The charter that almost ruined fishing

[nautilus]

Hi all,

I want to share my experience of a fishing charter in Perth. Before I went, I was nuts about fishing, going most weekends. When I got back, I did not fish for about two months. I am only just beginning to enjoy it again. Here’s what happened.

By the way, I would name the charter company, but to be honest, it does not matter, because from what I saw and heard after asking around, most of them operate the same way.

I left from Hillary’s Boat Harbour north of Perth. I was going out on a ‘deep sea’ charter. The trip, which was early Feb, was supposed to be jigging for the mighty Samson fish. Unfortunately this season, the Samson seemed to disappear early, but as I had already booked and paid for flights, there was not a lot of option.

The boat we were on was pretty reasonable, although there were nearly 30 people on the charter and there was not a whole lot of room to fish, and more than one tangle. We reach the first spot after a couple of hours or so and drop the lines. Within pretty short time (1-2 mins) the first person was on. They pulled up a nice snapper. The deckie announces that they are great eating and throws it in the freezer. I was under the impression, that the charter operator would be keen for us to practice catch and release, but I figured, ok, good eating, no worries. (Just as an aside, I actually asked whether the charter operator practiced catch and release before I booked. He told me that “the guys will send them back for you.” Anyway, the next fish comes up, it is a thumper, nearly a meter long. It was some kind of snapper, but I was told that it was not good eating. To my surprise, out comes the spike and into the freezer it goes. Then I catch a nice snapper, maybe 75cm or so. I was pretty chuffed, took the photo, and said, ok, lets put him back. The deckie comes up to me and says “if you don’t want it, can I have it?” I thought that it was a reasonable question, but the reason I did not want to keep it was because I wanted it to live and make more snapper. I told him this and he looked at me like I was insane. I am ashamed to say that I bowed to peer pressure and kept it. The day went on, and the freezer kept filling up with these massive fish.

Before you get excited and think, yeah but the fishing must have been great, well it SUCKED. We were fishing in over 100m of water, using 100lb mono with sinkers that were about the size of stubbies. You get into position, drop the line, wait a bit, wonder if that slight nudge was a fish, and then start winding up to check your bait. Nine times out of ten there was nothing there. Also, most people, including big blokes like myself, could not wind all the way up in one go. It was that heavy. If you did actually hook something, half way up, you realise that yes there is a fish on, because you feel a few dull pulls, There is so much stretch in the line though, you are still not quite sure. However, by three quarters of the way up it feels like you just have a couple of bricks on the end as the fish is just dead weight in the water, and when you finally got it to the surface, half the time its eyes were hanging out of its head and it was dead.

What put the icing on the cake was when I reeled in a small snapper and the guy said he was not sure if it was size or not. We measured it, 39cm. 40cm is size. I am glad, because I know this one is going back. The deckie picks it up, flips it over the side where it floats on the surface for a couple of seconds before it gets pecked to death by a pack of seagulls. Once they have its eyes, it drifts off into the distance. What a F$*!%ING waste.

Now, of the 30 or so people on the boat, 25 or so were tourists, staying in hotels with no means to cook the fish. Yet they all went away, walking down the pier with big smiles, holding their garbage bag full of fish. By the time they reached carpark, they were wondering, what the bloody hell do I do with this.

First of all, I don’t really blame the charter operators. I think that they are idiots, but I don’t blame them. Every generation in the history of the planet has been too bloody stupid to protect valuable resources even when the resource is in abundance, why should they be any different. I would like to think that maybe they could put 2 and 2 together and work out that if they put the fish back, maybe they wouldn’t have to look so hard for them next time and they may have a job well into the future, but I guess not. The main reason for writing this is to give people a ‘heads-up’ as to what you can expect. These types of charters are for people who have never been fishing and who will never go again. If you are really keen, go on a small boat in either shallow water, or with light gear and braid is a must. Finally, don’t make my mistake and insist (if this is what you want, because I don’t mind taking a fish to eat every now and again either) that they properly release the fish. Some chance of survival is better than no chance.

Happy fishing.

Nautilus

[Hamish73]

sounds like a waste. Eat of swim are the only option IMO

Only had our first outing in deep water a while ago, and the mrs was windeing in her line to check the bait, and was suprised to find a fish on the end of it . Definately not as much fun when the sikers get that big

[tez1]

bloody shame i wonder how many fish ended up in the hotel skip out the back!

[plaztix]

And we wonder why we have a bad rep with the conservationists. That is really poor form. These companies should be leading by example.

Some people have a funny mentality when it comes to going home with a fish, I dont know how many people i've seen get back to the ramp and realise they cant really be arsed cleaning the fish they were so quick to throw in the esky an hour ago!

[Lone_Wolf]

I have never been on a charter where the expectation was not to bring home a feed of fish. With 30 people fishing, a reasonable return for each angler is going to be 3-4 fish or over 100 fish for the day.

I would be dissatisfied with the outing if I came home without a feed and 3 or 4 fish is at best only a feed!!

I have never fished in 100 m of water without a reasonable amount of lead on. The basic practical gear for less experienced fisherman would be short strokers, 50 lb line and a padernosker rig. If they used braid, fancy reels and soft plastics the majority of people on the charter would have plenty of tangles and shredded fingers not to mention the excessive financial outlay for the operators. From my experience a fish dragged out of 100m rarely survives the journey as well.

I would regard this as a successful charter and it's a shame you did not mention the operator because they deserve recognition. A Charter boat is a commercial business. If he does not catch fish he will not have clients and will very quickly be out of business.

I would stick to watching "Fishing WA" on Foxtel if I were you. It will cost you about $100 a month and you will have a clear conscience!

LW

[reelemin1974]

Yeah, I don't really get charter fishing. I will always take my own gear.

I show up with 20lb and they are all...'ohhh, but what if you hook that 20kg sampson?' most probably I won't, so I would prefer a fight with the other 20 fish that I catch and have fun. To be honest, I think they don't like light line in case you do hook a decent fish and it takes 20mins or so to land, makes for an 'unsuccessful' 20 mins.

They are all very quick to cause a commotion back at the warf and lay all the fish out, And, unfortunately we are still a society that are impressed with a guy who has 50 fish laying on his deck rather than the bloke who has 2.

Now I am not critisizing the charters, they do what the masses want, I am critisizing society, and how we love our excesses!

[squizzytaylor]

Sounds like bad practice to me, but i will say that most hotel restaurants etc will generally cook your catch up for you at a reasonable price. The deckie should have respected your decision to release though.

Geoff

[FNQCairns]

Gotta feel for deckies and guides etc they never know what they will be up against, you pulled a fish from 100m and wanted it to go back down and make more babies while that is nice and urban the deckie in this case probably looked at you with surprise and awaiting some recognition of a joke between you both, then when it didn't happen decided to cut his losses.

The sight of a lot of fish together on a deck between so many people is also again what it is, try driving 1 hour from a city and look at all the sheep in a paddock sometimes over 100, they are not for pastoral decoration.

You need to buy your own boat, let potential deckies know what your particular slant is BEFORE every trip and find a few like minded boat buds to go fishing with.

cheers fnq

[outsiderskip]

well some people are stupid
taking bags of fish
smart people would take a esky with ice to preserve their catch
as lone wolf said he would not operate if he didnt catch fish
THAT IS HIS JOB
PUT YOU ON FISH
other most people would winge and not go out again
just my thoughts

pete

[ozbee]

fish with light line with all those people on board impossible

revival rate practically 10 % whos going to look after other clients while he gives mouth to mouth to a fish

bit you never have paid a couple of thousand dollars a tank fill in fuel

do you actually have any idea what the sustainable level fishing is for snapper or are you guessing or do you think when you go home and eat your can of tuna from the supermarket think this has no effects on fish stocks

if you don't like the real world you could of easily paid thousands more and hired a vessel for yourself

for many of those people that would of been there first experience of fishing and the enjoyment of tasting real fish, in fact it has increased the value and return per fish which means fish stocks are more valuable and more likely to be managed by government

you new it was a deep sea charter did you expect it to be shallow with little lead to get to the bottom.

all i can say is open your eyes and clean the wax out of your ears and see the whole picture yes the sea is harvested thousands of tons every year and in many places especially Australia at very sustainable rates in fact WA would be one of the best in the world.

fish was in a freezer iam quite sure it would last to the motel does wollies supply you with a esky when you buy your groceries and meat yes meat does come from a cow anyhow thats is another story . put it this way if all fish were caught by recreational and charter and not by professional which would give the highest fish stocks still in the ocean.

[coucho]

I have worked on charters before and what you have discribed is want most people want from a charter. I am not saying its right but if you don't give the people what they pay for are they going to come back?
there are charters around that cater specificly what your after. I suggest that if the kind of fishing you want to do is catch and release light line shallow water fishing then maybe a guide or small charter group is what your after however be prepared to pay a bit more. We used to take up to 14 on a charter and if one person come with their own gear that was fine we didn't stop them using it so long as thier ground tackle was supplied by us nothing creates tangles worse on a crowded boat then everyone fishing with different tackle.
Fish just don't survive when they come out of water that deep there is nothing yu can do about that except not fish there.

[disorderly]

!!


I would regard this as a successful charter and it's a shame you did not mention the operator because they deserve recognition. A Charter boat is a commercial business. If he does not catch fish he will not have clients and will very quickly be out of business.


LW

well said.
How many times have we heard winging about a charter operator that isn't able to put his clients onto the fish.
30 clients go out and catch 3 or 4 fish each(I personally would regard this as a poor result and would not bother).
Although it sounds like most were happy.They caught a few fish.The charter operator did his job.
As FNQ suggests maybe you should either buy your own boat where you can make the rules or fish off the local jetty.
Another option is to charter a smaller boat yourself where you can set the rules about the type of fishing you require.(deep sea fishing by it's very nature is always going to be bit of a kill and grill affair due to the effects of barotrauma on the fish...it's not everyone's cup of tea)

scott

[Horse]

It sounds like a pretty good bulk deep sea charter to me. The skipper got onto some fish and kept within the regulations. He probably had 29 happy punters who had a chance to catch a few good fish. If its not your cup off tea then go for the much more expensive custom charters or find a few like minded mates and fish with them.

I would also feel like a hypocrite releasing fish in over 100m as the barotrauma would probably significantly impact on their survival rate and most would end up as shark fodder anyway

Cheers

Neil

[onerabbit]

Anyone used to fishing in deep water will be familiar with the sort of gear needed, it must be nearly 12 months since I could keep a "light sinker" (1.5lb) on the bottom, sometimes 2lb isn't enough.
Same goes for the survival rate, most decent fish arrive at the top with their guts hanging out their mouths, so the only real way to be conservation minded is to stop fishing once you have enough.

Muzz

[tigermullet]

Meat comes from cows, Ozbee? The last piece of corned beef from a major retailer didn't - it came from a rubber tree.

Cannot understand the complaint about the fishing charter in W.A., it sounded as if it was a very successful outing to me.