Baits

[Volvo]

Okay, here's a scenario or just a little query?? ta work at your conscience.
Im out fishing for lipper , Trout and whatever happens ta come along . Ive got a block of pillies and as ya know if bigmouthed maulers arent about i can blow half a dozen Pilles for one good fish on occasions >:(.
Or?? other choice is if i catch undersized lipper is i can cut him up and get at least half a dozen baits out of him, right??.
Now what i can do here is either use half a dozen fish(pillies) ta catch one good fish or i can use one fish(cut Lipper) ta maybe catch half a dozen good fish ::) :P.
Which would you think would be the wiser ??, waste the lipper which could grow ta be a nice feed at later date or waste halfe a dozel Pillies which shoulda been foodchain. ??? ::), mindya both is fish arent they??.And what should we be preservin the most .The species or the foodchain??.Now i know some of yez is gunna come back n say what about Platics n Lures but we'll leave em out of this equation shall we....please :).
waiting with baited breath.
Oh yeah, i'm not stirrin or tryin ta start a bumfight just a little chat which way best ta go ;).
Cheers

[jaybee]

Hi Volvo
I can tell you for a fact now, the commercial fishers up hervey bay and burrum heads use undersize squire for the big spaniard, i have tried it and it works a treat. your question is a bit like what come first the egg or the chicken, without the food chain there would be no bigger fish, go figure
cheers

[mackmauler]

Grants guide points out that only the premium fish like lipper trout and red are taken anything less is a waste of space and cut up for bait, my copy was written a while ago, times change.

There are lots of the non target species that would be sitters for use as bait, say 1 squid would catch how many stripey, sea bream or hussar?

Then there are these new limits to think of, will we need as much bait now ???

Personally id have the troll lines out and the trevs and tuna would be the bait, ive also caught nice reefies on the guts of quality fish, so lipper is last resort stuff.

Cheers

[Big_Muddie]

G'Day Volvo.

From my point of view it's an easy one - use the pillies.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, it's illegal to use undersize fish as bait - whether it be whole (live or dead) or cut up.

[clutter]

I'm with Muddie, use pillies. Its no use complaining about the lack of decent fish and using an undersized, (an otherwise illegal fish), as bait. Its a bit of a moral question, just because someone can get away with it doesen't mean they should do it.

Regards, Clutter.

[stevedemon]

Hi All
Volvo this question you have asked is more a moral question then whether someone can get away with the fishing of under sized fish.
Myself I would use the pilly's but that is beside the point we all try to teach our kids that if we look after evirnoment then it will look after us I always try to teach my Step-Son to return under size fish, but sometime I have been guilty of using just legal Size Talior as bait so we must come back to morality of things we do and teach our kids right from wrong if they see us doing it then they think it alright my point of view only.

Cheers ;D ;D
Steve :P :P

[giantgourami]

If you are keeping undersize fish for use as bait and the Fisheries department pulled you over would they understand your reasoning?.... say goodbye money for fine maybe say goodbye boat.... Thats how I thought it worked
Adam

[Volvo]

:) Good, love the replies so far and for goodness sake dont anyone else be shy in havin a say ;).
Whether the question or action is a moral one or common sence i guess would be in the eyes or thoughts of the beholder plus what is law , Yes??.
Me?? I believe we say we are concerned with the species etc, etc ,etc but we dont put as much into our efforts at protecting the foodchain as we do the species ??? and if each of us has to do their little bit some way or other then i guess each of us has ta be heard in the part of the paddock they think needs protectin :).
I will use the Pillie and his cousins the (hopefully they can be termed his cousins??) Anchovies , sardines etc.
We use em for bait, food for us humans,pet food..check out the retail outlets, animal parks, unless mistaken the likes of Sea World etc has no limit on them re these species fo feeding their income producing performing pets, and what may be left over in some places gets turned into fertilizer >:(.
On the other side of the coin here we are tryin to feed the World with whats about in our local Oceans re the so called Good Tucker fish.
Through the back door we are baggin the species and via the front door we are raping their foodchain and at days end Bag Limits are imposed to save the "Shrinking Fishery".
Now for the little fish versus big fish and yes im in agreement ta toss the littlies and keep the biggies but somethin in the back of me noggin keeps askin "which fish can produce or do more regarding input into the Ocean, the biggie or littlie which maybe aint started producin yet??".
So again if im gunna cut up a fish for bait which would be the better ta cut up(If Law allowed) and as for the Pillie i guess ive said it earlier :).
Mindya its a bloodywell top bait ey ;)whether i be chasin Trout, Mackeral or Lipper but wont waste the poor bugger on reds ey :).
Grants???? gee they left out some top fish out of the kitchen me thinks ???.....What about the Red jew, Grunter, Pearl Perch, Cod, barrumundie Cod, and there aint nuthin wrong with a good feed of fresh parrot i can assure ya lol and maybe some of yez can add other species too :).
Shite better get of me soap box and give someone else a go ey lol.
Cheers

[krazyfisher]

This is a hard one I use pillies but if we where going to protect and use the fisheries to best I would think we would buy no bait but instead catch bait fish from the grounds in which we fish, not table fish but baitfish that have no size limits as they are baitfish and use them mostly live as I have found that 1 live baitfish normally give one table fish I know a few people who do this and they catch bigger and better fish than most but who has the time to catch bait and get to fish maybe we should make time? Just a though not a judgement :)

[mackmauler]

Grants was referring to commercial freezer space reds could well be all the reds ;) The marketable species from the reef in those days, it is illegal to take barramundi cod or soon will be i heard, bugger never had one of those.

The best bait since its not eaten ;) maybe not ;D mac tuna, get a big one 7 kilo or so, great bait, possibly the easiest fish to catch these days, why use eating fish for bait when you could use these ??? or pay for pillies ;D

Cheers

[scottem]

good thoughts by all and i have used both pillies and yes some undersized fish for bait.is it the same to use a just sized fish for bait as a just undersized fish?i know the under sized is illegal but is 2cm difference matter in the breeding size, maybe.the old saying[and a good one]is that fresh is best.now i take pillies to supplament my fresh supply which is tuna or trevally or any strong fish flesh.staying away from undersize fish is always the safe bet,never know when the fisheries will turn up.is using pillies a waste or are we adding to the food chain?
cheers scotty

[clutter]

Scotty,

I don't think that "not knowing when the fisheries will turn up" should enter into whether you use undersized fish for bait or not. If its undersized it should go back. I don't think I would like to argue your point in a court or to the fisheries. As a father of two I am teaching my kids from the start that rules are rules, whether you think they are right or wrong and show by example. I do agree with you when saying that by using pillies you are putting back into the food chain, maybe not where they originally came from but they do go back.
Cheers, Clutter.

[spinna]

Ok here go from N.S.W 8)
We are allowed to have( live bait )tanks on the boats with say slimmys or yakers or poddy mullet in them for (live bait). But we are not allowed to fillet fish at sea. So as for the question pillies or should we cut up good fish for bait. Alls i can say is you fellas up in QLD say that your fisheries should be doing the same up your way as ours are doing down this way . :o . Its up to guys to show them the way so i would say pillies.

cheers spinna 8) ;)

[Volvo]

:)Guess each state has its own rules and maybe for sound reasons as not bein able ta fillet at sea but for the luv of me a cant see the logic in that ??? for coupla reasons and good ones at that too.
(a) At least frames n guts gets fed back into the system rather than the tip.
(b) Less weight n rubbish to the wheelie Bin especially if you are only supplied with one or gotta wait another three/four days for it to be emptied.
kinda gets on the nose fulla fish frames http://www.ausfish.com.au/chat/images/smilies/cwm6.gif.
Barrumundi Cod, Yep dont blame em for only bein able ta keep one per boat or removin off the takers list cause dont see too many nowadays but would certainly have ta be the pick of the eatin crop ey.
Cheers