Moreton Bay Bugs

[redspeckle]

I don't know if this topic has been bought up before ?
I like to if out how do you catch Moreton Bay Bugs do you have too be a pro fisherman ? do use pots ? what type of bait ? & legal size ,bag limt , can you keep female?
How do you tell differences between male & female

[Chrisso]

I think you need a trawler?

I don't know if pros have beam trawles they use for them? Maybe someone else will know.

They are found right up and down the qld coast I think so there would be a market for the pros!

But I don't think they fall for bait, but they might!

Chris

[Fishinmishin]

Usually an by-catch of bottom trawlers. Bugman prob. could give you a tip on diving for them and I'm happy to taste test any for you to ensure OK for eating. [smiley=smug.gif]

[snappa]

chris

got it working ...i see

[reef05]

Helped a trawler once by taking a deckie back to the main land to see a doc.Reward a big bag of fresh bugs from the skippa,they are hard buggers to eat U need plenty of beer to help wash them down.They were a by catch for that particular trawler.

[mini696]

Quite often they are caught while scalloping (trawlers).

[spaniard]

Have caught them in pots while sandcrabbing inside of moreton.
You can get crab measurers(If thats a word) that have all the different sizes on them.
The ironic thing is that the majority of "MORETON BAY BUGS" are caught up around Gladstone and Rocky.

[ba229]

Enter Bugman stage right ---------->

[jeffo]

hehe.. my mate got one on a livie the other day offshore from m'ba last week

[Chrisso]

Thanks Peter - Yeah mate

What do you think

My Granddad lived on them and his family before there was a market for them

I spose it was better than seeing them being dumped at sea.

Regards

Chris

[Fishinmishin]

Dumped, they are bloody tasty in my books. I pay good $ for the things with dinner.

[damons33]

shovelnosed lobster- i'm not sure of the carapus lenght (i think its 80mm lenght ways,but its a while since i looked) -you cant keep females in berry/roe(same as pink nippers), which shits asians to no end as they love the roe! they got a dish of noodles with the roe tossed throught it which is lovely!
you can make trap by modifing a muddy trap. bug tails fresh are devine! i like them thai style hmmmmmmmmm!

[SeaHunt]

I don't think you can take them legally as a rec fisho, checking DPI site now.

[SeaHunt]

All I can find is that you can not take egg bearing females.
Nothing on bag limits or sizes . ???

[bugman]

Sorry gang just found this thread.

There are actually about 16 different species of "bugs" one of the scientists at DPI was telling me about them one day. They're very interesting creatures and are indeed classified as a "bycatch" species.

As such there is no quota on them that I know off. There has been some concern from the scientists around the north of the state that people are indeed trying to target them using modified gear with catch rates increasing. They're unsure about the population of the little beggers. There's some that are bloody big I saw one about 30cms long.

Anyway I've never seen one while swimming below. They're traditional found on the sand and I usually like diving where there's something to see.

Rates right up there with Lobster for me but you must have them fresh. Frozen is no good for eating.

I've never heard of people trying to catch the little suckers but I'll put some calls in and see what they feed on to find out whether there is a means of attracting them to a pot.

Bugman