Float Lining & balloons

[roz]

I've done a lot of float lining over the years, mainly pilchards or other dead baits, usually I just allow the bait to float with the current until it gets near the bottom, in which case I wind in and repeat the process.

On the other hand, float lining with live bait usually requires something else to keep it near the surface or preferred depth, often a balloon, plastic float or similar.

I've read a awfull lot regarding the damage these objects can inflict on some marine creatures, namely turtles. It appears they can mistake some of these items as food.

I've now stopped using balloons as floats for livies.

What else is out there that can be used instead of balloons??? I've started saving the odd piece of cork as a viable option.

Any other ideas or thoughts on this topic appreciated.

cheers roz.

[theclick]

If i had the moneyz, i'd make a little floaty thing with a remote control electric motor on it so you can motor your bait out on non-windy days lol.

[murf]

quote=Brett1907;220354]Tried to post this as a new topic so everyone will read it.

Quality 100% Latex balloons are 100% biodegradable!!!

David Taylor of Mad Ballons in NSW was happy to share what he knew.

They break down at the same rate as a maple leaf. #Studies were done years ago in the US. #Just type in 'biodegradable balloons' in google, there is some good info.

http://www.balloonartists.com.au/releases.htm

http://www.partyplus.com.au/

Also, NSW Parks & Wildlife have NO reported deaths of animals or marine life that can be attributed to latex balloons, nor does the sydney zoo. #However, the plastic clips and ribbon used at fetes and shows is dangerous to wildlife.

A Cleanup Australia fact...

less than 0.25% of waste collected is rubber/latex. #This is a mixture of balloons, condoms and other rubber products. #(I heard a womans team in a fishing comp off cairns used an unusually shaped lure trolling for marlins a couple of years back)

Remember, use 100% LATEX balloons and they will break down!!!!! :D :D :D
You can get them from any party supplier.

I am waiting for IFISH to respond with what brand they used.


Brett[/quote]

Cheers Murf

[murf]

Gday Roz

a thread from a while back

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=60012&highlight=balloons

hope this helps

I have not done any balloon fishing for snapper this year as I have been trying out the soft plastics, Now do SPs pose a problem too?:-/

hope you come up with something for us;)

Cheers Murf

[roz]

Hi Murf,

thanks for the info.

I've actually read that laytex balloons take a lot longer to break down than first thought. I'm trying to recover the information so I can quote.

Would also like the link to the N.S.W parks report.

Anyway, I think there would have to be better options out there.

[murf]

it always plays on my mind the littering part with safety of other animals and have been trying to think of or find an alternative that is cheap and easy for years

good luck and keep us informed if you find anything

Cheers Murf

[disorderly]

gee roz,its great to see your environmental resolve,but how much of a problem do you think the odd balloon is compared to the rest of the crap we pollute our environment with.
I use either a balloon or a small piece of polystyrene and probably at the moment use a couple a month but if anyone has an affordable option than let me know.
BTW saw a turtle that could not submerge when I was leaving the ramp the other day but it may have been as propeller issue with this creature.
The point murf raised is a good one also.Just how much plastic is being put into the environment via soft plastics and does a fish just pass it out or does it cause a problem?

Scott

[TIMMY 666]

gee roz,its great to see your environmental resolve,but how much of a problem do you think the odd balloon is compared to the rest of the crap we pollute our environment with.
I use either a balloon or a small piece of polystyrene and probably at the moment use a couple a month but if anyone has an affordable option than let me know.
BTW saw a turtle that could not submerge when I was leaving the ramp the other day but it may have been as propeller issue with this creature.
The point murf raised is a good one also.Just how much plastic is being put into the environment via soft plastics and does a fish just pass it out or does it cause a problem?

Scott

Every little bit of pollution adds up to have a large negative impact on our environment. Our cities, highways, boat ramps, beaches, etc are littered with rubbish partly because of people who have a 'one little bit can't hurt' type of attitude. And also due to people who simply couldn't give a shit.

Every little bit does hurt.

Tim.

[Greg P]

Ive seen but I cant for the life of me remember who the tackle manufacture was, a balloon system that you could retract back in to the boat once your mainline broke free from the release clip and reuse. The balloon itself was heavy duty and had a line latch mechanism that you connected to with some mono line and tied off on the boat once you hit the area you wanted to float line the liveys.

Very simple but enviro friendly. If you dont think bits of styro are a worry then you haven't fished Palmy during spottie time - there is shit everywhere.


Cheers

Greg

[disorderly]

greg I guess one of the best things about living in a small country area is that I am blissfully ignorant of what happens in high population centres.If the problem is really that bad then I do applaud Roz's effort to find a cleaner alternative.
tim,I guess I become a bit blase here due to the fact that we have no port,marina , real commercial fishery or population to cause much of a problem.Which is part of the reason that I love it here.

Scott

[Sean]

maybe little piece of pine or something????you could make up heaps b4 you go out, pretty sure it floats

[TIMMY 666]

As mentioned before, is cork a viable alternative? Or is it not suitable to this type of fishing? I guess it'd be diffucult to find enough low cost cork to use.

Tim.

[tunaticer]

Maybe we could adapt the asian methods of fishing and have a pet cormorant to chase our livebaits away from the boat to a desired location much the same way as a sheepdog performs his orders?? No environmentally unfriendly problems there....except maybe a constant string of dead cormorants that wont do as they are told!!

Jack.

[roz]

Every little bit of pollution adds up to have a large negative impact on our environment. Our cities, highways, boat ramps, beaches, etc are littered with rubbish partly because of people who have a 'one little bit can't hurt' type of attitude. And also due to people who simply couldn't give a shit.

Every little bit does hurt.

Tim.

Tim,

You've basically summed it up, thankyou.

Not too long ago there was a story in the media regarding a dead turtle, it apparently was found with 28 separate pieces of plastic in it's gut, which they said, almost certainly caused it's death.

For years I've used various plastic items as floats without giving it a second thought, so I'm definately not going to take the high moral ground here, but I've since thrown out all my balloons and foam and want to change for the better, but still enjoy that type of fishing.

Now days when I head out to sea I often come across bits and pieces of rubbish floating along in the current. Not good.

Greg P.

sounds like a good idea. More info???

r.

[finding_time]

Roz

what greg is talking about would be quite easy to rig up, all you would need is a a length of heavier line with a balloon( or other float) on the end and a downrigger release clip attached below the float.

Ian

[efc]

Why not try floating line, used alot when rock fishing. Im pretty sure siglon make it

[mattooty]

Roz, with your floatation, are you planning on it being a breakaway system? ie when the fish hits the floatation pops off?
If so, have you thought about a very partially blown up balloon, still attatched to the line so that it does not break away?
We use this method when fishing lbg for tuna and macks and havent seen a decrease in catch numbers. combine this with the use of latex balloons and the few that get either bitten off or rip off arent an environmental hazard.
Sorry if its not the solution
Matt

[onerabbit]

I'm sure a PM to new member Seabird, aka Australian Seabird Rescue, could give us an answer on how detrimental plastics & balloons are on the local turtles,

I have been to his place & seen how much stuff the turtles have to shi!t out to survive.

Muzz

[roz]

efc - It would have to be good to prevent a decent sized livie from swimming to the bottom. I will certainly check it out, thankyou.

Matt - My floats usually break away whether I want them to or not, so I would just get out another piece of styrene (I'm sure that's spelled incorrectly lol) to be honest I would rather use something, that if it did break away, wouldn't do any damage. BTW you never need to apologise, it's the thought that counts.

Muzz- Might just do that. I think if someone came up with an environmentaly friendly float it would do OK at the local tackle shop, could be good for crab pot floats as well. I seem to remember seeing old blackfish floats that were made from cork and something else non plastic.

I've just realised I'm hypercritical here, today I went out and did the shopping and came back with a load of plastic bags.

r.

[mattooty]

Roz, 90% of the time when ive used balloons they've come back intact. Come to think of if i dont think ive actually lost a balloon when hooked up to a fish. I usually tie them on with a piece of 20lb line and only inflate them to a bit bigger than a tennis ball
If you figure out something then let me know, ill pass on your ideas to all the land-based boys down here and further south
Matt

[1lastcast]

I heard over in w/a for rock fishing they use balloons patrially filled with helium and connected to a hand line so when the fish strikes the balloon breaks away from the main line then they can actually retreave and reuse the balloon.
I believe they use heavy duty balloons connected to the main line with heavy duty rubber bands it would be a bit of a pain but it is an eco friendly option . im told it helps get the baits out with the aid if the wind as the balloon floats a little above water line
just a thought Pete

[DICER]

Hi Roz - I think it would actually be possible to make one-use floats out of rice waffers if you had a manufacturer who could mould them the right way. This would be better than latex ballons as within a day they would be gone. Furthermore you could impregnate the rice/corn waffer floats with dry burley or scent. We quite often recieve breakable items from shipment to our lab in wheat germ (aka foam) squigglies instead of bubble wrap or alike. These wheat germ squigglies are the same shape as styrofoam ones but are easily flushed down the sink once they "melt" in the water. A longer lasting one (perhaps for a day) would be perfect for float lining. They would be completely biodegradable and cost less than a ballon.

[DICER]

Helium is a non-renewable resource! The price of helium has gone up over a 1000% in the past few years. Eventually helium will be considerably depleted as it can only be extracted from mining resources and not from the atmosphere.

[finding_time]

Helium is a non-renewable resource! The price of helium has gone up over a 1000% in the past few years. Eventually helium will be considerably depleted as it can only be extracted from mining resources and not from the atmosphere.




Yeh!! Bloody seppo ballonists and the brish billionaire backes!! Who cares if you can go around the world without stopping:o Wasting helium i reckon, leave the helium for the divers .;)

[grave41]

Roz , The kiwi"s use the same thing kite fishing.The old release clip to drop there baits out a long way.Maybe check a few of there sites.
Graham

[roz]

Hi Roz - I think it would actually be possible to make one-use floats out of rice waffers if you had a manufacturer who could mould them the right way. This would be better than latex ballons as within a day they would be gone. Furthermore you could impregnate the rice/corn waffer floats with dry burley or scent. We quite often recieve breakable items from shipment to our lab in wheat germ (aka foam) squigglies instead of bubble wrap or alike. These wheat germ squigglies are the same shape as styrofoam ones but are easily flushed down the sink once they "melt" in the water. A longer lasting one (perhaps for a day) would be perfect for float lining. They would be completely biodegradable and cost less than a ballon.

That's the sort of thing I would be looking for. If it broke free and something ate it, it would do no harm, I have no doubt something will eventually turn up on the market, untill then, I will take notice of the other suggestions.

It's been a while since I float lined from the rocks, but on one occasion I got smashed by a shark that actually lept out of the water, I lost all my terminal tackle and waved the floats good bye. That happened twice in an hour. If I could choose what type of fish take the bait, there wouldn't be any issues with floats I guess.

thanks all.:D