Dubbo Catches: Tagged flathead caught three times and lives to tell the tales

The fish was originally caught and tagged by Jason Mayberry on 30 October, 2016, in St Georges Basin.

The fish was released after measuring in at 70cm.

Fast forward 775 days and it was recaptured and re-released by Liam Curruthers on 14 December, 2018.

This time, it measured in at 84cm - showing an impressive growth rate of 14cm.

On Saturday, 30 November, 2019, the fish was again recaptured, this time by Cherise Beck fishing with Barry Preston.

After 351 days at liberty after the first re-release - and 1126 days after the initial capture and release - the fish again measured in at 84cm and was again re-released in good condition.

DPI says, the lack of growth between the second and third recaptures isn't particularly unusual.

DPI research indicates that once flathead reach a size which approaches the average maximum for the species, growth for individual fish can slow dramatically.

At 84cm, this fish is close enough to max size for this decreased growth to be noticed.

This Basin "re-recapture" again continues to reinforce that dusky flathead are a resilient species well suited to catch and release fishing.

Provided they are handled and released carefully, duskies can continue to contribute to the fishery, even after being caught and released multiple times.

Dusky Flatheads are found in estuaries and coastal bays from Cairns in Queensland to the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria.

They occur over sand, mud, gravel and seagrass and can inhabit estuarine waters up to the tidal limit.

Colour varies from sandy with brown spots and blotches to dark brown/black with white spots.

They have a distinctive black spot on their caudal fins. Dark bars are often visible across the rear of the body.

The preopercular spines on each side of the head are very sharp and should be avoided when handling the fish.

Oceanic flathead species such as sand flathead, tiger flathead, bar-tailed flathead are generally located more offshore than the dusky flathead, frequenting the sandy zones around and between coastal reefs, although bar-tailed flathead occur in many estuarine environments including the Swan and Canning River System in Perth.

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