SwEEEEt Crayfish

[SAFishShooter]

Hi

I went crayfish diving this weekend at Grotto bay. The water Vis was +- 4m but the waves were quite big.
To get to the water you must climb down a small cliff of about 7m.
Once down you must be very quick in putting on your mask and flippers. Then you must get over two reefs that are about 15m apart. The waves break over this reefs so you must wait for the wave to break and when it pulls back you must fly over them.

When you eventually get out there( about 50 m from the shore) you must catch your breath and then start looking for them crays. The water is about 4 to 5m deep.

I found 2 that were just legal limit (8cm). Then I found a small reef in wich I took out a huge one. The front carpace were 13cm. That is huge here. I was lank stoked and started to look for another. I found another two a bit smaller (12cm each). I released the one small one I took out since our bag limit is 4. So now I had 4 crays of wich 3 were huge. on my way back to the shore I saw feelers protroding from underneath a rock. I went down to have a look and saw a huge one. I went up for air and went down again. I grabbed it over the carpace but I couldn't get a good grip on it so I grabbed it by the horns. I took it out and put it in my bag. When I eventually got out of the water and up the cliff I measured it. 14 cm Yes ladies and gents I'm not kidding 14 cm with no legs broken off and the full feelers still on. Sweet !!!

When I went there again on Sunday the water was to dirty to dive there so I went out on the other side and took out two of 13 cm and two of 12 cm.

I can't wait for Easter. Then I'm going camping there!!!!

I'll post the pics as soon as they are developed.

Cheers Reinier

 

[Griff]

congrats man. that must have been like a 6 kilo bag!
My biggest ever was 10cm (east coast cray) and i thought it was a beast but 14:duh

cheers
Mark

 

[fuzz]

To help some of us who don't measure carapaces, what's the aproximate weight of these lobsters?

Back home in Hawaii, I never touch them unless they're way past legal-sized... I used to stay at my friend's beach house on some weekends & got really tired of eating them Too much of a good thing. :head

 

[w3ac]

same boat

I'm on the same boat as you Fuzz. Too much of a good thing I guess. When I first started night diving I would go home and eat them right away. By the way, it is easier to get lobster at night in Hawaii. I think I over did it because I may eat one or two a year. My non diver friends always hint and I have had people ask me if they could buy from me. I'm just too lazy to go at night. Besides, hunting big fish is a lot more fun and challenging. Congratulations on the good catch though. Post the pics when available.

Brad :martial

 

[SAFishShooter]

Hi

I haven't weighed them yet but I will try to get a scale tonight.

I went again yesterday. I was quite sore because I played rugby on Saturday.

I dived for about an hour and I only found 2 crays that were just size. On my way out I found one of 12 cm. When I was about 5 m from the shore and in water of about 1m deep I found a biggie of 13 cm. I looked around a bit and found another of 13.5 cm.
My buddy didn't have any luck. The nice thing about this big crays is that they sit in nice big holes so that you can get them out without to much of a struggle. I also saw 3 octopusses wich is a bit unusual for the West Coast. The one that I saw was quite big.
It's head musta been about 15 cm. Left them alone though they are to tough to eat.

After that we fished the same spot that we dived. I caught a 41cm Bronze Bream (Hottie). When I casted again I got a overrun on my Penn reel. The line snapped on the reel. As I was taking this whole nest apart I held the line that were in the water in my mouth. After a while I felt a tugging on the line. I started to pull in this line by hand and caught a nige 35 cm bream. That was it for the day for me although I tried some more. My buddy who had no luck with diving caught 4 nice ones but none as big as my first one. All in all a very good day for me. If I can only win the Lottery now and do this every single day... rofl

Cheers Reinier

Ps. I also rarely eat them. I give them away to people in my block of flats or to people at my rugby club. You get tired of them very quickly. Although if you make a nice salad with it with plenty of lettuce, tamato and mayonaise it's pretty wicked...
Mmmm... when is that hot girl from the Rugby club coming for dinner?

 

[w3ac]

Karma coming your way for passing on those bugs. I see other divers here selling bugs for $10 a pound on the side of the road. These are the guys that take almost everything and are wiping out the lobster population. Gotta love the look on their faces when you show up and give them one lobster per family member . Got any photos of the hottie? No I don't mean his wife or daughter for all you equal opportunists. I mean the bream. Are those good eating, hard fighting?

Brad :martial

 

[SAFishShooter]

Hi

Yes the Bream are extremly good eating espcially when they are nice and fat. Very nice if you braai them stuffed with bacon and garlic with lemon juice.

I'll get a pic of the fish too. They put up nice fight if you use light tackle but since you mostly catch them between rocks and kelp it isn't always feasable to use light tackle. I use a 3.5m "Galjoen Strike" Rod and a Poliscanski reel with 10 kg line.

Here is a pic of the "Hottie" @ the rugby club.

 

[w3ac]

Go get em buddy! She got any sisters? :t

Brad :martial

 

[Amphibious]

put me down for two!

yet more renforcement to move to S.A.......

Willer

 

[Jay Styron]

kk'03.....S.A......kk'03....S.A....kk'03......S.A....Hummm