Fishing over scuba divers

[charleville]

A couple of weeks ago when I was drowning a few prawns and pillies at everyone's favourite spot at Mud Island, my mid-week, mid-morning solitude was interrupted by the arrival of a boat which anchored about 20 metres from me. Up does the blue and white divers flag and down goes two scuba divers.

For the next couple of hours during the high tide, I had eruptions of water from air bubbles all around and under my boat. Obviously, I was directly on top of the wreck that they were exploring so that tells me something good about my GPS mark for that spot.

Being a lazy bugger and being of the opinion that if the two divers find themselves magnetically attracted to the three ganged 4/0 hooks that I usually tether my pillies with, it is their problem not mine, I stayed in the same spot throughout the high tide, albeit casting away from the divers as much as possible.

However, I did catch pathetically little on the day.

So the question is, do scuba divers scare away the fish?

Intuitively, one might suspect that they do but when I watch divers on TV, they always seem to cohabit quite well with fish of all persuasions, from littlies to big 'uns.

I was in less than 7 m of water at the time.


Should I have moved in the interest of catching fish? Any expert opinions, please?


There were no other boats around.





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[hooknose]

Charlie I would have moved mate, but the fact remains that if they had any form at all they should have not gone down since you were there first and obviously fishing the spot. Most of the good fish would have been spooked for sure, its a pity that most of these pricks are full on inconsiderate and dont give a f%$ k.

You could have put out a swag of blood based burley, might have made for some light hearted entertainment !!

[webby]

If you were their first why move, i would inundated the water with berley to attrach a few fishes ??
They could have had the decency to come up to you and say what they were doing, and where they'd be swimming around, not much left of the Grazier anyway, so they wouldnt see too much.
regards

[banshee]

You probably should have moved,although you were there first,I think the safe limit for anchoring near a divers flag is 30m (could be wrong there though),so these pricks have placed you in a position of breach had a waterways vessel come along on the day.

[charleville]

not much left of the Grazier anyway, so they wouldnt see too much.

I would not have thought that there was anything left of it but they spent a lot of time down there so there must be something to see there.


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[Spaniard_King]

I woulda got the stella out with 80 braid and tossed a few 3-400grm jigs around for kingies

[Kiwijohn]

Interesting thread

I quiet often get to a site (eg. Curtin) I want to dive a few hours before the tide and anchor at least 30m from other boats. Then throw down a few lines and fish till the tide slows down.

In this time some late guys usually turn up and often anchor closer than 30m to me. When the tide has slowed down I get ready, put the flag up and go for a dive. Who is in the right and wrong in this situation??

I am not sure if Scuba divers scare off the fish - I have seen a fair few caught when I am diving. They seem to follow us around as the fins stir up the bottom.

There have also been times when I have left the scuba gear alone because I couldn't get a spot that was 30m from other boats - then again I fish more often than I dive.

Thanks

John

[sleepygreg]

I think its poor form on the part of the divers in this case. I bet those particular ones would be the first to scream if you pulled up and anchored near them when they were there first. I have no issues with divers in general, as most of the ones I come accross are also fishos and show common courtesy. Though I have had them anchor close after I have been on spot for a while and put up the flag...thereby putting me in breach of the regs......which pisses me off no end....i lump those ones as the greeny type of divers, not the fisho type. Had one of our club members actually hook up a diver one year....the idiot was 500m from his boat and flag. Have also...going back a few years when I was living in Sydney and fishing 'The Peak"....had a diver surface behind my boat with bits of my berley hanging off his goggles....I was burleying for sharks and using a high blood content burley.....shoulda seen the look on his face when I told him what I was burleying for....his eyes became nearly as big as his goggles.....his boat was also more than 200m away....and I had been there about 4 hours before he got there.

Greg

[Stuart]

I would have pulled the anchor, slowly drove over to their boat and cut their anchore rope.

Stu

[TheRealAndy]

I would have taken a big dump over the side of the boat then pured in a whole bottle of tuna oil to pull in the bull sharks

[Razgo-]

You will see this sort of thing at the seaway gold coast all the time. Is it any different?

Fishermen already established with lines in the diving club will come along and go straight in among the lines ignoring the fishermen.

skin diver will also travel along right in front of you where your lines are.

Its chaos there all the time and no one seems to complain that i know of and no one gets hurt that i know of. they just seem to coexist together without incident.

I think the thing is the divers would NEVER be able to dive there if they waited foe the fishermen to leave and the case would be the same where divers go out to wrecks and would not turn back just because there is a boaty fishing there.

Whilst it give you the shits I think we have to coexist together at the end of the day

I personally would just move and or come back when they are gone or ask them how long they will be staying.

[GBC]

The influx of boaties to SEQ will only exacerbate the amount of times this happens. It's always been the case on the wrecks around the top end of Moreton - they just show up and dive. Just like fisho's there's considerate ones - thanks Trevor - and there's inconsiderate ones - Big cat reality - who nearly dropped their pick on my back deck at the St Paul while I had divers in and was fishing.
Clinging to the old 'I was here first' mentality is only going to lead one to mental problems these days.

[Razgo-]

'I was here first' mentality is only going to lead one to mental problems these days.

thats it in a nutshell i reckon.

[liltuffy]

Charleville, bugger about the divers mate, at that spot they would have been looking for crays.

As for the majority of other posts on this thread - listen to yourselves and wake up. The tone is either drive a hook in to them or burley sharks so they get attacked !!! I'll bet you blokes are kind to tailgate and wave fists and single fingers at anyone who looks sideways at you.

While I don't do it anymore I have logged over 400 dives and rarely had problems with boaties. There is no difference between a dive boat and any other boat being within "your discomfort zone". I know it's a big ocean out there and you might think why do they have to invade my space - well get over it, take a pill - sounds like you need some and vent your childish anger baleing Moreton Bay with a teaspoon.

[Spaniard_King]

liltuffy,

you have me bemused Why don't the divers wait till the fisho is finished before they go for a dive right under him

Seems to me the divers should take a pill and WAIT their turn