It’s prawnin’ time! by Jarrod Day

So how much are you willing to pay for a 1kg of prawns? Well for me, it's less than an hour's work.

Sure, you can take the easy road and head to the local fish shop and purchase 1kg for around $22 that has been sitting in a freezer for god knows how long, or you can head to your local estuary and catch your own with some entertainment thrown in for free.

Of course, in Victoria prawns are not readily available year round; rather they are more of a summertime species. In fact, it is said that any month with the letter 'R' in its name is a good month to get out and get your feet wet.

Prawning is a lot of fun for the entire, providing you don't mind keeping the kids up till after dark.

Between the months of September and April, Victoria's prawning season kicks off and being a warm water crustacean they thrive in the northeastern estuaries of the state. That basically means in the Gippsland area with Lakes Entrance being the main hub.

Throughout the prawning season, it is nothing to stand on the edge of an estuaries bank and see a hundred or so glistening lights shining amongst the shallows with echoes of laughter bellowing deep from the tummies of children as they attempt to catch a fleeing prawn.

Though prawns are available to be caught throughout each month; they are more in abundance during the new moon. The dark moon provides prawns with a cover of darkness where they won't be devoured by flathead, bream, trevally or other fish that want to eat them.

Although the beginning of the season might be September, the prawns are still usually quite small in size averaging around 1-2". With each new moon that passes, the prawns grow about an inch in size on average, so if you're after the big ones at around 5-6", you're best to try your luck around the new moon in March and April.

WHERE TO FIND THEM

Prawns aren't the hardest things to find when you're on the hunt; rather providing you have the moon and tide in your favour they should be quite easy. Prawning is always done under the cover of darkness and that is because it is when they feel the safest to run the gauntlet out into the ocean without being eaten by predatory species.

Those looking to catch a few kg can catch prawns using two methods. The most basic is to walk or wade the edges of estuaries. Although you might have the moon right, you still need to work when the tide is running out and when the wind is at its calmest. Prawning when the wind is up reduces your visibility with surface disturbance and seeing the prawns can be a little difficult at times. Once you have all the planets aligned and in your favour, walk the shallows no deeper than knees. When looking for prawns, concentrate on the sandy areas rather than weed patches, as they will be in greater numbers on the sand and much easier to net.