Andrew_P

Update: we’ve let the otoliths dry out for three weeks or so, and blocked them (one of each species) in polyester resin. The drying makes the rings more obvious. The reason we block them is so we can cut a section through the centre of the otolith with a low speed saw without crushing the otolith material.

Two more weeks for the resin to harden then we will cut the sections. I’ll put some pics up of the rest of the process. 

Ok my mate Tyson whipped the ear bones (called otoliths) out of the Moses and hussar today. Otoliths are like our ear bones - they help fish stay upright in the water and hear sounds. You might have heard or seen the “jewels” from mulloway - these are their otoliths. They come in all shapes, sizes and thicknesses depending upon the type of fish’s habitat and behaviours. 

They sit in a cavity under the brain (slightly behind and above the top of the eye) so depending on the species of fish you can access them from the top (by scalping the fish) or from underneath. For the hussar and Moses Tyson cut away the gills and went from underneath. 

We use bone cutters to prise open the cavity, and the otoliths can be plucked with some fine tweezers. 

Some species’ otoliths (ie mackerel, tailor, bream) can be viewed whole under a microscope, but fish like snapper, pearl perch, mulloway, red emperor, Moses and hussar need to be set in a block of polyester resin and a thin slice cut using a low speed saw. The slice is then mounted on a slide and viewed under a microscope. 

The otolith displays growth rings (like in the trunk of a tree) and show periods of fast growth (wide, clear material) and slow growth (narrow, opaque rings) that corresponds with annual cycles. There’s a bit of science to determine whether a fish species lays down annual rings, but generally this applies for most fish. 

So now we have the otoliths of these two fish out, we have a bit more work putting them in blocks and slicing them before we can estimate their age. 

I’ll post the next steps as I get round to them. 

Headed out from Mooloolaba last week in some nicer weather. Well it might have been a bit too nice as the fish weren’t playing the game! Fished hard all day for a couple of tuskies, Maori cod, Moses, a nice snapper and the biggest hussar I’ve ever seen!

Between 6 of us on two boats we kept about 20 reefies for the day. 

Conditions were so nice my spearo mate was foaming at the mouth to jump in, even after we saw a decent shark on one of the spots! 

Brilliant day on the water nonetheless. 

Mmmm fish tacos!

Hi Angus,

Great thread starter! Everyone has their likes and dislikes (there's probably a rude analogy there somewhere) and i'm sure fishing reports are no different.

I don't read all the reports so a great title releases the scent that makes me interested. Relevance to the fishing i do (or used to do before kids!) gets me biting, if it includes a rough location of where i fish, have fished before or want to fish in the future - especially if they include the way i like to fish and the species i target. Quality, well composed pics of photo-worthy fish sets the hook and a great story sharing the writer's experiences and genuine stoke shortens the fight and gets me close enough for a gaff shot. If the report is informative, well-written and allows me to learn something then the gaff shot hits the spot and i'm well and truly slapping around on the deck of the boat. Chuck a bit of humour in there and i'm bled and on the ice in the esky!

Some recent or more memorable reports/threads with these features that come to mind are:

• drop bear's spanish mac story
• any of luvit's reports but especially his Kimberley adventure
• the noosa river stuff from the guys catching jacks and barras at night from a few years ago
• the PNG trip reports from your AFO trips
• Wayne Youngy Young's reports from here and abroad
• any post by Aussie123

Things that make me want to bust you off are reports that are too long, incoherent, or clearly trying to deceive.

I'm really interested in other people's thoughts - i'm on another site but know that other media platforms (which i have logged out of) have definitely taken over in the last few years and that site in particular has really suffered. This forum seems to maintain its interest and traffic which is great to see! There is a sense of community on this site without elitism which is a credit to the people who post and the moderators no doubt.

Thanks for the opportunity to contribute! Hopefully a few more reports from me in the future.

Andrew