Offshore fishing at lakes entrance

[rogs]

R-t

Thanks for all those infos you shared with us ived learned a lot from commercial fishos Good on you mate.

[Bartnmax]

Fish farming is the long term solution, most wild caught commercial fishing in Australia will be gone within 30 years. Can't compete with Asian fish farms and even Aussie Atlantic salmon is cheaper than Aussie commercial caught flathead or gummy. It is just a matter of time really. I think a buy back of the lake fishermen is really the go. The offshore ones will disappear due to rising costs.
My main reason for posting all this was to point out that rarely do the offshore trawlers effect the anglers as their target is different. Mind you nothing wrong with targeting tiger flathead as an angler, plenty off them and they are good eating. Just need a good boat to get out to the grounds. i will let you know when they are on

Hey re-tyred.
Great to hear from someone whom has actually been there & done that.
Very interesting insight into the commercial aspect.
I've fished PPB all my life & am vehemently opposed to commerical fishing in any enclosed waters as I've seen too many times huge hauls being taken within the bays, along with some questionable aspects associated with it.
Offshore, as you point out, the commical guys don't fish the reefs wheich is where most of the rec guys work so there's no real conflict there. Bait fishing is another story though as it does effect many othger spoecies apart from those targeted. In that regard I'll only be happy if the Able Tasman (Magiris) never leaves port again.
Bait fishing of that magnatude would be disasterous IMO.



I think you're right regarding the future of comical fishing - it's eventually going to have to become self-sustainiable, & the only way I can see that happening is through farming.

On another note, thanks very much for the insight into fishing out of Lakes Extrance. It's always great to have that first hand knowledge to refer to, especially where bar crossings, reefs, etc are concerned.
Now, my question is How daunting is the bar crossing?
Never having fished out from LE myself (although I've done a fair bit LB) I'd certainly like to give it a try one day. However, owning a smaller 5 meter vessel the question of safety when crossing the bar is obvioulsy of great interest/concern to me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Bill.

[frozenpod]

re-tyred, thank you for your posts great to see the other side of it.

[re-tyred]

Crossing the bar. Where to start. First of all. The BAR will Kill you if you do the wrong think.
To give you an insight. I crossed by trawler as a skipper for 13 years, mostly before dredging started. I am currently a member of coast guard and we practice regularly on the bar and in the surf close to the bar. With a Noosacat 3100 with 600hp, a 5.4mtr ridged rubber duck and and a jetski. I am also part of the the team that surveys the entrance and channels.
It is a good idea to enrol in a bar crossing course at SEAMEC. It will cost you about $200 you will complete it in a day and it may save the life of you and your fishing mates.
Having said all that, there are many hundreds of vessels cross the bar each year and enjoy a great day out offshore. The Gippsland ports internet sight gives updates on the leads across the bar, tide and wave monitoring etc. Learn how the leads work. Plan your trip to take into account the direction of the current in the entrance. Current running in smooths the seas out. Current running out chops it up. As a guide TSV, limits all commercial charter vessels (passenger carrying) to seas of less than 2mtrs and wind of less than 20knots from the southerly quarter. WSW through S around to ESE. It is the law to wear a lifejacket while crossing the bar. I wear a life jacket at all times I am on a small boat, and I practice swimming on the bar......think about it. The best days are usually when the wind is from the north and has been that way for a day or so. Times to be very carefull are when their is an east coast low lurking any where out to sea even as far as NZ. These create large swells from the SE. Again look at the wave monitor bouy on the gippsland ports site. Go up to the look out and have a look at the bar. Stop at the flagstaff wharf opposite bullock Island and climb up the track to the flagstaff and sit and watch for a while. If you are unsure don't go there is always another day. If you come to lakes to fish offshore you have to wait for the weather to be right. Just because you only have a few days in town don't expect it will be right. If you live a long way away, best to come here for a holiday and be flexible fish, the Lakes when the weather isn't right and wait for your opportunity to fish offshore.

[re-tyred]

Offshore fishing lately. Word is that it has been quiet. The water temp reached it's lowest 2nd and 3rd week of September, about the norm (11c). Currently it is just starting to warm up once it gets to 15-16 usually around mid october things will start to move a bit. Tiger flathead usually move down from NSW around oct november. One of the reasons for it being quiet the last month or 2 has been that every full moon it has been crap weather. Winter is mostly only good around the moon. If it was me I would spend a bit of time making sure your boat and gear are up to scratch and try for around the moon in October. However the moon is full this week and if it clears up early next week it would be worth a look. I have fished in the lake on the kayak a few times this month and done no good at all, same issue water is cold as. If you are a fan of bream fishing (not me I prefer flats and KGW)they have been well up the rivers as usual when it's cold. Lake Tyers has had it's quietest run in a while. A mate of mine did get a few nice flats up at cherry tree (well up tooloo arm.) I am going to give that a go on the yak next week if I am not survey the bar.

[re-tyred]

Oh and one last thing. If you are heading out on saturday mornings and you see a big yellow coast guard boat off to one side in the surf and a long way from the leads.DON"T follow us we are practicing handling the boat in white water. You should not be in white water anytime you are crossing the bar.... you would be surprised how many boats follow us because they think we know where to go. We do, but we aren't going there.

[re-tyred]

http://www.gippslandports.vic.gov.au/we ... trance.php
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/a ... moon&n=240
http://www.gippslandports.vic.gov.au/cl ... 20Port.pdf
:captain:

[jdonly1]

Thanks for the info mate,I have been out there many many times in a 6m boat.Doesnt matter how good it looks you can still get caught out easily.I remember on day I went out with my brother(a cray boat skipper from WA)
We sat in the middle of the entrance and watched the waves for a minute or two untill it looked flat.Bugger me,as soon as we got out into the crappy water two huge waves kicked up.
We got a heap of air and ended up cracking the engine mounts on the back of the boat we were in.
I was cautious then an I am a lot more cautious now 8-)
Pick your days and weather

[re-tyred]

Just got back from CG practice, it is crap out there today. 30knts plus from the west and cold as.. water temp is 12c. Took the inflatable and the jetski out so we all managed to get very wet. forget about fishing here for a day or 2. First swim for the year, lots of screaming and various expletives. lead are still no 4 west. Dredge is due to start end of october. One other thing, the rules on the bar are vessels entering port have right of way. So if you get down the channel and someone is coming in you wait between the rock walls till they are in. It is also a rule that you announce to all station on channel 16 that you are about to cross the bar in or out. This is so people who can't see you know you are coming. You just need to pick up the mic and say "all stations this is..... about to cross the bar outbound....... or inbound." You must also request permission to pass the dredge when it is working on the bar.

[Bartnmax]

Once again some brilliant info thanx Re-tyred.
Hmmm, whilst I'm not overly cautious I do have a very healthy respect for what the sea & conditions can & do throw up at the un-wary.
I've done some off shore work (including smaller bar crossings & working in the PPB rip) but with a 5 mtr tinny there's much respect & safety to always be kept in mind.
Sometimes (well no - ALL times) ya just gotta know ya limitations & know when to give it a go & when not to - sounds like the LE bar aint for 5 meter boats so can't see myself heading out there in my boat in the immediate future.
Thanks again for the insight.

Bill.