mutton birds

[ango]

Hi All,

Just got back from another snapper trip on the bay, again out off Carrum. Was supposed to be 15 - 20 knots but more like 20 - 25 IMO, anyhow fishing was very difficult because there seems to be a plague of mutton birds ATM and they hang around the back of the boat and as soon as a line goes in the water they attack the bait, ended up using snapper snatchers with big sinkers to get past them, which only partially solved the issue. Finally after cutting my line for about the sixth time to release another tangled bird I gave up, got 1 x 70 cm snapper in very trying conditions. Was unable to burly as normal as it would be just feeding the birds. Has anyone else had these issues and what do you do?

[CarlG]

Do a search on here mate, was a thread about it not so long ago...with ideas for repelling the feathery invaders..

[rafei1]

Have the same issue in Mordialloc. Lots of birds waiting for bait, the only way u can get the bait into the water, is by waiting for them to chase someone elses bait and use a bigger sinker so line sinks faster with the bait, end up catching 2 of these birds, at least I didnt have to cut the line this time, I think I had one bite, then bird situation got worse. So left.

[Rod Bender]

Do a search on here mate, was a thread about it not so long ago...with ideas for repelling the feathery invaders..

Here is the post in question!

Hi folks,

I noticed a thread about this so thought I would share a little trick I learned from a charter operator.

Mutton birds hate oil on their feathers. So if they are around just squirt some tuna oil in the water. Not too much, only about 500ml.

They will smell it & go straight away. Cam & I saw this ourselves, very effective.

This tip is courtesy of your friendly Specialty Fishing Products chicky.

Amanda

[rafei1]

Thanks for the info, I guess if birds are too hungry they will still dive for bait, so maybe give some kids bread and let them feed the birds further away, every1 wins as long birds are distracted. But in somecases they might still find ur bait and take it.

[purple5ive]

They are exhausted from their long migration. That combined with the lack of bait fish this year they have resorted to stealing Bait. The best idea is to give them something to eat like bread. But then other will come. We had this happen few weeks ago. What I did was throw a whole pilly to each one. The stuffed themselves with it and didn't touch anything else.