Fast growing flathead

[Freeeedom]

One of the flathead I caught yesterday - the 66cm one (see 'Quality Pine River Lizards' in the report section) had a tag in it. When I cleaned up the tag and rang the SunTag number on it I was able to get the details on the fish from when it was tagged.
The fish was tagged in Hay's Inlet on 11th June last year and measured 50cm at that time. I weighed the two 50cm fish I caught yesterday and they came in around 0.700kg each.
The tagged fish when I caught it yesterday measured 66cm and weighed 1.734kg.
That means that in a little over a year (395 days) it had grown 16cm and had more than doubled its weight - in fact it had increased its weight by 147.7%.
Although it was a female (as you would expect) its ovaries were hardly developed at all and could not be blamed for some of the increase.
I find that rate of growth incredible, especially when you hear that a 1 kilo bream is supposed to be 40 years old (or so they say)!
Cheers Freeeedom

[Orange_hains]

Thanks for that info freeeedom very interesting = D
i would like to catch a fish with a tag in it and find out some info on its last capture.

[timddo]

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[Peter4]

Its a shame not all info on tagged fish is recorded when they are captured. I saw a bloke catch a very small bream in the Raby Bay canals on Saturday afternoon.

He asked me about the suntag he saw embedded in the back of the fish. When I explained that he should record the weight, length and capture info of the fish and ring the details through on the 1800 number he gave me blank look and threw it back.

Too much trouble for some...

[fisho_83]

That's certainly great information. I have always wondered after I have thrown back a 39cm flattie how long it would be before it is legal!!

[Slider]

"They" are telling porkies Freeeedom. It is believed that yellowfin bream have a maximum lifespan of no more than 14yrs and probably only 12yrs. Slow growing nevertheless.

[Freeeedom]

"They" are telling porkies Freeeedom. It is believed that yellowfin bream have a maximum lifespan of no more than 14yrs and probably only 12yrs. Slow growing nevertheless.

You're probably right Lindsay. I was talking to a couple of the guys from DPI-Fisheries today when they collected about 10 bags of frames that I had saved for them as part of the Keen Angler Program and they thought that the 40 years might apply to the Southern Black Bream - the bream of the estuaries in Victoria and Tasmania. They grow to a much bigger size than the yellowfin, and being from colder water they probably grow more slowly. They also told me that they had aged a 39cm yellowfin bream and it turned out to be 12 years old.
Now I've got a bit of room in my freezer again!
Cheers Freeeedom

[sleepygreg]

congrats to all the guys(and gals) tagging and releasing fish so that we can gather this information. And many thanks to those that catch a fish with a tag in it and report the details to the appropriate authority. The more info we can get the better we can respond to pressures on our fish population....and in many cases dispel myths regarding growth rates, movements, etc.