Guest Guest123456789 Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 (edited) I used the fish cleaning table at Woy Woy on Sunday. Never again will I use it. i was surrounded by 20 aggressive pelicans. Bloody things try sneaking up behind you, beside you within snapping distance. Previously I’ve lost a whole fish to a pelican who snapped it off the table while standing behind me. has anyone else had this issue? i can think of a few solutions: 1. Stop feeding them at fisherman’s Wharf 2. fence off the table with a 1.5 metre fence im going to start using a picnic table on the way home which is a shame because it will make the table quite smelly. I’m probably not going to use the ramp at lions park anymore either because of pelicans. Edited August 3, 2020 by Guest123456789 Typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Signing Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 (edited) They're no better anywhere in the Crookhaven river these days either. Even in my lifetime they have become less and less shy of humans. I've lost a couple of mowies off the table to them over the years. Doesn't seem to matter how many times you shoo them away they are straight back Edited August 3, 2020 by New Signing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Common at every boat ramp now, free feed with no effort, tourists love them though, I saw one steal 4 Flathead yesterday, the guy put them on the table, turned away to get his knife, and two Pelicans took the lot, he was not happy. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Why not just take the fish home to clean? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 1 hour ago, flatheadluke said: 2. fence off the table with a 1.5 metre fence Makes it hard if your on your own to otherwise some standing behind you facing them would put them off Send this picture to the council of what some other councils are providing. This is the table at Botany which is fantastic but at some other local ramps there isnt even a cleaning table at all so you dont have a choice really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 It may have been on Raider, but I recently read to put a fake octopus on the table. Apparently pelicans are petrified of the real thing. Don't know how effective it is, but worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyT Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 not a fan of cleaning tables full stop, mainly because they are not cleaned to the same std i would in my own kitchen, i usually GUT and gill on the boat and fillet at home, with flatties i just fillet them without gutting and freeze the frames and guts for crabbing. It would be rare for me to fillet a fish the same day i catch it- its a lot easier to fillet after rigor mortis has settled in so leave them in the fridge till the next day. Pelicans are aggresive buggers at times, thats for sure. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 1 hour ago, seasponge said: Why not just take the fish home to clean? Because I don’t want to get divorced Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berleyguts Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 I might be a sick b...tard because I like to freak out the looky-loo tourists taking photos of the pelicans by throwing frames in their direction. 😂 I’ve had the odd fish taken by a pelican. It doesn’t really concern me but I’ve learnt to guard my catch better. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 5 hours ago, noelm said: Common at every boat ramp now, free feed with no effort, tourists love them though, I saw one steal 4 Flathead yesterday, the guy put them on the table, turned away to get his knife, and two Pelicans took the lot, he was not happy. Call me a %%%%% but that would have made my day seeing that 🤣🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 3 hours ago, Green Hornet said: It may have been on Raider, but I recently read to put a fake octopus on the table. Apparently pelicans are petrified of the real thing. Don't know how effective it is, but worth a try. This should scare the crap out of them then 🤣 Sorry FHL, couldnt help myself on that one 🙄😜 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 I think I posted this before, but not that long ago I saw a tourist sneaking up on a Pelican to take a photo with her phone (no need to sneak up on them) she held the phone out, the Pelican snapped it right out of her hand, making a nice wound on her hand, then promptly swallowed the phone, straight down.... 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 33 minutes ago, noelm said: I think I posted this before, but not that long ago I saw a tourist sneaking up on a Pelican to take a photo with her phone (no need to sneak up on them) she held the phone out, the Pelican snapped it right out of her hand, making a nice wound on her hand, then promptly swallowed the phone, straight down.... I guess the Pelican had to make an urgent call, hands free of course 😝 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welster Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 3 hours ago, kingie chaser said: I guess the Pelican had to make an urgent call, hands free of course 😝 😂 It makes a carrier pigeon look really old school . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Not really relevant to the gist of your story Luke but it always amazes me how opportunistic animals and birds are. I live in the Central Southern area of NSW, a long way from the coast. The local irrigation channels have been drained ready for removal of the muddy bottom which affects the depth of these channels. So now we have numerous pelicans walking along in the shallows picking up fish (mostly Carp, I guess) to the extent that they can barely take off. They don't miss a trick that's for sure. Cheers, bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 11 hours ago, kingie chaser said: This should scare the crap out of them then 🤣 Sorry FHL, couldnt help myself on that one 🙄😜 Ha, that would scare the crap out of me!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 14 hours ago, flatheadluke said: Because I don’t want to get divorced 😆😆 I made myself my own fish cleaning table at home 👍 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonywardle Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 I guess its good that you've got something to clean @flatheadluke!!! If you are in your boat, maybe clean them when you are tied up. I usually do that as @PaddyT said above. I mostly just do the gills and gullet though, and that was because I used to get bugged by a lot of tourists. I do the fillets at home, and if I have flathead, the backbone is good for the dog. I lost a luderick to a pelican at the entrance. Lept across the table to grab my arm, then got it on the rebound. My boy was doing a rubbish job of squirting them with the hose! Maybe we need to go for a flathead drift soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 You guys need to train the pelicans. 🤣 At my mother's place, they learn to wait. I can leave the fish on the brag mat while I collect the phone, and the fish are still there, with the pelicans looking on. While I am cleaning, the old bugger stands at the top of the queue if there are a few about, and if a young one wants to butt in, the old bugger grabs the young one around the head, nearly swallowing his head then wrestles him down the ramp to the back of the queue. He then pushes his way to the front of the queue and waits to be hand fed the skeletons. One day I filleted a jewie, then cut off the wing section (the section behind the throat with the pectoral fins, it is a bit spiky with the bones in it) and threw it to the old bugger. He caught it and flicked it back to me. I cut out the meat chunks and threw them to him, and he ate the pieces, he did not like the bones. Fussy old bugger. 😝 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 I have a funny, yet cruel accidental story about Pelicans at the cleaning table, it's not suitable to tell here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffb5.8 Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 We had a pelican steal a whole frozen adult mullet while loading the boat, it really struggled to swallow the thing. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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