Slaughter of flathead

[Matthias]

Flick- Last report I read stated that they were still unsure whether dusky flathead are sex changing fish or that the male dusky grows much slower and has a smaller max size.

The only way to tell if a female is past her used-by-date would be to cut her open during spawning periods and see if she is full off roe...I'm talkin about flathead too. There are fish species which do become spent post maturity but they can still produce smaller amounts of eggs. The amount of eggs a fish can produce is usually done by a weight ratio. The heavier the fish the more eggs they can produce.


Flathead seem to be a very hardy fish when it comes to C&R (done properly) It would be interesting to see if catching a female during spawning would effect the breeding cycle. With this I mean would the roe would be reabsorbed due to stress (being caught and released). There are claims that Aussie bass reabsorb if they get stressed but I haven't seen any valid info on that theory. (not sayin it isn't out there but I haven't found any.)

Pete.

[maxwellson]

more interesting facts
and more unanswered questions

thanks pete

[jim_farrell]

Interesting Pete.

Under that theory, the large ones would still be female, is that right?
Jim

[Matthias]

From memory all dusky flathead over 55-60cm studied were female.

pete.

[chillihead]

[. Dusky flathead mature as males probably in their second year and sex reversal from male to female probably takes place at 4 or 5 years of age.

Dusky flathead mature at a larger size in warmer waters and at a smaller size in cooler waters. For example, the average total length at first sexual maturity is 46 cm (males) and 56 cm (females) in Queensland, 32 cm (male) and 38 cm (female) in Botany Bay. In southern New South Wales and Victoria the average total length at maturity (both sexes) is about 26 cm.


The age at which they are no longer able to breed or be of a viable contribution to the level of fish stocks in their habitat is still under investigation.

I am endeavouring to find further research to validate this, I will keep you informed to the best of my limited abilities.

Cheers Andy

[Loco_Pez]

I reckon there should be slot & bag limits on most species. Most times the big units aren't as good to eat & they are the breeding stock. If you want to keep fish for a feed you probably don't need to catch 100 of them & you don't need a 20kg+ fish either. It appears to me that mostly it's an ego thing to drag home that whopper to show everyone how good you are. Just my opinion - don't crucify me

In regard to the small fish hanging around the big ones, that's absolutely correct. If you have a look at the Seaway video on http://nuggetfishing.com.au/ there is video of a big female with several smaller males in attendance. Not sure if this is only around breeding time though.

[Steve_Monckton]

G'day people, I guess in the end it is up to the individual to decide whether to keep or release a large fish. In my own opinion I would have let that flathead go mainly because they are no good to eat and it's a shame to see a fish of that age and size killed,. But having said that and having witnessed a lot of the pro fishermen decimate the Richmond river system with their netting for $$$$$ and ship off large amounts of river fish to city markets, I wonder why I let the fish go sometimes!!! We don't see a lot of it in our fish shops and you would fall of your chair if you saw the amount of large breeding fish that are shipped out of Ballina, the likes of flathead as seen in the Northern star fishing section. If the whole Richmond river was more conservation minded maybe I would practice conservation of fish stocks a lot more. Each and every one of us should enjoy our fishing freedom now while we still have some fishing rights because it won't last forever. Either fish stocks will be almost wiped out or the do gooders will have fishing rights revoked. I can see a lot of brilliance in the idea of restocking freshwater dams with Barra, Murray cod, Bass etc and keeping these waters as a sanctuary for the family fisherman,sportsman. Has anyone been paying attention to the conservation of Barramundi in the northern Territory, It's a multi million dollar tourist industry, But we don't need the money here on the North coast,Right??? This is off the track a little bit but still relates to care of fish stocks. Just my opinion people. cheers, steve.

[stonecold]

Yes Steve I must admit I think the same when I here about the pro's flogging the Richmond and the Clarence and just about every other major esturine system...at the end of the day if I choose to let them go it satisfies "my" moral code.

Cheers Mark

[chillihead]

Found this article from the NCC (Nature Conservation Council)...

It's their recommendations for sizes and bag limits.....

What does everyone think about their suggestions?

[whykickacatalong]

Found this article from the NCC (Nature Conservation Council)...

It's their recommendations for sizes and bag limits.....

What does everyone think about their suggestions?

It actually seems quite good. My veiws are,

Bass/ EP's should have a closed season in Rivers.

Eastern Cod should be a C&R species (currently total bann even to fish for them)

Flathead should be Min 40cm Max 70cm with bag of 5.

Mulloway should be min 50cm and max bag of 2 with only 1 over 1mt

[blue-mako]

I think rules and regulations on all fish should be stricter. Have you seen the size of a QLD Yellowfin Bream!? 23cms to the tip of the tail is extremely small! But still I wouldn't bother keeping Bream.

It's good to see the Max. Limit on Flathead species drop and the Min. Limit rise.

The only size limit that I think should be brought in is a minimum size on Female muddies. I know it sounds bad, I thought the same untill I read about how releasing Jennies creates an inbalance in Muddie populations. That's why the Northern Territory has a minimum legal size on Jennies as well as Bucks now.

Troy

[onerabbit]

Maybe a Queenslander could confirm this, but I thought bream north of the border were measured 23cm to the fork of the tail??? (which is still way to small to keep, I think)
Personally, I would like to see most of the minimum size limits raised.

Muzz

[Loco_Pez]

Mr Rabbit, all Qld legal lengths are to the tip of tail. I agree the bream limit is ridiculous. It shoul dbe at least 25cm.

LP

[onerabbit]

Thanks LP,

legal length in NSW is 25cm to the tip of the tail & is still way to small IMO, should be 27 at least.

Muzz

[nathan_fishing]

i got this flatty on the gold coast