queensland Bass Recapture After 26 Years

[ellicat]

Found this article of interest -

https://www.fishingworld.com.au/news/bass-recaptured-after-26-years?fbclid=IwAR03fBrVCggaBH6NrdO0jRS-txWprvofAo2q7XNTHL_pmYQLdLcBf56zDrM

Bass recaptured after 26 years!

12 February 2020

Comments 1 Comment

The bass was recaptured at Tingalpa Creek. Image: Roy Graham 

ACCORDING to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) the Suntag fish tagging program has achieved a world record for the longest time spent at liberty for a tagged freshwater fish – 9,507 days.

The Australian bass was tagged 20 January 1994 in Reynolds Creek at a length of 26.5cm and was released for future recapture and monitoring. Last Sunday, the bass was recaptured in a castnet in Tingalpa Creek at 39cm, over 26 years later and some 190km from where it was tagged.

Roy Graham, the fisho who caught the world record breaking fish said “It wasn’t much of a haul - it was a surprising catch,”

“We were trying to get prawns so I got the fish in a castnet.”

The 190km journey saw the bass travel down Reynolds Creek to the Bremer River, where it made its way across the Brisbane River and eventually travelled south in Moreton Bay to Tingalpa Creek where it was recaptured.

“The fish was at the very top of Tingalpa Creek,” Graham said.

Remarkably, the fish escaped capture for 26 years in some of the most heavily fished waters in Queensland.

Having grown 13cm in 26 years, it is estimated that the bass grew half a centimetre each year.

The recapture breaks the previous record of just over 25 years held by a southern bluefin tuna and, though records of these types are difficult to ascertain, it is likely to be the longest time out for a tagged fish in the world.

The bass was recaptured 190km away from its initial release location. Image: Suntag Australia

“We’ve had six or seven fish recaptured 20 years after they’ve been tagged and this one is the longest,” Suntag Australia Manager Bill Sawynok said.

With over 30 years collecting fish data, the Suntag program has helped improve the knowledge and handling of many Australian fish species and has helped mitigate and monitor the potential threats fish face caused by environment change, development or harvesting practices.

Via FRDC Facebook page 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi ellicat

That's good they were tagging them back then, impressive how far it swum too  

Cheers Hamish

[Brodie_S]

Yea a similar thing happened last winter 2019 winter. a kingfish from i think sydney not 100% sure about that cause i seen it awhile ago but i think it was caught in sydney tagged and released and then swim north to my local breakwall which is roughly a 4 hour car drive from Sydney. And was caught at the breakwall and released again . Edit found the article 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi Breaming with bro

Good to see a healthy population, and I didn't know kingfish grew that fast  

Cheers Hamish

[Dinodadog]

It is amazing what water they can cover, I caught one that had come from the bremmer river, out to the ocean, then up the north pine into the south pine up to eatons hill. Also had one go the other way, over the wall into north pine, out in the ocean, into brisbane river and end up at ipswitch. Niether of them grew to much as they were swimming all the time.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi Dinodadog

That is very impressive, I would've thought they stay in the same river system their whole lives, go to spawn and then come back

Cheers Hamish