DART, SOUTHERN

D, S -

DART, SOUTHERN

Scientific Name: 
Tranchinotus coppingeri
Salt/Fresh: 
Salt
Also Known As: 
Southern Dart; Southern Swallowtail; Dart; Common Swallowtail; Swallowtail; DART, SOUTHERN
Rating: 
Countries: 
Australia
Description: 
The Southern Dart is tough fighting fish for its size and popular amongst anglers
How To Identify: 
Dart have a deep profile much like a trevally and quite thin. With small silver scales they are a very clean silver fish. They have a greenish / blue tinge on the upper part of their body and dorsal area with deeply forked tails. Usually caught under the kilo mark then can grow as large as 2.5 kgs. The Northern Dart is different from the Southern Dart in that the spots on the Northern Dart are smaller, and limited to 1-4 whereas the Southern Dart has between 5-7 dark blotches which are more smuggled in appearance.
How To Catch: 
Southern Dart are most often caught by land based anglers fishing for them in sandy gutters in the surf. Best to find a gutter in the surf that has water washing over it. Then fish with light line (2-3 kilo) with a small running sinker. Best bait is live beach worms or pipis. They will also take small pieces of fish bait or small strips of squid.
Where Found: 
On the east coast the Southern Dart ranges from about Gladstone down into Northern New South Wales (and has been caught as far South as Sydney). In the West they range from Bunbury to Exmouth. The are the most common of the darts in Australia. They are most common in entrances to rivers (where some white water can occur) and in sandy gutters on the beach

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