Prawning?

[moldyform]

Hi i have head that there are some pretty good prawns in Lake Illawarra. As i live 20 mins away i thought id give it a go. Just not sure how to go about it.

What equiptment to use, when to go, what moon/Tide, and where to go??

Any help would be great!!

Cheers

[LittleNoah]

Hi i have head that there are some pretty good prawns in Lake Illawarra. As i live 20 mins away i thought id give it a go. Just not sure how to go about it.

What equiptment to use, when to go, what moon/Tide, and where to go??

Any help would be great!!

Cheers

Hi moldyform,

Equipment - You will obviously need a prawning net which you can get at basicly any tackle store, kmrt, bigw, etc. A light (most people use underwater lights which you can probably get at the same place as your net) in which case you need a car battery to run it. Depending on weather you are walking or in a boat you could need waders, a floating box of some sort to hold the battery and a bucket to put your prawns in. If in a boat you obviously don't need the floating box. The other type of light (which i prefer, but i prawn out of a boat) is the old gas light, I reckon the under water lights are too bright and the prawns are spooked by the light but if walking you don't really have a choice.

Moon/tide, when & where - I was taught to go around 4 days after the full moon. Has to be the run out tide at any time of night. Try either down the entrance or in the back channel if you're a walker or basicly anywhere along the edge of the channel next to a weed bed if in a boat.

Hope this helps, good luck.

P.S. There's no better prawn than a fresh cooked Lake Illawarra prawn

[moldyform]

thanks for that,

I read somewhere that it was better to go when there is no moon??

How whould a headlight go??

cheers

[arpie]

Yep - No moon is correct (RIGHT NOW IS GOOD!!) Only problem is, the run is 1hr later every evening ..... and last night they didn't start running till midnight in the lake here & only for 2hrs. In a closed lake, you should be able to just wade for them & scoop, but be careful of 'pelican' itch. Wear waders to prevent it!

Wendy & I were out last night till 3am this morning & got 1kg ...... we were in our kayaks & stayed away from the boats, so were picking off the ones that they had misssed Next time, we'll move further down into a different channel & should get more.

Headlights are good. I bodgied one up that had a belt held battery case of 4 D batteries ..... and bought a 6v rechargeable battery (similar to a small fish finder battery) and have it sitting in my backpack. It lasted for 5hrs last night! Will recharge it today Nothing worse than your battery dying just when the run is getting busier!

I also sunk a bucket with holes in it into a 1/2 a boogy board & Wendy tied it to her waist & it followed us around, to put the prawns in.

Good luck & have fun!

Roberta

[LittleNoah]

That depends what lake you're prawning in. Where you're asking about in Lake Illawarra I was taught 4 days after full moon, but when we used to prawn down at sussex inlet it was 10 days after the full moon. For example, this week there's basicly no-one out prawning on the lake here, where as a week or so ago the lake was lit up like a christmas tree with prawning lights. Also my pop, my dad and now me have always gone by this rule for Lake Illawarra and last season I only prawned 1 dark, going by this rule, over 4 nights my mate and I averaged around 9 or 10kg a night between us, so it seems to work OK for me.

I've got no idea how any other lakes or rivers work for prawns.

The tide in the lake here is around 2 - 3 hrs behind the tide charts, depends on the size of the tide I think. There's only around 1/2hr of slack water and then the tide starts ripping again, theres heaps of water coming in and out now the lake is open again.

Never tried a headlight but what roberta said sounds OK if you're walking.

Edited October 29, 2008 by LittleNoah

[moldyform]

Hi

Thanks for your replies guys!

Went last night but there wasnt much action.

I though that the prawns would actully be comming down in the current and you would mearly just scoop them out. Last night i was on a hunting spree. Only got a round 50.

LittleNoah, what are you meaning by this?? Are you saying that you go 4 days after a full moon??

Also my pop, my dad and now me have always gone by this rule for Lake Illawarra and last season I only prawned 1 dark,

Also what do you do one you bring them home? Cook them straight away, freeze them/fridge??

Also i think i need a better devic for putting in the caught prawns. I used a bucket last night but somthing that is free floating would be good. What do others use??

Cheers

[tuna1]

Get a square plastic contianer from bunnings or where ever big enough to hold a car battery drill a couple of holes in it and put the rope through the holes and tie it around your waist and away you go.

I,ve always caught a lot of prawns around the no moon an up the back of the lake on the run out tide never tried 4 days after the full moon have to give it ago.