Coral Trout In Patonga

[philip_the_fisher]

hi all, yesterday at around 1130 i was fishing around 50 metres from a point directly opposite the patonga boat ramp, i was using chicken gut and thought i had a snag, i reeled it in with almost no fight and i caght a coral trout, only small about 20 odd cms but still a great surprise, i would never have ever expected or targeted coral trout at patonga, has anybody else seen coral trout in patonga or surrounding areas??

[Blackfish]

Certainly unusual there Phil, did you get a photo at all.

Here is a bit that a mate of mine wrote... yes he is a Marine Bioligist

Tropical species like Lionfish, Butterflyfish, the Lutjanids (Moses Perch is one), Sweetlips etc etc etc spawn pelagic eggs, which hatch near the surface and the larvae (a few mm long) are caught in the East Australian Current which carries them south. Along the way eddies form in the EAC, which means some areas of the NSW coastline get a lot of tropical larval fish, some get none, depending on where the eddy dumps them. This year has been a strange one for tropicals down around Sydney mainly because a large eddy kept the larvae away from our part of the coast, and dumped them at Eden. I've started to see juvi tropicals now (2 months later than usual), including Dusky and Threadfin Butterflyfish, small Parrotfish etc.

Small species like butterflyfish, triggerfish, various damsels etc are too small to swim north when our winter begins and usually die off. If it is a mild winter, they may survive till the warm water comes again. So you will see different sized Scissortail sergeant around wharves for example. I'm not sure if they reach sexual maturity, but it doesn't matter anyway since their eggs and larvae will simply drift towards NZ and most likely die mid-ocean. Although northern NZ has had its share of QLD Gropers! Larger species like Sawtail and Gold-spots will arrive as larvae, and then head north in winter. Though some temperate estuaries seem to support populations year around, as do some reefs. Pelagic species, like Cobia, Rainbow Runners, Blue-barred Parrotfish, Dart and Yellowfin Tuna all migrate south during summer, spend some time feeding down here, then return north at the start of the cold season.

The issue of global warming has been raised: Quite simply its too early to tell if its having any effect. Predicting something is fine, but climate variation is studied over thousands of years, not a half dozen.Tropical fish like Coral Trout and Zebra Lionfish have all been caught in Sydney Harbour, with records of tropical fish species going back to the early days of colonisation. So tropical fish in southern NSW isn't anything new.

Hope he doest mind me putting it up here... he's a good bloke.

Edited March 31, 2008 by Blackfish

[philip_the_fisher]

thanks mate, no sorry i didnt get a pic but i originally doubted i would catch a coral trout so i figured maybe it was a mangrove jack, now i've narrowed it down to maybe a coral cod also, but the blue markings were less apparent then on alot of coral cod pictures ive seen, are coral cod as thick as coral trout because it was really thick for its size.

[Blackfish]

Phil the more common ones seen are either Black Cod or Estuary Cod, could have been a Juvenile one of those or could it have been a small Wirra.

As for Jacks they have not been that uncommon this year in Sydney.

[frangkie]

i very much doubt that your fish was a coral trout or cod.

these two species are very rare to get caught as far south as brisbane, but i suppose anything is possible

[The Iceman]

An easy distinction between a coral trout and a coral cod is the tail

A trout has a v tail and a cod has a round tail

[mrpasqualie]

An easy distinction between a coral trout and a coral cod is the tail

A trout has a v tail and a cod has a round tail

I have caught quite a few Wirra in that spot , sometimes they have bluish spots.

cheers

[chewsta]

APRIL FOOLS perhaps?

[philip_the_fisher]

im deadset, ive never caught a fish like it, i knew it was either a coral trout or a mangrove jack, it had the blue spots like a juvey snapper and a v tail, i doubted it was a coral trout but ever picture ive seen of it is identical to my fish. make your own assumptions but im sure it was a coral trout.

[Laredo]

I once found either a coral trout or cod flapping around in its death throes in some shallow water at pitwater. about ten years ago. it wasn't small either - 45/50 cms?

from memory it was covered in tiny yellow spots rather than blue ones though.

what did you do with the fish philip?

Edited April 1, 2008 by Laredo

[philip_the_fisher]

strictly catch and release

[caine]

im deadset, ive never caught a fish like it, i knew it was either a coral trout or a mangrove jack, it had the blue spots like a juvey snapper and a v tail, i doubted it was a coral trout but ever picture ive seen of it is identical to my fish. make your own assumptions but im sure it was a coral trout.

a coral trout looks nothing like a mangrove jack!

[philip_the_fisher]

hahahaha i realise that now, i was just so shocked to catch it that i totally disregarded it and thought i MAY have been a mangrove jack, which was way off the mark hahahahahaha,

[frangkie]

a coral trout looks nothing like a mangrove jack!

bloody oath it dosen't!

Edited April 1, 2008 by frangkie

[Laredo]

they both share that classic aussie tropical reef fish shape though

Edited April 2, 2008 by Laredo

[madmac]

my guess is it would have been a wirra cod, either that or this is just an april fools gag

[spikey]

with blue spots u say?? are u sure it wasnt a maori wrasse?

[Laredo]

read the quote from the marine biologist before you start calling bullsh**