Originally Posted by
Moonlighter
They are still there. Went up near the Hope Light and found birds working yesterday morning and got 2 nice spotties on slugs.
Went back this morning and got 3 more spotties, best went 80cm others were about 72cm so were reasonable fish.
I am finding that sand crabs are not nearly as plentiful this year as last. Had the pots in for 2.5 days, lifted them 4 times, for a grand total of 13 keepable crabs. Each pot however has had 5-10 jennies, and a couple of very small bucks every time we lifted them. Spot near the Naval Reserve banks that is a regular producer for me, but its just not happening there at the moment.
Mate bumped into the local pro crabber at the Cleveland ramp a couple of weeks ago and he said its the worst crab season they have had in many years - crabs are just not in the usual locations. Numbers are well down. So if anyone knows where they have gone, feel free to drop a few hints!
Best of all, this morning I had a mate with me who loves to fish but hasnt had much success. Well today, i put him onto the fish and he spun up a nice spotty mackerel, his words "my best fish ever"! Gee its nice to put someone onto a good fish and see them get it into the boat and hit the high fives in delight! He reckons the sound of the screaming drag is just great! We may have another convert!