Lungfish

[Fitzy]

Was at Big W today. Trolling from one spot to another & blam, this lungy decided to have a crack at my lure. In all the years I've been fishing Big W I've never hooked one of these fish there. See stacks of them there everyday but almost never hit a lure. Anyway I took a quick pic for the file before releasing it.


fitzy..

[bevo]

struth Gaza thats a bloody monster,looks like your struggling to hold her up, must be the old age factor settin in huh nice catch what did she tip on the scales. buckets !!!!

[MikeC]

Great fish. Easy to handle? Any spines or anything?

[Fitzy]

Would have been 20+ pound but that's a pup compared to some I've seen there & at Lake Samsonvale.
No spines or anything. DONT go trying to thumb grip them in the mouth, they have some great crusher type teeth in there.
They're a hardy fish but still advise handling them very carefully. Support their weight if you need to pull them out of the water to remove a hook. They're very slimy also.

A beautiful fish that is normally very docile. I've had to turn off the electric motor or move around them several times in the past when I've had one slowly swimming along blissfully ignoring the boat at Wivenhoe & in the river below.
Much rarer to see them in Somerset. Recon they're pretty gun shy with all the fast boats. Alot could get hit up there, maybe why they're not seen as often compared to Wivenhoe.

Lungfish aren't native to the area. They're native to the Burnett & Mary Rivers only. Around 1890 - 1900 it was (incorrectly) thought they were in decline in their native rivers so some were translocated to the Brisbane & Pine rivers where they established & continue to survive.

fitzy..

[Paul_C]

Fitzy,

A few years ago while casting to the bank in Bay 13, I saw out of the corner of my eye what I thought was a log just below the surface and as I went to steer away I bumped the "log" and it and I nearly shit our pants, the "log" was the biggest lungfish I have seen at around 2mts or more long and about 300mm thick, an awsome big lungfish. Nice looking one in your hands there though.

Regards
Paul Cade

[Fitzy]

Paul,
I've gone out to Mt Crosby Weir a couple of times & pulled lungfish that have been trapped half way up the fish ladder. Fisheries have done the same thing a few times also. The one I moved had to be the same fish. Recon it was about 40 odd pound. 2nd time I carried it to the top side for release & didn't get another phone call so I recon it was where it wanted to be.

Rescued one immediately below the wall at Wivenhoe a couple of years ago when they were building the hyrdo station. I couldn't lift that one on my own. Got it & around 3 tonnes of mullet, around 600 bass and a few jew & forkines out of that hole before they pumped it dry.

They always always seem so calm & rarely in a hurry. Caught the odd one as a kid while fishing for bass/catties/eels in the river here. One would fight like an old boot & the next one could go tail walking. Never can tell.

A unique Australian fish.

fitz

[Maria]

Beautiful looking fish that. Looks to be in really good condition. Good to see they're still doing ok. Put up much of a fight?

Ben

[caveman]

looks very similar to the shingle back lizard out west fitzy

[Fitzy]

Beautiful looking fish that. Looks to be in really good condition. Good to see they're still doing ok. Put up much of a fight?

Ben

Hi Ben,
This one didn't fight all that much, was a bit of head shaking going on & I was calling it for a good sized yellowbelly. Got a hell of a shock when I saw what it was.
Caught them regularly as a kid in the Brissy River while fishing for forkies, jew, eels etc. The odd one really goes hard, seen a couple tail walking but mostly they're like pulling in a lump of weed.

Cheers,

Fitzy..

[Fitzy]

looks very similar to the shingle back lizard out west fitzy

Kinda the same scales, tho I've never seen the lizard up that close.

fitz

[Chuong]

They also scare the shit out of you when they surface to breathe right next to the boat.

Saw a big albino one at Samsonvale awhile back.

They can be legally purchased for aquariums now aswell.

[fishin]

hey juys i fish the brizy river and catch them about every 2nd time we go ill try get some pics of them big juys to bout 1.5-2 m

[Sergio_kutz]

One of my mates from bundy was telling me about this lungfish he caught, he said it jumped and was goin absolutly crazy. Now i know this guy real well and he's not one to tell a lie when it comes to fishing. Wish i coulda seen it myself tho, a lungfish jumping... it musta seen too many barra jumping around and decided to copy it.

Sergio

[Fitzy]

Lungfish are a strange fighting fish. One will leap & tail walk while the next one will run for the bottom.
Never can tell.

Fitzy..

[fishin]

hey juys , ive caught a fair few down at the brissy river out ipswich way and they are very strange fish , they sit there just playin with the bate and some will run for the bottom but ive caught some that will leap right into the air, others just pull along like a dead weight