The RAP Report

April 2020

Welcome to the latest NSW Research Angler Program (RAP) newsletter. In this edition we will be focusing on the enigmatic Mulloway, featuring some great catches of these fantastic sportfish from our monthly winners, interesting recaptures from our dedicated Mulloway taggers and the ever-popular 'Top Fives'. 

Fishing & COVID-19

We hope you are keeping well and safe during these challenging times. In early April, NSW Police advised that recreational fishing is permitted, as long as people follow all other advice in relation to social distancing and gatherings of two or more people. It is vital you follow NSW Health guidelines around social distancing. Detailed advice on social distancing is available at www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19. As well as strictly following social distancing guidelines, all fisheries rules and regulations continue to apply in NSW, including bag and size limits. Please work with our fisheries officers to ensure they can carry out their duties while keeping everyone as safe as possible. Stay tuned to the NSW DPI Fisheries Facebook page for updates.

More incentives for you to donate

The RAP has continued to expand and offer more incentives for you to donate your fish frames. Five of you will now be lucky enough to win a $50 voucher each month for one of our participating drop-off locations. This means you have an even better chance to win from donating your fish frames.

We will also be adding an extra incentive for our Mulloway fishers with a free pack of Berkley Powerbait Swim Shads for every Mulloway frame donated.

‘TOP FIVE’…Frame donors, largest fish & oldest fish

'Top Five' frame donors

Greg's fish also makes the "Top Five" oldest fish for the entire program with equal 5th oldest, along with Tommy Ivanovic's 137.5 cm north coast fish from 2018. James Sakker has once again provided a nice fish for the program with a 139.5 cm Mulloway aged at 18 years. Etienne DCēlis contributed a fish of a similar size to both of these, however, it was only aged at 14 years, showing that although you have caught a trophy fish, it may not be as old as you expect. This fish had also had a good feed before falling to Etienne's live bait with 16 pilchards, a bream, and mullet in its stomach. 

'Top Five' oldest fish

‘Top Five’ largest Mulloway donated this period

Tagging & Recaptures

Participants of the NSW Mulloway tagging program have also been hard at work over summer. A total of 312 fish were tagged since our last Mulloway update. Vic Levett managed to tag an impressive 17 fish putting him on top of the table. With fish ranging from 70 cm to 115 cm this is a great effort from the ever-consistent Vic. Many of our top taggers were able to tag plenty of fish between 70 cm and 84 cm, with 142 fish tagged in this size range. As shown in the graph below, this represents a great proportion of fish tagged overall as shown in the graph below.

'Top Five' taggers

Once again we have had some trophy Mulloway tagged and released by our contributors. Of the 312 Mulloway tagged, 11 fish were over 120 cm. A north coast angler was able to top the list with a superb fish of 142 cm. He also took out the second spot with the recapture of a 140 cm fish (see the details below). Recaptures of large fish highlight their survival rates which shows that releasing your fish is always an option.

'Top Five' largest fish tagged

Recaptures
We've had 71 reported Mulloway recaptures since our last update. Most of these fish moved very little from their original capture point with 31 fish recaptured within one km of their release point! 

The longest straight-line distance travelled for a recaptured Mulloway during this period was a fish tagged by Ryan Thompson. The fish was originally tagged south of Coffs Harbour and subsequently recaptured north by Russell Baxter. The fish spent 417 days at liberty and travelled over 128 kms. 

One Mulloway that has been at liberty for a significant period of time was recently recaptured by Blake Daniel only 15 kms from its release location. The 68 cm Mulloway was originally released by Kieran Hill in Lake Macquarie on the 17/8/2014. Fast forward 1975 days (5 years 5 months) and Blake was lucky enough to catch the same fish in Cabbage Tree Harbour. During its time at liberty the fish had grown 34 cm to be 102 cm.

Three anglers recapture their own fish!
Three of our taggers were lucky enough to recapture their own fish!

• Mitchell Kelly fishing in Port Stephens recaptured his own fish 59 days later and 1.5 cm longer.
• Fishing in Newcastle, Scott McIntyre recaptured a 74 cm fish after releasing it 96 days earlier and 2 cm smaller.
•  As mentioned above, one of our top taggers on the north coast (photo below) also recaptured a 140 cm fish that he released 737 days earlier. This fish was caught in the same location it was released but hadn't grown over its time at liberty. As you can see from the photo below the first tag had quite a lot of growth so it was replaced with a new tag. 

Same Mulloway recaptured FOUR TIMES!
Another fantastic set of recaptures has seen a Mulloway caught an astonishing four times.

• Original release: The fish was originally tagged by Alex Thrift in Port Stephens on the 29 March 2019. The fish was measured at 75 cm and was released in a 'healthy condition'.
• First recapture: 54 days later on 22 May 2019, Chris Clarke recaptured the same fish in the same waterway and 1 cm longer. Chris decided to release the fish as it was still healthy.
• Second recapture: 130 days later on the 29 September 2019 Josh Hudson recaught the fish in the same area again. This time the fish had grown 2 cm to now be 78 cm long. Josh also chose to release the fish.
• Third recapture: For its third recapture, the fish was caught in the same location by an unknown angler 38 days later on the 6 November 2019. The fish was retained and was 81 cm at this point. The fish was caught four times and was at liberty for 222 days.

Unfortunately, we have had eight recaptures where the tags were in place however the original capture details were not submitted to DPI. This is a reminder for everyone who participates in the tagging program to always submit your tag cards once you have deployed the tag. This recapture information is invaluable for the program and the details will be passed onto you if someone catches your fish.

Monthly Winners!

This edition we have had some great catches by our lucky anglers.

January
The lucky winner was Shane Hacket with a 116 cm male Mulloway aged at 8 years (pictured above). Shane was chasing snapper with mates and had little to show for his efforts. After marking some good fish Shane and his mates managed three Mulloway before calling it a day.

February
The lucky winner was Jamie Culver with an impressive 69.3 cm Snapper aged at 12 years. Jamie managed a nice bag of fish on this day and his winning fish was the best of the bag.
 

March
The lucky winners were:

• Andrew Addison for his female Snapper caught at Crowdy Head measuring 82 cm aged at 8 years.
• Grant Ashwell for his female Snapper caught at Crowdy Head measuring 71 cm aged at 6 years.
• Kris Hickson (pictured below) fishing wide of Bonny Hills was able to land this 80.9 cm female Snapper on a soft plastic. Unfortunately, the fish was unable to be released and was kept for the table. The fish was aged at 9 years old.

• Peter Roberts for his Mulloway caught at Crowdy Head measuring 103 cm aged at 6 years.
• Andy Prosser (pictured below) for his Mulloway caught on the Gold Coast. Fishing with mates for Mulloway and not catching anything he decided to have a go for snapper with soft plastics on the trip home. After marking some good arches on the sounder Andy soon hooked up on something more than he expected. Andy's fish was determined to be female and aged at 8 years old.

We will be in contact with all of you very shortly.

How can you get involved?

Donate your frames

If you're interested in citizen science and are lucky enough to catch a Mulloway, Yellowtail Kingfish, Snapper, Dusky Flathead, Tailor, Black Bream, Spanish or Spotted Mackerel of any legal size, donate your fish frame at any participating drop-off point.

Join the Keen Anglers or tagging program

If you're an avid angler and would like to join the RAP team we are looking for anglers to join the Keen Angler Program and Mulloway Tagging Program. Please send us an email to find out more.

Monthly prize draws