It’s octopus catching time!The most common octopus caught in and around Perth waters is Octopus tetricus, otherwise known as the gloomy octopus. This is a fast-growing, hard-living animal who has a short life span – generally around a year. The blokes die soon after mating and the girls after hatching the thousands of eggs which they lay in protected caves.
They are commonly found amongst rubble, in seagrass beds and on rocky coastal reefs. You can generally pick their home by the bivalve shells scattered around its entrance. Unfortunately for these animals they are fantastic eating and when fresh make the best jewie bait.
There are two main types of octopus traps – trigger pots and shelter pots. Trigger pots are much more efficient but also a lot more expensive, hard to haul and require maintenance to ensure the doors don’t get jammed. I’m also not really comfortable with leaving a trapped animal for long periods if you can’t pull the traps for whatever reason.
A much simpler and cheaper option is to set up a short string of shelter-style octopus traps clipped onto a line which can be pulled whenever you have the time or suitable weather. This way the occi live and grow peaceably in their shelter pot until you decide to pull them up.
A quick tip on getting occi out of the shelter pot – a sprinkle of salt generally results in a rapid exit, and when it comes out don’t lift the animal up from the floor unless you want a wrestling match, just grab the head and slice cleanly at the base – humane and quick.
We’ve got a load of new shelter pots just in, along with all the gear you need like ropes, floats and bait, so drop in and see us or call for more information.
