08-12-2003, 02:32 PM
I plan to use my 5 prong cluster. My hawaiin sling is a "spear gun" so I believe I am acting legally. It is up to everyone else to decide what they want to do. To be completely safe you can stick with 2 prongs and no barbs.
There is no good reason why barbs are not permitted. It was once thought that barbless prongs would allow you to spear some poor fish accidently and then let it go to live another day. However I suspect very few speared fish would survive.
If Fisheries Victoria took this regulation seriously then surely they would stop Complete Angler selling illegal pronged hand spears. It annoys me to hear your friend gets a fine but shops can sell illegal equipment!
Also if anyone is interested, the bag and size limits for flounder are:
Flounder (all species)
Minimum legal size: 23cm.
Bag/possession limit: 20.
There is no good reason why barbs are not permitted. It was once thought that barbless prongs would allow you to spear some poor fish accidently and then let it go to live another day. However I suspect very few speared fish would survive.
If Fisheries Victoria took this regulation seriously then surely they would stop Complete Angler selling illegal pronged hand spears. It annoys me to hear your friend gets a fine but shops can sell illegal equipment!
Also if anyone is interested, the bag and size limits for flounder are:
Flounder (all species)
Minimum legal size: 23cm.
Bag/possession limit: 20.