issue Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Recently while up in Cairns after a day of marlin fishing we anchored inside Opal Reef and the charter wanted to do a bit of bottom fishing. Im not a fan of bottom fishing but it keeps the punters happy if the billfishing has been slow. On this particular day the first bait down gets grabbed and this thing pulled hard drag. We called it for a big GT or something of that size. Imagine our suprise when this little guy came up. My first thought was a radioactive whiting, then it dawned that it was a bonefish. Just trying to hold the thing still for a photo was a struggle. I have never encountered such a strong fish for its size. I explained to the guys what a unique catch it was and we were all happy to release it unharmed. Caught another one about 5 kilos but the sharks found it before it could be beaten and we only got the head back. I had no idea we got them on the reef, but we do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Great catch there. I always thought they lived in reasonably shallow water? What bait were you using? Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGP Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Mate that is a rare catch! Definitely a shallow water fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfisherman Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 You wouldn't be blamed for thinking it was some sort of whiting. Harry If it's to good to be true, it usually is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 They are whiting on steroids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harold Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I have never seen one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issue Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 It took a pilchard. We were in 20m of water. I always associated them with the flats too but other skippers have told me of catching them in the same sort of area. The one that got halved on us was a cracker and would have been bigger than any I have seen in photos from anywhere in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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