingjack,  sharkjack or some other sort of jack. The pots had jack all as well.

Was still a good day and I will persevere.

 

CDA0B6F7-D8DA-4148-9E9E-8DD222355858.jpeg

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Drop Bear Community Regular

Drop Bear

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17 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Unbelievably a number of prawns chose that exact moment to commit suicide and even though a lot of them seemed to escape the net a cool half dozen were determined that this was to be their last day.

gold. Well done. I have seen schools of what I think are prawns neer the cement loading place. I dont know if you are supposed to be there or not so didn't try. 

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Tybo Newbie

Tybo

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1 hour ago, Drop Bear said:

hmmm. lots of nitrogen. I would use these as baits but it feels a bit weird keeping food prawns from there. are there many snags neer the poo shoot? :fishing:In saying that all the river trawlers seem to go past it.

I was chasing live baits one night here and managed to get a dozen or so extra large banana prawns. I'm talking big, yellow U20s. I kept them as live bait, but the fishing was very slow that night and couldn't even give a bait away. At the end I was left with the same dilemma of what to do with these 'poo shute' prawns. In the end I pushed the envelope and took them home for a feed. Told the wife and she didn't want to risk it, so I cooked them up as crumbed prawn cutlets and had the whole lot. They were sensational, probably the best prawn cutlets I've ever had, don't regret it at all!

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ellicat Grand Master

ellicat

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3 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

well if they were cooked there would be nothing that could hurt you I would have thought. Is there still a restriction due to the airport fire fighting foam thing?

The restriction is over.

Cooking doesn't kill all the 'nastys' - e.g. ciguatera, heavy metals accumulated in flesh...

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Tybo Newbie

Tybo

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3 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

You are a braver man than me, @Tybo. I have only cast for bait there once and next day I had a rash on my arms that took weeks to go away. Could have been coincidence but I am not going back there and I don’t keep bream from that stretch of the river.

Not something I planned to do, or would 'plan' to do again. I don't even like chasing bait there(the place stinks), but it's a pretty consistent place to get it. I've seen people anchored up fishing directly into the outlet, an old friend told me those people were fishing for Winston Churchill bream, you know the ones with big cigars hanging out of their mouth.

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Tybo Newbie

Tybo

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3 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

well if they were cooked there would be nothing that could hurt you I would have thought. Is there still a restriction due to the airport fire fighting foam thing?

This was before the spill. I avoided the place not long after the spill, but believe it should be alright by now.

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