Out of "area" fish

[wazatherfisherman]

After reading Dieter's post about unusual capture of Mahi Mahi caught inside, it made me think of all the different species I've caught or seen caught in locations where they "shouldn't be" over the years. 

Too many to name them all, but some more memorable ones were: several Mangrove Jacks, Big Eye Trevally and GT's from Queenscliff Lagoon, a couple of Amberjack from Jibbon Beach, a Nannygai from opposite Illawong Bay in Coal and Candle Creek, Hairtail from the rocks at the Matten's at Dover Heights and a Remora from Dobroyd Bombie.

There have been plenty more, but those ones came to mind straight away. 

Would like to hear what other "out of area" fish other raiders have caught

[scottyboy]

Hey Wazza

In the summer of 1999/2000 I caught a spotted mackerel of the rocks south of forster, a 40 cm big eye trevally at bobbin head, and my mate caught a 1.2 metre cobia at the mouth of Smith's creek. This also coincided with a massive inshore run of small black marlin down the east coast. I reckon a few people on this site will remember it. I think every 5 years or so we have a run of tropical species that go for a holiday to southern waters. Correct me if I'm wrong but a school of longtail tuna ended up in a lake near narooma a few years back. I hope other fishraider have some stories too.

Cheers Scotty  

[wazatherfisherman]

55 minutes ago, scottyboy said:

Hey Wazza

In the summer of 1999/2000 I caught a spotted mackerel of the rocks south of forster, a 40 cm big eye trevally at bobbin head, and my mate caught a 1.2 metre cobia at the mouth of Smith's creek. This also coincided with a massive inshore run of small black marlin down the east coast. I reckon a few people on this site will remember it. I think every 5 years or so we have a run of tropical species that go for a holiday to southern waters. Correct me if I'm wrong but a school of longtail tuna ended up in a lake near narooma a few years back. I hope other fishraider have some stories too.

Cheers Scotty  

Hi Scotty I always like fishing in Smith's there are some unusual species there at times, often right up the end. Same for opposite Illawong bay in Coal and Candle, have caught some oddities there quite a few times.

Queenscliff has all sorts of oddities in there, the local tackle shop used to keep an album of unusual fish caught in there

[jordy]

   2 kilo Mowie under Windang bridge same day mate got a small Mangrove Jack. The Mowie went great on the light bream gear.

[61 crusher]

Hi Waza 

I’ve picked up a spotted Mac & longtail (northern blue) at middle head & Clifton gardens not in the same year, EP in parramatta river hunters hill, cobia west of Gladesville bridge & the most unusual of all again west of the bridge thought I had a very undernourished kingy which turned out to be a rainbow runner 😲

[New Signing]

Around 20 years ago there was a run of spotted makeral outside crookhaven heads. Every year we see a wahoo or two caught down this way to. I know 'The Boar' caught a 4kg wahoo at Eden about 2 years ago

[Green Hornet]

1 hour ago, New Signing said:

Around 20 years ago there was a run of spotted makeral outside crookhaven heads. Every year we see a wahoo or two caught down this way to. I know 'The Boar' caught a 4kg wahoo at Eden about 2 years ago

Yeah, I've seen spotties and spanish mackerel caught at The Banks. One year I remember marlin fishing there and every stripey we tried trolling got hit by wahoo. 

I've also seen a sailfish that was caught at The Tubes inside Jervis Bay.

The latest chat going around here is kingfish in St Georges Basin. There was one I know of caught last year, but seems to be a few getting caught now.

[61 crusher]

2 hours ago, motiondave said:

Ive also caught EP up towards Figtree Bridge about a year ago (Lane Cove River) , and I even reeled in a blue ringed octopus still chewing on the bait , from just around the corner of Woodford bay.

I caught my EP at Clarke’s point after a major rain event, caught quite a few in the hole around the fig tree at the bridge maybe when schooled up for spawning, we used muck around on the foreshore as kids-on both sides of the peninsula swimming & turning over rocks & only later in life heard about the blue ring occy’s😵

[wazatherfisherman]

9 hours ago, jordy said:

   2 kilo Mowie under Windang bridge same day mate got a small Mangrove Jack. The Mowie went great on the light bream gear.

Cool- bet the mowie went hard, my first fishing memories are from Windang, well over 50 years ago

[wazatherfisherman]

8 hours ago, 61 crusher said:

Hi Waza 

I’ve picked up a spotted Mac & longtail (northern blue) at middle head & Clifton gardens not in the same year, EP in parramatta river hunters hill, cobia west of Gladesville bridge & the most unusual of all again west of the bridge thought I had a very undernourished kingy which turned out to be a rainbow runner 😲

Hi Dieter -Now that's a real "out of area" the Rainbow Runner!  Cobia have also turned up in some odd spots, I was talking to ET one day while spinning at Mainbar and he told me one of his mates had caught a really big one a couple of days earlier right up in South West Arm. 

Have caught a few EP's in Queenscliff on live prawns and they used to get them (probably still do) around the old Pyrmont Bridge on lures.

[wazatherfisherman]

7 hours ago, motiondave said:

Ive also caught EP up towards Figtree Bridge about a year ago (Lane Cove River) , and I even reeled in a blue ringed octopus still chewing on the bait , from just around the corner of Woodford bay.

Hi Motiondave after never seeing a Blue Ring anywhere other than real close to the ocean, in the space of 2 weeks netted 3 while prawning up the river- 1 at Dobroyd Pt, 2 at Battersea Park. Used to turn rocks over a lot looking for Green Nippers when I was a kid, glad I didn't run into one then

[wazatherfisherman]

4 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

Yeah, I've seen spotties and spanish mackerel caught at The Banks. One year I remember marlin fishing there and every stripey we tried trolling got hit by wahoo. 

I've also seen a sailfish that was caught at The Tubes inside Jervis Bay.

The latest chat going around here is kingfish in St Georges Basin. There was one I know of caught last year, but seems to be a few getting caught now.

Hi Pete heard about the Sailfish, Wahoo are on the bucket list still.

Wonder if the Kings inside are anything to do with the lack of rain/salinity?

[wazatherfisherman]

5 hours ago, New Signing said:

Around 20 years ago there was a run of spotted makeral outside crookhaven heads. Every year we see a wahoo or two caught down this way to. I know 'The Boar' caught a 4kg wahoo at Eden about 2 years ago

Hi New Signing love to get one of those Wahoo, forever been on the bucket list

[wazatherfisherman]

4 hours ago, 61 crusher said:

I caught my EP at Clarke’s point after a major rain event, caught quite a few in the hole around the fig tree at the bridge maybe when schooled up for spawning, we used muck around on the foreshore as kids-on both sides of the peninsula swimming & turning over rocks & only later in life heard about the blue ring occy’s😵

Same for me, fished around the river for years and never knew there was a healthy population of them until last few years

[Green Hornet]

1 minute ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Hi Pete heard about the Sailfish, Wahoo are on the bucket list still.

Wonder if the Kings inside are anything to do with the lack of rain/salinity?

St Georges Basin just keeps getting better since they removed the pros Waza. It wasn't that long ago that you'd never hear of the big tailor, jews or reds being caught. Now its a daily event. There's even been seals and dolphins in there.

I think the kings have most likely chased a school of bait up the inlet and decided to stay. It certainly got a good flush after the recent rain we've had.

 

[61 crusher]

26 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Now that's a real "out of area" the Rainbow Runner!  Cobia have also turned up in some odd spots, I was talking to ET one day while spinning at Mainbar and he told me one of his mates had caught a really big one a couple of days earlier right up in South West Arm. 

I had a fantail jagged on a plastic doing strange things underwater again west of Gladesville bridge & when it surfaced a shoe box sized head of a cobia was right beside it & the jacket was worse for wear, two weeks later I was  fishing the groyne at dick st & flicked a twin tailed green plastic into a big bust up & hooked the rainbow runner, I released it & later checked the fish id book & there was nothing else that came close. Is there another species that’s similar? That cobia re ET was around the same time & heard from two spearos that they saw a huge school of cobia hugging the bottom around longie late in the season heading north 

[campr]

Cobia from the Lilli Pilli drop off are almost an annual occurance but the one I caught just inside Wagonga Inlet at Narooma is the furthest south I have heard of.  Ron 

[wazatherfisherman]

33 minutes ago, campr said:

Cobia from the Lilli Pilli drop off are almost an annual occurance but the one I caught just inside Wagonga Inlet at Narooma is the furthest south I have heard of.  Ron 

Hi Ron wow that is way south for them but I guess plenty of different species end up around Montague Island. Memorable catch!

[Yowie]

20 hours ago, campr said:

Cobia from the Lilli Pilli drop off are almost an annual occurance 

I've pulled out 2 small cobia, and dropped a bigger one, near there. Also saw 2 reasonable sized ones pulled out by others that were trolling lures.

Also up that way, 1 teraglin, 1 maori cod, a couple of small sampson fish many years ago, 1 spotted mack, and most years the occasional blue spot flattie - one morning pulled out 3. 

A small blue groper at Yowie Bay wharf and a couple of other fish that I have never identified (when I was a young fella rather than a grumpy retiree  😂)

2 northern sand flatties and 2 yellow tailed flatties.

Some time ago nannygai turned up for several weeks. Pulled out a dozen or so, weighing 1 to 1.5 pound, the biggest gai I have ever caught, bigger than those from the ocean.

Yellow fin tuna have also been pulled out of South West Arm, the biggest I saw was a photo of a 26kg fin. 

Edited March 21, 2020 by Yowie

[61 crusher]

42 minutes ago, Yowie said:

A small blue groper at Yowie Bay wharf and a couple of other fish that I have never identified (when I was a young fella rather than a grumpy retiree  😂)

You just reminded me of when I was a young tacka snoozing in the midday sun leaning up against the pylon on ferry st wharf just east of Gladesville bridge (long gone now) & nearly getting pulled in on the hand line by a mid 30 cm groper, also caught a few big salmon on the western side of fig tree bridge 

Last year up hear on the C. Coast after Terrigal & Avoca lagoons were busted open from the rain 2 separate spearos managed a mangrove jack each within two weeks of the lagoons being flushed, & the one from Terrigal was 50+ cm & hanging from the the brag pole at the ramp

[James Clain]

Caught a blue ring octopus at pier 8 on a pilchard cube and my friend and I got an African pompano at Clifton gardens.

[Central Coast Fisherman]

The mangrove jack speared at terrigal last year (the one hanging on the light pole next to the boat ramp) was speared by my eldest son. He also speared a blue barred parrot fish last year at terrigal too.

I have caught a small cobia in terrigal haven and speared a spangled emperor at Copacabana. 

Over the years I’ve also seen 2 other mangrove jack speared on the central coast.

Ive caught Sampson fish and amberjack on the central coast too but I don’t think they would be considered unusual. 
 

Cheers,

Phil

[Berleyguts]

I caught a spangled emperor in Port Hacking near the Ballast Heap once. Same season (early 90s) I spotted a yellowfin tuna (estimated 40lb +) in South West Arm. I basically hand fed it pillies and yakkas from my 10ft punt but it wouldn’t take a bait with a hook in it.

[Yowie]

3 hours ago, Berleyguts said:

I caught a spangled emperor in Port Hacking near the Ballast Heap once. Same season (early 90s) I spotted a yellowfin tuna (estimated 40lb +) in South West Arm. I basically hand fed it pillies and yakkas from my 10ft punt but it wouldn’t take a bait with a hook in it.

Funny how those bigger fish (including kingies and bream) can spot the hook in a bait, even if the hook is completely covered with bait.

Also caught a spangled emperor in Gunnamatta Bay a couple of  years back, not big but big enough to eat.

[PaddyT]

in Sydney ive caught estuary cod,spangled emperor,amalco jack (long fin amberjack), tarpon so sure we get visitors in the right conditions-usually at this time of the year.