Day in the life of a Commercial Fisher on the Gippsland Lakes ***
A day’s fishing does not begin when the alarm goes off at 5 am in the morning, it can start two days before, when I listen to the weather forecast. Wind is the my biggest enemy, too much wind and your mesh nets will fill up with weed and move across the bottom catching on snags. Or, it may begin a few weeks earlier when I notice the dolphins chasing fish out of the water, or gulls feeding on whitebait that is being chased to the surface by Taylor. Or, it might begin with an off hand comment from an angler about the whiting he caught at a particular location, or by me reading something in the local paper.
In short as long as I move around the lakes I am constantly observing or listening or reading little snippets of information that will effect the decision I make about which size nets I will use and their location.
For tomorrows catch I will need to put the nets out tonight. So here it is, Sunday, and by regulation I am allowed to put nets in the water one hour before sundown. For most of the day I have been tossing up in my mind what to do, given all the above factors. As you can imagine, I am not much fun to be around on Sunday.
I have made up my mind and loaded the boat, with small net designed to catch whiting. Why whiting? Over the summer when I was out prawning, I noticed large numbers of small whiting in the shallows. Six months later, they have grown and are now big enough to harvest,
As I head off, I have to dodge the Raymond Island Ferry. One old fisherman said to me once “The ferry only goes twice a day, when I go out and when I come back”.
Rob’s story below
Out on the lake I quickly scan the shores for other boats, if another fisherman is at the spot I have chosen to work in.** I may have to discard all the preparation and go somewhere else. It also helps to know if there are boats broken down or run aground. If this is the case, a rescue boat may be on the way and they can damage or become entangled in nets in their rescue attempt.
I don’t have to rescue many vessels these days because most people on boats now have mobile phones. In the past I had to rescued a kite surfer, a number of cruisers that have broken down, a two masted ketch that was heading for lands distant, a koala and a wallaby.
I am at the chosen spot, so I check the time, and put out the nets. It will take from 1.5 to 2 hours. I’ll back early in the morning .On the way home I notice one of the sea eagles following me. This bird is from Raymond Island and has learned that I am quite happy to throw it a fish if I have one, but the sea eagle will have to wait for the morning fish catch
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There are three pairs of eagles that come to the boat. Raymond Island (RI), Boole Poole (BP) and Sperm Whale Head (SWH). Each of these birds has a different personality and body language. One from SWH will catch a fish in the air, but its partner will not. One from BP will also catch a fish in the air, but is gamer and will come quite close to the boat and yet its partner is timid even when the fish is in the water.
The pair from RI are both relatively young birds and although they are becoming more confident they follow the boat at a great height. This makes for a spectacular decent when I throw a fish.
At 5am I have a quick breakfast and head of to work. It is the middle of winter and about 2°C. In days past fisherman had a fire pot to warm their hands. This was an oil or kerosene drum, with holes punched in to let the air in to the fire. They prevented it from burning the boat to the water line by putting three inches of sand in the bottom, or resting it on a couple of bricks. I combat the cold by using a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel. Often the mornings are foggy and this is when the GPS really comes in to its own.
Working in the fog is my favourite weather condition, because it’s so quiet. On one such morning, one of the older fishermen spotted me working my nets and came over to get directions to a landmark. I pointed him in the right direction and watched as he disappeared into this pea souper, an hour later he returned and asked me for the same directions. He had motored around in a big circle. I follow the GPS to the first buoy and find it in the dark with a spot light.
The pair from RI are both relatively young birds and although they are becoming more confident they follow the boat at a great height. This makes for a spectacular decent when I throw a fish.
At 5am I have a quick breakfast and head of to work. It is the middle of winter and about 2°C. In days past fisherman had a fire pot to warm their hands. This was an oil or kerosene drum, with holes punched in to let the air in to the fire. They prevented it from burning the boat to the water line by putting three inches of sand in the bottom, or resting it on a couple of bricks. I combat the cold by using a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel. Often the mornings are foggy and this is when the GPS really comes in to its own.
Working in the fog is my favourite weather condition, because it’s so quiet. On one such morning, one of the older fishermen spotted me working my nets and came over to get directions to a landmark. I pointed him in the right direction and watched as he disappeared into this pea souper, an hour later he returned and asked me for the same directions. He had motored around in a big circle. I follow the GPS to the first buoy and find it in the dark with a spot light.
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The work begins.
Some mornings, I will hear the blow of a seal in the dark, when this happens I know there won’t be much in the nets as the seal will have been gorging itself all night. Other mornings I hear a pelican land in the dark, they have fantastic eyesight and there will be ten of them by the time the sun gets up.
The pelicans are nesting on the islands near ‘The Grange’ almost year round now, and at the moment there are a couple of young birds begging for food from the adults around the boat. I try not to feed these birds but they are very cunning and very fast, Eventually they manage to grab something either from the water or directly from the nets. I watched one work along the net and deftly pick up a garfish by the head and pull it through the net, it did this 10 times before flying off to digest the meal. Other birds have not discovered this need for dexterity and lunge at the fish, grabbing large amounts of net but fail to get the fish out.
To protect myself from the wind chill I wear cotton gloves. As these get wet, I have discovered that 4°C is my breakeven point. Anything below this is painful, above is tolerable. I may have to work for 15 minutes then warm my hands and repeat this until the sun comes up, and warms the surrounding air,
Some mornings, I will hear the blow of a seal in the dark, when this happens I know there won’t be much in the nets as the seal will have been gorging itself all night. Other mornings I hear a pelican land in the dark, they have fantastic eyesight and there will be ten of them by the time the sun gets up.
The pelicans are nesting on the islands near ‘The Grange’ almost year round now, and at the moment there are a couple of young birds begging for food from the adults around the boat. I try not to feed these birds but they are very cunning and very fast, Eventually they manage to grab something either from the water or directly from the nets. I watched one work along the net and deftly pick up a garfish by the head and pull it through the net, it did this 10 times before flying off to digest the meal. Other birds have not discovered this need for dexterity and lunge at the fish, grabbing large amounts of net but fail to get the fish out.
To protect myself from the wind chill I wear cotton gloves. As these get wet, I have discovered that 4°C is my breakeven point. Anything below this is painful, above is tolerable. I may have to work for 15 minutes then warm my hands and repeat this until the sun comes up, and warms the surrounding air,
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The lakes are very salty at the moment, which has encouraged the more salt tolerant species such as flathead and whiting. This morning I am targeting whiting in a patch of heavy weed. I know they will congregate somewhere around the lake, I just need to find out where.
Bingo, the first net has lots of whiting and leather jacket and a few flathead, I throw in just enough mullet to feed the sea eagles and I’m very pleased with the catch.
As I head back to Paynesville I notice a pod of Dolphins coming up the lake. I love watching them feed on whitebait. They dive down to the school of whitebait and chase some of them to the surface. These little fish rush around in circles right on the surface. The dolphin which looks down over its nose is unable to look up at the bait above. They get over this problem by turning upside down and they are then looking down at the bait on the surface.
I return to Paynesville about 10am, now I have a quick coffee and bun with brother Jeff (Paynesville Seafoods) before I run the fish to Lakes Entrance. A truck will deliver them to the Melbourne fish market for sale through my agent first thing tomorrow.
When I return home I will put in a couple of hours making up new nets, before I head out again at 3pm to set the nets for the next day.
Bingo, the first net has lots of whiting and leather jacket and a few flathead, I throw in just enough mullet to feed the sea eagles and I’m very pleased with the catch.
As I head back to Paynesville I notice a pod of Dolphins coming up the lake. I love watching them feed on whitebait. They dive down to the school of whitebait and chase some of them to the surface. These little fish rush around in circles right on the surface. The dolphin which looks down over its nose is unable to look up at the bait above. They get over this problem by turning upside down and they are then looking down at the bait on the surface.
I return to Paynesville about 10am, now I have a quick coffee and bun with brother Jeff (Paynesville Seafoods) before I run the fish to Lakes Entrance. A truck will deliver them to the Melbourne fish market for sale through my agent first thing tomorrow.
When I return home I will put in a couple of hours making up new nets, before I head out again at 3pm to set the nets for the next day.
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** I hold the only commercial licence in Paynesville, but there are others in Metung and L Entrance. There are no restrictions were we can fish on the Lakes .
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