australian--- se usa fishes

[tideline_two]

i've been reading yalls post and posting a little bit here and there. i live in south carolina, usa. i am absolutely amazed at the number of sportfishies that are so similar here vs over there. some are identical species some are in the same sub-species. below are a few of the examples i've found:

AUSTRALIAN AMERICAN
cobia cobia identical
wahoo wahoo identical
taylor bluefish identical
spotted mackrel spanish mackrel similar
spanish mackrel king mackrel similar
trippletail trippletail identical
sea mullet striped mullet similar

not to mention the tuna fish family ie. yellowfin, bluefin skipjack ect.

i only listed a few. its just amazeing to me for one reason the west coast of america has fewer common fish with the east coast than yall do.

keep the post coming its almost spring here. reading about fishing isn't has good has going but it beats tv. i hope to learn more of yalls tatics and share some of ours.

[devocean]

What type of crabs or crays do you get over there? Also would be interested in legal limits and bag limits compared to Australian and chance of posting them on?

[tideline_two]

crabs-- edible types in our area are blue crabs and stone crabs. the stone crabs look a good bit about yall's muddies. HUGE claws. we are only allowed to remove one claw from stone crabs the the crab must be released. you aren't allowed to keep the entire crab. limit on claws is around 12 dozen i think.
blue crabs have smaller claws and the body is what's eaten..the "tail" portion i guess you'd call it.limit is 2 bushells.

shrimp-- we have several kind's the largest are white shrimp and brown shrimp the gow BIG. white shrimp will get about 10-12 inches long. average 5-8 inches. limit is 48 quarts per day. we are allowed to catch 'em during the summer and fall. there is a special season in the fall for "baiting" them. sounds kind of weird but it works to good thats why there is only a 60 day season----- take fish meal ( they but it in cat food. its fish byproduts dried out and menhaden) and mix it 50/50 with builders clay. add water just enough to make a clay out of it that won't fall apart. form balls about softball size. you take pve poles about 1 i.d. and a castnet head down to the inlet and setup. place your poles near the edges of the creek in water at least 3-4 feet deep. the poles should be spaced so that they are about the width of you castnet when its open apart. throw a couple of balls in the center between each set of poles. go drink a cold one the go back and work the poles. throw your castnet so that it opens right over the place you threw the balls. if the shrimp are there if doesn't take long to limit a cooler. i have caught 48 quarts in one pass of 5 sets of poles. i throw a 8 foot(16 foot diameter) castnet for this. it works great during the daylight but even better at night.

[devocean]

Size limits on fish?

[tideline_two]

in south carolina ,usa cobia have to be 37 inches total lenght. spanish mackrel 12 inches, king mackrel #24 inches fork lenght. bluefish 12 inches i think but almost no one keeps the things. no size on the other fishies #i listed but size limits on quite a few other species not similar to yall's.

[sharkbait]

How big do the bluefish grow?

On the east coast of Australia a big tailor is anything over 4kg, and real biggun 6-7kg.

I have heard of 10 kg fish from the west coast of Aust but haven't seen any.

[devocean]

That is some pretty small mackeral. In Oz mackeral have to be almost twice that size

[tideline_two]

it is a small size limit in fact i've never caught a king mackrel shorter than about 30 inches in my life. our spanish only reach about 6 lbs. here state record is 11 lbs. i think they reach mid teen's in florida. but thats rare.

bluefish reach a average size of about 3 lbs. state record is about 25 lbs. anything over 8 lbs. is large.


most of the kings we catch are in the mid teens in weight plus. a good fish is over 30 lbs. a smoker is 35 plus. it aint long to cobia season for us.
yall ever use ribbonfish for bait... awesome bait for mackrel over here. but i've never seen one in the stomach of a fish i've caught. we use 'em whole and slow troll 'em kings can't stand that flash i guess.