**barracouta** On The Troll Out Of Broken Bay

[Andy Loops]

Hello raiders,

Finally got the new toy out for a fish on Sunday. We trolled down to Newport from out in front of Barrenjoey Lighthouse following the 40m line for a couple of hours.

Only two lures out and we land this girl.

We were pretty surprised but hey they fangs were huge! I didnt think we had these big couta off broken bay and me and my mate thought it might be a hairtail (have seen them caught in cairns as bait on the troll offshore before so only thing I could think of).

When I took off some slabs the meat was infested with small white wriggly parasites. Can you make them out?

I havent seen this before - have any raiders? Needless to say I threw the fish int he freezer and will use the fillets as slab baits this weekend....

Cheers Raiders,

Andy

Edited October 8, 2010 by Andy Loops

[Luringbream]

I stand to be corrected, but that looks like a barracouta. That could explain why it was caught 10km offshore on the troll.

But then again, im not too sure from the pic..Do you have a pic of its tail?

Nice catch!!

DAN

[fishyfingers]

definately a couda!

see the cordal fin, hairtail don't have any

By the way ... barracouda takes

[Andy Loops]

Pic of the tail..

thanks,

Andy

Edited August 1, 2007 by Andy Loops

[Frizzy]

Definitely not a hairtail... its got a forked tail.

[Andy Loops]

Barracouda - Thanks.

Not having caught either before I wasnt sure. She was hooked through the gills and bleeding badly - no recovery was possible.

For those interested the gut was full of squid and a couple of yakkas around 10-15cm..

thanks

Andy

Edited October 8, 2010 by Andy Loops

[Guest]

Barracouta

Common names: Couta, Axehandles, Snook or pickhandles

Description: Long and narrow scaly body. Steely blue above, bright silvery below with large teeth.

Barracouta can grow to 1.4m and about 6kg and they live for about 10 years. They are found throughout all warm temperate oceans throughout the world.

Cheers Stewy

Not to be confused with the Barracuda from more tropical waters.

[Andy Loops]

"Eating Qualities: Although generally despised in New South Wales, barracouta actually have tasty, pinkish-coloured flesh which is firm and white when cooked, and is also ideally suited to smoking. After cooking, the many long, flexible bones are easily removed. The flesh of barracouta can occasionally be infested with parasitic worms. Cooking destroys these worms and they appear to have no effect on the eating quality of the fish. However, barracouta should never be eaten raw."

The flesh reminded me of barramundi in that is was that reddy pink and firm.. Lots of bones though. Still wouldnt eat the worms!

[fishyfingers]

Still wouldnt eat the worms!

maybe that's the Colonel's 12th secret herb and spice

[dazzassj6]

holy moly, thats the fish i had a dream about catching with a metal slice lure the other night and i didnt know what fish it was.

[barrykrocker]

"Eating Qualities: Although generally despised in New South Wales, barracouta actually have tasty, pinkish-coloured flesh which is firm and white when cooked, and is also ideally suited to smoking."

haha, they say that about every fish that is renowned for bad eating qualites

[Penguin]

I used to catch them from a wharf in Wellington Harbour, over in NZ as a teenager,

I have yet to see one without those worms through its flesh,

Never met any1 whose tried to eat one, so dont know how they go on the tooth.

But well done to catch it and not get bitten off.

penguin

[xtosea]

Big dirty smelly pike! It may as well be!

Crazy catch though!

Kamil

[abiasin]

great fish mate whatever the consensus is. well done.

[kiwi waynie]

Pic of the tail..

thanks,

Andy

Hey Andy,

Didn't the words HAIR and TAIL kinda get you thinkin "well it aint one of them".

Mate you better get some books on fish spieces and read em then leave em on board. Wrongly identifying your catch could land you in trouble with fisheries dept.

Lata Raida.

Waynie

[Andy Loops]

Hey Andy,

Didn't the words HAIR and TAIL kinda get you thinkin "well it aint one of them".

Mate you better get some books on fish spieces and read em then leave em on board. Wrongly identifying your catch could land you in trouble with fisheries dept.

Lata Raida.

Waynie

Fair point and without feeling the need to justify taking this fish from the water this would be my response;

We do everything by the book when it comes to Fisheries and Waterways - probably moreso than some - this fish doesnt resemble anything protected in NSW waters so there was no issue there.

I dont know how many hairtail you have caught - or barracouta for that matter - but the head full of fangs and the chrome body made me think hairtail. As usual the fishraider board sets things straight. Either way, at no point were we anywhere near breaching fisheries regulations.

If we thought there was a risk the species was protected then we would release.

Edited August 2, 2007 by Andy Loops

[MrA]

Andy,

Mate I wouldnt worry too much - You should always abide by the rules of the fisheries of course, but it seems to me a lot of people like to get on their high horse and preach on here!!

You already said that you hooked it in the Gills - the poor bastard was going to die anyway.

I suggest just ignoring people that have a go at you mate - Keep fishing and cherish the fact that you have made a great capture - a fish Good, bad or indifferent, that many of us on here could not say that we have caught!!!

Everyone else, especially a particular few,

Lets all just stick to congratulating a good catch and sharing success and funny failure stories rather than hammering a bloke hey!!

We are all in a forum like this because we are passionate about our fishing and therfore respect the waterways and the fish that come from them. Lets keep that in mind next time someone puts up some photos of a unusual or special catch!!

Those who are jealous, go out and target the species and get one yourself!!!!

[kiwi waynie]

HEY! HEY! HEY!

HI Andy,

I wasn't havin a go at you, It's was ment as well intentioned advice Sorry if i worded it wrong.

I don't want to read a post bout you getting fined cause you wrongly identified your catch.

Even worse do you know they can take your boat if they want to.

And yes i've caught both speices and i knew what they were years before i caught them because i had read about them. Therefore i thought it was GOOD ADVICE not slanging off at a fellow Fish Raider as you have perceived. The first time i caught a cuda i just had to take a knife to it to see these worms i had read about.

As for my first Hair Tail only got that one a couple of weeks ago, but known about them for a long time just not targeted em (they aint really a bycatch speicies).

So all the best, no hard feelings, and it was a nice cuda by the way.

Lata Raida.

Waynie

[Andy Loops]

Hi Waynie,

No problem I can see where you are coming from.

Bottom line - we were not contravening any fisheries regulations.

Cheers mate,

Andy