Fishing the web, you never know what you will catch

Here are a couple of items that got my attention in the news. The first is a "Man caught fishing for womens panties". This one really got me laughing. I guess you would call that panty poaching.

The second one is from Blogfish, a fish, ocean, conservation blog that I follow. Fishing protest not for the squeamish is about a shark fishing protest.

For the original story:

Artist hangs herself from hooks in protest at shark treatment
An artist pierced her skin with shark hooks and hung herself from a shop ceiling in protest at the treatment of the animal.

"Alice Newstead took the drastic action in protest at the practice of finning – where sharks are impaled on hooks, before their fins are sliced off to harvest meat for shark fin soup. The sharks are then thrown back into the ocean still alive. "

I feel that she got her point across. Mainly because the news wire picked it up as well as the blog world. She has drawn attention to an issue and got the public involved.

What do you think? Did it work or just a side show?

Panty on and hanging from a hook.

Cheers

17/09/08 - Trinity Waters - Wildmarsh

Weight – 24lb 6oz
Catch – 12 Roach, 9 Rudd, 8 Bream, 3 Perch, 2 Eel, 1 Carp, 1 Barbel
Weather – Rain at start, then mostly cloudy. Mostly flat calm.
Water temp – 16.0c > 16.5c

With the forthcoming 1st round of the Veal’s Winter League looming, I needed some practice at the venue. Sundays practice open had been won with about 40lb and the general consensus was there was bites for everyone.

Trinity Waters evokes very polarised views about whether it should be included in the Winter League, because the fishing can be challenging. As expected many of those that struggle to catch are not prepared to work for their fish. Personally I like to venue, set in a lovely location, John & Sue have worked hard to continually improve the fishery.

Wildmarsh is a 70 peg lake, which will have 3 sections of 15, which meant there was a 75% chance I would drew there on Sunday. The other lake, Woodlands would be dominated by carp and would effectively look after itself, so it made sense to practice on Wildmarsh.

I few days earlier I received a call from my best mate, Jim, when we realised we hadn’t got together for nearly 9 months, he decided to come along with me for the practice session. Since most pegs had a tree between them, we settled on pegs 44 & 45 because the vegetation was less dense, so at least we could have chat, whilst we fished.

The winter league would be float only, so I really wanted to get the waggler sorted, because if I drew Wildmarsh in the match I felt the waggler would give me an edge since most anglers would only fish the pole.

I set up a loaded 8g-enser-dream waggler, with 5 x no.6 bulk 2 foot from the hook 4 no 10 droppers, fishing in 7 foot water. I feed 6mm swim stim expanders, plus small balls of groundbait laced with chopped worm, caster & 3mm pellet. Whilst the fishing was never hectic, I caught skimmers up to 2lb 12oz mostly on half a worm at 25/30m.

I also had a few fish on the pole at 12m, but felt I probably overfed the swim from the start, cupping 4 balls of groundbait with caster & chopped worm. In hindsight, I should have started a little more cautiously.

As part of my practice session I also tried the margins, but only managed 1 carp about 6½lb and a barbel.

This was a really enjoyable session. The weather conditions were hardly ideal for catching skimmers, but I finished confident with the waggler and hoping for an open water draw on Sunday.

14/09/08 - Stafford Moor - Tanners

Weight – 19lb 12oz
Catch – 39 Bream, 28 Roach, 1 Hybrid, 1 Rudd.
Weather – Warm & sunny. Very light easterly breeze.
Water temp – 16.0c > 16.5c
Match – Stafford Moor Pairs – Day 2 – (64th overall, 10th in section)

Following yesterday’s match, Mike and I were effectively out of contention for the pair’s competition, so I wanted to at least have a few bites.

I drew peg 32 on Tanners but the wind had switched around and was blowing into pegs 18 & 20. It was also very bright and flat, so prospects weren’t looking good.

I started looking for carp on the full depth waggler and lead, but other than a couple of liners I had no carp. I had set up a silverfish line at 8m, feeding groundbait and micro pellet, but most of the fish were small. I also tried setting a line at 14.5m just feeding pellet. I caught a few decent skimmers, but wished I had some 6mm pellet instead of the 8mm.

Overall I was going no where, I had a banging headache and to be honest lost focus on what I should be doing, because it became obvious most of the fish were being caught at the other end of the lake, with 120lb winning the lake & my section from peg 18.

How to drive dolphins to extinction

The destructive power of human being is amazing. It is not bad enough that we over fish until a species is almost extinct, now these guys are trying to kill off a species we don't even eat.

Then these "fishermen" go on to say, "The Federation of Commercial Fishermen and a number of fishing companies challenged the restrictions, saying they would cost jobs in areas where the dolphins were never seen. The federation did not want to harm the dolphins but sought seasonal relief where jobs were under immediate threat."

What are we talking about here, 10-20 jobs. Let get real, these jobs are on their way out anyways. With the predatory fishing practices and greed these guys have already fished themselves out of a job. Time to find something else to do.








So you ask what is it that this fight is over. The first is the Hector Dolphin. "The Hector's dolphin is only found off the coast of New Zealand, which means it is endemic to New Zealand.
The Hector's dolphin is the rarest dolphin in the world - not a title to envy! "

The second is the Maui Dolphin. "Numbering around 110, the Maui's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori maui) is the world's smallest and rarest marine dolphin. Maui's dolphins are generally found along the North West coast of the North Island of New Zealand, between New Plymouth and Dargaville.

So there is only a few of these little dolphins in existence and what do people want to do to protect them, nothing. Lets just string up a big ol' net and catch them all and be done with it. You gotta love commercial fisherman and politicians. This scenario seems pretty straight forward, protect the Hector and Maui dolphins or they will be extinct. End of story. So by the response of the New Zealand High Court I guess we will just kill them all off. Nice work in the land of the long white cloud and extinct dolphins.

Let's hope some common sense and rational thinking infests their pea brains and they do the right thing.

If you are interested in helping save these dolphins take action here.

Save the Dolphins
Cheers

13/09/08 - Stafford Moor - Woodpecker

Weight – 35lb 0oz
Catch – 5 Carp, 2 Bream, 1 Crucian
Weather – Rain to start, later warm & sunny. Light breeze.
Water temp – 16.0c > 17.5c
Match – Stafford Moor Pairs – Day 1 – (26th overall, 6th in section)

There were 42 pairs at the draw and you had to choice whether to draw from 1 of 2 bags. Tanners & Pines was in 1, whilst Woodpecker & Joseph’s was in the other. I drew Woodpecker 4 and Mike Etheridge drew Tanners 36. Mike definitely had the better draw, whilst my peg had been fishing well recently, so I felt we had half a chance of doing well.

Following advice from Andy, I decided on a 3 pronged attack. The straight lead towards the point of the island, pellet waggler in open water and finally the pole towards the point of the spit. I decided against a silver fish line, because it was reported there was a number of carp in the area and I didn’t want to be distracted from catching carp.

The flat, bright weather had its effect, I caught most of my fish on the lead, 1 fish on the pole, but no carp on the pellet waggler, despite feeding 8pts of pellet. I was convinced the fish would arrive, but they never did.

At the weigh in it became obvious I had draw at the wrong end of the section, the major weights came from peg 6, 10 & 12. Even the pegs opposite me in the bay (32-36) didn’t fish. James Cooper on peg 36 struggled for 39lb.

Mike did Ok on Tanners, unfortunately peg 36 fishes better when the wind is blowing and he finished 4th in section. This meant we were effectively out of the running for day 2.

Could I have done better? Probably not, I worked hard to catch what I had and the weights around me reflected the fact the fish weren’t feeding. The only thing I should have done was try a pva bag.

06/09/08 - Rolfs Lake

Weight – 3lb 10oz
Catch – 33 Perch, 2 Roach
Weather – Mostly cloudy, rain later
Water temp – 17.5c > 17.5c
Match – Total Fishing Individual Qualifier

Due to a minor operation, I couldn’t fish last weekend so was really looking forward to today. I had spent most evenings during the week tying hooklengths and rigs and felt confident of doing well.

When I arrived, the surface of the lake was black with fish, which was a surprise considering the heavy overnight rain. General consensus was the lake would probably be fish hard.

The lake had been split into 4 sections, based on form. I drew peg 29, which was in the 4th and worst section. Pegs 10, 13, 25 & 34 were in my section and I could at least keep an eye on everyone except peg 34.

Based on my previous visit, I decided to try the waggler at full depth, fishing the worm, hoping to pick up the off carp and silvers, whilst feeding my short line and margins.

In the end the lake fished really hard. I caught perch on worm, particularly in the margins, but they were mostly about 1oz and I was going no where fast. Although I had periodically tried meat & corn, without success, with only 90 minutes left, all I needed was a couple of carp, but it just wasn’t happening. I briefly hooked 1 on paste, before the hook pulled, but 10 mins to go I hooked another. This 1 I think was hooked properly, but it broke me on its 1st run – not happy. A missed bites next cast suggested the fish might have arrived all a little too late.

I only needed 3rd in my 5 peg section to qualify for the final, so I was really disappointed to finish 4th.

I had decided on an aggressive feeding approach and on reflection that wasn’t suitable, I should have adopted a more cautious approach, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. The problem was for whatever reason the lake fished very hard and only 78lb was needed to win. Had the lake fished normally, then perhaps my tactics would have worked.

Fishing the 10% method and Some Unusual Styles

Fishing, a sport that anyone can participate in. Young, old, male female, big, small it makes no difference to the fish. As far as I am concerned fishing is about putting in the hours. Doing the hard time per se. For first timers there is always an element of luck. Especially when they go out and land a huge fish of a lifetime and it was there first time to ever hold a rod. Such is lady luck.
The reality is a lot less glamorous. Fishing for hours on end without a bite. Fishing for hours on end in the rain without a bite. Then there is the fishing for hours on end without a bite while your fishing buddy is landing fish after fish. That’s the hard time.
I think the saying goes 10 percent of the anglers catch 90 percent of the fish. Reason being, the hard time.
People who catch fish regularly work hard for it. They learn to read the water and fish the tides. They are up at the crack of dawn and sometimes before. They never give up. If their favorite lure is not working then they change it and continue to fish the new one with confidence. If the new one is not working then they change again. It’s a never give up attitude that makes up the 10 percent.
There are many different techniques employed to catch fish and of course some of them are not very conventional but I am not judging.

Now this is what I call pushing the never give up attitude to the limit. Unfortunately I don’t think even lady luck will help this one.

This is what I call the scenting your lure technique. You put the lure in you mouth while carefully avoiding the hooks and get you saliva and scent all over the lure. According to some the fish then think they are kissing you instead of biting a hook. Of course it helps if you had sardines for lunch.

There is a not well known method of getting your lure out farther than you can cast. It involves a sea bird and the knowledge of bird whistling. Once mastered you can get your lure out to the fish without having to cast very far. The trick lies with the release from the bird. I am still unsure of this one but I have seen it employed several times.

Then of course there are those that just prefer to be friends with the fish rather than hook them.

This last method of fishing while standing in quick sand is beyond me. Be glad there are no crocodiles

I would like to say thanks to Katie Longo and Billy Longo for letting me use their images. In addition, I would like to give credit to Katie for putting in the hard time; it is starting to pay off for her.

Tight lines and screaming drags

Sky Watch Friday

Welcome to Sky watch Friday. I was not going to use this site this week but I was half asleep when I posted the link and I posted the wrong one. So here I am scrambling to get a post up. I shot this one at a ferry dock here in Fiji. A local fishing boat with its reflection and of course the reflection of the sky. Have a great weekend and don't forget to visit Sky Watch Friday for more sky photos from around the world.

Garbage and all that washes up on the beach

I have yet to go fishing since I have moved. Suburbia does not allow me to keep my boat in the water in front of my house. Just one of many draw backs. That being said I have spent a fair bit of time on the beach with my dog, she still needs the exercise and I get a break.
One thing I have noticed is the huge increase of garbage on the shore line. Maybe it is because at my old place I picked up every bit of rubbish every day so it did not seem so much. This new beach that I run my dog on is absolutely littered with garbage. I am talking plastic bottles, cans, bags, VHS tapes, tires, you name it, and it is there.

I have always had an idea that the garbage on the beach is the oceans way of puking up what we humans discard into it. Unfortunately it all does not come back up. Some stays out there and collects into a giant raft. A floating waste land if you will. Some ends up killing birds and turtles. Still more ends up killing fish.

Why? Why do we as humans feel the need to completely destroy or environment? Do we not think about our actions? Or is it we just don’t give a damn? Have we as humans lost touch completely with our environment? Oh so many questions and still no answers. There are attempts at reducing and even eliminating plastic from our lives but the reality is we will just find something else to through away. I think the answer lies in education. I do not think we will ever get rid of our use and need of plastic and disposables, but we can learn to deal with it without making the environment pay for our excessive use of these byproducts.

Recycling is probably one of our best hopes at doing some good. A massive effort is needed to make a dent. Not just in the developed world but everywhere. All peoples in all countries need to conscientiously make the effort and really do something on a large, make that massive scale.
I live in Fiji and have found it very hard to recycle. The facilities just aren’t here. I am not sure why but am looking into it. Here on these beautiful tropical islands I can spend all day every day picking up trash from the beach and never make a dent. I find this very sad. People, no matter their ethnicity through their garbage in the ocean, it is almost as if they see it as their right.

If you have read this far then I ask a favor of you. If you see garbage on the ground pick it up and if you see someone throwing garbage on the ground say something. If you can recycle then do it and if the facilities are not available then find out why and try to get them available
If we all take these few steps it might actually put a dent in the excessive amount of garbage that is polluting our lives and the environment.