Andrew_P

should we start a sweeps on the age of the 2 fish?
I reckon hussar 36yrs and moses 32yrs.
 
Very cool process though mate, thanks for sharing.

what a fascinating process, looking forward to the results

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. 
 

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. 
 

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. 
 

Thanks guys n gals for your good advice,
We done the trip to Hervey Bay for a week of fishing, I must say I was impressed with the place, The bay is huge with a lot of reefs, The sandy straights also has some good reefs,
The weather started out a bit blowy, the bay was very choppy especially in my 3.9m Quinny, we got tossed around heaps and had a sore back for 3 days from it, However, nothing was going to stop us from having a go. the r est f the week was good weather except the day we left were it was perfect, I didn't wat to leave.
Over the week we tried several locations, from out passed the Urangan Pier, to the Sandy Straights behind Woody Island and some of its reefs, 2 days at River Heads up the Susan. Finished the week fishing with the masses on the Urangan Pier were the bait fish was thick, Spotted mackerel carving through and some massive GT's, however no one could catch a thing, every one was using live Herring, Some young guy walks up and drops a frozen half of Pilchard in and was on in seconds for an under sized Spotted Mackerel. How ever it was still a good day with great views and lots of Turtles and little Rays, The water was crystal clear.
Over the week we caught lots of fish species we don't get on the Tweed River, I caught my first King Thread fin, sadly it was only 57cm (legal size is 60cm) and in a matter of minutes the misses lands a Blue Thread Fin Salmon at 58cm, it turns out we could have kept that one "NOOOOOOOO" . Most of our fish was under sized except a Flathead, We ate that one. No Coral Trout or Barra this time round, but we did get a lot of other little reef fish including a Bone Fish.
Next time I go there I now know the Spots to go,  I can't wait
This is only a few of the fish we caught.

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. 
 

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. 
 

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. 
 

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. 
 

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. 
 

I have been using up the last of my long service leave on the way to retirement and to any fishos out there who are close to the end of their working lives, I can thoroughly recommend tossing it in as soon as you can afford. No more sitting in boring meetings on those days when you know the Bay will be glassed out, just wishing you could be anywhere on the water.
Last Thursday was one of those perfect Brisbane weather days so I knew I had to take advantage of it. Contacted a few potential deckies but no one available so I was all set up for a solo effort. I do like the solo trip but also appreciate the company on other occasions. Anyway, at 5am @ellicat sent me a message to say he was recovering from his man flu and was keen to join me so I arranged to pick him up on the way through to the ramp at the port. The plan was to get to Mud around the turn of the tide and hope that a couple of bigger snapper may have been patrolling the area before too many boats moved in.
The ramp was relatively quiet (ah, the joys of the work day fish) and we put in just as the sun was coming up.  By the way if you are looking for a good bait shop around the Bayside try Mr Bait in Violet Street at Hemmant.  Good stuff at good prices. I lost my marks for Mud a while ago when I did a factory reset of the sounder so we sounded around until we found a nice drop off. Baits we’re deployed and I had a a plastic working as well. The baits were being attacked regularly but only pickers.  @ellicat was on a mission to show @jon how to wrangle a big tusky and it wasn’t long before he was battling his own pb. I have no idea why I can’t insert photos where I want them anymore but there is a pic below of the man himself with his monster from the deep.
Over the next couple of hours we landed babies of a heap of species including snapper, grassies, tuskies, lancer, bream, stripies and more, but nothing near a keeper. We decided to move to the front rock wall at the port where I had some success a couple of weeks ago.  Stopped at a favourite flathead spot on the way but no touches on bait or plastics.  The wall was a bit more productive with a few bigger but still not legal snaps.  We did get busted off a couple of times and lost connection with a few better fish. I managed a 41cm snap for a baked dinner but that was it for the day.  No crabs either.  Al in all, a very enjoyable day in perfect conditions despite the lack of keepers.  Not the most exciting reportbut then reports have been scarce the last few days.
 

little bit slower today on the spanish but ended up with one and a few snapps,lost some big snapper today

got to the rock around 7am with a few livies on board ,i couldnt get one to the boat the first 15 hits either mist the mark or got sharked,got 4 nice snapper in the boat and with 2 livies left i sent one out it lasted all of 2mins got sharked,there where so many spanish around with the baits lasting only a few mins before getting hit,i had the last livie out and it got smashed and after a 3-4 min fight i had boated the first spanish,left the rock at 9.30 so was a pretty good morning sesh going out again tomorrow.brad

Going down to Ballina next month when it cools off to fish for blackish. I haven't targeted them for years but do remember it being quite addictive watching the float Bob underwater and hooking them. I am going for a week and should also get a few sessions in on the breakwall for tailor and jew. I should have a good report by the time I get back.

I used to catch jew off the south wall, best was 53lb caught on a king prawn. What we did most of the time was to throw a heap of bread in the water and jag a live mullet and use it for bait.I wasa pastry cook in Ballina in my younger days and spent most arvos fishing.There is usually some good luderick off the porpoise wall also.Its a nice place, my only complaint is the river runs to fast.
Dino

So here’s a bit of interesting info. In my report I said the hussar measured 50cm on the boat. In the lab the frame measured 48cm total length. Fish do shrink after death, especially when placed on ice. There have been numerous studies done in Australia showing this, including on Qld species like coral trout. Fish can shrink around 2cm in the first 48 hours. Cool hey!

Some more pics

After loosing connection with my drone this afternoon in a deep valley l had my first crash. Basically once l lost connection l panicked and hit the return home button. That didn’t work well with the drone flying into trees and crashing. 
I made my way down the embankment and went to where l last saw it. Using the phone GPS l tried pin pointing it. An hour plus later after walking through a stream and fighting my way through the steep hill of Lantana with showers of rain making all rocks supper slippery. The joy of finding my drowned drone on/in the edge of the creek was amazing. 
Why? Because l took insurance out called DJI refresh, which means as long as l can return the drone body and pay $79 dollars l can get a new replacement drone. 
I tried drying it out with a hair dryer but no go. 
Take 3 drive coming up. 
 

I love to eat hussar but you make a very fine point. They must make awesome live baits. Knowing my luck I would just get a grey suit. 

haha yep brutal 🙂
 

@DropBear it’s the top of the spine where it meets the skull. Love the cracking sound

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!

Geez, only 6:18am and already I've learnt enough for 5 days. 
What a great thread. Be interested to see the results reg the age. 
 
 
Never eaten hussar, always traded them in but that one would yeald some nice fillets.  
That Moses looks like a beast. I wouldn't have let out the camera trick secret. 

@DropBear it’s the top of the spine where it meets the skull. Love the cracking sound