humesy Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) Howdy, Have been out twice this week on night Harbour jewie missions. On saturday met up with a mate and his 2 kids who had a blast catching yakkas for me at Balmoral. I dropped them off for the night time vigil in Middle Harbour. Thought i had seen good shapes and bait schools on the sounder but all that showed up on the end of my line was a shovel nose. Tried spot B but the water was like a light show with all the phosphorescence. Actually I don't know what it was like. There is nothing else like it. Did some squidding at the spit and managed a few before heading home. My boat must have looked like one of those hotted up subarus you see cruising bondi beach on a saturday night with its brilliant blue wake. Tried again last night, hitting the water at 4.30. Checked out a kingie spot and again found big bait schools. Put some squid out and set about catching a tank full of tasty new season yakkas and a few slimies into the mix. Alas no kingies showed up hich was disappointing. Headed around to a new spot, west of the Bridge and bugger me, the same damn light show. Water was dead and I gave it two hours before chucking it in. I have read that this is the best plan (chucking it in) when phosphorescence is about. Got pulled over by the water police at 9.20 on a Tuesday night for a random breath and safety check which was a surprise. Managed a few more squid at the spit before plowing a bright blue path back to the boat ramp. The water police said that it has been around for two weeks. Are there any gurus who would like to offer their worldly experiences on this matter. (have a go or don't bother) Cheers Edited October 1, 2008 by humesy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donjuarez Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 I went for a quick landbased session the other night in Middle harbour and noticed the exact same thing!!! what is it? was causes it? I was amazed by it!!! never seen anything like it before... As yourself, very quiet night... heaps of bait around! One solid hit on a dead bait from what I suspect was a decent Snapper but no hookup... Untouched Livie got to live another day .. couldn;t arouse the interest of my first ever jew... but he will come.. (hopefully tonight) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretsch Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Hey Humesy.. this is from Wiki: In simple terms, phosphorescence is a process in which energy absorbed by a substance is released relatively slowly in the form of light. This is in some cases the mechanism used for "glow-in-the-dark" materials which are "charged" by exposure to light. Unlike the relatively swift reactions in a common fluorescent tube, phosphorescent materials used for these materials absorb the energy and "store" it for a longer time as the subatomic reactions required to re-emit the light occur less often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPL Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Whenever i come across it i give up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 i've seen this at dora creek only in green like a bad lsd trip it lights up every thing even your line and is not good for fishing we called fluresents a farmer once told me it was to do with ph levels gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claxton Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Raiders Thanks heaps for the info. Am going to go and try landbased in MH this evening. Will let you know how I go. Hopefully I can start sharing tips rather than just taking them ! Cheers Claxton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Whenever you see that flourescence light up the water Andrew, you will find squid are highly active but everything else goes off. I've struck that everywhere and at Wally's wharf when everyone else catches squid I get nothing at all with the bait jigs out. If I see that stuff I only cast one baited rod out just to confirm I'll catch nothing again and make the whole session a squid one. When using green eye in the Hawkesbury instead of arrow I reckon fill the tube up with glow bait and see if that works as good. Cheers Byron PM me your mobile number mate, I lost it when my mobile was stolen. I've had cortesone injections in a sort of a last stand before more back surgery, so it looks like a drive up north for a coffee then over the road with a beach rod while your still on school hols, ay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen801 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Hi mate, Yeah i noticed it last week during the day as suspended particle matter in the water column. I guess at night it glows. Seen it before and results always the same - bugger all!! After that i thought i would give it a miss for a few weeks in MH so i cleaned the boat and put her away. Cheers PS GO MANLY!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongy Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 So do we all agree that when this mystical blue-green glow is seen, its pointless fishing? What about during the day? Although the phospherescence is not seen for obvious reasons, I would imagine the cause of it is still present in the water. So is it the cause or effect of the glow that results in poor fishing conditions?????? BTW, I too have been out at night with the phospherescence, and caught zip. Great light show though..... Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moro Mou Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 I agree that when it is around nothing seems to be on the chew. I have also often noticed that when it does appear i often get stange slug/worm looking creatures (they also glow) on my baits. Does anyone know what these are? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant180 Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 The effect is caused by tiny micro organisms in the water, like kind of plankton. When the water is fairly still they do not emit any light, but a little bit of a nudge by moving water, or a line in the water etc and they emit light, in a similar way to a glow worm. I'm not too convinced that all fish go off the bite, as I have caught fish in these conditions, and seen fish caught. It adds a great effect to a cold night on the boat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Yep, thats right Ant. Its actually a bug and it emitts light when disturbed. Spoke to a marine biologist about it up at Couran Cove during a fishing comp presentation and she blew me away with the facts. She told me the name of the bug but one too many drinks took care of that Have caught plenty of jew over the years when this bug has been thick. Naturally it stands out a lot more when there's little or no moon, as we've had in recent days. The down side is, this bug makes jews look HUGE when down deep. The trail of light behind the fish is an awesome sight No torch required for gaffshots. Cheers Red Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pelican Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Yep, thats right Ant. Its actually a bug and it emitts light when disturbed. Spoke to a marine biologist about it up at Couran Cove during a fishing comp presentation and she blew me away with the facts. She told me the name of the bug but one too many drinks took care of that Have caught plenty of jew over the years when this bug has been thick. Naturally it stands out a lot more when there's little or no moon, as we've had in recent days. The down side is, this bug makes jews look HUGE when down deep. The trail of light behind the fish is an awesome sight No torch required for gaffshots. Cheers Red Ahhh well that sort of answers my question which was is it in the whole water column or just the first few feet. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donjuarez Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 For the record gave it another go last night... Plenty of yakkas.. they look like fireworks going off underwater... awesome sight! Tried sending out a butterflied and livey ... not even a sniff.... Not to be deterred.. I will land my first ever Jew.. and of all jews.. it'll be a middle harbour one!... soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King slayer Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 me and my mate had a little LB session last night, The water was amazing with every drop a splash of light! Clontarf saw nothing but a blue swimmer and little chopper bite marks out of the plastics and bait. Spit bridge was a different story, my mate got a very healthy flattie quite quick and I hooked a smaller one which jumped of at the shore. Nothing touched the nice fresh squid we threw out though! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigholio Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 (edited) The critters that flicker and glow are called: (u ready for this?) Bioluminescent phytoplankton. Likely Noctiluca, Ctenophores or Dinoflagellates. They convert oxygen to light via chemical reaction. Dinos are responsible for so called "red tides" often accompanied by fish kills - they can leech that much oxygen from the water much like blue-green algal blooms in fresh water. I don't believe a red tide has been documented in Aussie waters. Tongue twisting biochemistry lesson ends/ Jig Edited October 2, 2008 by Jigholio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hook'm Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 its zooxanthellae algae which is the same stuff that inhabits corals cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickb Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 its zooxanthellae algae which is the same stuff that inhabits corals cheers The pytho-plankton attract the zooplankton, THAT IS WHAT i TOLD YOU ABOUT MY GREEN MAGNET. WORKS OFF SPECIAL GASES AND EARTH pHOSPHORS. CHEERS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 The pytho-plankton attract the zooplankton, THAT IS WHAT i TOLD YOU ABOUT MY GREEN MAGNET. WORKS OFF SPECIAL GASES AND EARTH pHOSPHORS. CHEERS. Hi Humesy When this bioluminescent phytoplankton phosphorous stuff is all over the water, looks like we either do a session with Red and enjoy the fireworks display or use Rickb's green magnets as sinkers. Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Cam Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 I noticed this stuff as well last Saturday in MH. It gives me another excuse when says "Is that all you caught today" - Ahh yeah .....it was the bioluminescent phytoplankton phosphorous...... Cheers, Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilm Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 The critters that flicker and glow are called: (u ready for this?) Bioluminescent phytoplankton. Likely Noctiluca, Ctenophores or Dinoflagellates. They convert oxygen to light via chemical reaction. Dinos are responsible for so called "red tides" often accompanied by fish kills - they can leech that much oxygen from the water much like blue-green algal blooms in fresh water. I don't believe a red tide has been documented in Aussie waters. Tongue twisting biochemistry lesson ends/ Jig Hey check out Thursday's Manly Daily - page 4 "Red October comes to Clontarf". I wonder if they're related - certainly sounds like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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