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Fishing
for Yabby, Catching Yabbies, How to Make a Yabby Pump
Catching yabbies with meat and string, how to use traps to catch yabbies, making
a yabby pump, Yabbying in the Murray River video.
Catching Yabbies:
Catching with meat and
string is a time-honoured way of catching yabbies, and kids
absolutely love it. Even adults still find this method fun! Just
tie a bit of meat to 3 or 4 metres of string and throw it out.
When a Yabby grabs the meat and pulls the string tight just
slowly pull him in! Tips with this method are to use white
cooking twine as your string, which is easy to see and sinks
(builders twine and other synthetic twine floats), to use meat
without much fat so it sinks (very fatty pieces float), and to
have a net to scoop the yabbies when you have them at the edge
of the water.
The other method is to use traps. The traps to use are the ones
that fall flat on the river or lake bed, allowing yabbies to
climb over the bait, and then form a funnel again when they’re
hauled in. Enclosed traps should not be used – they can trap and
drown native animals such as water rats, turtles and platypus
and are banned in some states for this reason.
There is a bag and possession limit of 200 yabbies per person in
NSW, and females with “berry” (eggs) are not allowed to be kept.
How to tell the difference between a Yabby and a Redclaw
Crayfish: Cheraxdestructor, or the common native Yabby, have two raised
longitudinal ridges on top of their heads. In contrast, Cherax
quadricarinatus, or Redclaw crayfish, have four
raised longitudinal ridges on top of their heads.
Video: Yabbying in the Murray River
How to Make a Ghost Shrimp Pump (Yabby Pump):
Instructional video on how to make a quick and easy ghost shrimp pump from easy
to get parts from your local hardware store.
Catch limits in Victoria:
A special amnesty now allows the use of
open top lift nets.
A scientific study on different designs of yabby equipment has shown that open
top pyramid nets provide comparable catch rates to other yabby traps, but with a
lower likelihood of catching other wildlife.
Hoop and dip nets will continue to be permitted. Opera house nets remain
prohibited in public waters
The changes that will occur to yabby
regulations through a Fisheries Notice are:
A daily bag/possession limit
of 30 litres of whole yabby or 200 whole yabbies of
any size(whichever is the lesser), or 5 litres of
yabby meat, claws or other parts or 200 parts of
yabby meat, claws or other parts (whichever is the
lesser); and
Prohibit the take of berried
females; and
Set a total possession limit
of yabby at:
90 litres or more of
whole yabby or 600 or more whole yabby of any
size (whichever is the lesser); or
15 litres of yabby in any
other form (meat, claws or other parts) or 600
parts of yabby meat, claws or other parts
(whichever is the lesser).
Exceeding the total possession
limit of yabby is subject to higher penalties than
exceeding the recreational catch limit.
These changes are intended to
limit the number of small yabbies that can be taken and
sold illegally as bait, while allowing for the vast
majority of fishers who comply with the law to continue
to enjoy catching yabbies.
The total possession limit allows
recreational fishers (particularly campers and other
tourists in regional areas) to continue to catch yabbies
while staying in an area for a number of days. (Source:
Dept. Primary Industries Victoria)
