Just a short update on the fishing front.
The weather has been horrible. Lots of Easterly, then more Easterly. Doesn’t do much for the fishing. The pros always say you don’t catch much fish when it blows from the East.
The few fine days we have had have been productive though. King George whiting are about and some good sizes amongst them. Went out the other day with the new Policeman at Lady Barron and his son Keefer. Dean happened to catch the biggest whiting, so he’s not coming again. Keefer spent the last part of the trip making sure I knew to only take home the small ones as his Dad had caught all the big ones. Caught five but could have caught a lot more. As an older fellow here once said “ they keep better in the water than they do in the freezer”.
A local recently had a “stripey” trip out wide and after a very quiet start met up with one of the cray boats who gave him some marks to have a look at. After a frantic half hour hauling in double headers they had their limit and were back home before midday.
About four weeks ago the water temperature had risen to about 16, then a week later had dropped again to 14, but last week was up to a steady 19. Still no kingfish, although there have been reports of some sightings but no catches at the Lady Barron end of the Island.
A number of the locals have had cray pots out but with very limited success. Hopefully they will start to move a bit more before Xmas, but even if we have to buy one, due to the problems in China they should be reasonably priced. Not much help to the pros though.
A group from Lady Barron has formed a “Safe Harbour Group” with plans to construct a safe all weather harbour for recreational and fishing boats, incorporating a boat ramp and general amenities. Council has given its support to the project. It would be a great piece of tourism infrastructure to be able to come to Flinders Island and be able to leave a boat in a safe and secure harbour. Letters of support from any interested organisations would be appreciated. They can be emailed to clfenner@bigpond.com
Regards
Chris Fenner