stylo Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 To my eye, these look like baby puffer fish ... There seem to be a lot around where we were fishing last weekend .. can someone confirm species and whether they are poisonous or any info at all and why there seem to be so many of these guys around !? Thanks !! * http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/177_11...b10423_fm-1.jpg * Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 zrealist Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 They are poisonous, not many predators (if any at all) will eat them, therefore there are so many of them. I know Japanese people eat them but they prepare it in such a way that they cut out all the poisonous bit so they are safe to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 mrmoshe Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Look like bloody toads to me. There are thousands of them around at the moment...must have been a bumper hatching season this year as I see them in droves in narra lake lately..Pick your baits to bits too. I hate those buggers with a passion. Cheers, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 stylo Posted May 21, 2007 Author Share Posted May 21, 2007 Cheers guys. Baby puffer fish / "toads" they are ... Thanks boys .. Hooked on to a few of them and the little buggers puffed up ... didn't know what to do but to use a rag to hold on to them just in case they were poisonous. That is where we saw them Pete - at Narra Lakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Davy Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 very annoying trying to get bits of bait past them for mullet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 arpie Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 (edited) From my experience, when you start catching toads, you may as well pack up & go home! I've found that everything else goes 'off' when the toads come 'on'! When I catch one, I unhook it and either stab it thru the head or toss it onto the rocks to die .... no point throwing it back to continue being a pest!! (BTW, it can't poison you unless you eat it, so don't even think of it!!) You can die. My niece got it right when she was fishing with me one day and said "I've just caught one of those 'turds' again." I said, "Not quite the right name, but it'll do!" Also saw some giant puffer fish in the Breckenbridge channel when yakking on the weekend! There were about 3 or 4 of them cruising the one area. Had seen them there once before. They weigh about 1kg & if you hook them, are a dead weight (specially when they puff up) but these ones have nasty spikes all over them, too. Cheers Roberta Edited May 21, 2007 by Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 stylo Posted May 21, 2007 Author Share Posted May 21, 2007 Yeah well, we managed to kill a few of them .. so I guess we are doing our part to rid of them .. HAHAH ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Evets Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Seem to recall being told by an old sea dog that swears by these as YFT bait. Didnt really think much of that until..... I caught an 18kg YFT that had about 40 of these puffers in its stomach. Must be some truth to this? Imagine going in to Tonys and asking for a block of puffers to catch some Tuna! Evets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Flightmanager Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 This is what they become when they get bigger!! It was so full of water , it was as hard as block of concrete. Caught in the Harbour 2 weeks ago ( Could this be a record @ 32cm?) Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 stylo Posted May 21, 2007 Author Share Posted May 21, 2007 DAMM THAT IS UGLY !!! Good catch though ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 zrealist Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Seem to recall being told by an old sea dog that swears by these as YFT bait. Didnt really think much of that until..... I caught an 18kg YFT that had about 40 of these puffers in its stomach. Must be some truth to this? Imagine going in to Tonys and asking for a block of puffers to catch some Tuna! Evets YFT must have some kind of immune system for the poison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 netic Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 I remember catching one a few years back....become as round as a soccer ball after he came out...very ugly fish thats for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 arpie Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Yep - there is a family of them living in the Breckinbridge channel!! Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 TheDiko Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 I caught one of those blokes last week on a squid jig. The %%%%% took a row of spikes of my jig and am now left with 1 IFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Steve07 Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Seem to recall being told by an old sea dog that swears by these as YFT bait. Didnt really think much of that until..... I caught an 18kg YFT that had about 40 of these puffers in its stomach. Must be some truth to this? Imagine going in to Tonys and asking for a block of puffers to catch some Tuna! Evets A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WAS WATCHIN SOME GUYS CLEANING A BLACK MARLIN AROUND 80KG AND INSIDE ITS GUT WERE HEAPS OF TOADFISH AND SMALL LEATHERJACKETS,IF YELLOWFIN AND MARLIN ARE EATING THEM MAYBE WE SHOULD BRIDLE RIG TOADFISH AND TOW THEM AROUND BROWNS IF THE SLIMEYS ARE HARD TO GET Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Evets Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WAS WATCHIN SOME GUYS CLEANING A BLACK MARLIN AROUND 80KG AND INSIDE ITS GUT WERE HEAPS OF TOADFISH AND SMALL LEATHERJACKETS,IF YELLOWFIN AND MARLIN ARE EATING THEM MAYBE WE SHOULD BRIDLE RIG TOADFISH AND TOW THEM AROUND BROWNS IF THE SLIMEYS ARE HARD TO GET Hmmmm... Might be worth a try.... But not if they become as hard as concrete like Flightmanagers. Or as big as a soccer ball like Netics. Evets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 fishyfingers Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 (edited) A 32cm toadie is ok but if you ever get the chance, go for a night dive under the Swansea bridge. Not only is there a SHLOAD of fish under there, but they are all monsters!!! We can't underwaterfish there cause it's classed as enclosed waters and it's hard to fish there because of the complexity of the bridge supports. There are support beams all over the place and the big ones tend to wrap you around them and snap you off. On night dives all the fish keep kinda steady so you can get a good look at them with the torch. I've seen toadies over 60 cms under there! They start off flat but you poke them with the torch and they puff up! The thing that had me going nuts was a whiting that was no word of a lie near A METER!!! I thought it was a gummy shark or something at first but when i got closer it was a bloody whiting! SPUN ME OUT! Edited May 23, 2007 by fishy fingers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 stylo Posted May 23, 2007 Author Share Posted May 23, 2007 Scuba or snorkelling ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Chris 55 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Sounds similar to Ocean Sunfish Sunfish eat them also and from what I'm told they get off their face on them like a Raiders session Friend in QLD use to watch them ball up Toads and eat till they just laid over trying to swim and then gave up and just floated Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 mrelxr6 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 they also make great speedhumps lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Blackfish Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 (edited) The small Toadfish is a Common Toadfish http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfact.../thamiltoni.htm The bigger is a 3 Bar Porcupine http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfact.../dpunctulat.htm and theres heaps of others encounted in Sydney, cool little colourful dudes as well(Boxfish) Could you imagine bridling one and it puffs up, be like trolling a Soccer Ball B.F. Edited May 27, 2007 by Blackfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 smoothaz Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Toadfish,Pufferfish,they are all protected or so the Vic waterways reckon.Dont kill them as they remove the algae from piers and structure and this lets the bigger fish in to feed on mussles and other fish that hide in the weedy stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 SUBLiME Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 The scientific name for this fish is : Fish Skina Rugbyo Balla. aka a fish skin rugby ball lol i hope that makes sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 mrmoshe Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Toadfish,Pufferfish,they are all protected or so the Vic waterways reckon.Dont kill them as they remove the algae from piers and structure and this lets the bigger fish in to feed on mussles and other fish that hide in the weedy stuff. Geez, I have never heard of them being protected..I wish I could send a few truckloads down to Victoria for you as they are in plague proportions up here in Narrabeen lake at the moment. They drive me nuts!! Interesting concept that...How long has that law been in existance? I guess it makes sense if they do that job and make it easier for other fish to feed. Cheers, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 smoothaz Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Geez, I have never heard of them being protected..I wish I could send a few truckloads down to Victoria for you as they are in plague proportions up here in Narrabeen lake at the moment. They drive me nuts!! Interesting concept that...How long has that law been in existance? I guess it makes sense if they do that job and make it easier for other fish to feed. Cheers, Pete. Quite some years i believe and it is a fairly hefty fine as well.They are in plague proportion down my way in the warmer months but only around the piers and structure.Even though the fines are huge,you still see a heap on the rocks from anglers that don't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Mondo Rock Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Yeah - these are just regular, native toadfish. They're extremely poisonous to eat but perfectly harmless to handle (although they can give a good bite if you're unlucky). I used to catch them by the thousands as a kid growing up at Bawley Point. I have to say that I find the idea of catching them and killing them to be a little hard to justify. They are not an introduced species, you can't eat them or use them for bait (although maybe you can from the comments above?) nor are they considered to be a pest or associated with any marine problems that I'm aware of. Killing them just because they annoy you really doesn't seem like a good enough excuse. That's just my thoughts though and I'm not having a go at anyone - I appreciate that all the regular Raiders are passionate lovers of the ocean and its inhabitants and we all express this in our own ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
stylo
To my eye, these look like baby puffer fish ...
There seem to be a lot around where we were fishing last weekend .. can someone confirm species and whether they are poisonous or any info at all and why there seem to be so many of these guys around !?
Thanks !!
* http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/177_11...b10423_fm-1.jpg *
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