How do you catch Moreton Bay Bugs

[Got_the_Fever]

Hi all
Can you please help me to learn what I need and how to go about catching these little beauties. I live in Redcliffe and after 40 years I still dont know where I can pull a few into the boat. All help will be so WELCOME.

[mickstar001]

MMM looking forward to the responses from this one

[ShaneJ]

Have you been around to Crab n Gear to have a chat to Mike? He should be able to help you out.

[Got_the_Fever]

I will have a chat with him. I have some pots and dillys on order with them. Thanks for the tip Shane

[zario]

all you need is $500 000 or so for an otter trawler and your away. Seriously though is it even possible to catch bugs in normal crabpots?

[fish2eat]

I do not believe it is possible to catch MB Bugs as a recreational fisher, they are normally a by catch of prawn and scallop trawling in Sth Qld. I do not believe they feed on baits like crabs do, therefore cannot be attracted to a pot. I'll be happy to be proved wrong however......

[marlinqld]

These are a bi - catch of the trawlers.

One of the best grounds for them used to be 1.6miles east of greeen island in Moreton Bay. Dont know if they still hunt them there.

[choppa]

i had a ""bug catcher"" when i was i kid,,,,,seriously,,

dont know if you can still buy em,,, but they were okay for the bugs i kept

[Got_the_Fever]

All I can do is try, I figure a day out on the water is still better than a day at work, even if we dont catch any bugs it is still worth a trip over to Green Island.

[Flash]

Try diving.

If you can't get any bugs you might find a few lobsters as a consolation prize.

One thing though, and I wouldn't mind at all being wrong, I've heard that the thrashing around that lobsters do when caught attracts sharks.

[Sea-Dog]

I do not believe it is possible to catch MB Bugs as a recreational fisher, they are normally a by catch of prawn and scallop trawling in Sth Qld. I do not believe they feed on baits like crabs do, therefore cannot be attracted to a pot. I'll be happy to be proved wrong however......

I used to work on scallop trawlers out of Bundy about 20 years ago. We used to get a lot of bugs. I noticed that a lot of them happened to have cuttlefish tentacles hanging from their mouths.

Not all did so, and they were definitely cuttlefish tentacles, as some of the tentacles still had the cuttlefish attached.

If you were trying to catch bugs in pots, you could try some nice fresh cuttlefish as bait.

If the bugs don't take the cuttlefish, then eat them yourself. Cuttlefish were my favourite by-catch.

They are very quick to clean (about 5 - 10 seconds each), then you have a nice triangular shaped piece of meat about 8mm thick.

Roll it in flour, dip in eggwhite, roll in breadcrumbs, then fry for about 30 seconds per side.

Mmmmmmmm

[Got_the_Fever]

Thanks for the tip Sea-Dog. I will give it a go and let you know. Even if I dont catch any bugs I will still have a shot at some crabs and I always feel like a feed of cuttlefish.

[novice23]

A member Charlieville reckons he caught one on his line around mud island or the grazier wednesday night if i remember correctly. Check out his report.

[twodogsfishing]

i think the line caught bug was in one of the battle of the pin threads....could check where he was and what bait was used

[Got_the_Fever]

I spoke to the guys at Crabngear the other day when I picked up my pots and dillys. He told me of some interesting developments that are going to be happening with bugs and prawns. The Qld gov is going to be setting up a 5 year project to discover what traps will catch these delicous little morsels will be. It is going to be very interesting to learn the final results. I think that the winning designer will become a very rich person indeed.

Kel