Catfish

[trout1105]

Today I caught a Catfish.
A very common species to catch So what is so unusual about my catch?
I caught this at Port Gregory which is a few miles North of Geraldton WA, I have NEVER seen or even heard of these being caught in this area and I have fished theses waters both professionally and as an amateur for nearly 50 years .
I kept the fish, Is it worth taking into Fisheries as it is a most unusual catch in this area?

[donh54]

I know that the fork-tailed catfish are very commonly caught in FNQ. Particularly in mudflats and around old wharves etc.

[trout1105]

I associate these with the Pilbara and the far North of WA in the warmer waters of the State and they can be a real PITA.
I have mostly caught them in tidal areas and rivers/creeks, This one was caught in clear water between a reef and a beach.
I have caught these as far south as Onslow and have heard of them being caught in the Exmouth Gulf But No further South than that.
As most of the fisherfolk down here have never seen or handled any of these there is a real chance of people being hurt as those spines are very big and very painful if the fish is handled wrongly.
I have the fish on ice and will take it into the fisheries office here in Geraldton on Monday, It will be interesting to hear what they have to say about it.

[cripesamighty]

Dumb question, but what is the state of the Leeuwin Current at the moment, and what are the sea/sub surface temperatures doing? Might be tied into that.

[trout1105]

Dumb question, but what is the state of the Leeuwin Current at the moment, and what are the sea/sub surface temperatures doing? Might be tied into that.

There are various northern species pushed down by the Leeuwin current found down here Red Emperors Mangrove Jacks and Mud Crabs Can be found But the Catfish is a Brand New one here as far as I know.
There are only two permanent estuaries between here and Exmouth and that is the Gascoyne and the Murchison that these fish can habitat, It would be interesting to know if these have the catfish in them now.

[67hardtop]

I used to catch catfish of the Derby jetty as a youngster. The locals used to paint up the underneath of the big head bone? to look like a crucifix and flog them to the tourists...

Cheers Rod

[Don 130]

I think it's a good idea that you inform fisheries. There's growing evidence of both fauna and flora species moving south due to the warming. I'm sure they'll be interested.
Let us know what they have to say.
Don.

[trout1105]

I rang the fisheries office here in Geraldton and the only person I could speak to was the receptionist and she was pretty "Clueless" and there wasn't a fisheries officer available for me to speak to [bigsad]
I have just come back from another trip to the area and I caught a few more and my nephew caught about twenty of the blasted things So they are well entrenched in the area at the moment sadly.

[mick88]

As kids we used to catch Catfish and Redfin in the Murray River, before the infestation of the European Carp in the late 1960's to early 1970's.
Back in those days they were both very plentiful. I assume the ones you are catching are a saltwater species, are they the same species that
we caught in fresh water?


Cheers, Mick.

[trout1105]

As kids we used to catch Catfish and Redfin in the Murray River, before the infestation of the European Carp in the late 1960's to early 1970's.
Back in those days they were both very plentiful. I assume the ones you are catching are a saltwater species, are they the same species that
we caught in fresh water?


Cheers, Mick.

I don't think so, The ones we caught were Blue Catfish/Forktail catfish which are a marine or estuarine species.

[DiscoMick]

Are they the ones with the fin spike that stings?

[Bearman]

I don't think so, The ones we caught were Blue Catfish/Forktail catfish which are a marine or estuarine species.

And the ones you usually catch in the freshwater are normally eel tailed catfish or jewfish as they were called when I was a kid.

[trout1105]

Are they the ones with the fin spike that stings?

Even a small 50cm fish has spikes that are just as big as a stingray sting and they are very similar with the barbed edges and all, They have a spike on the dorsal fin and also one each side on their pectoral fins So three nasty spikes in all.
I have been inadvertently stung by one of these and the pain is exquisite and quite long lasting, Hot water is the best method to alleviate the pain.

[Ean Austral]

And the ones you usually catch in the freshwater are normally eel tailed catfish or jewfish as they were called when I was a kid.

Gday Brian,

Smart marketing see's the so called freshwater catfish sold as Silver tailed Cobbler. The fish that come out of lake Argyle are sold as this , but they are as you say eel tailed catfish.

Funnily enough , catfish are similar to Baramundi , they are able to live in both fresh and salt water , they generally swim up fresh water streams or inlets from the salt water to clean their gills, but are able to stay in either type of water without any issue's.

Its very hard to stop a catfish spike from bleeding as they have a type of poison that stops blood from clotting. In my commercial fishing days I seen people pass out from catfish spikes.

Cheers Ean

[DiscoMick]

Yes, thanks, I used to catch them as a kid, so I know what you mean about the sting. Not fun.

[Bearman]

Gday Brian,

Smart marketing see's the so called freshwater catfish sold as Silver tailed Cobbler. The fish that come out of lake Argyle are sold as this , but they are as you say eel tailed catfish.

Funnily enough , catfish are similar to Baramundi , they are able to live in both fresh and salt water , they generally swim up fresh water streams or inlets from the salt water to clean their gills, but are able to stay in either type of water without any issue's.

Its very hard to stop a catfish spike from bleeding as they have a type of poison that stops blood from clotting. In my commercial fishing days I seen people pass out from catfish spikes.

Cheers Ean

Very true, years ago I was in hospital after standing on a stonefish and there was a bloke next to me in the ward who had a catfish barb broken off in his hand. I was in a lot of pain myself but I reckon he was worse. I caught a big fork tailed cattie in the Flinders river north of the curry back in the 70's and was going to knock a couple of fillets off him. Had a huge gut so I thought I would have a look at what he had been eating. Turned out he was full of water rats and it didn't smell too good so I passed up on filleting him!