What fish is this?

[Maliika]

Please help me identify my catch today!! I thought it was a garfish but it has a decent snout with a good row of sharp teeth.

As you know, I am the newbie and caught two of these off the rocks at Raby Bay as well as a couple of good sweetlip.

Can I eat it? Photo to follow.

[Dr_Dan]

Sounds to me like a long tom. Never eaten them, but pretty sure they aren't worth the effort.

[Maliika]

Has a really sturdy snout with teeth and is VERY slimy!!

[MY-TopEnder]

Yeah there are plenty of them around there... i shone the torch on one last night that would have easily been 60cm. I've caught a few around Peel and out of interest we fried one up and had a crack at the fillets. It wasn't too bad actually. Certainly not the nicest fish i've eaten though.

The pic below is one i caught.

[Maria]

Kate,

What you described is a Long Tom - heaps of them in the canals. What rig did you get it on? Surface or bottom? They're fun on light tackle if you suffer from severe boredom.

You sure they were Sweetlip you got?

My_Top_Ender - Lol, that's a Grinner by the looks of it mate. Crucify the little shit. How'd you go off Wynnum this morning by the way?

Ben

[MY-TopEnder]

haha i thought it was a grinner yeah... they're a pain in the ass but oh well. My little brother caught it and was hell bent on keeping it.

I doubt they'd have been sweetlip around raby bay, i know in April there were a few around the green beacon at the south west of Peel.

Wynnum... sucked. Lots of stuff jumping round but it was so bloody cold, and the fog REALLY hit hard so i gave up and went home.

[Cheech]

Hey Top,,, What is that abreviated code for "rolling around on the floor laughing my arse off"?

Yes that is a grinner. Most people hate them, but the first couple I catch I am happy because I then have fresh strip bait. Have to admit that when I had my first trip to the bay I got a couple and had no idea what they were so fried them up same as you did. Same result. Quite edable but a pain in theh bum with all the bones. Lucky other fish don't seem to care about the bones.

Maliika, Not sure. May be a Long Tom but if not then may be a Pike. I caught something similar last night at Mud Island but used it for bait (or should I say, for feeding other fish )

Cheech

[joeT]

Maliika, that pic looks like a slimy mackeral to me ???

[Maliika]

If you could put the head of the long finned pike on the body of the long tom, you'd be pretty close the the fish we caught. They were great sport on light gear using Powerbait 2" minnows. At the same place we pulled out 2 Sweetlip, 2 Moses Perch and 3 bream in addition to a couple of these guys.

I've got a few fillets off whatever these fish are and will feed them to the cat for tonight's dinner.

[Reefmaster]

mate the fish you have shown would be a striped sea pike (sphyraena obtusata)
but i have caught long Tom at raby bay canals up to 5 foot long on pillies

Cheers Greg

[Nugget]

My best guess is a pike of some sort - probably a Dinolestes lewini or long finned pike.
They are the ones that seem to love rocks and break walls.
Are they edible? - Yes – sort of - they have a soft flesh and provided you don't over cook them they are edible - probably on par with a grinner, although less bones!
As far as I'm concerned, their main use is as a live bait - jew love them.
Dave ><>
PS - definately not a mackerel.

[Maliika]

Well, let me just say that the kitty and pooches had a great dinner tonight with a taster of grinner/pike/longtom/slimy mackeral... whatever it may be!! They loved it once we had gotten rid of all the darn bones!! Thanks for the help everyone. At least we got the sweetlip.... and it most definitely was a sweetlip.... small but legal. It had the tell-tale blue stripes etc.

Not a bad day for Mum and us girls

Look forward to next weekend

Kate

[beatle]

Yes that fish is a Pike they are supposed to be the number one live bait for Spannish Macs.- Beatle. [smiley=beatnik.gif]

[jeffo]

and as strip baits they are tops for knobbies

[Lucky_Phill]

PIKE....................end of story

Phill