Dart

[setthehook]

I havent caught many dart in my life so im not sure how big these things get, ones i have caught in the past were not even half the size of this specimen so i though id post this new personal best Dart:)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/robertbarrett/IMG_0472.jpg

[LIVE_2_FiSH]

woaahh, thats like the biggest dart i've ever seen mate, swallowtail that is
awesome stuff, bet he woulda gone hard!

[chisel]

Is that a snubnose?? It actually looks to me like a swallowtail (normal garden variety) ... but if it is then it is the biggest I've ever seen by a long shot. Normally they max out at around 50cm and maybe 1kg ... well that's what I thought!!

Maybe it is a snubnose/oyster cracker/permit ?

Good fish either way.

[setthehook]

It actually looks to me like a swallowtail (normal garden variety)

As far as im aware its just a common Dart, a little different from the swallow tail, apparently the swallowtail has 2 spots above the pec fin??? i dunno....its a dart:)

[Pistol_P]

Yeah thats a normal dart....

I got one on the gold coast near that size when I was a kid......

Ha....Thats a big one though....:D

Pete

[jackash]

hahaha yeah not a snubby that one... looks like a commo dart to me... apart from the fact it about 8x bigger than ive ever caught... bit of an exageration but that is an absolute stonker!

[Silent]

Wow.... looks like it pass a kilo mark....
How did it caught by?
In the way congrat's for PB...

[wags on the water]

That's a stonker dart Rob. I didn't know you targetted the smaller species.

Thanks for the report.

Wags

[Weber244]

Hey,

Nice dart. I caught a couple a few years back for the Greenback fishing comp down Casuarina. They were about 0.85kg and the fisheries boys were impressed with those. Thought something about them being very large. Your ones a lot bigger.

cheers,
chiron

[youngy]

Well done mate great fish.
I am sure everyone going to fraser for the comp would love one of those only problem would be finding a live bait tank big enough to weigh it in live. cheers wayne.

[nuggstar]

thats bloody huge, i can only imagin how hard it pulled

[84mick]

Thats huge! I caught my biggest while fishing for tailor last week which were between 40-45cm. Did you measure it?

Cheers, Mick.

[rockfisho]

we consistantly catch the swallow tail dart around 45 cm, but that one is an absolute monster!!!!!!!!!!!!

well done mate, top stuff

Owen

[setthehook]

lol yeh i target small fish too Wags...
and it went hard and i figured i had a queenfish...
Didnt measure it but my guess atleast 70cm

[imnotoriginal]

Monster dart, they go hard at any size. No wonder you thought it was a queenie.
Joel

[straddie]

I'm guessing you are in Western Australia? as that is the only state I have seen pics of those big spot fish come from. That is not a swallowtail dart and is like comparing a bar tail to a dusky, both flathead but not the same. Nice fish all the same and if the fight multiplies as it does with swallowtail I'd think he gave you a lot of curry.

[setthehook]

yup spot on WA and yup put on a good account for itself!!

[chisel]

Grants Guide seems to suggest it is a southern swallowtail - the same as the ones we catch in south-east qld waters. It also says they grow to 2.8kgs!! Obviously they only grow that big in WA.
Makes me want to hit the beaches asap.

[straddie]

Heya Chisel

As swallowtail get bigger they get more spots not less, with all the fish I have caught either side of a kilo in 35 odd years of trying having either 7 or 8 small spots. As much as I look on Ern Grants book as the bible for fish ID's if it says that is the same fish as we catch here in Queensland I am happy to say he is wrong.

[RAT-KING]

Thats not a dart thats a queenfish! ;)

[straddie]

A poke around the net brought these up,
Trachinotus botla - Largespotted dart
Distribution: Indian Ocean: Somalia and Kenya to Algoa Bay, South Africa; also Madagascar, Sri Lanka and western Australia.
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=1965

Trachinotus coppingeri - Swallowtal dart
Distribution: Southwest Pacific: eastern Australia.
http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=1968

[hooknose]

Hey guys dont know if they are the normal swallowtail or not but I can tell you that two that size were weghed in at a fishing club trip to Hummocky Island in CQ a few years back. They were both caught on pilly and were taken in amongst spotty mackeral in deep water. Cheers

[Mike Delisser]

My fishing club has fished the surf at Moreton & Sth Straddie for 30 years and the biggest dart (swallow tail) for each year usually comes in about .8 to 1.0 kilo.
As a rule under .5kg will have about 5 spots, .7kg will have 6 spots and over that will have 7 spots. When enquiring about the size of a big dart we ask "is it a 7 spotter?".
I know of a couple of 1.1 kg Swallowtail Dart that were weighed in at the Straddie Classic a few years back, I think they were caught from boats out at Flat or Shag Rock, known big dart locations.
I don't think this is the exact same species that is common in Sth Qld & NSW but it certainly is a top fish.
Cheers
Mike

[chisel]

I agree it does seem to be slightly different. Great fish though and if it fought 3 times as hard as a 0.8kg dart then it would have been a handful.

[the gecko]

Thats huuuge for a dart. Well done. Im still in shock from your shark releases.

Its a lot bigger than these ones taken yesterday a Currumbin. The local pros are getting ready for the annual mullet run.

cheers
Andrew

[ffejsmada]

Good call straddie, I'd say Large-spotted Dart.
Doesn't matter though does it, it's still a balltearer of a Dart.
Great fish!;)

Jeff.

[Mike Delisser]

Its a lot bigger than these ones taken yesterday a Currumbin. The local pros are getting ready for the annual mullet run.

cheers
Andrew

I hate seeing pros netting dart >:( , such a good sport fish.
Didn't think there was much of a market for them because they freeze poorly and only taste good when fresh. A few years ago I asked a netter why they were iceing down the mullet & bream they were catching and not the dart. He told me they were destined for pet food. :o Not happy Jan.
I hope things have changed.
Cheers
Mike

[Mexikan]

Nice one Bazza!

Mex