BAITFISH ?

[Loco_Pez]

Hi guys,

I was castnetting for bait in a muddy drain/canal & got a few poddy mullet & an estuary cod! and quite a few of these small spiky fellas which I think are a species of glassfish. They are silvery & almost transparent & have quite spiky fins (hard to get out of net).

We used them for bait & caught both bream & flathead on them so it's all good as far as that goes but I was wondering what they are. I din't think to take a photo.

LP

[jackash]

Pony fish?... small and spiky.

[BR65]

Bony Bream???????????

[bass_buster]

most likely bony bream, but it is hard to know definently without a photo. :-/

[jackash]

Haha yeah probably a bony bream/silver biddy, dunno why pony fish came to me before that

[chrisfish]

I get them in the cast net a lot and believe them to be yellow perchlet (ambassis marianus) - they are a saltwater fish up to 6cm long, typically found around mangrove creeks and beaches. They sometimes moves into freshwater as well. Top live bait, too. Bony bream are freshwater fish, longer and not spiky.

[Clint06]

Agree with chrisfish, sounds like yellow perchlets.

[chrisfish]

hopefully this will work and picture will appear - I'm cr@p with pics!

[jackash]

Ahhh also a good call chrisfish. yepp good bait for breambos n flatties. Bit hard to stick a sizeable hook in the average sized one though.
Cheers
Jackash

[Loco_Pez]

Thanks guys. I think the Perchlet is correct. My research suggested it was a Glassfish (Ambassis) family. Yep they're faily small - used a 2/0 live bait hook through the front of the eye socket, not much meat on them to put a hook anywhere else.

[Bris_Vegas]

Yeap Perchlet for sure.
I would just lik to disagree regarding bony bream being only fresh though.
Have got them in the cast net at the mouth of the brissy.
The salinity is pretty high there.

Angus

[chrisfish]

I got the bit about bony bream being freshwater only from my guide to wildlife in SE Qld. It may well be incorrect.

[jackash]

Could be wrong, but i think bony bream are the freshwater species, and they are called silver biddies in the salt... look pretty damn similar. But i could be wrong on all that so dont hold my word for it.
Cheers
Jackash

[blue-mako]

Bony Bream can be caught both Fresh and Salt water. We have got big ones in the Brisbane River at Brett's Wharf in the cast net and have got decent sharks on them. We have got them at Monduran Dam as well in the bait traps. Half the time your fishing for Barra and Bass in the impoundments and you come across a bait school it will almost definately be a school of Bony bream.

The fish your probably talking about is a Glass Perch or Olive Perchlet which are caught in both Salt and fresh water. In the Salt they are usually called Glass Perch and in the Fresh Olive Perchlets.

Pony Fish are silver with yellow fins and have the mouth that comes out like a Golden Trevally. They are a small species of Trevally.

Silver Biddy's are silver all over and noob fisherman call them Bream when they arn't.

Troy