wazatherfisherman

Hi Andrew I don't have much experience using SP for Snapper but the colours they asked me for were pearl white, red/green and 2 blues. Scratchie would be a better person to ask! Yes experimented with scents both in moulding process and in bags- better off adding when actually fishing. Scent is definitely worthwhile- better than no scent on lures. Yes make glowing SP using luminous powder with clear plastic- they go greeny-white, did not catch any more/less fish on them but they were very visible! Much of my luminous powder went to mates for non-fishing projects like glowing eyes on car ornaments etc!

Hi XD351 sorry for late reply- yes the plastic is purpose made and not a silicone, the silicone rubber is used for the moulds. You could get the right colours to do that and it's a very interesting idea! They'll have the texture and softness of a pipi also Regards Waza

In part one we made our moulds, now how to use them. POURING PLASTIC What you'll need: Liquid soft plastic such as "Plastisol" or similar, an old microwave that you aren't usually using for food any longer, Pyrex pouring jugs, colour for the plastic- either liquid or I prefer powder pigment and some glitter (best to use special purpose glitter that is more microwave "compatible") a metal teaspoon or two and a couple of stirring rods- I like using stainless steel chopsticks. Also a glove/oven mitt suitable for holding the hot Pyrex jug. As different microwave strengths are available, only a bit of trial and error with your individual unit will let you know exactly how long to heat your soft plastic solution before it's ready to pour- it's better to "undercook" the solution rather than overcook it, because overcooked goes a dull brown and renders it unsuitable for adding colour or reheating again. There are instructions included on heating with each type of plastic that is available- FOLLOW STRICTLY THE HEATING INSTRUCTIONS!! For the most part it's as simple as shaking (REALLY WELL) the plastic solution because it has it's own curing catalyst in the bottle, then pouring enough solution (again trial and error tells you how much) into your jug to fill your mould/s, then heating on high power for about 1 to 2 minutes before pouring. I like to add my colour before heating usually and giving it a good stir- if you use powder pigment a really tiny amount goes a real long way, for example about a quarter of a teaspoon will colour easily 25-35 lures (depending on size of lure) so start with far less powder than you think and if a darker shade is required, simply add a tiny bit more powder- by mixing before heating you have the true colour you'll finish up with. Another good reason for using the powder pigment is that once made, your lures don't "bleed" colours once finished. So we have our Pyrex jug with pre-coloured solution heating in the microwave, moulds on a flat surface and a heat proof glove on ready to go. Once the solution is heated correctly it will remain thin, runny and "pourable" for about 35-40 seconds, so you need to remove it and be ready to pour immediately. If you are adding some glitter I find it best to add it by having a small amount sitting on a metal teaspoon ready to go- drop it in the jug AFTER heating and just a real quick stir for a couple of seconds with the chopstick is all you need, then pour into your moulds. An alternative for dispensing the glitter is to put it in a salt shaker. For the first attempts at pouring I suggest just using one colour as you can do it quickly and easily before the solution starts to set- when it suddenly thickens, you need to let it set in the jug and cool down before reheating. If you haven't completed your pour, don't worry, whatever has gone in the mould will be compatible with the next/reheated solution and it will meld together. It's a good idea to have several Pyrex jugs for a couple of reasons- 1) you can maintain individual colours in each jug 2) as the jugs take several minutes to cool down after each pour, it saves waiting time to pour more lures because the newly moulded lures can be removed from the moulds within about 3-5 minutes of pouring, whereas the jugs take about twice as long to cool down. One thing you can do to speed up the jug cooling process is as soon as you can see the remaining solution in the jug has solidified, use a round ended knife like a butter knife and "lift" the remaining solidified solution out of the jug- it will come out as one piece usually and the escaping heat will allow faster cooling of the Pyrex. An alternative recommendation for first time pourers is that it's a good idea to start off with minimal colouring- just add a tiny bit of glitter to the near-clear solution, if you aren't happy with the result, just use a pair of scissors and cut up your made lures and simply re-heat the lot, adding a bit of coloured pigment paint, that way you aren't wasting anything. After a while of making plastics, you work out which colours you can reheat together successfully. Once poured into the mould it takes about 3-5 minutes to set, then the lures can be removed and the excess (such as the pouring entrance) can be cut off- I find good quality sharp scissors are the best for this and cut in a fairly quick motion as the plastic is flexible. ALL the excess along with any spillage and trimmed bits are saved for recycling. When recycling, if you've used lighter colours you can change colours pretty easily by adding a fair bit more of the colour you want to achieve, again trial and error lets you establish quite quickly which colours are compatible, but many lighter colours can be successfully mixed. OK, Pouring a single colour lure is pretty easy, now for two colours. The two obvious ways to do this are 1) pour first colour and leave to set 2) pour first colour and immediately pour second on the top of first before cooling. I've had best results using method 2, however the separation line can get a bit cloudy- no big deal really and the fish don't seem to care. The main difficulty in pouring two colours is that you just have to estimate how much of the first (bottom colour in the mould) to pour in before adding the second colour to fill the mould cavity- it's not an exact science as you can't see into the mould while pouring unless you use something to keep the removal slit on the top open. After pouring a two colour plastic I find it's better to wait about 10 minutes before removing from the mould, so the mould contents has a decent amount of time to bond together. One of my favourite methods when pouring fish shapes, is to just pour a really small amount of clear plastic with only some glitter in it into the mould, which gives a "translucent belly" effect- then pour the next colour over to fill the cavity, leaving you with a clear, sparkly "belly" and contrasting rest of body. I think contrasting colour somewhere in your lures is a good thing, mainly because it makes them more visible- which is what you want to achieve to make the lure noticeable to fish. After the lures have cooled and you've trimmed off the excess and put it back in the jug for recycling, the next thing to do is to give them a wash to clean off all the "slimy residue" -which is like an oily/greasy film on the outside. I've found that making up a weak saltwater solution (1 tablespoon of salt to 1 litre of warm water) and leaving your lures to soak for about 10 minutes removes pretty much all of this residue, then a quick rinse with clean water and allow to dry and they're ready to use. All excess and unused plastic is simply cut up with scissors to assist with melting and re-heated in your jug via the same process. COLOURS After extensive testing of multiple different colours over a long period of time, I'm happy to stick to using only a few colours, either alone or in combination with each other. In my opinion, the most versatile colours are White, Fluoro Orange and Fluoro Pink, followed by Red. If you want t make lures for freshwater using Fluoro Green and Yellow seem to attract the most attention. The following species list has my own "colour chart"- not strictly, but my normal "go-to" colour range. The "Clear" always have some amount of sparkle/glitter mixed in. Bream: Brown/s with Orange or Black highlights, Silver, Clear Flathead: Pink, Orange, Gold Whiting: Orange, Red, Clear Tailor and Salmon: White, Silver, Clear Kingfish: Bright Fluoro Orange, White- particularly "Pearl White", Bright Pink, Clear and really light Brown Mulloway: Black, White, Silver These are just a basic guide of what I've found to work best for my style of fishing, others no doubt have their own favourite colours. The one other thing I'll add about colours is that often a colour- like Fluoro Orange or Pink will draw attention from otherwise seemingly uninterested fish. The brightest Orange has been particularly effective on Kingfish, Tailor and Flathead, yet looks like nothing you're likely to see in the water normally, whatever the reason, these species really go for it, so don't be afraid to try bright or "un-natural" colour schemes STORING SOFT PLASTIC LURES As many of today's plastic materials are quite incompatible, it's necessary to separate them from each other to prevent "plastic melt" which occurs when two or more of these incompatible materials come in contact with each other, resulting in a messy blob or sticky, gooey mess. Boxes known as "worm-proof" are made of neutral materials that don't react with other plastics, these are what you need to store your new plastics in. As an alternative, Tackle supply shops also sell "worm-proof" snap seal bags, as do soft plastic supply companies. It's well worth buying some as they keep your lures both fresh and safe from melting with incompatible materials, which can include packaging, knife sheaths and other items you may not realise that don't mix well. I hope this is a help to anyone who wants to have a go at making their own lures, it adds another dimension of excitement to fishing when you hook a fish on one of your own creations and remember that often "unconventional" creations can work extremely well. My most satisfying moments have come from watching Flathead race up from the bottom and engulf my plastic lures off the surface (bright orange again!) and having a couple of Murray Cod take my crab imitations that were fished like bait on a hand line by two young boys at Moree (considering that no Murray Cod would have ever seen a crab!). Any other information such as suppliers of materials just PM me-

In answer to your questions 1)Australian soft plastics and Plastisol (American) are a good start. 2) No because the liquid plastic will destroy your mould 3) Not advisable to use your food microwave- buy a cheap or second hand one as there will be some residue at times 4) If you 3d print you may be breaking copyright law- just keep that in mind. Hardbodies often have a clear bib also 5)Moulding and casting supply shops or on line 6) You can to a certain extent re-mould the plastics you make and also repair them fairly easily 7)You need to recycle same types and colour- mixing colours usually results in an unattractive brown colour. Lighter colours are more adept for re using

Having made my own plastics for many years, I thought I'd put a little info on in relation to some of the questions asked about making them at home. Making them is actually fairly easy if you are happy with making basic one or two colour lures. When I say two colour, I mean colours pretty much in two halves- as in pour first colour and either let sit in the mould or pour first followed by immediate adding of second colour while first colour is setting. Intricate colour patterns are best left for commercial operations as they are done more-so by injection moulding and industrial moulds. MAKING MOULDS To start off with, you need to make your actual moulds. I've made moulds from several different materials including timber and plaster of Paris, but by far the best results come from using 2 part Silicone Rubber. These Silicone types are best for several reasons. 1) They can replicate the smallest details accurately in the object being moulded- like scale pattern, fins, segments etc. 2) They are relatively inexpensive and reusable hundreds of times. 3) They need no "release agent" for getting either the moulded object nor poured lure out of the mould. 4) They can be tailor-made to the correct dimensions of what you need for your lures with minimum waste of Silicone and you can easily add to the bases of the mould to strengthen them for longevity of use 5) They are impervious to the high temperatures that the liquid plastic used generates and cool extremely quickly after plastic lure material is poured. To make your mould/s you just need the following: i) for making individual lures- small containers that only need to be about 15mm wider and 20mm longer than the object you intend to mould, bearing in mind that you need enough depth of container to completely immerse your object- old lure boxes, pen boxes etc are ideal. ii) If making moulds that have multiple lure cavities make sure there is about 10mm between each mould cavity, which both preserves mould strength and also slightly lessens cooling time of poured plastic lures- small tins and pretty much any firm plastic boxes that are "food grade" work well, but I've used cardboard lined with foil also- it doesn't really matter what the exterior of the mould looks like, as long as the base of mould is level and square (or your lures will turn out off centre) iii) container to mix Silicone and Silicone Catalyst in + stirring stick- I use a stainless steel chopstick Mix Silicone and catalyst thoroughly- the Silicone I use is light blue and it's catalyst is really dark blue and available from moulding and casting supply shops- (PM me if you want details)- so it's fairly easy to see when it is mixed well- only takes about a minute of stirring in- pour into your mould box, then add the object you are moulding. If moulding a heavy object such as metal, it will of course sink to the bottom of the container- don't worry- you can thicken the bottom of the mould after it has set. Just make sure the object being moulded is pretty much sitting squarely in the mould. If it doesn't sit squarely, it will still be OK for pouring into, but if you want to use more than one colour, the colour-joins won't be parallel. After pouring and immersing your object, it takes around 45-60 minutes for the Silicone to set and once set, it's easy to remove your object by using a razor blade/Stanley knife or similar and cutting a straight line from one end to the other along the top of the object- don't cut all the way to the end of your mould box-just the actual moulded object. The natural flexibility of the Silicone allows easy removal of your object. You now have your mould and need to cut a 5-6mm hole along this cut-line that will be used as the pouring hole when you heat up your plastic. I mucked around using the top of a wooden golf tee to create a nice sized pouring funnel on the top of the mould, but a simple hole works just as well. After moulding heavier objects such as metal rods, you'll find they've sunk to the bottom of the newly formed cavity, leaving quite a thin layer on the bottom of the mould. Once the silicone has set and object removed, you can re-use the same mould box to reinforce the new mould's base by making up a little more Silicone and adding it to the box, then by using an ordinary sewing needle or similar pushed through each end, suspend your new mould a few mm above the bottom of the box. The added Silicone will simply adhere to the mould and strengthen it. NB it's really worthwhile doing it to strengthen ALL the moulds you make because the thicker walls mean they will last for literally hundreds of pours. Whenever I make a new mould I always have a couple of the old moulds handy and add any excess Silicone to the bases of the old ones- just so I don't waste any excess Silicone. It's really easy to mix, goes off quickly and is really durable. It is also simple to clean up any spills- just wait until set and it peels off virtually anything. OBJECTS TO MOULD As far as fishing lures go, you can mould pretty much any shape of "lure" that you think a fish might have a go at. "Worm" shapes are easy to find, you can use different diameter pieces of tubing- if you want them "ribbed" simply bind some thread, string or cord around the outside of your tubing prior to immersing in the Silicone. If you want "paddle-tail" worms, just melt and squash an end of the tube and cut with good quality scissors to desired shape. There are plenty of items in the "$2" shops you can find for making lure shapes out of- plenty of deeply corrugated or ribbed hose-like shapes. Wooden spoons make great "Octopus" plastics- I make one that only has one thick leg, to give the leg "suckers" just glue some sequins or raised semi-circles like dome topped tacks onto the handle before moulding, the poured plastic will come out with suckers just like on a real octopus! Pretty much any aerodynamic shape can turn into a "fish" shaped lure, plenty of different handles take on new possibilities. If you want to add strength to your actual lures, you can put things like a piece of wire through the mould- keeping in mind though that any stiffening of the body can result in poorer swimming action. Other interesting additives can be foil shapes (you can buy foil "honeycomb" at craft shops) beads, mirrors, rattles etc etc. Toy hard plastic sea creatures such as crabs are also perfect for making your moulds, really, it's up to the imagination of the creator, but a trip to your local $2 shop won't ever be the same! The one thing I've found that really isn't worthwhile making, is prawn imitations- there are plenty on the market and the intricacies of making a really good one (including feelers, legs etc) are quite time consuming. If you do want to try making them my suggestion would be to buy a commercially made mould ($30-100) but all other DYI moulds are definitely money saving. There are plenty of ready made moulds on the market, some of them really intricate, some basic. If your main lure of choice is something like a paddle tail or curl tail grub it is relatively simple to either buy or make moulds and making your own lures is both cheap and rewarding. Part 2 on what to do next to follow shortly.

Hi mate I'll post some info up on the forum in fishing chat tonight, I've been making them for many years and can answer some of your questions

You'll be fine!

Squid is fine from there

Great advice from Paddy and Rick above- to get your bait out you just simply pull gently against it, the bait almost always swims opposite to any resistance and you only want it as far as the back of the wash. Also NEVER wear a harness on the rocks- it will get you drowned if you get an oversize fish. Nobody I've ever met has been strong enough to fish more than 50lb off the rocks The circus is about the massive crowds and antics that go on at the tubes most of the time- there's limited space and mostly far too many fishers due to how great a spot it is

Really easy to clean- cut into 6 inch pieces, turn each piece 90 degrees (so it's up/down rather than long-ways) and fillet the piece, you get virtually all the meat and no bones. Excellent eating and suitable for all cooking methods from frying to steaming or BBQ

Another fantastic read Paddy! "Ramble on" as much as you want, this is gold and would be great left as an article for the future. I always tell new spin fisher's -"you just can't wind too fast" - they don't usually believe me. I still have my Speed Master and it's still in great nick, in my opinion is one of the best overhead casting reels ever made, great for "genuine" jigging also. Looking forward to the next instalment, thanks for a great and detailed post.

Paddy I hope you're working on chapter 2- really looking forward to reading it. Great stuff!

Paddy that was a FANTASTIC read!! So many parallels to my young fishing history (even the cricket!) The only thing like high speed spinning metals was jigging (not this "slow pitch" lazy man's jigging either!) Awesome Mac on 6lb, reckon they go as hard as anything. Looking forward to the next chapter very much. The Halco slice and legendary 1/2 x 1/4's bring back the memories big time. Awesome post! Thanks for putting it up, I bet it inspires a few to go and give it a try👍

Excellent fish Jamo well done!

Hi Pickles the Pigs was always really cold even on windless nights, the cool SW-W airflow kept you on your toes. I had a great old "Taft" jacket, it was rubberised and it kept you both dry and warm as it didn't breath. Great jacket for those huge Tailor sessions. I wrote a post about fishing for Trevally there a fair while ago called "Reminiscing, Silver Trevally" and would always catch them in comps when the Tailor weren't biting. You pretty much had to use a hand line to do it the way I did, but you could catch heaps whenever you needed to. Also had a lot of fun there out of competition using 4lb line, losing probably 2/3rds of them to the reef but the challenge was great! The Pigs has a special place in my memory because it was the place I caught my first big catch as a junior (73 Tailor) and hooked my first Kingie and Hairtail, such an under utilised spot these days.

I don't know the actual details behind allowing the importation of the infected prawns nor who the "brains" were behind the decision but they definitely knew about and were warned that the virus was a distinct danger if we started importing the prawns

Hi Zoran I actually could of kept this story going on by talking about the great disaster of the White Spot virus- the Pilchard kill was indeed accidental and unfortunate, but there were plenty of warnings in regard to the White Spot being found in the prawns overseas and to risk not only Australia's large prawn fishery but everything else associated was just greed/stupidity/ignorance, "balance of trade" etc Scientists need to be involved with such decisions not politicians. The poor old prawn fishers and worm diggers work by a fairly strict environmental ethic already, they more than anyone want their industries to remain viable and sustainable. Another potential disaster and a good reminder to NEVER buy frozen imported prawns for bait

Hi Frank that was my fear too! Sure was lucky the virus didn't pass on to other creatures/fish because it looked horrible around the gills of the dead. Glad you enjoyed the read Love to catch up soon Waza

Hi Yowie and thanks!

Hi Neil it is slowly- just age more than anything I guess, things take heaps longer to get better! It's a bugger when all of a sudden you're the same age as all the old feller's!

Once the float's right, when you finish fishing leave the lead tied to each float you use when you put it away- saves mucking around weighting each time. Most of my floats have the appropriate weight tied to the bottom float runner while in the float tube. Great to hear you got an Alvey for the beach! You'll love it- especially when you can just dip it in the ocean to clear any pesky sand out! What size Alvey and what rod/line did you get?

Hi Rebel thank you! Hope the Blackfishing is keeping you entertained!

Hi Pete bummer for your mate, it was the second similar kill, the previous one was in 1995. After talking to the biologist I wished we'd loaded up on the Pillies as they were both super fresh and the largest I've ever seen- could have made our own blocks and I had a big bait freezer that was virtually empty!

Hi Neil and thanks for the high praise, I haven't been that well for the last couple of months and have had a few other problems to boot, however thought writing might re-focus my thinking, which it has. Whenever something comes to mind fishing wise I'll post it up, glad you enjoyed it Regards Waza

The full moon was approaching and it was due on a mid-week night, the beginning of Tailor season in Sydney. We've always loved Tailor fishing and the number one spot in Sydney is the Sow and Pigs Reef. The reef is situated almost right in the centre of Sydney Harbour between Georges Head in the west and Camp Cove in the east, is visible on all bar the highest tides and has a small wave break on the north-eastern side. Being both the first and also largest reef system that migrating fish encounter after entering the harbour, it naturally is the first location that most species stop at. Typical of a large reef system, there are all manner of fish residing, add to this the migrating species stopping over and it is a really productive spot for fishers to try their luck. There are ever present schools of Yellowtail, seasonal Pilchards, Whitebait and Anchovy, abundant Octopus and usually plenty of Squid. Weed, cabbage and cunjevoi are also present on the exposed section, providing a virtual smorgasbord of different foods, which in turn attract all manner of species of fish. The reef is best known for both Tailor and Trevally, the former being constant visitors and the latter for taking up residence throughout the winter months and can be found all over the large area of the reef in schools of similar sized fish. Other notable species found there are Bream and Luderick, but you are likely to encounter almost anything from Kingfish to Hairtail to Whiting, but for our trip, the focus was on Tailor. In years past, any of the big moon nights from March until the end of June would see large schools of Tailor hunting the "Pigs" and catches of fish in excess of 100 were really common, in fact throughout the 60's, 70's and mid 80's some unbelievable catches were recorded. In organised competition, catches of 2-300 fish per angler were often taken and with no bag limits in those days it was wholesale slaughter for organised crews. This trip however, we needed some for a big BBQ and the target was about 3 dozen, not too hard a task normally on a big full moon at this spot. Being a week night, it was a pretty easy launch from Rose Bay ramp and about twenty minutes later we were anchored up on our preferred south-eastern side of the reef in about 8 metres of water. Although the general consensus about fishing the "Pigs" is to normally fish back towards the hard reef, we've found just as many fish are cruising the shallower eastern side and less unwanted vermin species- especially octopus, which are quick to pounce on any whole fish baits that make it down to the bottom. There are plenty of other quality fish over this side also, not just the Tailor. The general rules regarding the Tailor are that the rougher the sea outside the heads, the more fish come inside and if you combine a big run in tide starting just before dark with the rising bright moon and a decent and consistent burley trail, it never took long for a roving Tailor school to take up station about 15-20 metres behind the boat. All set up, a nice thin burley trail flowing and 3 Pilchards cast out behind the boat, swaying enticingly (we thought!) in the ever increasing flow of the big run in tide that was just starting to move strongly. Little chance of the bait making it to the bottom for an octopus tonight. The rig is really basic- a short leader of 40lb mono tied to a swivel and a set of 3 ganged 6/0 hooks- hook size is really determined by the size of the Pilchards, occasionally 5/0's were used and even 7/0's at times. Reason for the large hooks?- they are heaps stronger than most "recommended" 3/0-4/0's, you only need 3 hooks instead of 4 to have the last hook sitting just in front of the Pilchard's tail and it's far quicker to bait up and the larger hooks are easily removed from the fish. The general idea is that you want to hook the fish on the last hook, rather than have them take a second hook- which makes it a slower process to take out of the struggling fish- the bigger hooks make the process far easier and any legal sized Tailor can be caught just as easily on the big hooks. No lead is used and the baits are cast well back behind the boat, allowed to sink for a few seconds and then retrieved slowly. When the "rat-a-tat-tat" of a Tailor bite is felt, you don't strike hard with the rod, instead, just a short sharp lift of the rod tip combined with about a 3/4 turn of the sidecast reel is enough to set the hooks and the hooked Tailor is raced in and swung up under your arm for quick unhooking, then dropped into the waiting box. Most of the time the fish weren't bled due to them being caught really rapidly- if bled and thrown into the box together, the different blood types of the individual fish contribute to them going "soft" so natural rigor mortis along with the cool night air kept them fresh enough. Having said all this about how good the spot is and how many fish and species are there of a night time, this night there were no takers at all and even the usual hordes of Yellowtail that sit just under the surface in the eddy formed at the back of the boat were nowhere to be seen. Highly unusual to say the least. At times, for reasons only known to them, the Tailor come through along the bottom, but this was usually more commonly encountered on the deeper south-western side of the Pigs, rarely on the shallower east side. A few pieces of sheet-lead are added on the leader under the swivel and this generally gets the bait down low enough to reach the take zone, so after no initial success, this was tried also. Same result- no bites on dusk, which is prime time. Disappointing. The moon started to appear as it rose over the headland and Camp Cove to the east and expectation was high, the burley trail well established and the boat sitting perfectly where we wanted it, but no fish showed up at all. Then, as the moon rose higher, illuminating the water and almost turning night into day with it's brightness, we started to spot fish floating past us. First just a few, then within about 15 minutes, a constant stream of them. They were Pilchards and they were as large a Pilchard as we'd ever seen. They were floating pretty much on the surface and we started scooping them with the landing net. In only about 15 minutes we had about 1/4 of a box and we noticed that most of them had redness around the gill openings, they were so fresh looking, you could tell they were only recently dead. They were also almost "warm" to touch. We put the rods in the boat's rod holders and concentrated on getting the floating dead with the net, but after discussing the sinister looking red marks around the gill openings decided that half a box would be plenty to keep for burley, because we didn't know where they'd come from or what had killed them. With this huge natural burley trail we wondered why there were no fish around and then tried using the dead ones instead of our frozen block Pilchards. This resulted in constant takes from Arrow Squid that suddenly seemed to be there in mass, pouncing on the new baits soon after they were cast out. We managed to get a decent catch of them, not hooked, they were simply hanging onto the bait and lifted aboard. Probably half the time they just didn't let go of the Pilchard, even when lifted from the water. As it was a week night, with work beckoning the next morning and only the squid interested in our Pilchards, we decided to leave the Pigs and head to the ever reliable Fort Denison, where there were usually Tailor of varying sizes patrolling right in close to the north-western side, where they would attack any bait thrown into the lights that used to shine down from the Fort's round section. There were plenty there albeit only just above "chopper" size and we got what we needed and were careful to keep the Squid and Tailor away from our netted Pilchards- just in case the "redness" was poisonous. I slept in the next morning and ended up having a day off work, so I rang State Fisheries to tell them about the Pilchards. They put me through to a biologist and the first thing he said to me was "haven't you seen today's paper?- the story is on the front cover" - it was and the headline said "Beaches of Death" - the Pilchards had washed up by the thousands and were piled high on the small north facing beach at Bradleys Head as well as Clifton Gardens and Nielsen Park beaches. He went on to say that there was a giant mass of floating Pilchards about half a km offshore and all manner of marine life were there gorging on them. He was involved with a research program monitoring Sea Gulls and explained that it was really eerie from a researcher's perspective, because although there are 2 major Gull flocks in each of both Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay, for two days the birds had failed to return inside and were just sitting adjacent to the floating Pilchard mass and gorging like all the other marine life. No birds in either Botany nor the Harbour. Within a few days, there was news coming from all the way around the coast, South Australia all the way up to the mouth of the Hawkesbury, where the Pilchards were all dying of an unknown disease. It turned out to be a Herpes type virus, which fortunately only affected the Pilchard stocks and wasn't passed on through the food chain, or it would have been a complete ecological disaster. The year was 1998 and the "reasons" authorities declared blame on were the Tuna in pens on the Tuna "farms" were being fed cheaper frozen imported Pilchards and the Herpes type virus survived being frozen and was passed on to local stocks that are also found in the vicinity of the Tuna farms. After managing by sheer luck to avoid a disaster from using imported seafood (albeit just as fish food) it's a shame some bureaucratic decision maker allowed the White Spot virus(which affects both prawns and marine worms) to be imported via frozen prawns into Australia, the virus is the reason that Bloodworms have been declared "Hazardous" and haven't been allowed to be sold for several years now. The worms so far haven't contracted the virus, but sadly the Southeast Queensland prawn fishery has been greatly affected and the potential for the worms to spread the virus is too great to risk. After witnessing first hand the Pilchard kill I can attest to what a waste of fish it was, if it had transmitted to other fish species and birds, who knows what could have happened.