Andrew_P

Is that the spine or the otoliths coming out? either way i am intimidated by those cutters!! 

That is interesting. I will try and make sure I only take ones 2cm over legal size. So tempting when they are just over and its been quiet and you are hungry...
 

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

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. 

For a long time now I have been wanting to build my own deep drop electric fishing reel as I am sick and tired of rebuilding the standard off the shelf electric reels.
A few months ago I decided to just get in and do it and so far I am very happy with the results.
There is no roller bearings in this reel as they always seem to rust and seize up and there is no drag washers to burn out or go lumpy.
The drag system is electronic and should just about last forever.
Each part of the reel is modular and runs its own circuitry so in the event of a failure, I can quickly change out any damaged parts, even when out on the boat.
All I need to finish now is the mounting frame to fit it in the boat, get the switch panel face plate made and spool it up with 1000m x 400lb braid.
So far nearly everything has been drawn to CAD so I can make some more once this one has been fully tested to its limits.
If all goes well, I am hoping to take it out to the deep water in about 2-3 weeks time and give it a hard flogging before I make a second one.
 


 
 

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

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. 

Some more pics

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. 

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. 

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. 

Some quality fish in the box just in time for easter 

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!

Great report

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!

Cracking hussar and moses mate and those fish tacos look the goods!!

Horse hussar mate I’ve never seen one that big well done!

@Drop Bear I’ll take some pics of the process. When I’m not fishing or parenting I dabble in a bit of science on the side 😃

Good point @benno573 I kept the frames for crab bait so I’ll take the ear bones out and have a look how old it might be!

This is the biggest hussar I’ve heard about. 54cm. Almost a legal red emperor!
 

Delicious!

It’s a yellow striped hussar, but the stripe looks brown in that photo for some reason. I sent a pic to the Queensland Museum ichthyologist and he’d never seen one so big. It was tall and thick and looked like a largemouth nannygai!

The photo bends the truth a bit 😀
the hussar was 50cm when we measured it on the boat, the Moses was 44cm.