spotlighting the surf at night

[nigelr]

What gives? Have just returned from a couple of hours of beach fishing here at Mylestom. Noted a vehicle come onto the beach at the access point 400 metres north of me not long after I arrived, and head north towards Bundagen headland. An hour later as I was preparing to leave, noticed a vehicle heading south from Bundagen spotlighting the surf. Even though the area I was fishing in is a vehicle no-go zone (Bellingen Shire Council regulations), the driver proceeded past me to the south, and on down to the Bellinger rivermouth. I've never seen a local fisher engage in this spotlighting practice, anyone got any ideas on what the idea is?
Cheers.......

[youngy]

Hi Nigeir, don't know your area but up this way the Pro netters will do it looking for schools of Mullet, no vehicles aloud on Gold Coast beaches either but the netters still drive on them. cheers wayne

[ashh]

yeah saw the netters working north kirra - tugun stretch last week during the day though, never seen them at night myself

[murf]

netters on the Beach at Woolgoolga too, shot their net through the surf club fish feeding spot and took all the bream and all been plenty of mullet schools moving

you find any Jew under them nigelr?

cheers Murf

[PNG1M]

I've never really heard of it as a general thing but I wonder if it would make a difference?

If you took your vehicle at night onto a beach that allowed 4WDs and parked near where you were fishing and aimed a spotty at the surf from the roof of your vehicle for an extended period.....would it attract the tailor?

[nigelr]

Somehow I knew it wasn't the Police........thought it might have been the start of a new trend, PNG1M generally night fishers avoid 'lighting' the water as much as possible as it spooks the fish....learned behaviour?
Murf the mullet haven't run along the beach in mass schools here for many years they have tended instead to head out to sea for a couple hundred metres then head north where local tuna bait fishers (?) have been taking them with nets.
Beach haulers have tended to target the by-catch species, most particularly mulloway and bream. Much more lucrative I'd imagine......

[bondy99]

All pro fishers are commercial operators and all have the relevant authorities and licences to drive on all beaches. Its only private vehicles that is 4WD operated by Joe Citizen that are not allowed unless otherwise stated or its a designated 4WD area. i.e. Fraser Island, North Stradbroke Island and the like.

I hope this clarifies any issues about who is or who is not allowed to drive vehicle on beaches...If your a pro then YES, if you're not a pro then its No.

Peter

[lampuki]

I thought head lights into a gutter was a big no no as it shut the fish down?

[johnlikes2fish]

Always wondered about lights in the surf in a river I'd say no but then again lit jetties are good spots but in the surf I'm not so sure I wouldnt shine a light non stop but the odd flash I dont know. I always think about lightening it doesnt shut fish down no matter how big the show.

[nigelr]

Peter, I can tell you they have to obey civic ordinances, just like Joe Citizen.
Some have been done here for camping in a prohibited area, driving on the dunes, using unlicensed equipment etc etc. Also they are not allowed to traverse the no-vehicles area of the beach in the local Bongil Bongil National Park, may be different where you are though.
Cheers.

[bondy99]

Peter, I can tell you they have to obey civic ordinances, just like Joe Citizen.
Some have been done here for camping in a prohibited area, driving on the dunes, using unlicensed equipment etc etc. Also they are not allowed to traverse the no-vehicles area of the beach in the local Bongil Bongil National Park, may be different where you are though.
Cheers.

G'day Niger,

Yeah, I know what you're saying, things may have changed abit since I was in the game. There use to be a gentlemans agreement set up with a few pros. i.e those that are specifically targeting mullet and the like, and yep the orthers are classified as by-catch....one person can sit on a beach for a few days and if the fish did not show then they are suppose to give up that spot to another pro, i.e the next one waiting to setup camp waiting for the mullet to come through...catching mullet is usually done in West or SW west winds that blow mainly from the land to offshore so that mullet can come in closer and be spotted.

If the winds blow the other way then they go wide and the next lot of pros waiting up the coast might be lucky to score them instead.

This was the scenario at Stockton Beach and Horseshoe Bay in particular, only those who are in the region would know what I'm talking about.

NSW Fisheries may have changed the rules since then as there is still one bloke that goes up and down the entire coast chasing them.

In Qld QBFP would also have altered their habits, licences are not cheap, some cost in excess of $140,000.00 with symbols attached.

This might be off-topic now, but for example an abalone licence was about $20.00 at one stage, then went to $100.00 - $1,000 - $10,000, $100,000 then $1,000,000.00 I think its 10 million dollars now for a licence.

It use to be father to son generation type of licence and only two blokes I know in Port Stephens were in the game, Skinner and Neville Thrower, been in the game for a long time, dangerous work, big nohas with shiney teeth encountered on most days.

Back to beaches,
Some councils would relax conditions as some of that money paid by the pro for their licences would also be part of access rights for entry as part of the conditions. I'm sure if I paid a few grand (not that I can afford it) I would expect some access rights as you would also if you went down that path.

Only takes a cowboy or two to stuff it up for the rest.

Peter

[goat boy]

The netters are allowed on at least some beaches that us normal folk aren't allowed to travel. Usually there will be a sign up at the access points stating something like "no vehicles on this beach, lifeguards and licensed netters excepted". That said, I've seen the netters on Kirra beach but haven't seen any signs like Fingal or Kingscliff have.
You make me jealous about Mylestom, haven't been there for a few years now, top spot!

[PNG1M]

I wonder why the lights on bridges etc draw fish to them while a light shone on a surf gutter for example might spook them.

Bridges with lights are often 'known and established' as proven fishing places for jew & tailor etc.

So why won't lights work in surf applications? Has anyone tried it?

I could understand that if someone was on the beach shining a spotty all over the place around a gutter, the fish might be spooked by the movement.

But if you had your vehicle parked & remained stationary with spotty set-up on the roof & aimed at the gutter & not moving; it might end up attracting fish instead.

[bondy99]

I wonder why the lights on bridges etc draw fish to them while a light shone on a surf gutter for example might spook them.

Bridges with lights are often 'known and established' as proven fishing places for jew & tailor etc.

So why won't lights work in surf applications? Has anyone tried it?

I could understand that if someone was on the beach shining a spotty all over the place around a gutter, the fish might be spooked by the movement.

But if you had your vehicle parked & remained stationary with spotty set-up on the roof & aimed at the gutter & not moving; it might end up attracting fish instead.

PNG1M, Good point you raise.

I'm out of the game now, but if there is working pro(mullet) netter on this site maybe he / she can answer it otherwise its second guessing and speculative.

[Jurkyjj]

I thought head lights into a gutter was a big no no as it shut the fish down?

I have to agree........fishing the surf needs to be done with a degree of stealth.
Shining a light tends to shy the fish off the bite from my past experiences.
Could be different for other people though.

Jason.