THE first metre-long dusky flathead – the Holy Grail for all keen flattie fishos – has been tagged as part of NSW DPI’s Trophy Fishery Program!
The Trophy Fishery Program is a grassroots citizen science initiative involving anglers working with DPI to find out more about large female flathead in the Lake Macquarie, St Georges Basin and Tuross Recreational Fishing Havens (RFHs).
Col Couchman, a keen angler and member of St Georges Basin tagging team, landed the trophy-size flathead on the weekend. It measured 100cm and was tagged before being released.
Interestingly, Col caught the mighty fish on one of his DIY soft plastic lures, a prawn pattern rigged on a home-made jighead.
Prior to Col’s metre-long specimen, the biggest fish tagged under the Trophy Fishery Program was a 97.5cm fish caught by well-known flathead specialist Dave Johnston in the Basin in February 2017. More recently, Lake Macquarie stalwart Mark Williams tagged a solid 95.5cm fish with a cracker 97cm model tagged by Jim Mannix taking honours as the biggest so far out of Tuross.
To date, a total of 745 trophy flathead measuring 70cm and above have been tagged and released in the three RFHs as part of the Trophy Fishery Program. A total of 87 fish have been reported as being recaptured. NSW DPI says, the information from the recaptures contributes valuable data on flathead movements, growth rates and post-release survival.
For more information on the Trophy Fishery program, head to: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au
