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Fish Species
A-D
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This is a list of the more common
species caught in our area.
Please scroll down the page to the species you want.
Please Check the Information Page for Warning on
some species.
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Barramundi |
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Barramundi
(Barra, giant perch (Lates Calcariter)) |
| Local Names: |
Barra, Giant Perch |
| Bag Limits: |
5 Fish |
| Legal Size: |
58cm Min - 120cm Max |
| Best Baits: |
Live Prawn and Mullet. Lures are very good as well. |
| Line Class: |
6kg to 15kg with a 24kg leader. |
| Hook Size: |
3/0 to 6/0 |
| Best Locations: |
During the crushing season at the Maryborough Sugar Mill while the
warm waters are still running. The Maryborough River Heads and tributaries, Burrum River
and the Urangan Pier produce some good catches as well. |
| Qualities: |
Regarded as a true sporting fish with great fighting ability. They
will strike suddenly and once hooked will perform aerobatics and repeatedly have powerful
runs as they try and make the safety of snag and any other cover they can find. |
| Season: |
It is closed season from midday 1 November to midday 1 February.
(refer to QFMA guidelines for further info)
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Bream |
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Bream
(Acanthopagus Australis, Acanthopagrus Berda,
Rhabdosargus Sarba) |
| Bream: |
Yellow-fin Bream, Pikey Bream and Tarwhine |
| Bag Limit: |
30 |
| Legal Size: |
23 cm (All) |
| Best Baits: |
The best bait for this area is mullet gut or strips of
mullet, however they can be caught on yabbies, blood worm and prawns. Tarwhine are best
caught on beach worms, prawn, pipi, nippers and small crab. |
| Line Class: |
2 kg to 6 kg line. |
| Hook Size: |
Number 1 – 1/0 hook. |
| Best Locations: |
Ocean beach and eastern beach of Fraser Island, local creeks and
rivers, shallow reefs, rocky outcrops of Point Vernon and Gatakers Bay and beaches from
Burrum Heads back to Urangan including the Urangan Pier. The Kingfisher Jetty and River
Heads also fish well. Bream are generally a mid to bottom water feeder that like to stay
around underwater structures and favoured locations. Tarwhine inhabit surf beaches, rocky
headlands shallow reefs and estuaries. Surf tarwhine are found in gutters and channels.
Best fishing is during winter months. |
| Qualities: |
Apart from being a good table fish they are good sport on light
lines and when hooked behave erratically usually dashing and darting about in short
bursts. If cover is close by such as a reef or pier pylons then bream will dive amongst
this cover when hooked. Apart from whiting bream are one of the most caught species of
fish here in Hervey Bay. Bream feed together in schools at depths usually from 1 to 6m.
Dawn, dusk and night fishing for bream provides the best results. The use of berley is
good but only when ready to fish, as bream tend to feed only for a short time then move on.
Tarwhine are a hard fighting fish and vigorously shake their head after being hooked. |
| Season: |
Best months include May – August. |
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Black
King (Cobia) |
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Black Kingfish (Rachycentron
Canadus) |
| Local Name: |
Cobia |
| Bag Limit: |
Black Kingfish
2 Fish
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| Legal Size: |
Black Kingfish 75 cm
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| Best Baits: |
Large live baits like yakkas and slimy mackerel or even dead baits
like pilchard's yakkas and slimy mackerel and using lots of burly. Lures such as
skirted trolling lures, nylon jigs, poppers and high-speed metal lures like Arrows can all
be successful when now fresh bait is available. |
| Line Class: |
10 kg - 15 kg with a leader of 24 kg line. |
| Hook Size: |
6/0 - 8/0 |
| Best Locations: |
Rooney's, Southern and Northern Gutters and the Platypus Bay Area.
They are also found around the Fairway marker and other markers in the area where live
baits gather. |
| Qualities: |
They are excellent eating particularly if bled immediately after
capture. The Black Kingfish once hooked is like a freight train and just as hard to stop.
The Black Kingfish are easy to recognised by the alternate brownish and silvery bands
running the length of the body. This fish is good quality fish for the table and one of the
fastest fish in the ocean and for that reason, one of Australia’s most sorts after
sportfish. |
| Season: |
All year round. |
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Cod |
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Estuary Cod: [estuary rock cod brown spotted
rock cod] (Epinephelus suillus) |
| Local Name: |
Cod |
| Bag Limit: |
5 Fish |
| Legal Size: |
38 cm Min 120 cm max |
| Best Bait: |
Small live fish, fish heads, squid, crab, fish strips or pilchard. |
| Line Class: |
10kg to 24 kg line with a 24 kg leader trace. |
| Hook Size: |
4/0 - 8/0. |
| Best Location: |
All inshore coastal waters and local reefs, islands, tidal creeks
and bays. They also have an attraction to reef areas or piles of old jetties such as
the Urangan Pier and Kingfisher Jetty. |
| Qualities: |
One of the largest and most common of our Rock-Cods.
They are a
very good table fish when they are small but start to get a bit course when they get a bit
bigger. Their first run is very powerful once hooked. Be ready for the first run once
hooked otherwise your line will be cut or fouled amongst the shelter of the reef or
pylons. |
| Season: |
All year round. |
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Coral
Trout |
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Coral Trout:
(Plectropoma maculatum) |
| Local Name: |
Trout |
| Bag Limit: |
7 fish. |
| Legal Size: |
38 cm. |
| Best Bait: |
Small live baits such as herring or small bream or rainbow. Strips
of fish flesh, pilchard, squid, herrings, pilchards. |
| Line Class: |
10 kg to 24 kg. |
| Hook Size: |
5/0 to 8/0 |
| Best Location: |
Coral trout are a warm water reef dweller with the smaller trout
inhabiting our coral reefs and the larger fish found off deeper reefs around 15 - 20m in
depth. And in areas where the reef drops off and has plenty of current. |
| Qualities: |
Regarded as an excellent table fish the coral Trout is well sort
after by the trailer boat fisherman. However large Coral Trout can be a definite ciguatera
poison risk in some areas. These larger Trout are normally found well off shore like the
Scholl's and the gutters. |
| Season: |
Spring, Summer and Autumn. |
| Hints:
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Lower line until the sinker hits the bottom,
and then raise it about
1m. Coral trout bite hard and then run for the cover of the reef crevices and holes. Do not hesitate to set
the hook, lift the fish free of any sharp reef or say goodbye. |
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Dart |
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| Local Name: |
Swallowtail Dart |
| Bag Limit: |
30 |
| Legal Size: |
30 cm |
| Best Bait: |
Pilchards,
beachworm, yabbies and pipies, prawn and small crab. |
| Line Class: |
4 kg to 10kg |
| Hook Size: |
No.3 - 1/0 |
| Best Location: |
Fraser Island surf beach in the gutters and channels. |
| Qualities: |
As a table fish they are good eating and easy to cook however they
could be a little dry in taste. Dart should be bled as soon as they are caught to try and
prevent this happening. The Dart is strong savage fighter with pure agility providing
excellent sport on light tackle. Strikes hard at baits and swims away with speed. Once
hooked the fish constantly changes direction darting from side to side in
the waves. |
| Season: |
All year round. |
| Tips: |
Dart are found along the open surf beaches of Fraser Island. Cast
into the breakers as the dart often take bait as it hits the water so immediately take up
slack in line after cast. Dart move into the shallow waters from outside the gutters on
rising tides in the deeper water of the gutters and holes. Cast toward gutters and holes
adjacent to any broken water and move your bait steadily encouraging a strike. Fish the
deep gutters along beaches when the tide is at its peak.
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Dolphin
Fish |
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Dolphin Fish. [mahi
mahi, dorado] (Coryphaena hippurus) |
| Local Name: |
Dolphin Fish |
| Bag Limit: |
5 |
| Legal Size: |
60 cm. |
| Best Baits: |
Live yakkers or herrings and dead baits such as gar fillet or
mullet fillet and even pilchards. |
| Line Class: |
6kg to 15kg. with a leader of 24 kg. |
| Hook Size: |
3/0 - 10/0. |
| Location: |
Main area is around the light ship at the end of the Sandy Cape
Bar. However these fish could be under any floating debris so keep an eye
open. |
| Qualities: |
These fish strike suddenly and run with tremendous speed. Once
hooked they provide spectacular aerobatics and fighting ability. The dolphin fish has is
one of the finest eating qualities of any fish in the sea. The aerobatics displayed once
hooked makes it a favourite amongst blue water anglers. Dolphin fish are often found
schooling around floating objects and are attracted to offshore beacons and FAD's such as
the light ship as mentioned above. Calm summer days tend to produce better fishing, as the
younger fish will swim close to the bottom of your boat and the larger fish normally
deeper out of sight. |
| Season: |
All year round.
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