rayke1938

It was a bit smoky and hot at NPD this morning. The quality of the fish was very good even though the quantity was down.My shoulder is a bit sore with 4 of the bass that I caught going over 1.4 kg, The redclaw are a good size and quantity ok if you know where to set our pots, We knocked off at 11 am when the clouds started to build up with a tally of 27 bass and one yella. Dont know what it takes to make Zac crack his face with a smile. Cheers Ray

I think that most anglers have realized that it is important that more has to be done to restore habitat in both sweet and rust. Great things have been already achieved in the sweet with projects such as resnagging waterways and providing fish ladders or better still removing structures that prevent the natural migration of fish such as the Luscome weir that serves no purpose. In conjunction with DPI several stocking groups are now in the process of installing FADS into dams where there is little or no structure . In the salt there are still a lot of problems to be addressed such as loss of seagrass beds, responsible establishment of green zones and marine parks Cheers Ray

obviously no flying foxes or possums there cheers ray

Another good day it took us a while to find some fish with only 12 fish on the counter by 10am. We decided to have a look between the 2 islands and found some fish in 26 feet of water to finish up with 52 bass and 2 yellas. On wednesday we moved 2 redclaw pots to a new location and today we ended up with 16 good sizes redclaw in the 2 pots and nothing in the other 2 so we moved them to a new location further down the dam to see how they go. Happy I had a couple of fit deckies when we got back to the ramp as the wind really got up and was blowing across the ramp I would not have had a chance by myself the only way I would have got the boat on the trailer would have been to skulldrag the boat up the ramp and then winch it onto the trailer off the ramp.

From abc news site. Something positive after all the terrible fire newsOther Bushfire warning For the latest updates on the bushfires in New South Wales, check the NSW RFS website. For information on the bushfires in Queensland, check the QLD RFS website. Next Ticker ItemPrevious Ticker Item Print Email Facebook Twitter More After being dredged to nearly nothing last century, Australia's lost shellfish reefs are roaring back to life By Ben Knight Updated about an hour ago PHOTO: New reefs now cover an area the size of the MCG in what was once just sand. (Supplied: The Nature Conservancy) At a secret location, nine metres under Port Phillip Bay, divers are combing a newly created oyster reef with a high-powered camera. Up on the dive boat, the pictures on the video screen are a window into Bob Pearce's teenage years in the 1960s — before overfishing, pollution and disease wiped out 99 percent of Australia's shellfish reefs within a few decades. "We were left with a marine desert," he says. But this two-year-old reef is teeming with life — created from seafood shells collected from restaurants that would have otherwise ended up in landfill. PHOTO: The shells are recycled once diners have enjoyed what's inside for a meal. (ABC News) "It's an amazing thing how critters know there's something there, and they come to it," he says. "Crabs, oysters, starfish, octopus, squid, snapper — you name it, they're all there." Follow this story to get email or text alerts from ABC News when there is a future article following this storyline. Follow this story This is one of 10 pilot sites in four Australian states rebuilding the enormous chain of reefs that once stretched along the coast from Noosa to Perth, that were all but wiped out by dredge harvesting last century. PHOTO: Bob Pearce says the results of the project have been staggering. (ABC News) "They tore the reefs to pieces," Mr Pearce says. "It broke my heart." Back in the 60s, when Mr Pearce first joined the Albert Park Yachting and Angling Club, he remembers being able to collect buckets of oysters in the shallows of South Melbourne beach. PHOTO: Schools of leatherjacket fish now swim in the new shellfish reefs in Port Phillip Bay. (Supplied: The Nature Conservancy) "If you felt like a feed of mussels, you'd just go and get them off the pier pole," he says. "Every house along here had a mussel rake. We used to have them with a bit of brown vinegar and pepper. "People told me not to worry about the dredging, but it's left us with a marine desert. I just put my hand up at a club meeting one night and said 'We should do something about this'." It was the start of what became a multi-million-dollar project to begin rebuilding Australia's shellfish reefs, funded by philanthropic giant The Nature Conservancy, with help from state and federal governments. It has restored more than 100 similar reefs in the United States — and now wants to do the same in Australia on a similar scale. INFOGRAPHIC: Much of Australia's south and east costs used to be hugged by shellfish reefs. (ABC News) INFOGRAPHIC: The team wants to restore the coast to its former glory. (ABC News) "We'd love to build reefs in 60 places across southern Australia," says Rich Gilmore, who heads the conservancy's Australian arm. "That'll take an investment of about $100 million. State and federal governments have provided some support for the projects underway so far, but we want them to invest so we can quickly scale up. "If we can get that, this can be a game changer for water quality and fish stocks in Australia." PHOTO: Rich Gilmore wants to see the successes of this project replicated around the country. (ABC News: Kyle Harley) The conservancy is lobbying to get the project funded in the next round of state and federal budgets. It's pushing hard on its value as a job-creation scheme in the regions and also as a way of preventing coastal erosion. "We need them to understand that these reefs are part of our national infrastructure. It's just that they are alive. And we've got a way to go to convince them of that." In just a few years, 8 million native angasi oyster hatchlings have been placed in the waters off Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia, on the recycled mollusc shells collected from restaurants. PHOTO: Bob Pearce has spearheaded the creation of the oyster reef nine metres under the ocean. (ABC News: Kyle Harley) They've turned empty, sandy seabeds into thriving ecosystems — covering an area the size of the MCG in Port Phillip Bay. "The results so far have been staggering," Mr Gilmore says. "A single native oyster can filter a bathtub of water every day. That's billions of litres of clean water every single year of being filtered." Mr Pearce says every time he goes back, it reminds him of the bay he once knew. "There's thousands of pink snapper swimming on that reef that wouldn't have been there otherwise," he says. "If we can just keep doing this a chunk at a time, eventually we'll have something fantastic again." PHOTO: Juvenile oyster shells harvested from newly created reefs in Port Phillip Bay. (ABC News: Kyle Harley) Topics: oceans-and-reefs, environment, fish, fishing-aquaculture, environmental-impact, environmental-management, melbourne-3000, vic, albert-park-3206, geelong-3220, portsea-3944, point-lonsdale-3225, australia First posted about 9 hours ago

sooties becoming a regular catch up there. Cheers Ray

Another good day today picking up a few bass and a yella first up halfway down koala straight. Nothing much furthur downstream apart from around 12 redclaw out of our 4 pots. Few bass and yellas off the floats before we went towards the old far marker for more bass and the odd yella. Ended up with 51 bass and 11 yellas. Best bass went 45cm best yella 44cm and 1.5kg

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Good day at NPD today with Hai,Craig and Miller. Got a bit boring with Miller standing in the bow repeating himself just quietly repeating himself saying I am on. He had a bit of a problem with the bigger bass and yellas having to get Craig to give him a hand supporting the rod. His biggest bass went 49.5 with Craig saying if he had caught it it would have been 50cm. Took us a while to locate a school but it got a bit hectic when we found it with one quadruple hook up and numerous triple hook ups. Going to pull my redclaw pots as we only caught 2 redclaw from 4 pots. I will wait for about 4 inches of rain to bring them on again. I was slack on the counter but but recorded 62 bass and 6 yellas. It was a delight to have Miller on board it bides well for the future generations when you meet a quiet well behaved and polite young man. He is a credit to his mum and dad. Cheers Ray

It is a great vid I do not normally watch any fishing vids as most of the commentators carry on like pork chops or they have crappy music If I want to listen to music i put on a cd and pick what I want to listen to. Cheers Ray

Unbelievable scary footage

Day started off slowly with only 13 bass boated between 3 of us by 9.30 until we found a school and finished up with 79 bass and one small yella by 11.30. Shoulder a bit sore ( dont know why) but worth the pain. Had a fair bit of trouble with anything over 40cm. Redclaw still slow with only 15 in pots. 3 of the redclaw heavy in berry so hopefully they will kick in with warmer weather. Cheers Ray

Starting to get back into it again at NPD 49 bass and one yella between the 4 of us this morning. We found one school that we pulled 20 odd bass from before they moved on . The rest were scattered all over the lower part of the permit area. Redclaw were light on had a yarn to another angler back at the ramp and he said that his pots had been raided with cable ties cut.. Whenever a new permit season commences we always find a few selfish bastards who raid pots belonging to others.

Went to hinze western arm yesterday as observer with Rick and Joy. First fish I caught was a 46cm bass which gave my shoulder a real workout. Had to get Joy to net it as i could not manage the weight of the net. I only managed 4 fish and Rick and Joy 20. The shrimp and bass were scarce and we lost a lot of fish as they were only to be found right in the middle of the submerged timber.

Back on the panadol now but blaming it on the trip up and back