Mik

Hey Raiders Scuse my complete ignorance but whats a FAD? I assume its some kind of marker bouy or something. Are they attached to the bottom? Never really been out in the open b4 (Would dearly love to but I don't know anyone who has a boat that goes out) Some childhood memories of being out in the open near Batemans with my dad & uncle many many moons ago. Hoping to get myself a decent boat (Maybe a Quinne) in the next 12 months or so & then maybe I will call on someone to come with & give me some pointers on serious boating. Just reading the posts here has been a real eye opener I see the experience amoung the folk here & dream of having half the knowledge most do here. One day soon I'll put my dreams into reality. Until then I read & learn. Thanks for that. BH

MallacootaPete & wildfish Thanks for the info, both great suggestions. I'll do some digging & see what comes up. Thanks

Cheers for the welcomes Hooky, (or anyone else who might know) I don't know much about Bass, do they have similarities to perch? IE do they like the same temperatures & have similar feeding habits? Perhaps this affliction is appearing due to something they do or have in common which makes them more vunerable that other species? We have a family friend coming to stay with us next week & their 2 young lads like to fish (Mainly the older one) anyway I was thinking of taking them out for the day & thought if we caught any others perhaps we could pass it on to someone to study / check out. Anyone know who might be interested in this? (If anyone. For all I know it may be a very insignificant issue) If all else fails I will ring DPI monday & ask if they want to check one out. As far as I have experienced fishing in the Burrendong & Wyangla dam impounds is not very stricktly controlled. Anyone could virtually take what they like & no one would question it. Given that there are several species of native fresh water fish that are severaly under threat in this country I would have expected a little more presence from the likes of DPI etc to at least check peoples catches once in awhile (I never seen or heard of any spot checks around these impounds) I'm sure the relevant departments are doing their level best, perhaps its a matter of funding or something I don't know One thing I do know, about the only thing you are guaranted to find at our local areas is RUBBISH. Some people have no respect at all for anything. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find that polution or degradation of the environment had at least some impact on issues like this worm infestation.

Tryin again with smaller pic size! Lookin' good so far, BTW that's me with the hat, not the one with bulgy eyes!

Hi again. Sorry I realise this topic is probably of no interest to you guys on the coast but I found some info about the infliction in these fish at Burrendong today & also caught another so here's some pics. I spoke to DPI today & they were not aware of any specific problem & had no reports but the guys told me it was more than likely some type of parasitic worm. Seeing that Burrendong is at 6% at the moment (As many other empoundments are around the country very low indeed) the fish become stressed due to water temp being higher and when stressed are susseptible to attack from this kind of thing. Anyway, DPI guys says they are still ok to eat unless they get into the actuall flesh of the fish. If they are just within the membrane of the fins all is well. However, I caught another today (42.5cm) & he had some worms inside his dorsal fin membrane as the others I mentioned did. But this one also had a visible mushy flesh texture right along the top of his back when filleted. Needless to say I have discarded the fish entireley which make me sick for the waste. If I had know this before killing the fish I probablly whould have put him back & hoped he healed over time to fight another day. Alas I am asshamed to say this fish died by my hand and went to total waste. I will not be killing any others with any sign of this affliction again & hope others don't fall into the same sorry trap I found. I realise alot of people on this site are sport fisher-persons & generally release their fish. I do to but I also take some for the plate. Unfortunatley this time I did the wrong thing. So, heres some pics for any interested. Cheers, Boofhead (Living up to my name already!)

Aron, what do you mean by "Wings". I caught a nice flattie on Sunday along Long Island northern side. My first flattie & when filleting I found I had to cut small chunks off on a second go near back of head coz after first pass I could then see what I'd missed. It didn't really matter that the fillets were small chunks rather than one large fillet because my brother in-law cooked up small battered balls and they were lovely. However I think next time I'll be much more diligent with my technique & hopefully not waste anything. So where are the wings (Anyone point me to a good website with pics for filletting flatties?)

Hi all Firstly, I'm a new member, first post so I'll use this post to introduce myself to you all & give you some background (So you can all say, "Ah, I remember when I was that naive") I live near Orange NSW, used to fish with my Dad (RIP) & uncles in places like Tilpa, Louth, Nowra & Yamba. Dad owned a small 15' runabout & I have fond memories of those days. We also were heavily into bow hunting & some rifle hunting. Its been over twenty years since I last used a rod (Or bow & rifle for that matter) until easter 2006 when I suddenly realised the old boat Dad had left me was actually something I wanted to make use of. (I'd been trying to sell it for about 18 months) Anyway, long story short, I cranked the old girl up & my wife & son took my sister-in-law & her hubby to Burrendong Dam for easter. We had a blast & ever since then I have been buying fishing tackle, dreaming of nice big Quintrex boats & generally bursting to get to some water & try my luck. My luck is not as good in real life & we haven't caught a huge amount of fish, but I love it. Anyway, there you go, a rejuvinated enthusiasm for fishing & a realisation that boats & fishing are one heel of a great way to spend time with friends & family enjoying the great lifestyle on offer to us Aussies. So, about the original reason for the post. During december 06 my brother in-law & I caught one very nice Golden Perch (3.2kg) and several 1 to 1.5 kg silver Perch. All of the silvers had red sores or markings on thier fins and on closer inspection you could see what looked for all the world like worms in the translucent membrane between the spines of the fins (Excuse my ignorance but when I say fins I mean the one fin on the top. Dorsal?) Later during January I caught several more silvers & noticed the same affliction. I met & spoke to some fella who reckoned it was worms but he knew about as much as I did. Does anyone know anymore about this? Questions I have are; 1 - IS it common? 2- Is it threatening to the species? 3 - Does it render the fish inedible? 4 - What cases it? 5 - Should I go to a doctor? (Just kidding, but I did eat 2 of the silvers caught in January!) Cheers fo any help here.