Mullet netters - where aren't they?

[Slider]

Received a call from a mate today that has a couple of weeks to spend fishing. He thought we should visit a friend at North Straddie and fish around there given that Teewah Beach is now a write off. Sounds good, but I wonder if the netters are working the beaches there and if we wouldn't be playing similar games to Theoldlegend at Iluka. I have tried so many times in the past to find where the netters aren't in winter so as to have successful surf fishing trips but have found them to be active everywhere I went in South East Queensland and Northern NSW.
Towed a zodiac to Sandy Cape last year to escape them only to find them shooting the net at Browns Rocks on the way there. Saw only 2 toad fish and 1 flathead caught in 3 days so we drove home again a week early. Couldn't find a single fish as far as 6km up Breaksea Spit with a variety of methods employed. Also went to Moreton last year only to have the netters pull up and have breakfast right beside us at North Point the first morning we were there. Naturally we caught absolutely nothing in the 4 days we were there.
I just want to be able to have a chance of catching fish, so if anyone can point me to a net free section of coastline where I can target tailor,trevs, salmon etc I would be very grateful. That's probably a coastline with no rivers if such a place exists.

Slider

[sharkbait]

Well you can forget South Straddie as well, as they are working there too.

kris

[PAYNE]

75 Mile Beach Fraser Island? (no salmon along the beaches though)

[hussy]

forget bribie

[Slider]

Thanks Leanne, but I didn't mention that I have spent half my life at Fraser and simply can't tolerate any longer the slaughter of tailor by the recs that I see every time now. Another aspect that irritates me a great deal there, is that I never, ever, fish amongst a crowd, but the crowd soon arrives when we find tailor elsewhere. Is generally the reasoning behind camping at the Cape where there are less campers and only day trippers to cause probs. Your suggestion is a good one and we may yet have to bite the bullet and perhaps stay south of the majority of campers by fishing Poyungan area if other options don't present themselves.
I'm not sure that people realise it but Fraser is still being netted. I'll dig up the exact restrictions that are in place and post them here. Doesn't mean that tailor can't be caught there though, as they are in spawning mode when travelling along Fraser and their instinct is strong to spawn inshore despite what is fairly small scale netting activity. So all the fish caught by the recs are spawning fish and that's the bit I have trouble with. When there are hundreds of fishermen gathered in a location all catching tailor day after day, it is due to the fact that the tailor are spawning right there and won't move on until they have finished.

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Lindsay,

I can only hope that one good thing that might have come out of the Byron Marine park is that I presume they can no longer net from Lennox through to Brunswick Heads. That means you might have a chance at South Bruns beach, Greys Lane or 7mile at Lennox.

Cheers
Jeff

[johnlikes2fish]

Mullet is going for $1.50 a kilo in Northern NSW, I reckon it costs me ten times that to catch one mullet for live bait, petrol, tackle, bait, snacks and drinks acomadation if I am going a fair way, then I spend about the same again on my main tackle for whatever I am catching. Now I am not Einstein but any fool can see where the money is and it isnt in wholesale taking of mullet. The reality is commercial fisherman and the governement are ruining our seas they put f....k all back and just keep on taking.
There isnt much you can buy for a $1.50 a kilo yet somehow a vitally important thing like mullet can be bought for that. I dont even want to think of the wholesale price.

[tinfish]

maybe we could start a netters hotline ?

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

......the deal with the hotline would be the non licensed type gettin busted,,,,,,,,,,truth be known about the sneaky characters that do as they please when the sun goes down. Mullet or bream fillets for breaky anyone??
johnny

[choppa]

sunshine coast daily ran an article last week or so back where (i think it was ) noosa has now banned mllet netters other than local licensed,,, which is 2-3 operators,,,, these are also on a high priority list to buy back there licence from the council,,,,,

3 cheers noosa council,,,,

there argument came from outside licence operators creating most of the drama with pollution,,,noise,,,damage to dunes etc etc etc,,, and they have said enough is enough

the decision to do this was unopposed,,, but i'm fuzzy on the exact location/council,,,, i'll have a copy of the report faxed thru tomorrow and correct the above if needed

as a post script,,, caboolture/redcliffe councils have this in their gunsights as well,,,which will be interesting as i think its only 1 family left on b/island that holds a mullet licence and the rest are also blow ins,,,recliffe peninsula i'm unsure off

[Slider]

Good idea Chook - I'm sure the netters would need counselling every now and then for the role they play in the destruction of our marine environment and a hotline for them to call could be very useful. Kind of like a quit line for people wanting to stop smoking.

I posed the question of where the netters aren't, knowing full well that there probably isn't a section of coastline unaffected by mullet netting north of Newcastle. Maybe south of Newcastle as well but I don't what netting takes place there. Sooner or later everybody is going to become aware of just how dramatically this type of netting affects our inshore angling activities. And if the coastline between Sandy Cape and Newcastle is all adversely affected, then that's many thousands of anglers that should all be p!ssed off that Fisheries allow this unsustainable and immoral practice to continue.

I notice that there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of successful reports on Ausfish over the last 6 weeks. And if we were to have a look at reports from this time last year I'm sure we would see the same trend occurring then, and the year before, and the year before that and so on. The inshore snapper guys are wondering where the snapper have gone. Webby is right, they are in deeper water but because it is further away from netting activity.
Everybody has been using reasons other than the real one for why they aren't catching fish inshore - wrong moon or wind; bait no good; structure not suitable; that's fishing; too much traffic; water too clear - I've heard them all. But if everybody started to compare their stories I can guarantee that the one common denominator that will continually come up is netting activity. If mullet netting causes mackerel, tuna, bream, dart, tailor, whiting, trevally, tarwhine, mullet, and australian salmon to take off as we know it does, then why wouldn't it affect snapper, cod, cobia, and other inshore reef species as well. Truth be known it does.

And guys, this isn't some fanciful theory I've concocted - it's fact and I didn't concoct it. Scientists in British Colombia discovered it, I just drew parrallels between their discoveries and what I've been watching here for the past 30 years.

And the offshore fishos should start to consider the impact of offshore netting as well. The rules remain the same no matter where the netting takes place. It would appear however that the impact inshore is greater on recruitment and area abandonment due to their being only one direction that the fish can escape to - east.

And if it appears like I can't leave the subject alone, that would be because I won't until everybody starts to realise like I have, exactly how serious this is. And until the recreational sector becomes angry about it, I don't believe that Fisheries will do a damn thing about it even if they do accept that this is indeed occurring.

So good luck finding fish for the next 3 months guys and girls because you are all going to need it. I gave up years ago trying to catch inshore fish in winter.

Netting of Frasers' entire eastern beach is permissable by K8 license holders from April 1 to September 30. And N1 license holders of which there are 2 only on Fraser at periods outside that. Couldn't find the precise legislation in the short time I was looking and if anybody can, I would appreciate it being posted here.

Lindsay

[Jackinthebox]

Hi Lindsay,

got a few ok tailor off the beach with slugs on Fri arvo at Narrowneck right in front of the artificial reef, on the bottom of the tide.

I've never seen any netters working the northern Gold coast beaches but I don't think you'd want to travel all that way just to fish here on the glitter strip!

Cheers,

Mick.

[Slider]

Choppa,

The NSC has indeed passed a resolution to ban netting on the Noosa North Shore and have allocated some funds to assist in compensating those license holders affected. Unfortunately they do not have the authority to stop any netting and it is up to the State to make these decisions. This has been driven by Frank Pardon the Deputy Mayor of NSC and Frank should be congratulated for his efforts to date.
Where frank and I disagree is in the fact that he wants netting here totally banned and I don't believe that a total ban is necessary. The answer is to have controlled netting inside the river mouth by a reduced number of license holders.
Council can't stop the netters camping at the mouth of the Noosa either (dune damage etc). It is an international law according to Frank that permits commercial fishermen locating themselves in close proximity to their target.
I do applaud the Council for what they are doing, but their motivations aren't necessarily from a conservation point of view but a tourism point of view. Franks personal motivation is so he can catch fish when he comes to Teewah which is regularly. Same result either way, but Fisheries aren't so much interested in tourism but how to gain maximum return from the resource. So until they're ready to do something then the NSC is merely on a vote winning exercise.

Mick, I'm not keen on the Goldy at all to fish but I'm pleased that there is a location that anglers can potentially get a return from. Let's hope that there are others as well.

[choppa]

lindsay,,,, understand your point,,, and as i stated i was fuzzy with regards to exact details,, and yes there was a photo i presume with a local dignatory holding a baby etc etc

but a vote grabbing exercise would relate more if this was just in their shire,,, as posted we know have this same motion before 2 others and HOPEFULLY will return in favour,,, i'm not steering away that this may be the main reason why its getting the plug it currently is with nsc,, but hey,,, if it works,, keep plugging,,, it would have to be a once off so far to date in there history surely

netting/seining/trawling,,,,,

all brings the same attitude forward,,, and i for one congradulate you on your stance,, the fact though remains that if everyone who really cared as much as yourself
( and i include a few other members,,, myself included )

,,,and didn't just wave there arms about today and forget about it tomorrow,,( because something else is more of a problem),,,,and done something about it,,, we could make a change,,,

and if you think i'm dribbling,,, have a look at the responses to the fish kill on the sunshine coast,,,, illegal fisho post with a slap on the wrist fine,,,and what i believe to be a brilliant piece of work re trawling effects/bycatch,,,,,,,,all had the site screaming blue murder,,,

then sorry,,,,state of origin started and lets pick the winner,,,,,,,,,,,sorry mate i'm on ya side,,honest

i plug away in my own quite way,,, cause i know i can rely on the back up

[flatstrap]

Good posts Slider...What happened to all the members pro mullet netting that were so vocal a few threads ago? Maybe devising new and creative excuses for a bad day's fishing expedition. 300 bucks of fuel burnt and nothing to show except a wet bum.

The silence is deafening...flatstrap