Missing In Action

[livo]

Is anybody catching Tailor from the beaches?

I went last week and felt what seemed to be tailor but couldn't hookup using gangs of 4 by 4/0 (my usual tailor rig). Went back yesterday with gang of 3 by 3/0 and some smaller pillies and I caught 6 but only 2 were just legal. Smoked tailor fillets for me and tonight. The other 4 were choppers which ranged from 15 cm to 25 cm.

Saw 2 other keepers each caught 1 a piece by 2 out of the other 10 rods in the water along 200m of Fisho's Corner.

One rod pulled a big lizard and I also got a small throwback lizard. Couple of Dart caught as well but the greenies are not there.

While I don't do the beaches as often as I once did due to 90 minute return drive trip, this time of year used to produce good bags of good fish. Big Greenbacks, and it was nothing to get 8 - 20 in an hour. I've always caught tailor from early February right up to Easter. They just don't seem to be around. I had a workmate from Hornsby who used to regularly drive up for an arvo session and we always got a feed.

Any ideas?

[Davy]

dunno mate but i'll be sure to report anything decent, when i hit the sand tomoro night!

Edited March 16, 2007 by Davy

[caine]

they got eaten by all the salmon maybe????

[Frantic]

Fishing the rocks upon the mid north coast between hat head and coffs. My father and i

always had a few tailor in our bag ranging from 2 to 8lb.it usually coincides with the run of

sea bream and sea mullet from the south which starts about april till august but over the last

5 or 6 years there has been a major depletion of tailor over those months.As far as im aware

its mainly due to the beach hauling of mullet from way down south all the way to QLD.there

commercial fishos use jet boats, big nets and net them all the way up the coast,and the

bycatch of tailor and sea bream is huge.Ive personnaly seen tailor ,mullet and sea bream all left

high and dry on the beach and left to rot or be washed back into the surf dead.i have also heard

of massive catches being buried in the sand because the price was to low so they didnt bother

to send them to market. Its a absolute disgrace

In the last 2 seasons we have only been able to catch maybe 20 (thats in 6mths)

[livo]

Fishing the rocks upon the mid north coast between hat head and coffs. My father and i

always had a few tailor in our bag ranging from 2 to 8lb.it usually coincides with the run of

sea bream and sea mullet from the south which starts about april till august but over the last

5 or 6 years there has been a major depletion of tailor over those months.As far as im aware

its mainly due to the beach hauling of mullet from way down south all the way to QLD.there

commercial fishos use jet boats, big nets and net them all the way up the coast,and the

bycatch of tailor and sea bream is huge.Ive personnaly seen tailor ,mullet and sea bream all left

high and dry on the beach and left to rot or be washed back into the surf dead.i have also heard

of massive catches being buried in the sand because the price was to low so they didnt bother

to send them to market. Its a absolute disgrace

In the last 2 seasons we have only been able to catch maybe 20 (thats in 6mths)

Being mindfull on this site's rules it's not possible to vent feelings about who is to blame or not to blame. I know that when the beach netters hit my spot for mullet each April it spells the end of the tailor for that season but I never witnessed any bycatch or dumping. I just assumed they took off out to sea or further north on their migration.

A few years back there were unconfirmed reports of a group of Recreational fisherman exceeding bag limits by many times in one day at my usual haunt and I didn't doubt that it was possible that year. Witnesses claimed that 200 fish were killed in a day by a very small group of anglers (2) and it made the local papers. I was there when 5 of us bagged out in less than an hour one afternoon on 1/2s by 1/4s with not a pilly hitting the water. Many were caught and released and we all went home before the Mossies hit. The fish were big and to keep 20 each was unneccesary. I took 10 that afternoon.

Dumping because of low prices seems a bit stupid although I have heard of it before today. Why bother to catch them in the first place? I do know that many sea mullet are caught only for the roe in export markets, not for the flesh and this makes for a lot of unwanted mullet fillets. At least it coincides with the fish eating season of Easter.

Are other people noticing a decline in numbers and size? Do we know anything about dwindling stocks of these once plentiful fish?

If it's widespread it makes you wonder whether or not they'll recover doesn't it?

Edited March 17, 2007 by livo