Now this is a Dusky Flathead.

[bluefin]

[bluefin]

DPI has been releasing them lately. 2 to 3 years to reach Legal !

 

[Yowie]

Good idea by DPI to get into dusky breeding. Sounds as though they reach size quickly.

[bessell1955]

Oh, is this a Kindy one?

 

[mrsswordfisherman]

This was reported on facebook dpi page

Thanks for the post @bluefin I added the article info for you 

Another Bumper Year Of Dusky Flathead Stocking!

Five key Recreational Fishing Havens have now received a significant boost of dusky flathead fingerlings, marking the end of the most successful dusky stocking season to date.

Over recent weeks, 23,200 fingerlings have been released into Lake Macquarie, a well-known flattie hotspot to the north of Sydney.

And in a marine stocking first, the Camden Haven River, on the Mid North Coast, received 11,300 of these highly popular and accessible sportfish.

All the Lake Macquarie and Camden Haven fish were produced by the dedicated hatchery team at DPI’s Port Stephens Fisheries Institute.

On the South Coast, the ever-popular St Georges Basin received 14,000 duskies, while 16,000 went into Lake Conjola and 12,000 into the Burrill Lake. These fish were produced for DPI by Narooma Aquaculture and are a top up to the first batch of flatties stocked in these systems last year.

The total number of flatties released by DPI this season is a whopping 76,500!

The stocked fish are expected to have good survival rates and should reach legal size of 36cm within two to three years. They will be monitored by NSW DPI researchers with the help of volunteer citizen scientists. This work is designed to evaluate the growth of the fish, their movements and impact of fish releases on the recreational fishery.

These stocking events are a great example of your fishing fees at work! Contributing funds were also provided under the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

[bessell1955]

Good to see the DPI is looking after the fish stock.

[Fab1]

20 hours ago, bluefin said:

I caught one in Lake Illawarra on a size 1 mustad bait keeper hook about 20yrs ago.It was barely hooked through the top lip and was about 5mm longer than the hook.

 As soon as we got home we invited all the neighbours for a feast and they had to roll out the door they were that full when they left.

 Ps.My mrs filled them up on salad.