mrmoshe

G'day Justin, This subject has been discussed in another thread in "Fishing Chat"where I have just moved your post BTW. (You had posted it in "Fishing Reports") HERE is the thread I'm referring to and I think it best if your post is merged with that thread...I'll merge it shortly. It's a contentious issue for sure with more and more fishos hitting the harbour. I guess the bottom line is..be courteous to your fellow fisho and hopefully he will respond in kind. If that's not the case..then take the higher ground, but never ever let violence come into the equation. Cheers, Pete.

G'day Locodave, The social is not a fishing tournament by any means. It is a social gathering of Fishraiders that fish for a target species, in this case..Kingfish. It's not a true contest of who gets the biggest or most fish, just a chance for raiders to meet up and have a fish, whether it's boat based or landbased. Have a read of the Rules here and as you will see, it begins early, from 6am with registration (this is mandatory) but that doesn't mean you have to be there early if you don't want...registration is open all morning. You can split up and fish anywhere the rules state or you can follow another boat and see if they are onto fish..no hard and fast rules there. Fishing must finish at 1pm where there is then a BBQ and social gathering followed by the presentations of the winners and grinners prizes. It has a strong emphasis on the social side of things and members drop in and out of the Clifton venue, either to have fish measured and officially tallied or just to have a drink and a feed. The BBQ is firing all day, so food and cold drinks are available to members throughout the morning. There's a great beach there where you can beach your boat or there's the long jetty to temporarily tie up to. There are toilet facilities at the venue as well. Come along as they are more a chance to catch up with Raiders and put names to faces and tell tall stories mostly. There will be quite a few Raiders who have no kingie experience like you. Be aware that Clifton Gardens is a prime kingie spot, so it may pay you to just anchor up out from the main jetty and try fishing from there. You will see 2 big white drums in the bay as well as some yellow markers with "No Entry" signs on them, DO NOT venture inside those markers as that is Australian Navy property and is policed vigorously. You can anchor just outside those markers and cast inside the Navy area, just don't let your boat go into the Navy yard. Some of the best kingies this year have been taken at Clifton. The Kingfish are really secondary..if you manage to get one..bring it in to be measured and who knows...yours may be the biggest caught. Hope this helps in explaining the why's and wherefores of Socials. Please do come along, even if it's just for a chinwag. Cheers, Pete.

All updated now..thanks Davehey. Cheers, Pete.

yep..I think you are right with the Black Rock Cod and not the Grouper...subtle differences eh? Both their mothers must have slept around a bit on the sea bed Sure good to see some different species posted...not that I'm sick of looking at Kingies or Marlin by any means. Cheers, Pete.

All done Penguin. Cheers, Pete.

No worries Tony...You and Matty are down as a tentative. Cheers, Pete

I think it's a Bar Rock Cod or called a Convict Grouper http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=6574 Cheers, Pete

The source is certainly suspect..The London Sun newspaper has been known to "beat up" the occasional story. I noticed The Australian has run with it too, but was careful to name The Sun as the source of the material. Treat it with some skepticism I'd say...nasty looking beast though eh? Cheers, Pete. ps" Just looked in the fish database and they do exist, although they don't appear to be as threatening as suggested in The Sun http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=343

Psycho predator is Sid Fishious A SAVAGE fish more terrifying than a piranha has been caught in Britain for the first time — sparking fears of a deadly invasion. The vicious giant snakehead EATS everything it comes across and has even been reported to KILL people. The monster — from south-east Asia — has a mouth crammed with fearsome teeth, can “crawl” on land and survive out of water for up to four days. News that a 2ft specimen had been hooked in an English river caused widespread panic among anglers and conservationists. An Environment Agency source said last night: “The reaction was, ‘Oh s***’. This is the ultimate invasive species — if it starts breeding here it’s a disaster.” Angler Andy Alder caught the snakehead while using a sprat as bait for pike on the River Witham near North Hykeham, Lincs. Andy, of Lincoln, said: “It had a gob full of razor-sharp teeth. To be honest it looked terrifying.” Experts who studied photos of Andy’s catch confirmed it was the predator which is on a list of species that cannot be imported into the UK. It is feared the fish had been smuggled in for an aquarium and then illegally released. Snakeheads caused chaos when they were found in America in 2002, with snipers setting up on banksides to shoot them and entire lakes being poisoned to kill them. Ben Weir, of fishing mag Angler’s Mail, said: “In all my time of working within fishing I have never heard so many concerned voices.” Adult snakeheads can grow to 3ft long and weigh as much as 44lb.

Nothing that a big Kingie on Sunday won't fix. My luck HAS to change by then. Cheers, Pete.

Boy..did I have a shocker today! I started off with the idea of an early 3 hour session right on the top of the tide wading Narra Lake at Billarong Reserve where I got busted off by a croc. of a lizard last week. ( I needed vengeance!) I knew the rest of the day would be horrible as I had an appointment in hospital with a urologist doing "tests" if you get my drift. I waded about half a Km of the lake up to my waist flicking every SP I had in my kit. I got a grand total of 2 shitty bites by baby bream I suspect and zero lizards, and my waders sprang a leak. . The water looked perfect for flatties too with hardly any wind and a gentle outgoing tide. The day went downhill after that. If you ever have the opportunity to have a Urodynamic Study done...do so at your peril! One of the most uncomfortable procedures you could imagine involving plastic tubing in places they just shouldn't go!! My eyes are still watering.. So, no fish, a sore willy and p*ssing razorblades now. I shoulda stayed in bed!! A not so cheery, Pete.

Native plant choking Murray waterways The Murray River may have a reasonable flow after summer rain but some of the wetlands in the basin are struggling after years of drought. Scientists are facing a new challenge as a native plant takes over one of the major waterways, upstream of Echuca on the Victoria-New South Wales border. Not only is it strangling the system, but it is spreading to adjoining wetlands and is now threatening to play havoc with the river flow. It is called Barmah Lake and not only is it surrounded by the biggest area of river red gums in Australia, it is also a major wetland in the Murray-Darling Basin and a crucial breeding site for thousands of native water birds. But after years of drought the most common native here is what's called the giant rush - it is a reed-like plant that is taking over. Keith Ward, an ecologist working with the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, says it has taken over at least 70 per cent of the lake system and some adjoining wetlands over the last number of years. "It's actually starting to dominate a lot of the wetlands," he said. "Now these systems are very rich in flora and also a number of waterbirds that feed amongst it. "The threat is once it's dominated by giant rush, it dominates to the exclusion of just about all other plants and there is a lot of waterbirds that can no longer feed in those type of areas." Fast growing Wading through the lake, the water is still shallow - about knee deep - but that is exactly the conditions this weed-like native loves. The rushes now surround the outskirts of the wetlands and have spread right across the system. Even on the flood plains where there is no water, they are about two metres in height and scientists are having trouble keeping up. Mr Ward said the problem is that it grows very quickly. "We've been monitoring growth rates of 11 millimetres per day," he said. Scientists are also trying to establish which fish have survived the drought conditions here in the lake. They are using what is called electro fishing, sending a charge into the water, temporarily stunning the fish, and bringing them to the surface. Big job ahead Zeb Tonkin, a member of the team from Arthur Rylah Institute based in Melbourne, says a majority of these habitats have dried up. "It's come down to a few key refuge pools where these species are hanging out and waiting for some water to come down. We've been able to identify these," he said. The challenge now is to try and create a balance and find a way of slowing its spread. They have trialled a system of burning the clumps of rushes on the flood plains. But Mr Ward, who has been working in this wetland for almost 20 years, acknowledges they have a big job ahead. "It can attain a height of three metres in its adult form so you need very deep floods to get rid of it when it's an adult," he said. "Already it's half adult size so if we don't get flooding this winter, it's going to be there for good."

Unknown species from the deep discovered Mysterious creatures from the deep have been discovered in waters off the east Antarctic land mass. Scientists from around the world cruised waters in three ships and trawled at depths of 2,000 metres. Voyage Leader Dr Martin Riddle says during 20 days of sampling they collected thousands of animals. He says up to 25 per cent of them are previously unknown species. "We saw giant worms, giant crustaceans, giant spiders, glass-like tunicates," he said. "In other places things scraped bare and barren by iceberg scour so a huge diversity of life, very colourful, very rich, far exceeding any of our expectations." Dr Riddle says the scientists specialising in cold water fish, had never seen anything like it. "They had fins in various places, they had funny dangly bits around their mouths," he said. "We were working on the bottom so they were all bottom dwellers so they were all evolved in different ways to live down on the sea bed in the dark so many of them had very large eyes, very strange looking fish." The specimens have been sent to universities and museums around the world for analysis. A giant sea spider discovered by Antarctic researchers in their deep-sea trawl as part of the three year marine census

Nice bag of dollies Pete and Chris. That big one is a bruiser. So when do you open the new jewellery shop Pete? I hear trebles are the new black in body piercings this year. Bloody hell...that looks painful Take a bottle of scotch to work tomorrow and keep taking belts until the pain subsides..or you fall over..whichever comes first. Get better quick and hopefully we'll see you Sunday at the social. Cheers, Pete.

No Caine...The third paragraph from the bottom explains it: Unlike most other sharks, the scalloped hammerhead swims in large schools which tend to congregate in specific locations, such as the Galapagos Islands and Costa Rica. Cheers, Pete.

Scalloped hammerheads endangered One of the world's most recognisable sharks has been added to the official endangered species list and could soon be heading towards extinction. The scalloped hammerhead, named because of its extraordinary hammer-shaped snout, has starred in countless diving movies and marine documentaries. But like other sharks it has fallen victim to fishing and the high value placed on its fins, considered a delicacy in China. Later this year the scalloped hammerhead will be placed on the World Conservation Union's Red List of threatened species under the heading "globally endangered". The category is only one step below the highest rating of "critically endangered". Scientists have seen numbers of the creature, which grows up to four metres long and is the best known hammerhead species, dwindle alarmingly in some parts of the world. Declines of 98 per cent have been recorded off the US east coast since the 1970s, and losses of 90 per cent in other areas. Unlike most other sharks, the scalloped hammerhead swims in large schools which tend to congregate in specific locations, such as the Galapagos Islands and Costa Rica. A fishing vessel stumbling upon one of these gatherings can easily wipe the whole school out. Experts say the fate of the scalloped hammerhead reflects a looming crisis for many of the oceans' top predators. A total of 233 types of shark are currently on the Red List, 12 of which are considered "critically endangered". Nine, including the scalloped hammerhead, have joined or will be joining this year. Among them are some well known species, such as the common thresher, the shortfin mako, and the tiger and bull shark.

I can see it now...Yakkas-R-Us Listed on the stock exchange or Yakka Hut...30 minutes or it's free (or dead) You might have something there Slinky Cheers, Pete.

Great read Robbee You sure got your money's worth with a nice variety of species. Glad you got a kingie...I guess technically, you aren't a kingy virgin any more...well sorta! That whiting looks like the stretch limo version of a regular whiting...never seen one like that before...such a long body out of proportion with the rest of it. A true elbow slapper. With all the species you got on SPs and odd tackle,it looks like the only species you missed was a toady on a ham sandwich Great sesssion...does this mean you are a full blown salty convert now?? Cheers, Pete.

All added Dan, Don't think we need anything as the shopping list is now complete...just bring your sense of humour. Cheers, Pete. Added as well Motorbreath..(great name btw ) Cheers, Pete. Thanks Stevo..all fixed

Try this link: http://www.waterways.nsw.gov.au/maps.html You can view them here and also purchase hard copies from NSW Maritime online. Hope these are the ones you meant. Cheers, Pete.

Looking at Seabreeze today and the forecast for Sunday's Social is looking great. A couple of days ago it looked like being horrible with predicted 4 metre swells and 25 knot southerly, but it has now been revised. Let's hope the forecast stays like it is..or even gets better. (Click on the button at the top of the page for Seabreeze) Can't wait! Cheers, Pete. Also, as another member posted ealier...The QEII and the Queen Victoria will be both in Sydney Harbour over this weekend. The QEII arrives at the heads at 0530 and travels to Garden Island..The Queen Vic. will already be docked at Circular Quay having arrived on Saturday. There will probably be a lot of boat traffic sightseeing and exclusion zones have been established my NSW Maritime. Here's a list of them below: RECREATIONAL BOATS • A 60m exclusion zone will apply while these ships are in Sydney Harbour. • Skippers of spectator vessels must remain outside of exclusion zones while the ships are in Sydney Harbour. • A 400m ahead and 60m exclusion zone – to the left and right and behind the ships - will apply while the Queen Victoria and the Queen Elizabeth 2 are moving through Sydney Harbour. • Geographic exclusion zones will apply when the ships are passing each other on Sunday, 24 February at approximately 6pm. Spectator vessels must remain behind the following areas as advised below: o West – area extending from Millers Point to Blues Point on the western side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge o North – area extending from Cremorne Point Wharf to Kirribilli Wharf o East – area extending from Robertsons Point to Garden Island (for vessels intending to accompany Queen Victoria as she departs Sydney) o South – the mouth of Farm Cove Other geographic exclusion zones may apply. Visit www.maritime.nsw.gov.au for more information.

Great pics of little Magoo there with his prize. Doesn't he look chuffed! I bet he won't forget that fight for a while. Hope he gets into some hoodies one day as he'll know how to handle them. Thanks for the pics MrMagoo. Cheers, Pete.

Done Miller. Cheers, Pete.

There goes your garbage pickup this week Dave

G'day Want2Fish...You are now on the list as looking for a deckie spot. See you there, Cheers, Pete.