Blackie Monstered By Flattie/jewie

[arpie]

Hi guys

The other day, I was pulling in a 35cm blackfish when it was chased up by a huge flathead which then veered off at the last minute & settled on a rock platform in about 4ft of water. The next day, when I was skinning my next lot of blackies, I noticed strange striation marks on one. It was on both sides of the tail (about 10cm long) and there were no scales on that section of the fish. The scratch marks had 3 definite lines on one side & 2 on the other.

What do you rekcon? Big flattie or a jewie??

Cheers

Roberta

[kingpig]

Small blackfish make a great live bait for both of this species.

A good trick is catch your blackfish early in the day. Put them in a white live bait container. They will change to a lighter colour during the day to blend in. When you use these as live bait at night they shine.

Kingpig

[Jewhunter]

Sounds like a big Flattie or Tailor to me. A Flattie has those big pegs top & bottom & they will take a fish from behind. Tailor will attack anything that moves!

Jew mainly hit side or head first. The fish would look a bit crushed & have sideways scrapes that are very distinctive when you've seen them few times.

That's my opinion anyway.

Cheers,

Grant.

[arpie]

Thanks for that, guys - yeah - probably a big flattie - I reckon a tailor would really just have shredded it to bits! Also there were a good couple of cm between the teeth marks.

Had thought of taking another rod down for a livie - but you have enough gear to contend with when clambering around the breakwall rocks, what with the rod, extending net, bucket & assorted bits & pieces! Don't want to fall over!

They are pulling 14lb flatties out of the breakwall here at the moment, also some great jewies! Some flatties get put back, some don't. Shame.

The change in colour is interesting - I had observed that with the fish I catch. My bucket is also white & they regularly change colour. I hadn't thought of using it to that advantage for live bait tho! Top Idea!

Want to see some good underwater fish shots? Check out this site:

http://www.seafriends.org.nz/images/fish.htm

The blackfish are called 'parore' in New Zealand and feature nearer the bottom of the page. They grow to huge sizes over there, as they are rarely fished for food! There is a rumour over there that they are bad for you. Anyone wanting some great fishing next time they are in NZ - get into the parore!

Cheers

Roberta