North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Rug wrote:

mickkk wrote:This is an extremely scary and tragic stituation. I think everyone should imagine that it was their family member that this has happened to before making flipand and insentisave comments. The poor family must have felt soo helpless and clueless as to what to do, I don't think I could imagine a worse stituation. I do think they were lucky (if you could call it that) that their boat didn't capsize (again I'm only going off what little info has been made public) and there have been an even worse outcome.

I think the greenies blowing up on social media (not so much on here but come of the comments of different media stores in FB have been very inappropriate) about the two offending crocs that were shot really need to give them self an uppercut. For the family to have some closure, and to retrieve the remains. Not to mention that there is a croc that has evolved enought to work out it should not show fear of boats but stalk them as they carry food.

For me this is a game changer. Every croc attack that I have heard of to date I could put down to the human taking risky behaviour (generally swimming) but by all reports this man has not done anything I would not have, not to mention put my kids in the same situation. And this has totally changed everything for me.

Will I stop fishing, no. Will I stop taking my kids out no. But I will change my behaviour, greatly.
I don't think a cull will solve the problem unless we wipe the total population out and I don't think the human race have the right to make a decision to wipe out an entire species (again). We must change out behaviour to reduce the risk.

Personally I will be setting up a deck wash off my live bait tank to reduce the amount of times I have limbs outside the boat. I will also make sure I have a potty/ bucket on the boat every time I take the kids out, no more little bums hanging over the boat (I generally do this but forgot on my last trip upstream on the daily and now can't help think what could have happened) I also will be modifying my trailer to reduce the time at waters edge launching / retrieving my boat (to date I have been telling myself that no one has ever been taken whilst retrieving their boat but as I said the game has changed and I don't want to be the first).

As it stands this is unfortunately just a tragic freak accident. Even know I have never met this man (as far as I know) I will think of him everytime I'm on the water. My thoughts and sympathies go out to his family and friends.
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Mickey Barratt

That is by far the most sensible post in this entire thread.

I also note in today's article that the family wanted it to be clear that he was not leaning over the edge of the boat cleaning a bucket, but just standing at the back of his moored tinny.

nomad wrote:Thanks ghound.
A 3.7 m tinny probably has the same freeboard as some of those bass boats that get around.