Local cray pot raider, Paul, has tipped his hat once again to the efforts of his local fishing community for their excellent work in baiting and setting their pots in areas where they’ll catch plenty of crays.
Beaming with enthusiasm and stuffed full from a hefty 3 tail cray feed, Paul told The Times,
“Behind every successful pot raider is a hard-working team that buys the best gear, does their research, and uses the perfect bait. So I’ll be dedicating today’s feed to them, cheers boys, love ya work”
Despite being involved in several pot raiding related assaults, Paul maintains that he wouldn’t change a thing about the way he fishes,
“I’ve always believed that ya can’t truly own a cray mate. So I’ve been raiding for years, you got any idea of the cost and effort in doing it all yourself? Yeah nah, fark that off, fish smarter not harder ya pelican ha ha. Yeah copped a few beltings but that’s not to say I ain’t given a few back, it’s just how it is mate, law of the ocean”
However, it wasn’t just the allure of some high seas biffo or corner-cutting that turned Paul into a pot raider. It was also the affection he was receiving from his wife. He goes on to say,
“Bringing home fresh crays every day was a real turning point. It was the first time me wife didn’t look at me like I was a loser. Lost all that respect after the 3rd Magistrate’s appearance but, she’s not the thorniest cray in the pot but it was hard to convince her I was a talented crayfisherman after that”
Unsurprisingly, Paul is no stranger to the Department of Fisheries having been convicted of interfering with other people’s fishing gear and exceeding his bag limit multiple times. Naturally, he was pretty zen about that too,
“They can’t get ya every time mate, ha ha. Yeah, I got my tricks, the Magistrate seized one of me dinghies once, jokes on him but, that was stolen too ha ha, yeah nah, law of the ocean, mate”
We understand one of Paul’s main tactics to avoid detection is bringing in son fishing. Instead of being out on the water while Paul pulls other people’s pots, he’s on shore serving as a scout for “fisheries dogs”.
A very moving family business.
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