Crays

[Jager_SA]

I know this is strictly a Spearo's board, but I always dive with a bag just in case I don't find any fish out behind back line. But I often just cruise the rocks and pick off the odd crayfish.

If anyone has any cool tips or advice on pulling crays, plz post them!
Thanks!

 

[covert]

well most people just use a baitbag, (wheighted down so the sandsharks dont run away with it) throw it in swim around for 15 minutes, dive down and take your quota. But its more fun hunting for them

 

[deep thinker]

But its more fun hunting for them

So they say but I prefer hunting fish, I just cant force myself to crawl around the kelp roots looking for bugs I also read some posts here where the guys shoot them with spearguns, poor cray probably never even saw it coming

 

[covert]

lol i dont thin ill mess up my spear like that ... but they do make mighty fine eating and accompanies any fish on a plate really well pitty we cant take out abalone fish,cray and abalone yummmmmmmy

 

[deep thinker]

Yea it is kind of a pity hey. I just dont like the fact that while we adhere to the rules there are some people who dont and that the suplies are dwindling anyway. Well I guess its a money thing though. In the blombos and I guess most of that coastline there is a smaller but very similar in taste version to abalone, we call em siffies. Dont know what the real name is though, but I do know they are still legal

 

[Johann]

siffies are the SA name for them. Venus ear is the text-book name. They do make REALY good eating(and one of the best baits I know of for musselkracker.But bru, do any of you still see pearly?
Last month I was diving in onrus, looking for "kreef", and saw only alekrik. NO crayfish, and NOOOOO pearlies. Truth, I cant even remember the last time I picked up a good sized shell!

 

[covert]

yep there are plenty spots between hermanus and Struis with perlies, very very tempting to take just one singe suculent tender tasty perly .... but alas jail time probably aint worth it. Meanwhile the commercials harvest at will man it sucks.

 

[deep thinker]

I know of a few spots where they hide in the hangklip area, but I leave them be for obvious reasons. Theres a few fattys rite at the entry spots to one of the bays there and also Ive heard that theyve reintroduced farmed pearlys somewhere in the paternoster area, obviously to get them at a later stage but I think its cool, gives them time to grow up in the ocean and maybe even leave some offspring behind...

 

[miles]

Hiya

This whole perlie thing is a load of rubbish!!! Its all a money making racket.........

Commerical harvesting is still allowed and rampant poaching is still prevalent. Its simply so easy to target law abiding recreationals, so that why the ban.

I've spoken to a guy who owned a abalone farm and he reckons he could re-populate the ENTIRE coastline with the off-spring of only TWO perlies!!! Why the powers that be don't go that route is anyones guess.......

Sadly, many commercial fisherman turn to poaching perlies and kreef to make a living. Their fishing rights have been taken away and they're left with no other means of survival. Look at little coastal villages like Paternoster, Gansbaai, Buffeljag, Struisbaai, Arniston. These people are fisherman. Their fathers and grandfathers were all fisherman. There is NO other occupation that they're qualified to do. With most of the commercial fishing boats have NOT been granted their fishing licences, what is left of these fisherman?? They then have to "poach" just to put food on the table.

The term POACHING is quite difficult to explain to these fisherfolk. How do you explain to him that what they've been doing, harvesting mollusc's from the sea, like its been done for the last century, as it was taught to him by his parents and grand-parents, is now considered ILLEGAL.......

Spearing Crays. In some parts of the world you are allowed to spear crays. I've seen it done and can assure you that those crays are vitually impossible to take out by hand. In Mozambique, i saw the locals spear crays well in excess of 8kg's!! Try wrestling a 10kg cray out of its liar.....rofl

Regards
miles

 

[Johann]

Some of the poachers Ive spoken to all have commercial diver permits, just to get neptune off their backs I think.

 

[deep thinker]

O by the way I heard the other day that it is illegal to collect siffies also, if I remember correctly we have 4 species of abalone of which only one is busy going out, but theyve made all 4 species illegal due to enforcement factors, I think most guys in the feild dont really know the difference so they have to make it easier for them to enforce the law, plus it makes for more paper work. Allthough I think in my mentioned part of the world Ill just continue to take my historic legal quota, I havent seen anybody from nature conservation not to mention sea fisheries there for the last ten years.

 

[Swedish Jim]

We should have a forum for Crays and other (non spearing) hunting Can anyone tell me where is a good place to get in the water in Arniston for 1. Spearing and 2. Crays? I've never dived up that way and look forward to some tips. also, where do you guys read what the sea is doing? I was at Rooiels on saturday and the viz was really poor. Still found kreef-quota but couldnt see to shoot anything. Jim

 

[covert]

hey swedish Jim, dont think we've met but hell you should have been over at the other side of the bay, excellent viz, lots of fish, and luckally i didnt see any GW's. Arniston im told has some great diving though ive never actually done a shoredive of there. Would be cool missioning out there for a day with the family and dive, so let me know when your planning on heading through. BTW apparently im mad diving millers in GW season, and i cant fault that statement unfortunately.

 

[deep thinker]

Saxon reef at Arniston is within shore distance I think but mite stand corrected on that. On winds I normally check which way the prevailing wind for the week blows and then head to where that would have been a offshore. If it was SE (southerly), strand side or atlantic works well, if it was NW (westerley) Millers, smuts or Bettysbay side. Its worked thus far but last weeks winds was very strong so mite not have been too good. Also a one or two day change in direction before your dive isnt allways bad as it will bring in warmer water

 

[Swedish Jim]

Thanks, much appreciated! Ill be there fron 5th to 12th Jan -after the crowds. No we havent met (perhaps on a beach) Im new here.

 

[Lenny]

Hey if you wanna go grab some crays during that time give me a shout!, I'm on leave then and it's just about my favorite past time.

We usually dive a place called soetwater, where the kelpbeds go 300m out to sea! Sometimes we spend the whole morning in the water, Often we take people who hold premits with us just to sit on the beach so we can collect more crays. So we usually take car inner tube with nets on it to keep all our crays in. this follows us on a rope, and it also serves as a nice resting place after treading water for 2-3 hours. Each of us take with us 3-6 wire rigs of full of limpets attached to 6m ropes attached to little bouys(coke bottles). We use limpets for a few reasons: 1) its free 2) They don't attract sharks which is a big problem with bait bags cos the sharks and seals rip them to pieces, and then you have to swim 300m to shore cos you have no more bait! 3) it's easier to carry and to throw them 4)you save your wetsuits from pilchard guts and very bad fishy smell.

So that's how my buddies and I do it.

 

[mupwi]

hi there

Lenny could you plz describe these wire rigs you mentioned maybe a pic it sounds interesting. I normally just look for them peeking out there holes slip the end of my speer under there front legs and flick them out before they know whats happening and have time to grab on then pick them up before they run back home

 

[Lenny]

Nothing really advanced, I collect limpets with a paint scraper or old knife. Then I have like a steel pick effort (welders use it to for something) which I use to knock holes in their shells. Then I just string about 20 of them on a piece of wire and twist the two ends together, kinda like a limpet necklace. attach that to some rope and a plastic coke bottle and there you go.

In soetwater you can look around under rocks, but it will take you the whole day and you still might not come out with your quota. This is much easier, especially if the viz is bad. I have caught my full quota in water so murky I could not see the end of my arm. It lures them out of their holes and into the open.

 

[Lenny]

Ah i see the confusion, i said limpet rigs instead of limpet rings.

Mr X. we just use whatever limpets we can find. I don´t think crays are that fussy, they are scavengers after all.