Well I had a great Easter but didn’t get the call to jump off the cliff and go hang gliding at Stanwell Tops. In fact, I now hear that it’s off the radar until June which is very disappointing.
I also missed out on a Port Hacking fishing trip with Mr Mowie Morro and Iron Guts Wayne due to a flat battery in the boat.
Morro (who is a whiz at anything) has the problem resolved now with a solar powered thingamajig that keeps the battery forever topped up – quite a clever idea and you can email me if you would like further details on that device.
I did manage to find a moment to put up a few worthwhile links to some great articles in the “Weipa Trip” section of www.skippermeggs.com and if you are keen on fishing that part of the world I’d encourage you to take a look at them.
For better or for worse I have also included edited versions of the “Narrawallee Chronicles” and some of our rules in the “Bygone Voyages” area.
Personally, I think when these are viewed in isolation of other aspects of the trip they lose a bit of impact and my eventual aim is to perhaps present a consolidated view of each trip going back to the inaugural Tathra adventure in 1990.
Enough of this though, lets move on to more important things – the life and times of the incredible Bonefish.
Highly prized by fly fisherman around the world the primitive Bonefish can be found in the south pacific island regions, Australia and the Carribean.
It was originally thought that there was one species of Bonefish but the last known figure I could find was nine (6 in the Pacific and 3 in the Carribean).
In northern Australian waters the species most commonly encountered is the Albula Glossodonta.
In the Pacific the Bonefish spawn offshore in many months of the year around the full moon.
During the early stages of its life the Bonefish undergoes a larval stage where it appears as a transparent ribbon type fish some 6cm long with a small head living off absorbed nutrients from the open ocean. This larval phase can last between 6 to 12 weeks.
If the larval Bonefish survives its time at sea it seeks shallow water and undergoes metapmorphis, transforming into a smaller version of the adult bonefish half the size of its larval stage.
It’s not actually known where the juvenile and adolescent Bonefish congregate but what is known that larger juvenile fish tend to live in open sandy bottoms of deeper water.
The Bonefish also has a remarkable swim bladder with many blood vessels allowing it to function like a lung. This means the fish can “gulp” air at the surface and live in oxygen starved environments.
Around the world the maximum size of Bonefish is 8kg, whilst the Australian record is 4.66kg for a fish caught out at Swains Reef.
Believe it or not, a 3.6Kg specimen was caught in Sydney’s Port Hacking River using fish bait.
Growth rates also remain a mystery, however it is largely thought that a 2 year old fish is around 23cm in length. Bonefish are understood to mature at 4 years of age and 45cm and can live for up to 20 years.
Firstly thank you for all your well wishes for the postponed Hang Gliding expedition to Stanwell Tops.
It is rumoured that I might receive a call over the Easter break to jump off that same cliff this weekend. I’ll keep you posted!
On another note, if you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the “Fish ‘n’ Pix” section of the www.skippermeggs.com website take a look because my nephew Craig Baxter proudly displays a 78cm jewie that he caught off Bulli Beach last Saturday night.
I have a stack of photos that I need to load in that section so keep an eye out over the next month as it expands.
By the way, the most creative answer I have had to the “Name this fish” section of the Skipper Meggs website is “Kevin”.
Ok, this week I’m going to discuss the life cycle of a fish that is a cousin of the trevally family and after viewing the title of this week’s post you probably have already guessed the fact that it is indeed the Queenfish or Scomberoides Commersonnianus (a fish that causes piles?).
These tough fighting fish grow to over 120cm in length and can weigh in at 14Kg and are thought to live up to 15 years of age.
They prefer shallow waters or reefs, islands or estuaries and are not overly fond of deeper water or far offshore locations.
They are found across the top of Australia from say Fraser Island in Queensland to northern Western Australia.
In 2005 the CSIRO conducted a study into the life cycle of the Queenfish that was co-funded by the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage and the National Oceans Office. Local fisherman in the Gulf of Carpentaria (including Dave Donald Sportsfishing Charters and the Weipa Sportsfishing Club) provided the study with some 300 Queenfish specimens that were caught in and around the Weipa area.
Queenfish spawning appears to occur from September through to February largely through the wet season with a peak during November. It is still unclear as to where spawning occurs (offshore?) but what is known that during the spawning season a female Queenfish will release around two million eggs.
Male Queenfish (no not Kingfish!) and females grow at more or less at the same rate and reach a length of 30cm in the first year and about 80cm at age 5. Their growth slows considerably after this time.
Interestingly the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries website claims the Queenfish matures sexually at 63cm whilst the study found that this is achieved at age 4-5 years at a length of 72cm.
The Fisheries website claims that size limits on caught fish are introduced to “generally allow fish to spawn at least once and contribute to the population before they are taken.” This makes complete sense and such a stance should be applauded to protect future fish stocks.
So what is the Queensland regulation in relation to bag and size limits for Queenfish?
Well if you are fishing in Queensland you can catch and kill as many Queenfish as you want at any length – only in the Gulf of Carpentaria is there a minimum size limit of 45cm, which as already discussed is well below the sexual maturity length of 72cm.
Well intentioned fisherman, catching and keeping Queenfish within size and bag limits in Queensland may actually be playing a part in the genocide of this species.
Once again, Skipper Meggs will be writing to the regulators in an attempt to extract some juvenile justice for the young Queenfish so that we can protect this species for future generations.
Ever since I saw Sarah in a Toga at a party years ago I’ve been interested in her fishing namesake.
The Scleropages Leichardti (Italian resident in Balmain area?), or Saratoga as it is more commonly called, hails from regions as diverse as Africa, Asia, South America, New Guinea and of course northern Australia.
Believe it or not a member of its family grows to an enormous fifteen feet in South America but locally they reach lengths to 90cm and can weigh in at 17kg.
Saratoga are aggressive territorial freshwater fish who enjoy their own company and not much of anyone elses, including fish of their own kind.
The breeding season for Saratoga happens around late winter through to spring and fish around 4 years of age or 45-50cm in length are considered to be mature enough to take part in the process.
Interestingly the only time other saratoga leave their own kind alone is if they are breeding females.
Anyway, the female will produce between 70-200 eggs (who counts these things?) each about 10mm round. The funny thing is the fish carries these eggs around in its mouth until they hatch and will keep the young there for up to 8 weeks!
During this time the female will not eat anything until the kids are off her hands (or more to the point out of her mouth).
Fingerlings go off on their own once they are between 100-150mm in length. They then take up residency in a pool of their own and will grow to a size of 25cm in their first year.
You can tell they are surface feeding fish as their eyes are on the top of their head and they love snags, overhanging trees or bushes and like to be out of the prevailing winds -probably so they can see opportunities for quick snacks.
By the way, they taste terrible and have a tendancy to stink (you probably would too if you had to carry the kids around in your mouth) so even though there’s a bag limit of one per fisherman it’s probably best to release them once caught.
It seems that every time I head up north and I look around at the mangrove lined river systems my thoughts always turn to this particular species.
The Mangrove Jack or Lutjanus Argentimaculatus (I know – it sounds like a Serbian olympic discus thrower) is common throughout Northern Australia, East Africa, Samoa and Japan but has even been known to turn up (lost?) in Sydney Harbour.
They can grow up to 1.2m in length, weigh in at 16kg and can live a very full life to 40 years of age.
The Queensland Department of Primary Industry conducted a comprehensive study of Mangrove Jack in 2003 which turned up some interesting findings – one of which I believe to be quite sad.
Lets start at the beginning though.
The name “Mangrove Jack” conjures up a misleading picture of this great fighting fish as adults actually live and spawn offshore on coral reefs in depths up to around 100m.
Research indicates that after spawning the juvenile fish make their way to estauries and coastal streams during the wet season and some may even head to freshwater up to over 100km inland.
However, the highest numbers of Mangrove Jack reside in the estuary mouth area.
Tagged fish are generally resident in a particular spot with 73% caught within 1km of release point but don’t be fooled because one has been known to travel over 330km! Research shows that they can move intra and inter rivers, along the coast or offshore.
No Juvenile Justice for Mangrove Jack
Now here’s the sad part – all estaury, river based and freshwater Mangrove Jack are juveniles or more correctly sub-adult. They do not actually reach maturity until they head offshore to the coral reefs. Generally this occurs between the ages of 3-11 years when they are 23-40cm in length.
The Queensland study found 50% of female Mangrove Jack (Jill?) matured at just over 50cm and males at around 46cm.
So?
Well the issue is that the legal size of Mangrove Jack in Queensland happens to be 35cm with no limit on keepers (except for the Gulf of Carpentaria where there is a bag limit of 5).
So why not spare a thought for the kids next time you catch a Mangrove Jack anywhere else but on an offshore reef?
In the meantime, I intend to write to the Queensland Department of Primary Industry and ask what needs to be done to change the regulations regarding the minimum size requirements of fish in this predicament.
As always, I will keep you posted with their reply.
