BLACKWALL REACH BLUE SWIMMER CRABS

Blackwall Reach, Bicton

 



 

Blackwall reach is a hidden Jewel spot for crabbing. The bushland and cliffs that surrounds you and the peacefulness makes you feel one with nature. We decided to head down there at 6pm for some night time crabbing. Upon arrival we noticed lot's of scuba diver groups heading out for a night time dive and some local Anglers. We set up the crab nets on the jetty and threw them out. The bait I used was chicken drumsticks tied down with a clip. The wait was on, an hour into crabbing and we had caught nothing. Meanwhile a scuba diving team were heading in and they had caught some monster sized crabs, so I knew at that they were definately there. After relocating to another spot on the jetty we decided to launch the crab nets out further and much to my excitement this time we were lucky, 2 female bumper sized crabs. All up I was pretty impressed with our catch. I had hoped to stay longer but our crabbing venture was cut short, my friend was getting eaten alive by mozzies and I was beginning to feel sorry for her :) yes we had indeed forgotten to pack the mozzy repellant. I presprayed before leaving however failed to mention that there would be mozzies where we were going to my poor friend :). So we decided to call it a night and head back to her place. My friend placed the crabs in the freezer and we sat down for a nice cuppa coffee. After about an hour we decided it was time to cook up the crabs. I opened the fridge to find no crabs. It was when I opened the freezer did I realise she had placed it accidently in the freezer and the crabs were frozen stiff....It's claws had launched onto the railing and it was indeed stuck. After much laughing and many attempts to pull the crab from the railing, We finally had to cut the claws to free the big buggar for tea :). So my big tip here is if you decided to put your crabs to sleep in the freezer put them in there for a short period of time as you don't want to spend another hour trying to defrost your crabs.   :)   

Penguin Island

SHOALWATER

Blue Manner Crabs

Shoalwater is an awesome spot for catching a variety of fish but on this fishing occasion I decided to hunt down my favourite, blue manner crabs and since at the moment it's crabbing season I simply have to make the most of it.  :) I used 3 crab nets and on this occasion I decided to use lamb necks as my bait, but you can also use tuna heads or chicken wings/legs which is also good crabbing bait. I secured my bait with a wire clip, some people like to use cages to stop blowies from eating the bait but I just let it free flow in the water, plus if there are other people crabbing on the jetty you've got that advantage of luring the crab to your net and not theres :) . I decided to crab just off the jetty so I secured my crab nets round the posts threw them in and checked the nets every 10 minutes. Doing the pull is always the fun, exciting part of crabbing, there's always a few seconds of suspense as to whether you've caught a crab or how many are going to be in the net. At times when I did pull up my nets I would sometimes find 2 crabs in there. I caught a lot of undersized crabs which I put back in the water straight away as you want to preserve the stock for future crabbing, however I did catch 4 big male ones which was enough for me. When measuring my crabs I used a crab gauge, however you can place a small indent in a coke can and use the can to measure the crab. The blue manner crabs have to be a minimum of 127 mm carapace width. It's best to always measure your crabs as the last thing you want to cop is a fine from the fisheries​. The catch limit for catching crabs are 10 per person per day. Whenever I go crabbing I always fill up a big container with sea water and take it home with me, as the best way to cook your crabs is in natural sea water. I put the crabs to sleep on ice or in the freezer, prepeel off the back, degutt and clean them out, bring the sea water to a boil then put the crabs in the pot for 7 minutes. Take them out of the pot and cool them in running cold water straight away, as you don't want to over cook your crabs. Serve it on a plate with your favourite summer salad. Delish!!  :)

Albany

                                                                            Albany

Breaksea Cod

Sargeant Baker

Packed and ready to go me and my fishing companion headed out at 5 am for some deep sea fishing we drove down to Albany marina and set out for king george sound and what a beautiful day it was for fishing. A bet had been made on this fishing expedition and I was pretty sure at the time it was going to be a challenging battle of the genders. Although my fishing companion had ...dare I say...more fishing experience than myself. I knew that in general I was pretty lucky and I did have a different fishing style, so maybe I could swindle a win in my favour :).  As we set out in search of a good fishing spot my companion noticed coral sprawls across the waters, but little did I realise at the time just how much this would effect our fishing. After a good 40 minute journey we finally anchored and got set up for some serious fishing. I moved quickly as I wanted to land the first fish there was no time to waste, we used pilchards for bait and some mullies, I dropped the line over as quick as I could and bang... first cast in and the lucky buggar had caught something, first fish for the day Break Sea Cod also known to many as a 'black arse cod' because there arses are black. These fish I must say are great eating, they make nice white fillets and go down well in a beer batter.
While he took the cod off the line I was quick to re bait and get my line out there but to no luck, the fish seemed to be nibbling at the bait but not really going for the bait. I couldn't understand it at the time I mean I didn't pack a banana with me so what was going on down there in desmersal lane! Then bang he got lucky again... another Break Sea Cod. It was Two to Nil... I knew at that moment the pressure was on and I had to pull up something or I would never live this fishing expedition down. Then it hit my line, the excitment set in and I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins as I was reeling in my line... preying for a snapper, up it popped and fish slapped the boat. It was a Sargent Baker. At the time I didn't actually know what it was but the fish looked exotic and interesting, when my companion told me it was good bait fish my interest in this fish quickly diminished. But bait fish or not I was glad I had finally caught something :)
What I did learn about the Sargeant Baker is where theres a sargeant there normally are snapper and they are excellent bait fish for Dhewi fish and you can eat them, but they are not good eating fish, probably only good for fish stock or fish soup.
By the end of the day we decided to end the fishing expedition the winds had changed and the fish weren't biting. 3 Break Sea Cod and 1 Sargent Baker, I did indeed get my arse kicked! Since losing the bet I have come up with a few new ideas that I will have to try out next time. Yep I think I will have to call a rematch on this one!  But it was still an exciting day, I just enjoyed being out on the water doing what I enjoy doing the most....fishing!!  Hands covered in bait, the fresh sea breeze hitting my face and the warmth of the sun. Simply paradise  :)

Albany

Sting Ray at Middleton beach



 

Kalgan River

                                                                         
       
                          Trumpet                                                          Black Bream

Albany would have to be one of my favourite fishing locations and what a pearl of a place. Everything is close, convienient and the scenery is simply breath taking. On my first day there after a 4 hour drive from Perth I decided to have some rest and relaxation time, but the following day it was all about exploring the coastal sides and river banks for some hot spots. I took a drive to middleton beach where I spotted a massive sting ray feeding just off the rocks then I drove to Kalgan river and went down an old dirt road, the views along the river banks were spectacular there were so many good fishing spots to choose from. But after a good drive down the river banks I decided to park up and head off on foot. I followed a track to a beautiful fishing spot which I called the 'mouth' of the river. I decided to fish off the rocks, the location I chose had deep holes, there were submerged trees and weed beds which was a perfect location for bigger bream or mulloway because there was plenty of cover. I used size 1/0 hooks to begin with as I wanted to catch some bait fish and sure enough the first fish I caught for the day was a trumpet which I filleted and removed the skin to make it easier to place on the hook, nothing beats fresh bait. :) The bait I took with me was mullies and I also had some red meat which I had pre cut into small pieces, placed it in a container and added burley and fish oil to premarinate it. But I have also in the past used chicken leg meat which I have cut up into small pieces and added burley and soy sauce this also works a treat.
When I threw out my line I would not stick to one spot, I would throw it out across the river at varying depths to try and source where the bream were travelling. The burley I had marinated on the bait would entice them to come out from their hiding holes, plus it increased my chances of catching a big one :) 
I did catch a lot of bream but I decided to do catch and release as I was really hoping to catch a big mulloway, I did have another fishing rod pre-rigged in the hopes of catching a big mulloway I used size 4/0 hooks with about a 1m monotrace and a running bean, when I casted out the line I made sure the line was tight and just left it there for a good 10 minutes, when reeling in my line I did it very slowly, unfortunately I didn't catch a mulloway.... but I knew they were there. However I did have fun catching black bream, which are a big target for fishermen because they really like to put up a good fight on the line....lol Plus it is a nice, tasty, high quality fleshy fish. I personally would have to admit it's not my favourite fish to eat, I find that the bream caught in the river tend to be courser in flavour with a slight muddy after taste as opposed to the ones caught in coastal waters. The best way to cook bream is whole baked or pan fried. All up it was a fun filled action packed day. I broke a thong in the process and I even slipped and managed to fall in the drink....:) so my advice is if you end up going fishing there wear enclosed footwear, take your mossy repellent as the mosquitos are notorious there and enjoy the scenery because it truely is a beautiful place to fish.  
  

DAWESVILLE DINGHY FISHING

    

Tailor

On the weekend I headed down to Dawesville for a fun filled day of fishing with Grandpa. When I got there the Dinghy was packed and ready to go with prawn bait and mullies. Armed with my trusty old fishing rod and old weather resistent clothing I was ready for a fishing challenge. We were on the water by 4.30 winds were blowing south westly and it was a gorgeous hot sunny day. We did a bit of trowl fishing to begin with down the esturary and through the bridge but we didn't have much luck. So we decided to find a nice fishing spot and drop anchor. The visibility in the water was murky, for about 2 hours I was pulling blow fish like there was no tomorrow. After about 25 blow fish catches I had earned the title of Blow fish Queen in the Dinghy and I was beginning to wonder whether I was actually going to land one edible fish in Dawesville. Grandpa was becoming increasingly keen on the idea of throwing me overboard and making me swim to shore. 7.30 hit the sun was setting and we still hadn't caught one edible fish as I was telling grandpa that we might have to source a seafood place ...hint hint....fish n chips for dinner. Bang grandpa's line got slammed by something and it definately wasn't a blow fish this time. The tailor were in, it was night time by this time so I had to act quickly or I was going to loose my opportunity and my reputation. I re rigged my line. put on my head torch and used mullie as my bait. I casted off and slowly drew the line in. The blowies had completely dissappeared by this time and the bigger fish were out. The first tailor I lost off the line as I was pulling him in much to my dissapointment, but the next one I made sure, it landed in the Dinghy. It was an exciting, intense hour of bite after bite, we even had a few dolphins swim by the Dinghy. By 8.30 the tailor died off and so did the bites. We caught 13 tailor but had to release 6 because they were undersized. Grandpa caught the most tailor but I had the biggest tailor catch for the night so we were pretty much even square I reakon. I was just glad that we caught a good feed for the night.   :)   

buggar another blow fish!

Preston Beach

Bella Boo soaking up the sun

                                                             

Preston Beach

                                                                       

Mullet

                                                                            

Preston beach is a pearl of a fishing location, especially for catching shark. Unfortuately I was out of luck that day :( the best time to attempt to catch shark is around 12 o'clock as it's there feeding time or at nightime as thats when the bigger predators come out. I usually use mullet or scalies which are a small silver blue fish to try and catch shark. I did however manage to get a few big bites on my beach rod, so there was definately something big out there toying with my bait. The catch for the day was some monster sized herring and mullet, which are a great fishing bait for the bigger predators out there. I got there at 5 o'clock in the morning and spent a lovely, relaxing day fishing and enjoying the fresh sea breeze. The water was calm early in the morning so it provided a good opportunity to catch some Mullet. Mullet is a tricky one to catch, so make sure you keep the line tight when fishing. The best way to catch this fish is using small hooks with worms or bread which I usually pre prepare a few days before an outing, I get some slices of bread and leave it in the sun, don't forget to turn them over. I blend the stale bread in a blender and place it in a container to take with me. So before a cast I usually throw some bread mix out to attract the mullet and I place a small cubed bread on the hook. Personally I don't particularly like eating this fish as it has a strong distinct taste, this fish contains high omega 3 and is best eaten pan fried or grilled but I usually fillet and keep it for bait as they are bottom dwellers. But if your a mullet lover then the best way to improve the flavour of the fish is to make sure you remove the black stomach lining before cooking this fish or it will taste bitter and spoil the flavour of the fish.  

BLUE SWIMMER CRABS

Bond relaxing on the jetty

Blue Swimmer Crabs

Mandurah has some great spots for crabbing just off the jetty. I use crabbing nets which I tie to the end and middle of the jetty. The best bait to use is tuna heads but crabs also will go for spleen or chicken wings. Some people like to secure the bait in a mesh cage so the blow fish don't eat all the bait, but I usually just let the bait free flow in the water and I use Metal wire to secure the bait in the middle of the crab net. Crabbing is definately my favourite seafood the meat is the best and nothing beats eating fresh crab. I also find that I prefer the taste of male crabs compared to female crabs. Now how can you tell the difference between male and female crabs? Its easy, if you turn them on their backs the male crab has a thin mountain shape flap underneath and the female crab has a broard, round, cloudy shaped flap. The male crabs also have bigger claws and more of a blue colour in their shell in comparison to the female crab. I usually throw the net off the jetty and pull the net in every 20 minutes. Make sure you pull in the nets hard because if your too slow, they will swim out and you'll loose the crab.
It's always handy to carry a crab gadge and measure the length of the crab to make sure that you have the legal size. Crabs must be the size of a can in length which used to be the way I measured the crabs. There is also a catch limit you can't catch more than 10 crabs per person. If you get caught with more than the legal limit you will be fined for it by the fisheries if you get caught. If you catch a female crab and she's pregnant you can tell cause she will have produced a huge amount of tiny orange eggs in her abdomen, the eggs go from orange to black as they mature. Make sure you put her straight back in the water for the preservation of future stock. Crabs are basically scavengers of the ocean, you will normally find them either offshore or commonly in estuaries. When I catch them in the net they have powerful claws so be careful not to get nipped. I tend to grab them from behind and I grab hold of both arms at the same time so they don't get the chance to nip me, sometimes I have had one really grab hold of the net, so if they grip onto the net too hard and you can't pull them away turn the net over and hang it over the bucket, give it a shake and they will loosen their grip and drop in the bucket, a handy trick for the stubborn ones. Half fill the water with sea water to keep them fresh. Before you cook crabs you can put them to sleep on ice but I usually just throw them in the pot.
The best way to cook crabs is in their natural sea water, I usually boil the crabs in a pot of sea water for about 8 minutes or until they turn orange, then pull them out of the water and cool them down in cold water so the crabs don't over cook.

                                                                         Bluey's