Squidfish Forums

Hey guys, I recently went on an expedition with a few mates to Phillip Island. It was Saturday the 25th of Feb just before that huge storm. Got a great days fishin (5 hours worth). Speared lots of stuff about 16 in total...10 keepers. About 8-10kg in total. Lovely Stuff!!!!!

1 Boarfish, 2 Leather Jackets, 2 Sweep (one huge one of about 1-1.5 kg), 4 Wrasse and 1 unknown (think it was a Grass Whiting).



So i basically had a great dive! Has anyone else found Phillip Island to be a great spot for spearing???

hi leaveit. thanks for the fishing report. where did you go spearing exactly?



i hear that pyramid rock is a good spot. but there may be the odd white pointer hanging around too!!! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Funny u should say that because the spot was just inland of Pyramid Rock...on Smiths Beach actually. There is a bunch of rock formations on either side of the surf on Smith Beach. We used the right hand side rock face. Many ppl fish of the edge of the rocks...and we got a few comments like "iv been here 3 hours and iv only caught 3 fish...how do u guys do it?" (fishermen). So i think there was a little jealousy goin on! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



But anyway...we didnt spear too far in. The edge of the rock formation was perhaps 50-70m from the sand shore, and we also had the aid of simply just jumping back up on the rocks if need be. Its a great spot. Lots of little crevices and tunnels and overhanging rock faces. It would be an idea to use camo there because it very rich in seaplants and we stuck out like a sore thump in just black shorts! The water got to about 7-8m at the very tip of the rocks. Saw some BIG fish....maybe 1m long...but those guys are sooo sooo quick! The spot has a large variety of fish...with fair size game if u can gettem.



I think iv blabbed enough. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

i agree with glen, near pyramid rock there would be sharks as seal rock is not too far away. actually i think any where on phillip island would actually have sharks just not heaps. i guess you'd be very unlucky to encounter one and the chances of being attacked are very slim, but for the moment ill stick to PPB <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup2.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

pj

Dont scare me guys...im goin there again this weekend!!! I dont believe that the waters we were in had any real danger. After all we were in a 5-10second dash to the edge of the rocks...so basically in 15 seconds u could be out of the water with ur fins and mask off.



Anyone else with some nice spots ova on Phillip Island??

After Friday's dive...3 large 'something' (pls let me know what u think they are - pictures of them below) and 3 reasonable sized ones (one Blue Tusk, one Estuary Perch and one other of the unknown, the dark green/brown one). Only a 2 hour dive and we kept to the bigger stuff. Less fish but larger. I also had the chance to see a very very large trevalley. It was approx 80cm-1m meter long! It was just below me but saw me before i had a chance to go at it. Very fast fish!





(about 50cm in length)





(about 45cm in length)



NO SHARKS THO!!! Thanks goodness! (But 3 very large rays!!!)

Hey leavit,

Nice catch <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup2.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> wat type of gun/sling did you use? the top picture is a female grass whiting im pretty sure, but ill have to check the fishing book. As for the bottom one, i cant really tell as the pic is a bit dark.

pj

the grass whiting i have seen have looked have a pointy nose...see pic below...



my guess is that it is a dusky morwong (see links for pics of dusky morwong)



[url="http://www.scuba-equipment-usa.com/marine/APR04/Dusky_Morwong(Dactylophora_nigricans).html"]http://www.scuba-equipment-usa.com/marine/...nigricans).html[/url]

[url="http://www.mlssa.asn.au/photos/1105.jpg"]http://www.mlssa.asn.au/photos/1105.jpg[/url]

[url="http://users.ncable.net.au/~anewton/silver.html"]http://users.ncable.net.au/~anewton/silver.html[/url]

You are very right Glen...good spotting. To bad they arent good eating fish...cos the fillets would be quite nice sized. Ah well.



Im goin back to the same spot this weekend too (cos there aint much of the hot weather left - weekend suppose to be in the 30s)...3 weekends in a row! I might try another rock reef to dive tho...because new spots are always good fun!



Poodge...good try with the guess. I use a regular 2 piece fiberglass sling. With a 5 prong barbed head. I tend to stick to 5 prong because i find that the more prongs, the less hassle i have with bigger fish. Some do wriggle off anyway...but hey, good luck to em!

[quote name='leaveit' post='6218' date='Mar 4 2006, 10:30 PM']

(about 45cm in length)[/quote]



that looks like a Kelpfish...



AK

The top fish is a dusky morwong - average table fish.

Bottom fish is a Southern Sea Carp - taste like seaweed, virtually inedible.

Just one question.....why did you spear those fish if you don't know what they are?

Did you eat them? If not, what did you do with them?

just looking at those two fish makes me think they would be crap on the table. theres somthing about table fish, and i dont know what it is, but you know as soon as you see it that it will taste good.

In that photo how long had the fish been dead? because ive seen dusky morwong before and the ones ive seen dont look like that. a little off topic, correct me if im wrong a red morwong is a type of seacarp? i was having an argument with a friend about it the other day. an answer would be well appreiciated.

thanks,

pj <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup2.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Dusky morwong (also known as butterfish, strongfish) look different as they get bigger - the smaller ones have more colour and yellowish spots (like the one in the picture) compared to the bigger ones, which are mostly a bluish grey colour.



Red morwong are not a type of sea carp - I think from memory there are 3 types of sea carp in australia and they are all poor eating. There are quite a few types of morwong you can spear in victoria - magpie perch and banded morwong are the two most common where I go. The mouth of the morwongs and seacarps do look similar however, I think it's because they have a similar diet.



What I was getting at in my above post is that if you can't identify a fish you shouldn't spear it - likewise you shouldn't spear a fish which you know is not good to eat, and which you will just throw back dead. Spearing fish for the sake of it is poor form, and will only give the sport a worse reputation than it has already.

Well, thanks for all who replied. My reply to you Jaz is that i spear fish that i know are not prohibited to spear. I am aware of the species that are not to be speared and i am also aware of the size limits on all fish (thanks to my handy pocket guide). So what i spear i either eat or give to my cat as catfood. Nothing goes to waste. I dont throw dead fish back in the sea, and I never spear something that I know is illegal to spear. I was sure these fish were not endangered and their size told me that they were above limits (as most fish are legal above about 40cm). So i dont think i did anything wrong. Now that i know the spotted green fish is a Sea Carp, and virtually unedible...i probably wont spear them any more. But be assured i dont waste fish and i never spear stuff that i know shouldnt be speared.



Pls dont think im the kind that gives the sport a bad name. Because im not. But i know what u mean and i respect ur comments.



All the fish we cought were eaten...but like u said...nothing really tasted that great (appart from the leatherjackets - about 4 altogether, and the boarfish - which we got only 1 of).



P.S. By the way, do ppl think that Magpie Perch are good eating...

hey guys, while we are raising a few ethical spearing issues, I thought i would raise another one that sprung to mind as i read the above discussion. I was not going to say anything but ...Jazman prompted me into action!



It was suggested above that fish that wriggle off a spear are "lucky" because they escaped. I don't thing that the fish are really that "lucky" because I suspect most fish that are injured by a spear will die. I have no evidence to back that up but I guess some reports have been done on this sort of thing.



So i guess i would prefer to describe it as a "shame" that the fish was injured and escaped rather than saying it was lucky for the fish I am sure the comment above was quite an innocent and this is not meant to be an attack on any individual. It doesn't matter how good a spearo is, occasionally he/she is going to have an imperfect shot. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> All we can do is TRY not to miss and develop our skills so that we can improve our hit rate as much as possible.



Happy to hear comments...especially how one can improve their shot!



Cheers, Glen <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/zorro.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

I hear ya Glen...i hate when i miss. And what i said was "good luck to em" - i basically ment "oh well, it happenes". I am also sure that these fish if speared (especially with barbed prongs) will eventually die from trauma/injury. So yeah it is a waste for sure! Like i said, i think we spearos all HATE when we miss or when we lack to make a clean hit...but it happenes.



About practice and tips, Glen ... i did try out my new fiberglass sling on the lemon tree we have in our back yard!!! Its quite high and old so it produces juicy big lemons which are hard to reach without a ladder...so i basically hunted lemons. It kinda works...and u do get some thrill when u get the 5 prongs straight through a juicy one!

Thats all i got sorry... <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/whistling.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Leaveit - no offence was meant by my above posts. I'm glad to hear that nothing you spear goes to waste, I just wanted to reassure myself and other forum readers of that fact. Look forward to hearing some more reports from you. And I reckon that boarfish are the tastiest fish in the sea <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Yeah no problem at all! Im actually glad that we brought this topic up because its an important one (the waste issue).

Im heading to Phillip Island again this Sunday for a full day of spearing with a group of 7 friends. Hope its a productive day. Ill be sure to post again after the day is through (and let u guys know about the 5kg boarfish and 10kg Cod i cought - YEAH RIGHT!!!). <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

only 10kg? <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> lol good luck!!!