Commercial prawn opening 2013

[Sangstercraft]

Does anyone know when the commercial boats start prawning? I've had my traps go "missing" when that happens, and would like to avoid it. Couldn't find this info on the gov' site.

Thanks.

 

[GDW]

Pull your traps daily leave em overnight and your asking for trouble. I think it's may 1 for commercials.

 

[Fish Assassin]

Normally just before Mother's Day which is in May.

 

[Dogbreath]

First week of May usually.

 

[Sangstercraft]

Thanks guys.

 

[hambone]

In general I think the average commercial prawn guy would be respectful of sporty gear... Obviously I can't speak for all of them as I've had problems in the past.

If you decide to prawn near a commercial set just keep in mind their gear won't be drifting at all... I did my one and only season last year and time and time again sport gear drifted on top of us. We would clear the gear as best as possible but sometimes we had to either haul it up or to cut and re-tie the sport gear. A commercial boat has way more to lose in a fight between a sporty, so I think in general they want to avoid problems. Another thing to keep in mind is that each commercial set will be getting checked daily so if your gear does go missing, the commie boat will be in the general area and may very well have your gear on board waiting for you to claim it.

 

[chevyshaulass]

In general I think the average commercial prawn guy would be respectful of sporty gear... Obviously I can't speak for all of them as I've had problems in the past.

If you decide to prawn near a commercial set just keep in mind their gear won't be drifting at all... I did my one and only season last year and time and time again sport gear drifted on top of us. We would clear the gear as best as possible but sometimes we had to either haul it up or to cut and re-tie the sport gear. A commercial boat has way more to lose in a fight between a sporty, so I think in general they want to avoid problems. Another thing to keep in mind is that each commercial set will be getting checked daily so if your gear does go missing, the commie boat will be in the general area and may very well have your gear on board waiting for you to claim it.

x2. pretty sure its a week later than normal this year. may 9th i believe. definitely keep youre gear out of the way on opening day as things are hectic with everyone trying to get their gear out as quick as possible which makes the guy running the boat less likely to go out of his way to avoid a couple sport traps right in the middle of his string of 50. another thing to keep in mind when fishing around commercial gear is that a string is rarely set in a straight line between the scotsmans, usually zig zagged back and forth so even though you may be 50 yds outside where the scotsmans line up, you could still be risking setting on top of the string. theres 1/3 of a mile of groundline in between the anchors. overnight soaking is risky business unless you can pull them at first light, always expect the commercial gear to be moved slightly in one direction/depth every day.

 

[sly_karma]

Lesson learnt here, no more overnight trap sets for me. Makes sense but hadn't thought of it this way before, I'm just a holiday visitor to the coast. Thanks for the education guys.