Anyone see latest edition of Western Angler?
Page 91, letter by Rhyss Johnson. He writes about the need to look after dhufish, and how he and his crew valiantly tried to revive/release a 21.5 kg specimen out of Busselton but ultimately had to keep the fish. "An absolute shame" and "how much fish do you really need to keep" were some of his exact words.
He then goes on to say that " few days later" he and some family members went out and caught 4 more dhufish ranging from "a smaller one" on up to 12 kgs before eventually getting a monster estimated at above 25 kilos, which WAS successfully released. I'm assuming the catches/letter occurred before the ban/new bag limits BTW.
He ends his letter by stating that dhuies should have a max size limit of 1m and bag limits should be decreased, as well as something about future generations of anglers being able to enjoy this sort of fishing.
So with all this concern this bloke has for dhufish, why would he go out and target them again after already having a big one in the freezer? If he's got a big family who like fish and eat it really fast, fair enough, but to give us the song and dance, complete with heart-rending violin solo, about protecting fish stocks, well I suppose it's alright to portray yourself as a great tree-hugging warrior defending the poor dhufish as long as the freezer is full.
Craggles
Posts: 85
Date Joined: 19/05/07
Considering its a bottom
Considering its a bottom fish dont you think he may not have been specifically targeting them, rather they were just a by catch of him targeting something else.
Or maybe he was just enjoying himself....
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Yeah right..
...so why did he catch five if he wasn't targeting them? And why did he keep the first four?
marble
Posts: 790
Date Joined: 03/09/09
Maybe they caught the fish
Maybe they caught the fish months ago?? Im sure these guys arent dumb enough ( yep I know them) to go out and catch dhuies while the ban is in place and then spruik about it in a letter to a fishing mag. .
PMY 25 Centre Console DF300 Suzuki
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
That's not the point...
...regardless of when the fish were caught or whether any laws were broken, the fact is that this bloke is worried about dhufish and then proceeds to fill his freezer with them.
big john
Posts: 8786
Date Joined: 20/07/06
Fair Point
Fair point there Aus, if your preaching such stuff, you should at least practice it.
WA based manufacturer and supplier of premium leadhead jigs, fligs, bucktail jigs, 'bulletproof' soft plastic jig heads and XOS bullet jig heads.
Jigs available online in my web store!
marble
Posts: 790
Date Joined: 03/09/09
I dont think there is a
I dont think there is a sensible fisherman out there that isnt concerned with the state of dhufish stocks . . .and theres probably just as many who would if given the chance to catch the bag limit of good fish do so. . I know I would.
As for catching and releasing big dhuies I personally think once youve got 1 or 4 or however many dhuies you want ( yep I know the new boat limit is 2) leave that spot and go do something else.
Catching and releasing big fish is pointless and has to have some detrimental effects on the fish. Pelagics maybe ok but not demersals like dhuies. There will have to be a pretty big shift in the thinking of some guys who bag out on dhuies then keep fishing the same area and continuing to catch and release more dhuies just in the off chance they will pick up something different, or worse still for the reason that they are out there and are going to fish all day no matter what.
What they did was legal at the time, maybe its not what everyone would have done but these guys did and had the guts to make it public.
PMY 25 Centre Console DF300 Suzuki
hlokk
Posts: 4293
Date Joined: 04/04/08
No ones arguing its not
No ones arguing its not legal, in fact John said it was the opposite. He was within his rights to keep that many fish, but hes a hypocrite because he was saying theres a huge need to save the species, and painting himself as a responsible angler, despite going out within a few days, with a full freezer and bagging out on dhuies. Its not whether he legally can do it (he can) but if he's going on about releasing the big fish and caring for the stocks and so on, it doesnt make much sense that he would bag out when he already has 10kg+ of fillets in the freezer.
PilbaraBrad
Posts: 3628
Date Joined: 16/05/07
magazine articles are
magazine articles
are prepared months even a year or more in advance guys
lets not go down this path again....... keep it civil
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Wasn't an article.
Was a letter sent in by presumably a reader of the magazine. And it's not the same path. As I've repeatedly stated, it's a person contradicting himself. I can't be any clearer, or if I can, I don't know how. It's my fault for just mentioning the letter as opposed to posting it so maybe people aren't seeing all the information I've seen.
Andy Mac
Posts: 4778
Date Joined: 03/02/06
Brad is right about magazine items
Especially with print media a lot of what appears in the mags has to have been received months earlier to enable formatting and printing, so the issue of fishing in the ban doesn't apply here at all.
As for the rest of the discussion about ethics, we need to read the letter in full before making any value judgements.
As is usually the case there is probably a lot more behind the story than is represented in the letter.
Hypothetically the "next few days trip" could have been with different crew and perhaps he didnt take any himself???
Perhaps the exxperience of taking that many fish in a short time prompted the letter in hindsight as a kind of self realisation of the plight of demersal species, and the situation used to highlight the issue for others?????
I'm not sure we should be bagging the guy out, it sounds more like its an acknowledgement of the issues in hindsight rather than a hypocritical act. But then again I haven't read the letter and have no idea who the guy is.
Personally speaking I have tried to revive and release a 24+kg fish with Kasey, but we ended up keeping it as it was clearly stuffed. Did I go out and fish the next day, no but probably did a few weeks later with plenty of fish in the freezer. Did it all get eaten....absolutely. How many times did I get my boat out last year....5 maybe (a few more times this year though.)
Do I spruik concern for the Dhufish...sure do.
Do I catch and keep and release dhufish....sure do.
Do I stop fishing demersally when we have a bag limit...sure do.
Do I go fishing for dhufish when there is still some in the freezer...sure do.
Does it make me a hypocrite though if I manage my catch and spread the load as much as possible yet continue to keep a feed when the opportunity presents? Perhaps in some people's eyes it does.
The point I am trying to make is that in isolation this letter may appear to be somewhat hypocritical, but unless you know all the facts, the entire context of the two trips and know how the angler operates it is pretty harsh to single him out as a hypocrite just from that example.
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
fishfish
Posts: 307
Date Joined: 01/09/09
Spot On
Well said Andy Mac very professional !!!!!!!!!!
Cheers fishfish....
hunterdive
Posts: 363
Date Joined: 24/02/09
yes well said Andy
yes well said Andy Mac
Lets not get critical and personal about other forums and mags, the other fishing forums went that way and it just brings out the worst in people. (and I apologise in advance Auslobster if that wasn't your intention)
I think there has been a very necessary culture change in the fishing community of late, with regards to catch and release, bag limits, and fishing for the future, so lets keep spreading the word in a positive way eh
what makes this forum great is that there has been no personality clashes or conflicts or creating controversy about other forums etc.