Mike Sydney Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Had a morning out at the cooks river mouth yesterday looking to catch a feed using the cranka crab at the cooks river mouth. Arrived an hour into the run out and went down onto the rocks below the airport tower wall. Beautiful weather and the water was very clear. Lots of bream around and I figured it was going to be a quick and easy catch. Tied on a cranka crab and started casting. Not much interest at first and was collecting a lot of leaf litter. I was told very early on to always check before I pulled off leaves and sticks from a lure, good thing too because my first critter caught was a nasty fellow: What do you know! My first blue ringed octopus. Thankfully it crawled off the hooks itself so I didn’t need to handle it. This was quickly followed by a second blue ring. Then a third, all three taking the crab in about a twenty minute span. I gave up after that and went home without a feed! 9 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Occies like crabs, so that is why you pulled up a few. The blue rings are standing out, so he is a bit agro. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Yikes 😬 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sydney Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 24 minutes ago, Yowie said: Occies like crabs, so that is why you pulled up a few. The blue rings are standing out, so he is a bit agro. When they first came out they were mainly brown with a few bits of yellow. The blue rings were shown once I put them on the rocks. Has been a dangerous week actually - last weekend there was a fish floating around very close to my ledge at night just hanging around, like a flathead but with an eel tail. I tried to net it for a closer look and it was half in and fell out - just as well I realised later it was a cobbler… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Pretty scary stuff. I won’t ever look a leaves and sticks the same way again! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sydney Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 21 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said: Pretty scary stuff. I won’t ever look a leaves and sticks the same way again! Yes i suppose that’s the key takeaway - not to remove debris absentmindedly. These octopus moved on the lure so I knew something was afoot but if they’d been still they were the colour of your average bit of random debris. Brown and wet 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Blue Rings are very common, almost every rock pool and so on will have them, they are normally pretty well hidden and quite “shy”, so you just don’t see them, but they are around, do NOT fool around with them, just let them go as safely as possible, that said, to catch three is pretty unusual, like most dangerous things, they usually do not “attack” you, most bites occur when people mess around with them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Not the best catch, you have ever had. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restyle Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Well I guess on a positive note you’ll have a fish raider record for the biggest blue ring caught. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 (edited) 3 hours ago, Restyle said: Well I guess on a positive note you’ll have a fish raider record for the biggest blue ring caught. Maybe but while @Mike Sydney has the story I didn't see a brag mat so it makes it difficult to claim. How do you measure an octopus anyway? Edited March 25 by DerekD 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 1 hour ago, DerekD said: Maybe but while @Mike Sydney has the story I didn't see a brag mat so it makes it difficult to claim. How do you measure and octopus anyway? With difficulty. bn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sydney Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 1 hour ago, DerekD said: Maybe but while @Mike Sydney has the story I didn't see a brag mat so it makes it difficult to claim. How do you measure an octopus anyway? I’m not sure but how many tickles until an octopus laughs? …. Ten tickles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 15 minutes ago, Mike Sydney said: I’m not sure but how many tickles until an octopus laughs? …. Ten tickles. Catch a rock crab, then hold it out for the occie to take (not a blue ring, just the normal brown ones) and they will swim up and take the crab from your hand, then laugh at the free feed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linewetter Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 That's really good advice about looking at debris before removing from your lure. Here I am willy nilly taking stuff off. I'm definitely going to be taking closer looks before I touch anything from now on that comes from the water. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 On 3/25/2024 at 7:08 PM, DerekD said: How do you measure an octopus anyway? … this one …. VERY carefully! 🧐 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Crikey. That’s crazy. Also great to keep in the back of the mind clearing weed off hooks etc. Offshore we have a similar issue - sometimes lures go through blue bottles and collect strands of their tentacles - ready to wrap around unsuspecting hands trying to clear the hooks. 🤕 cheers Zoran 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiduk Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 I was fishing with a friend a few weeks ago and although we didnt hook onto a blue ring octopus, we noticed when he retrieved his lures in he kept getting some sticky blue fluid on his line. We suspected it could have been from then, and we were right about it because the moment he tried to wipe it off he went through some pain. Got to be careful of that type of stuff if you dont already know about it! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Yup. Blue bottle tentacles. I keep a small bottle of white vinegar on board. It helps neutralize the stingers. cheers Zoran 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 1 hour ago, zmk1962 said: Yup. Blue bottle tentacles. I keep a small bottle of white vinegar on board. It helps neutralize the stingers. cheers Zoran Good thinking 99. bn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrRaymondSnapper Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Rings are very prominent so its not happy at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sydney Posted April 1 Author Share Posted April 1 I realise it looks huge in the photo (which is a screenshot of a paused video) but they were of course about the size of my little finger. Each of them came out of the water a muddy brown looking like a moving piece of algae/seaweed and didn’t “blue up” until they were placed on the rocks (which were probably pretty warm for them TBH). I wondered about residue on the lure but just gave them a quick safety rinse. From what I read after, it’s only direct contact from a bite that’s the concern but better safe than sorry! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrRaymondSnapper Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Hey Zoran , I believe that vinegar is used to prevent jellyfish nematocysts from firing and helps in the first aid treatment of box jellyfish envenomation only. . I also believe that it is ineffective in treating bluebottle stings and hot water is the best first aid measure these days. The Blue Ringed Octopus does not possess nematocysts and secretes its neurotoxin via the beak rather than via the tentacle. The beak is so small that most people do not know that they have been bitten until they start to show neurological signs like respiratory paralysis. An average sized octopus has enough venom to kill about 25 people I think. They are seriously dangerous creatures and you need to give them a wide berth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrRaymondSnapper Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 I also think that the blue stuff on Kiduk`s line was not from an octopus. Their venom is not blue and is only secreted in minute quantities. Also , unlike Box Jellyfish , pain is not a feature of octopus envenomation and is more purely neurotoxic., causing muscular paralysis. The pain from a Box jellyfish or Irukandji is another story and is sufficient to cause cardiac arrest. Possibly the most excruciatingly painful experience ever. Sorry to sound like a know-it-all but toxinology and envenomation is a major field of interest for me. 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsswordfisherman Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 12 hours ago, DrRaymondSnapper said: I also think that the blue stuff on Kiduk`s line was not from an octopus. Their venom is not blue and is only secreted in minute quantities. Also , unlike Box Jellyfish , pain is not a feature of octopus envenomation and is more purely neurotoxic., causing muscular paralysis. The pain from a Box jellyfish or Irukandji is another story and is sufficient to cause cardiac arrest. Possibly the most excruciatingly painful experience ever. Sorry to sound like a know-it-all but toxinology and envenomation is a major field of interest for me. We welcome all raiders who have expert knowledge with our sea creatures. Please feel free to pass comment on your areas of expertise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 (edited) 15 hours ago, DrRaymondSnapper said: Hey Zoran , I believe that vinegar is used to prevent jellyfish nematocysts from firing and helps in the first aid treatment of box jellyfish envenomation only. . I also believe that it is ineffective in treating bluebottle stings and hot water is the best first aid measure these days. Hi @DrRaymondSnapper fantastic to have someone with your skills on board ... please feel free to pitch in on other stingy topics ... like what's the best recommendation re flathead spikes, rock cod spikes etc. Regarding Blue Bottles and vinegar interesting. I appreciate recommendations change. I mentioned vinegar treatment as that was how I was treated by the Surf Life Savers back in the 80's as a young body boarder with a blue bottle on his back - ouch. Since I did feel relief then, and I have used it subsequently when a crew member who had some wrapped around his fingers I thought I'd do a quick google to see why it was removed. You are correct Hot Water is recommended (so I will now up my thermos of black Tea from the 500ml to the 1L size - just in case)... BUT interestingly vinegar is back on the recommended list ahead of the hot water application. Appreciate if you would have a read of this and give us your considered opinion: https://activehandtherapy.com.au/news/treatment-of-bluebottle-stings/ Many Thanks Zoran Edited April 2 by zmk1962 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now