THE recent recapture of a tagged kingfish has amazed members of the fishing club that originally recorded the capture over a year ago.
According to a post on the Adelaide Gamefishing Club facebook page, the club received a call from NSW DPI with information about a kingfish tagged at Port Augusta on October 21 last year by club weight recorder Paul Williams.
At the time the king was estimated to weight 14kg and measured 114cm in length.
Over 370 days later, Gerard Billing recaptured the fish at South Solitary Island, off Coffs Harbour in northern NSW – around 1450 nautical miles from its original catch & release location!
It was reported that the fish was feeding in with a school of around seven other kings up to 25kg when it took a liking to Gerard’s stick bait. He re-released the fish after a quick photo, estimating its length at around 125cm.
Yet another example of the valuable fish migration data that can result from tagging programs.
