Has been a mystery to me since a young child.

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Moo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 17, 2007
37
0
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Werribee, VIC, Australia
Well, I have been wondering what sort of fish it was I witnessed when I was about 4 years old. I'm 15 now, and after 11 years, I can still remember it in a bit of detail.

Well, I was fishing on the main recreational pier of Bermangui, a fishing town in NSW, Australia, which is famous for it being the closest piece of mainland australia to the continental plate, at just 18 kilometres away, making it a prime location for tuna and marlin fishing with the warmer waters.

Anyway, When I was 4, i remember catching a fish off the pier, but it has been a mystery to me ever since. Nobody was around me , as i had wandered a fair bit away from my brother and sister. I hooked onto a big fish, and what was a bit of a fight at the time (I was 4), i could barely hold onto the fishing rod, but i managed to pull it up, well, not exactly. It's a raised pier, and there is at least 10 metres of air from water to the pier. While i was lifting it up, the weak line gave way and the fish snapped off.

The fish was grouper like in appearance, purely white with brown, vertical stripes. These stripes had a thick dark brown exterior and a thinnish light brown inside, with distinct borders - they didn't fade in.

That is all I can remember about it, that, and it was about 40-ish cm long (about 15").

Thank's for any help. If you can find pictures of something which resembles the description, I can try to remember what it was.

For the past few days, I have been frantically searching species which live in Australian marine waters, native or not, but still have come up with no results.

Can anybody shed some light onto this?
 
Did it look anything like this???

sf_austrailia20.jpg
 
The body shape is quite similar, but the fish was mostly white, with maybe 4 or 5 bands, not too thick, but a dark brown outside and light brown inside going vertical (**Not** Head to tail).

Thank's for trying to help :)
 
Well, from the description and location caught, it sounds like a yellowbanded perch (Acanthus cinctus). Fairly common inshore near piers and pilings, right size range, and the younger ones appear white with dark brown bands rather than the banded pale yell of the older ones.
 
guppy;1082227; said:
Well, from the description and location caught, it sounds like a yellowbanded perch (Acanthus cinctus). Fairly common inshore near piers and pilings, right size range, and the younger ones appear white with dark brown bands rather than the banded pale yell of the older ones.

Is there anything you don't know? :D
 
guppy;1082227; said:
Well, from the description and location caught, it sounds like a yellowbanded perch (Acanthus cinctus). Fairly common inshore near piers and pilings, right size range, and the younger ones appear white with dark brown bands rather than the banded pale yell of the older ones.

That's impressive! Other side of the world and a description of something that happened 11 years ago ... and you nailed it first time!
 
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