Rats and Mice

[Little_Flatty]

Welcome to my useless thought of the day🤣

Those of you who fish saltwater land based will know that rats and mice are common on the shorelines, most notably in urban areas. The past few times I have noticed rats scurrying around…surely a few have fallen into the drink and become fish food!

I wonder if they may form part of the diet of estuary fish as a result? Part of me is thinking that it might be worth including a rat lure in my arsenal!

I know Murray cod eat them, but has anyone tried mice imitations in the salt?

Edited February 23, 2023 by Little_Flatty

[DerekD]

I saw a mouse fly for fly fishing years ago at which I had an "are you kidding moment" but it seems they work pretty well at some locations.

Maybe get one and you can give saltwater mouse fly fishing a go.

Alternatively, you could take it to the next level and tie your own:

 

[Yowie]

Mike,

I saw a series of photos years ago, where the kids in the community (overseas) caught rats by hand, swung them around and clonked their heads on the ground, now dead, skinned them, cut off the legs, head, tail and skinned them, removed the gut, cleaned them out and sold them as quail. Very hard to spot the difference between rat and quail prepared for the shop sales.  

[Little_Flatty]

1 hour ago, DerekD said:

I saw a mouse fly for fly fishing years ago at which I had an "are you kidding moment" but it seems they work pretty well at some locations.

Maybe get one and you can give saltwater mouse fly fishing a go.

Alternatively, you could take it to the next level and tie your own:

 

Might be worth a go! That reminds me, when the tides are good again, I need to take my fly rod out on my morning walk . I now have some sinking polyleader so that should remove the problem I have with the flies not getting down to the strike zone.

1 hour ago, Yowie said:

Mike,

I saw a series of photos years ago, where the kids in the community (overseas) caught rats by hand, swung them around and clonked their heads on the ground, now dead, skinned them, cut off the legs, head, tail and skinned them, removed the gut, cleaned them out and sold them as quail. Very hard to spot the difference between rat and quail prepared for the shop sales.  

I had a colleague who in the 90s did a lot of work as an expat in Beijing. One of his favourite things was going to this grill where they had long rolls of thinly sliced meat. He always made a point of unrolling the whole lot to confirm that it wasn't rat meat! 🤣

In the early 2000s, when I was living in China 'studying'*** (i.e. partying) at university, there was a food fair just outside my campus. There was a shop with lots of live creepy crawlies and they could be cooked on the spot fresh for human consumption. Being extremely adventurous eaters, my mate and I had a go. He ordered a big spider and I ordered the assorted bugs mix. The spider was interesting enough, but the bugs were...meh... 😒. Then we looked around at our fellow insect eaters. Surprise, surprise, it was only the tourists who were eating the bugs (despite being Chinese, I was very much a tourist!). The locals were wisely chowing down on noodles next door! 🤣

Funny, in some countries, if the kids sold rat as rat, they'd probably make more money!

***in my defence, I did get top marks for my final paper for the year! 😎

[Larkin]

2 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Might be worth a go! That reminds me, when the tides are good again, I need to take my fly rod out on my morning walk . I now have some sinking polyleader so that should remove the problem I have with the flies not getting down to the strike zone.

I had a colleague who in the 90s did a lot of work as an expat in Beijing. One of his favourite things was going to this grill where they had long rolls of thinly sliced meat. He always made a point of unrolling the whole lot to confirm that it wasn't rat meat! 🤣

In the early 2000s, when I was living in China 'studying'*** (i.e. partying) at university, there was a food fair just outside my campus. There was a shop with lots of live creepy crawlies and they could be cooked on the spot fresh for human consumption. Being extremely adventurous eaters, my mate and I had a go. He ordered a big spider and I ordered the assorted bugs mix. The spider was interesting enough, but the bugs were...meh... 😒. Then we looked around at our fellow insect eaters. Surprise, surprise, it was only the tourists who were eating the bugs (despite being Chinese, I was very much a tourist!). The locals were wisely chowing down on noodles next door! 🤣

Funny, in some countries, if the kids sold rat as rat, they'd probably make more money!

***in my defence, I did get top marks for my final paper for the year! 😎

Yep, the street markets at night in Beijing have those spiders and scorpion kebabs. Like you said, the tourists are the ones eating them lol. I wasn’t keen on them.

I have also seen those big rat lures at the tackle shop. I think there’s also a budgie lure - splashing action pulled along the surface - replicates a baby budgie that’s fallen out of the tree.

[jordy]

  Read a fishing report from Newcastle Harbour some years back. The fisho caught a large jew which when gutted had 2 partially digested rats in the stomach contents.

[Yowie]

9 minutes ago, jordy said:

  Read a fishing report from Newcastle Harbour some years back. The fisho caught a large jew which when gutted had 2 partially digested rats in the stomach contents.

Rats swim along the surface at night, and jewies will feed at the surface at night, so a swimming rat is easy tucker.

[Green Hornet]

I can’t believe this has got so far without someone mentioning catfish.

There’s your Friday morning Dad joke.

[Yowie]

1 hour ago, Green Hornet said:

I can’t believe this has got so far without someone mentioning catfish.

There’s your Friday morning Dad joke.

Don't get me started. 🤣

[XD351]

Might be a reliable source of live bait 😂😂

[slothparade]

Had a bit of a rat problem, anyways dog did it's job and caught a whole bunch and decided to do a little experiment as people were saying sharks will only eat things they're used to, chucked a rat out and caught a small bullshark on a dead rat. I'm sure little chunks of rat would work for bream and stuff, hard to say. 

[bessell1955]

I have caught Bass, that had digested a rat.

[DerekD]

Hi @Little_Flatty skip the mouse lure and go straight to the rat lure:

 

[Bennyg78]

And this,

 

[Mike Sydney]

I see them swimming on the surface at night all the time. Not just next to the shore either, they will swim off into the deep without a care in the world, paddling on top easy as you like. A very regular sight at night, I watched one swim away from shore until I couldn’t see it anymore. What compels a rat to swim off towards nothingness I don’t know (….is it me, rat?) but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were getting gobbled by jewies every now and then. 

[Little_Flatty]

10 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi @Little_Flatty skip the mouse lure and go straight to the rat lure:

 

Now THAT is a lure!🤣 I’m intrigued by American fish. Got to have a fish over there one day!

So what do you reckon Derek? Up the gear to 20lb braid, 30lb leader and fish the same way you are fishing for bream?🤣

9 hours ago, Bennyg78 said:

And this,

 

Yeah I’m not surprised that bass will have a go. I’m sure we’ll dig up a cod video if we look.

8 hours ago, Mike Sydney said:

I see them swimming on the surface at night all the time. Not just next to the shore either, they will swim off into the deep without a care in the world, paddling on top easy as you like. A very regular sight at night, I watched one swim away from shore until I couldn’t see it anymore. What compels a rat to swim off towards nothingness I don’t know (….is it me, rat?) but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were getting gobbled by jewies every now and then. 

Well people (who often cease to exist shortly after) swim in croc and shark infested waters, so I’m not surprised!

[DerekD]

8 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

Now THAT is a lure!🤣 I’m intrigued by American fish. Got to have a fish over there one day!

So what do you reckon Derek? Up the gear to 20lb braid, 30lb leader and fish the same way you are fishing for bream?🤣

I think you have nailed it on the set up and I'd probably be using a baitcaster for the fun of it. Think I'd be bringing my barra outfit over there.

I really like that channel as he does amazing videos without over hyping it and doing so without the shouting and yahooing. Watch a few more of his videos if you get the chance. There are several where the clarity is such you can see the fish holding position in the streams he paddles up and down.

[Madkanu]

On 3/6/2023 at 7:18 AM, Little_Flatty said:

Now THAT is a lure!🤣 I’m intrigued by American fish. Got to have a fish over there one day!

So what do you reckon Derek? Up the gear to 20lb braid, 30lb leader and fish the same way you are fishing for bream?🤣

Yeah I’m not surprised that bass will have a go. I’m sure we’ll dig up a cod video if we look.

Well people (who often cease to exist shortly after) swim in croc and shark infested waters, so I’m not surprised!

Really like the look of the action on that rat lure. I’ve never seen one swim but that’s about how I would imagine it would look. 

[Fab1]

On 2/23/2023 at 6:18 PM, Little_Flatty said:

Welcome to my useless thought of the day🤣

Those of you who fish saltwater land based will know that rats and mice are common on the shorelines, most notably in urban areas. The past few times I have noticed rats scurrying around…surely a few have fallen into the drink and become fish food!

I wonder if they may form part of the diet of estuary fish as a result? Part of me is thinking that it might be worth including a rat lure in my arsenal!

I know Murray cod eat them, but has anyone tried mice imitations in the salt?

You should see the ones at my work.They look like wombats!! Under Windang bridge people have entered underneath one side and never come out the other legend has it as there’s heaps under there too.

  And finally I reckon even if I bait up with rat I still won’t catch that bloody @Yowie’s fish.