prawning

[gavinc400]

ok ive just got myself a 12ft top pocket cast net and want to give prawning ago so just after some information on when the prawns start showing up.
so i can start practice catching and finding them on my sounder before they show up in large numbers
thanks gav

[Pero]

Copied and pasted this from the webpage i'm preparing for my custom made nets I make.
The sounder photos yet to come-
Prawning Tips

Prawning is seasonal and can be great fun. Generally the Banana prawn season fires up from March to May in Southeast Queensland. Towards central and North Queensland they are caught during the winter months as well. Banana prawns are mainly caught in daylight hours. Tiger prawns are around February and seem to disappear in April. Many experienced fisherman will tell you that a good wet season usually implies a bumper prawning season.There are studies that have found a direct corolation between periods of high rainfall before, and after, the normal wet season months, added to the usuall rainfall. Banana prawns are found over muddy and sandy bottoms in coastal waters to depths of 90m as adult aggregations or boils as they are called. and as shallow as a metre in estuaries where they have grown. There are red legged prawns and the more common white banana prawn. (Redlegs preferring slightly deeper water than Whites and grow slightly larger). During the high rainfall months of January and february. the estuaries are flushed by runoff water. The salinity levels decrease causing the prawns to migrate to sea, where they are netted by prawn trawlers. Its during this period, that recreational fishermen are able to harvest them in and around the bays and rivers. And if they reach open waters they are netted by prawn trawlers.
As a novice prawner, the best way to find prawns is to drive around and look for boats casting . When the prawns are schooled up there will be any where from a handfull, to 100 boats concentrated in one spot. And in all the congestion everyone will be cheery and won't mind too much if you accidently net their boat. As you get familiar with the prawn habitat- the many melon holes and deep bends-, you can start scouting for them yourself. As a rule banana prawns bury in the mud or sand and wait for the high tide to turn.There long feelers are like antennas, and sense the current running. When it turns they start to pop out of the mud. I have sounded over a particular area and seen nothing but a blank screen. Then, 5 minutes later the screen was showing a large mass of prawn in the exact same spot They were popping out of the mud and the clouds(of prawn) were literally forming on the sounder in front of me. As the tide is dropping, sound along deep holes, and banks especially where the water is turbid.If all else fails join fishing forums such as Nugget fishing and Ausfish. Other fisherman often post fishing reports on a daily basis. With your throwing technique mastered, a sounder and a custom made cast net, you should be able to attain your bag limit of 10 litres no problem

72332

The Humminbird 798ci sounder snapshot top pic shows the bottom 10 feet (3 metres). the hard bottom as dark red/brown .The blue line left of centre in the image is my net/handline. The blotchy cloud of red green and yellow, is the aggregation of banana prawns feeding The sounder measurement is in feet. The right side panel shows the whole water column.this was half an hour past high tidea melon hole next to the bank in the river.the water depth was 23 feet (7 metres). The sounder was on bottom lock. The left panel shows the bottom 10 feet(3.0 metres) By my estimates the prawns were 3 feet (one metre) thick. I cast an old 3.2 metre net with a smattering of holes over this school , and pulled up 3 kilo (six and a half pound) of prawn. A full sized (3.7 metre) net has 50% more coveraged and could have doubled that..With each cast they scattered. After searching a couple of minutes I was onto them again. It took no more than 15 minutes to attain my bucket limit. They were still around the following 2 days then gone.I'm guessing up river to spawn.
I regularly checked that same location whenever I was passing by without succes. Very late in the season there were prawns in that same spot again for a week or so.
.When I'm scouting for prawns I like to cast in an hour or so before high tide, If I'm getting the odd prawn every second cast I'm confident .the prawns will come on thick after the tide starts to drop. Having said that on the odd occasion They can come on thick after the low tide. And as most experienced fishermen know, at low tide you can often find them in deep holes as well. Another good tip is to observe the tidal predictions. In my opinion peak days for prawning are where we have a low differential between the high tide and low tide, or as I prefer to call them "Slow" tides . On these days they seem to be around all day- on the low and high, but are thickest high tide.They will often feed in an area for 3 or 4 days then be gone overnight. Banana prawns are easier to net than Tiger prawns because as a defence mechanism 99% of the Bananas "flick" to the top pocketd of the cast net.Tigers are a different proposition. I once caught 2 kilos of Tiger prawns in a single cast, and only 3 were in the top pocket of the net. The majority were trapped in the bottom pocket. As a rule I don't use a net with top and bottom pocket however, these tigers had been in this spot for a week, after the farm ponds had been harvested and emptied, into the nearby estuary. I had an old top and bottom pocket net which was ideal for the situation. Water depth was 1.5 metres at the mouth of this particular creek. And I had to virtually drag the net up the muddy mangrove lined bank to haul the tiger prawns in.




This second picture bottom one,is taken with a lowrance sounder the white blots over most of the screen are dried salwater. The depth measurements are in Metres. If you study the image the red diagonal line on the right is cast net as it hangs down to the bottom of the seabed. The dark maroon bottom is the sea floor. In the centre of the image is the largest concentration of prawns. There,the red coloured cloud of prawns are at least half a metre thick as they hover around to scavenge on the seabed. to the left the prawns are scarcer and appear blue, It appears the net has hit its target (right hand side). If your an experienced fisherman and know the area well you can regularly get 2,3 or maybe 5 kilos in a single cast..Prawns like turbid waters and the water can appear to be cloudy when there is a lot of prawn around. A good knowledge of your sounder is essential. The bottom of the water column is paramount in spotting the prawns as they feed. The prawns school up and can be seen easily if you have a "Bottom lock" function on your fishfinder. Mainly to eliminate the schools of bait fish higher up the water column. Nothing is worse than landing 500 herring or worse still, those black and white striped buggers that sting like hell, for hours.
Prawns often congregate in deep holes and near rocks. Be sure to have a bag of ice in your esky. Once caught you should immediately empty the top pocket and let the prawns spill onto the ice. Unsuring the prawns are put to "sleep" quickly and guarantee-ing a fresh tasty prawn. Be sure to wash the prawns before freezing or cooking them. Yum-Yum!
There are a number of usefull fishing sites with handy tips on how to catch prawns.
Just type in keywords like "prawning" and then the location you are wanting to prawn in.

[Pero]

7233072331

[gavinc400]

thanks pero thats a great help so when do you start looking for prawns

[wayno60]

Tiger prawns are around February and seem to disappear in April.
what area are you in gav??

[Just_chips]

The Easter bunny eats prawns

[URAGANGI]

Pero thanks a million for all the info. there were a few of my own questions that you helped answer. Myth busted.
cheers,
Gavin.

[gavinc400]

what area are you in gav??
iam collingwood park area near ipswich so i manly fish jumping pin,brisbane river,south port but iam not fusted really i just go where the fish are. well try to :)

[Pero]

The prawns are thick at the start of March in the pin area Gavin.You can get onto them earlier but they are very difficult to find unless you are experienced.
For instance Last summer (Mid January) I got onto a nice school of them at Giants grave. Actually between there and "Browns bay".
I was getting the odd one or two and the tide was an hour away from dead low. Most blokes know the prawns come on just after high in that spot.At low tide It got better , I was getting 5-10 a cast, and on the incoming they exploded into a thick carpet of prawns my sounder looked similar to the top pic in my other post. Only not quite as thick.and continued on. I bagged out an hour after high tide. A quick call to my mate Kevvie. I left, Kev arrived and took over. That night, he called to say they were around for the 2 hours he took to get his bag limit. We came back next day on the dropping tide and nothing was there. They can be hard to find one day and there they are the next.

[bondy99]

Good to hear Pero, with the amount of rain that's been had they should fire up again very soon ;D.

Bondy

[gavinc400]

well i will just have to give it ago and hope i will get some.
i have watch the vid on nuggets fishing on how to cook them,
Iam making a simlar rig to that

[fish'n'chippy]

well i will just have to give it ago and hope i will get some.
i have watch the vid on nuggets fishing on how to cook them,
Iam making a simlar rig to that

gav,
welcome to the prawning fleet.......we needed another boat or two to be able to block the channels completely....;D
do you only have the one net?
if so, get another one.....and another one.....and another one.....ask around and we all have stories of that dreaded ripping feeling (followed by hours of stitching)
get your net throwing down pat (flat circles) on the lawn before the season starts, it will save you a lot of hauling lead with few or no prawns to show for it.
eg. throw a 7kg net 10 x = 70kg lift
throw it 100 times and you have lifted 700kg !!!! bugger that for a joke

i use my deep fryer (with water) when i boil them, and the basket saves having to fish them out with tongs, as soon as they float they are cooked.

grahame

[gavinc400]

gav,
welcome to the prawning fleet.......we needed another boat or two to be able to block the channels completely....;D
do you only have the one net?
if so, get another one.....and another one.....and another one.....ask around and we all have stories of that dreaded ripping feeling (followed by hours of stitching)
get your net throwing down pat (flat circles) on the lawn before the season starts, it will save you a lot of hauling lead with few or no prawns to show for it.
eg. throw a 7kg net 10 x = 70kg lift
throw it 100 times and you have lifted 700kg !!!! bugger that for a joke

i use my deep fryer (with water) when i boil them, and the basket saves having to fish them out with tongs, as soon as they float they are cooked.

grahame
thats why i have brought a cheap net to start off with, i have been using a 9ft bottom pocket for awhile now for bait so it time to upgrade :) :)

[fish'n'chippy]

there is no doubt that you will be able to catch prawns with a 'cheap net'
but once you get a taste for it, you will be wanting a custom prawn net, there is no substitution for a custom net in the way they open up, and the weight can be specified for your casting style/ability and or the depth you are fishing.
a few of us make our own, but if you want to buy one, give pero a pm.

[gavinc400]

there is no doubt that you will be able to catch prawns with a 'cheap net'
but once you get a taste for it, you will be wanting a custom prawn net, there is no substitution for a custom net in the way they open up, and the weight can be specified for your casting style/ability and or the depth you are fishing.
a few of us make our own, but if you want to buy one, give pero a pm.
iam thinking of taking my net back to bcf and getting one of pero nets.
they are more expensive but i do think they are worth the money.
grahame you and the guys might have go easy on me to start of with not noing the prawning etiquette hehehehe

[Muddy Toes]

Hey Grahame i fell this is the season i need to see a seasoned pro do it if the offer is still open.:-?

[fish'n'chippy]

gav
if the $$$ is not too much of an issue, keep the one you have for throwing in suspect areas (and there are a few particularly in the river) where you don't want to risk a good net. as to whether or not a custom net is worth it, bloody oath they are.... IMO you will definately catch more prawns because they open better.
i have not used one of pero's nets personally, but i have seen others (himself included) catch plenty using his nets and so would recommend them.

prawning etiquette...........what's that ?????:o

anthony,
the offer is still good mate, happy to show you the ropes

[Pero]

Hey Gav. I suggest you stick with the BCF net. Once you'vegot more experienced then think aboutanother. The cheap BCF nets are a good start. You don't want to throw a good net till you know the area well.

[bondy99]

G'day Gav,

Yeah, Pero is spot on with that suggestion, I should know, I lost a few nets myself.