Scientific Name:
Chanos chanos
Salt/Fresh:
Salt
Also Known As:
Giant Herring (incorrect); Moreton Bay Salmon; Salmon Herring; MILK FISH
Rating:
Countries:
Description:
Milkfish are a very speedy streamline fish which is extremely hard to catch.
How To Identify:
Milkfish are a beautiful silver colour with glowing purplely blue on their back, this can almost be a green colour near the dorsal fin at times. It has a single dorsal fin and a strong forked tail. It is sometime confused with the Giant Herring however the milkfish has a large eye located close to its mouth which is small and toothless. Milkfish can grow to almost 2 meters and about 13 kgs.
How To Catch:
That's the magic question! Milkfish can be extremely hard to catch as they are vegetarian and no one type of weed or bait has been proven to consistently catch them. Probably the best way to attempt is to have a berly mix of bread / breadcrumbs and then temp with a similar type fly imitation or a small unweighted piece of bread of doe.
Where Found:
Milkfish in Australia range from Southern Queensland right up the Queensland Coast, through Northern Territory and into Northern Western Australia. Although sometime found well offshore, large schools normally congregate in open waters close to coastal bays where there are mangrove line shores.