Dhufish WA with Jeni and Shane

My first encounter with a West Australian dhufish was at the Mandurah Boat show last October. I was asked to hold one aloft for a “guess the weight” segment during the afternoon question panel on the stage. It weighed in at 13 kilos and as I struggled to keep it held high for the crowd to see, I wondered when it would be my turn to chase these highly sort after fish that are renowned for their superb eating qualities. It looked to be a fierce fighting fish with a large mouth and powerful solid body. However, it was not until a trip in April this year that I was to catch my first dhufish in the waters off Port Bouvard.

Dhufish are exclusive to WA and range from waters as far north as Shark Bay, south to the reefs and islands off Esperance. Prior to the trip I briefly researched information about dhufish or “Dhuies” as the locals call them. Not to be confused with the East Coast “Jewfish,” these WA inhabitants spend much of their life baffling the experts on which tide, moon phase, water depth, habitat and time of day or night would be most productive for the angler. It’s amazing how many excuses we, as anglers, can invent when the fish are not biting!

A mature female is estimated to spawn 3million eggs in a pelagic location, sometime between December and March. Survivors feed on plankton and at one year old are about 12cm long. Data gathered from a recent study of the species tells us that a legal size dhuie of 50cm is 6-7 years old and will have had the chance to spawn at least once. Mature fish enjoy a diet of squid, cuttlefish, octopus and lobsters, as well as small fish. Wouldn’t mind being a dhuie myself with that diet!

Shane Lehmann, our photographer, who is a keen angler, directed me to the Cottesloe groin to catch the bait for our planned trip. Cathy Catoni, another female angler whom I met through the FWA magazine and website was to join us, however, due to a mobile phone dilemma, she literally missed the boat. We were both devastated, but at least Cathy was able to help me catch the bait! Never mind Cathy, there will be many more opportunities.

The new canals and marine facilities in the Port Bouvard and Mandurah water systems make life easy. In Broome we have a boat ramp, but most people launch their boats from the beach. There’s certainly nothing like a marina and it was a pleasure to get in to the boat without wetting your feet, especially with the difference in water temperature. We left just on dawn and travelled alongside another small craft to the “X” spots 10+ nautical miles off shore. Under threat of “keel-hauling” I was forbidden to read the GPS co-ordinates.

We finally reached our destination and I began to arrange the gear. Shane had informed me that these fish are hard fighting, aggressive tackle testers, and we had prepared the appropriate rigs long before launching. This consisted of a strong monofilament trace. Shane says you can’t bring the big fish off the bottom with anything less than 100lb leader. Using this, we had assembled a variation of the paternoster rig, consisting of two sets of two snelled 8o hooks and a heavy enough lead to reach the bottom despite the drift. The herring are prepared by slicing off both fillets and presenting them to simulate a swimming action, irresistible to a predatory dhufish. We used herring on one set of hooks and octopus for the other. Shimano TLD 20’s spooled up with 40lb braid were the first choice for us; the large landing net was kept close at hand.

A sea anchor to slow down the boat in the fast moving current or strong wind will allow the bait to be presented at the optimum speed. Too fast and they wont take it, too slow and they ignore it. The swimming action must look authentic. Now……, after all that preparation, you just need to find the fish!

With expectations high, I strapped in to a gimbal for the first drift. Preparation is a must in these circumstances and can mean the difference between landing the fish of the day or just talking about the one that got away. One other element besides all this preparation is luck. We set the boat in to position and I anxiously dropped my line in. I pictured the ocean floor and tried my best not to hook the bottom, keeping the line bouncing to the floor every few meters that we drifted.

The first drop is always tense… “yes, a nibble…..no, just a little pecker…….oooh, there’s a better bite…..yep, and another.” The vibe is so strong penetrating through the line. It’s like you know the fish is swimming by, investigating your bait. You hold your breath,…..give the line a bit of slack,…..wait for that next bite……then…..BANG! You’re on! I grinned and gritted my teeth as I hauled in my first big dhuie. Shane laughed as I unexpectedly watched the line peel off with the exhilarating sound of the ratchet ringing to tune with my rod tip jolting. After much exertion from both the fish and I, colour came in sight below the line. My hard effort was verified as two dhufish splashed on the surface. A double hook-up. Not bad for the first attempt.

The dhufish is a handsome species easily recognised by the distinctive stripe passing through its eye. Mature males are also distinguished by an extended first dorsal fin filament. However, care must be taken if you are to release these fish, undersize or not. Bringing fish up fast from a depth of 20 meters can cause air embolism which ruptures the swim bladder and forces the fishes stomach out through its mouth. This can happen with many fish and it is important not to “skull-drag” the fish to the surface even if using heavy trace. Another simple method for releasing the fish with the least harm, is keeping it in the water whilst de-hooking it. If you must take it out for the photo album, make it snappy. A good sporting attitude goes a long way in fish conservation.

With the aid of depth sounders these days you can find the reefs, and with practice distinguish the dhuies on your screen. They usually travel in schools when offshore. We were fishing alongside our friends (for safety reasons in the open ocean) when I lost a fish after a brief hook-up. It was only about 5-10 minutes later that Max on the neighbouring boat caught my fish with the filleted bait still in its mouth. This goes to show, once again, that fish continue to feed after they have been hooked. Not to mention the fact that they are greedy, taking a second bait when they haven’t even finished their first mouthful! This also told us that there were few fish in this area and consequently the men decided to move to a different reef so that we didn’t “fish out” the area. These men have been fishing these waters for years and their dedication to preservation of fish stocks impressed me.

We travelled a further few miles to another x-spot and this time it was “FishrKing” Shane’s turn. He hooked up to what looked to be a decent sized fish; rod bent and face straining. He fought the fish for quite some time until we drifted off the spot and away from the other boat. By this time the veins in his neck looked like they would burst and I patiently sat back with the net and proceeded to rib him for not being fit enough. My torments turned to exclamations of surprise and apologies as two huge males surfaced beside the boat. One male fell off the hook just as it surfaced and we had to quickly reverse the boat to retrieve it. The hook had straightened under the pressure and the fish was almost ready to swim off. Scooping it in to the net was the easy part; I then struggled to bring it on board! This fish was the record for the day and for Shane. The second fish was smaller, but not to be overlooked. It too was large and had straightened the second hook as well. Now I knew what he meant about the “big” dhuies and why you needed the heavier leader with large hooks.

The limit of dhufish per person is four. We were not there to “bag out” that day, but rather catch one of the biggest dhufish. Hence the heavy tackle. We kept sufficient fish for a meal that evening and released the healthy ones, particularly the large females for breeding purposes. The day began with a strong breeze, but finished with a glass off as we made it home in time for lunch. The fish lived up to its reputation of tasting sweet and creamy and the photos will keep us telling the story for years.