DHU FISH from Western Australia

[basto]

This is a pic that Don Walton asked me to show. These guys got lucky and caught these two at 18kg and 20 kg.
I wish these dhu fish also lived on the east coast of Australia.
Don tells me they have very white flesh and are delicious. 
cheers
Greg

[Donnyboat]

Good Greg, they were caught near ledge pt, not far from lancelin, that is about 90kms North of Perth.
    Wayne was asking me, what reel would you need to catch them with, best result catching them, is to be on the bottom, drifting, a Penn Senator 3/0 would handle them okay.
    I prefer a 6/0 or 9/0, only for the fact that, if you get snagged, then I just keep letting out line till the smaller fish get your rig free of the snag, other wise you have to pull in your drift anchor, then start the boat & so on, also the 6/0 & 9/0 are good for trawling.
     if you hook a Dhuey, in 50 M of water, once you get them of the bottom, they get barotraumer, & come up easy, but if you hook one in twenty M of water then they really turn it on, I generally use 80Lbs braid with a 55 lbs leeder, depends on the drift how must lead you use, as long as your holding bottom.
   I also told Wayne, that I caught 6 dhuey, with the 349, that I pulled out of a rubbish bin with a broken rod on it, the foot of the reel was also twisted & bent, MCH, Mike Currie, sent over a foot plus 2/3rd of a reel free of charge, thanks again Mike, unfortuatly it is illegal for amateurs to send fish, in Western Australia, or Mike would have dhuey in the freezer, by now. cheers Don. sorry about the spelling.

[basto]

Hey Donny
Another fish you have over in WA that we don't get off Queensland is your rankin cod. I caught one at Exmouth about 6 years ago. Pull like a train and good eating too.  That Ningaloo reef is fishing heaven.
Take care mate.
Greg

[Donnyboat]

Yes good Greg, rankin cod are protected now, they get really big, some huge cod, around some of the oil rigs & the iron ore loading areas.
     amazing what you catch along the Ningaloo reef, even from shore, we went up there many years ago, with 3, 12 foot alloy dingys, & 3 freezers, fished for 2 weeks, inside the reef, filled the freezers up, with spanked emperor, ( North West snapper ), also golden trevelley, spanish mackerel. great memories. we dragged our caravan to about 120 M of the beach, bathed in the ocean, with seagull soap, set up a long drop toilet.
    It is great weather up there through our winter, when its 16 C down Perth its 28 C to 30 C up there.
    We also set a 6" gill net, and caught a 12 foot hammer head shark in it, he was still alive so we managed to let him go. cheer Don.

[Rivverrat]

 Great to always see pics from other places... Jeff

[conchydong]

Fantastic catch. I looked to see if there is a similar fish in the western Atlantic but could not find a family member. Very unique fish there.
Congratulations.

Scott

[Donnyboat]

Yes Scott & Jeff, the Dhu fish are unique to Western Australia, from sharks bay down thw West coast & along the South Coast to Albany.
     We also have another unique fish over here, the blue bone grouper, a member of the tuske fish family, it has a white chin, hence the ball chin grouper, it is caught from Dirkhartog Island down as far South as Bunbury, very prolific around the Abrolis Islands, West of Geraldton, Geraldton is 300 Mile North of Perth,  the grouper are on a par with Dhu fish to eat, Dhu fish fillets are bringing AU $ 85.00/Kg.
     all the iron shacks you see in the photo, are built near anchorages for rocklobster fishermen, ( cray fish ) thems little settlements are dotted all along the West coast, up to Kalbarrie, cheers Don.

[Benni3]

Now that's very,,,,,,

[milne]

 Nice west coast Dhu's there Don,
                                                                                                                                                                       
     Here's a Jew fish from the east coast,  they do vary a lot around Aussie, almost different fish.
This one was from a year or so ago, can't remember how big it went, but I know it feed a 1/2 dozen blokes..
Beautiful white flesh, I pan cook them, with tomato, garlic, almost Italian type style,  absolutely lovely eating.
Can be quite hard to find around Melbourne, or more to the fact, we don't share the knowledge on these silver Ghosts.
Sorry about picture quality, it was near midnite and just came in....

Wasn't holding it out to make it look bigger either, I think from memory, it was well over the meter mark.

Col

[Dave Bentley]

That is a Mulloway, also known as "Jew Fish".

[milne]

That is a Mulloway, also known as "Jew Fish".

Yep, the Dhufish in western Aussie is unique to that area, this is our equivelant, the Jewie as they nick name them.
   Then up north, they scoff at out Jewies and there's look completely different again....
All from the perch family I believe.....

Col

[Donnyboat]

Yes thanks Colin, Dave is correct, mulloway or black king fish, Dewey on the East coast of Australia, The jewey comes about as far South as Sharks Bay, in Western Australia, then we get a silver mulloway from Kalbarrie South, some people call them kingies, they catch some large ones, in the Swan River around Perth, up to about 25 Kg, & they really fight, in shallow water, the smaller Kingies tast a bit soapy, up to about 6 to 8 kg, then after that size there not bad to eat, Nice of you to chime in Dave Bentley, we should make an effort to meet up one Day, if your down Harvey way, drop in for lunch, I will send you a message cheers Don.

[basto]

Nice fish Col. Another one that is still on my bucket list.
cheers
Greg

[Sharkb8]

A great picture Don of them dhufish we get mulloway here you can spend many hours of fishing just trying to get one but it worth it when you catch one

Kim

[Donnyboat]

Yes good thanks Kim, some fishos, catch the mulloway on soft plastics, in the swan river & an off shoot by the name of Canning River, most of the faverate places are near the rivers, such as the Murchison, @ Kalbarrie, mouth of the Grenough River just South of Geraldton, although its never open for very long, also the Moore river, they often get them around Mandurah, peel inlet & Dawesville Cut, further South, near Bunbury, & in the Georgragh bay near Busselton, right around to Dunsbrough, this time of the year it is good for Salmon to, they have just started around Perth, cheers Don.