Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Flathead, common catch that tastes great!
bilby
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Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by bilby » Wed Jan 10, 2018 9:51 am

I've always wondered about this - do we have Dusky Flathead in Port Phillip Bay, or are they all your usual Sand, Bluespot, Rock Flathead, etc?

When I was a young teenager getting into fishing, my brother and I used to fish at the Patterson River quite a bit. We often caught decent flathead up to about 45cm, but one day hooked a beast (and lost it just before getting it to the top). At the time, we estimated it at about 3kg. Would it have been a Dusky, or just a really big Blue Spot?

I've also heard of some pretty big fish under the Westgate over the years in the 3-4 kg range.

What do others think?

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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by smile0784 » Wed Jan 10, 2018 10:45 am

I only ever had blue spot and rock flathead

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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by rb85 » Wed Jan 10, 2018 11:34 am

https://vfa.vic.gov.au/recreational-fis ... y-flathead

This may help in identifying.

But I believe they may be further spread than Tyers.

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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by STriplett1997 » Wed Jan 10, 2018 11:39 am

Pretty sure there isn’t. I’ve never seen a Dusky flathead from either of the bays. Yet people post catches of them as call it a Dusky but it never is lol. sand flathead, blue spot flathead and rock flathead. In Vic your duskys are round around lake tyres and those places up to nsw. That’s what I believe. Yet to see an actual Dusky flathead from the bays and estuaries that people post as Dusky flathead

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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by STriplett1997 » Wed Jan 10, 2018 11:46 am

bilby wrote:I've always wondered about this - do we have Dusky Flathead in Port Phillip Bay, or are they all your usual Sand, Bluespot, Rock Flathead, etc?

When I was a young teenager getting into fishing, my brother and I used to fish at the Patterson River quite a bit. We often caught decent flathead up to about 45cm, but one day hooked a beast (and lost it just before getting it to the top). At the time, we estimated it at about 3kg. Would it have been a Dusky, or just a really big Blue Spot?

I've also heard of some pretty big fish under the Westgate over the years in the 3-4 kg range.

What do others think?
southern blue Spotted Flathead are the second biggest of the flathead family. They can grow very big. I’ve caught them to 4.5kg and 80cm and I know they’ve been recorded at even bigger sizes than that. They would have been bluespots for sure not duskys.[/quote]

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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by rb85 » Wed Jan 10, 2018 11:48 am

STriplett1997 wrote:Pretty sure there isn’t. I’ve never seen a Dusky flathead from either of the bays. Yet people post catches of them as call it a Dusky but it never is lol. sand flathead, blue spot flathead and rock flathead. In Vic your duskys are round around lake tyres and those places up to nsw. That’s what I believe. Yet to see an actual Dusky flathead from the bays and estuaries that people post as Dusky flathead
May be wrong but I think theres some as far Sth as Welshpool.

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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by Kimtown » Wed Jan 10, 2018 11:49 am

STriplett1997 wrote:Pretty sure there isn’t. I’ve never seen a Dusky flathead from either of the bays. Yet people post catches of them as call it a Dusky but it never is lol. sand flathead, blue spot flathead and rock flathead. In Vic your duskys are round around lake tyres and those places up to nsw. That’s what I believe. Yet to see an actual Dusky flathead from the bays and estuaries that people post as Dusky flathead
This

People see a dark coloured rock flathead and instantly think its a dusky. A dusky has a distinct black mark on the tail.

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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by Kimtown » Wed Jan 10, 2018 11:57 am

rb85 wrote:
STriplett1997 wrote:Pretty sure there isn’t. I’ve never seen a Dusky flathead from either of the bays. Yet people post catches of them as call it a Dusky but it never is lol. sand flathead, blue spot flathead and rock flathead. In Vic your duskys are round around lake tyres and those places up to nsw. That’s what I believe. Yet to see an actual Dusky flathead from the bays and estuaries that people post as Dusky flathead
May be wrong but I think theres some as far Sth as Welshpool.
I've caught dusky in port Albert but they were no where near as prominent as the blue spot and tiger flat head in there from memory. Was a couple years ago.

I've found duskys are mostly in enclosed estuaries

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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by rb85 » Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:01 pm

Kimtown wrote:
rb85 wrote:
STriplett1997 wrote:Pretty sure there isn’t. I’ve never seen a Dusky flathead from either of the bays. Yet people post catches of them as call it a Dusky but it never is lol. sand flathead, blue spot flathead and rock flathead. In Vic your duskys are round around lake tyres and those places up to nsw. That’s what I believe. Yet to see an actual Dusky flathead from the bays and estuaries that people post as Dusky flathead
May be wrong but I think theres some as far Sth as Welshpool.
I've caught dusky in port Albert but they were no where near as prominent as the blue spot and tiger flat head in there from memory. Was a couple years ago.

I've found duskys are mostly in enclosed estuaries
Not necessarily enclosed I have found but they have a tendency to enjoy more brackish waters than other flathead varieties.

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Re: Are there Dusky Flathead in PPB?

Post by frozenpod » Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:04 pm

Yes I have caught duskys in PPB once during Feb.

We caught heaps that year around the prom when we normally only catch a few.

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