Identifying your catch

[pieterkriel]

Thank goodness for Clarias Scythe's not studying to be a Rabbi..

now you have gone and given him some serioulsy scary ideas, the way his head works he is now probably surfing the net to find out how to change his religion and go study to become a Rabbi, and just for more cutting pleasure national school for block men/women

[Scythe]

Rabbi is one thing, short of lobbing some week old barouch at you I don't think there would be much of a threat.

Now, if I were studying to become a Rabbi qualified as a Mohel ... muhahahaha

[clarias]

Ha H! Looks like you guys missed me, well i was out fishing....

Well, grcjos001 (what a name!), your fish does sound like a challenge. I'll give it a go once i get my hands on Smith's Sea Fishes. I'm going to be in the transkei for 2 weeks, so i'll have a look after that. Luckily the western Cape is not so diverse, so its not like there are hundreds of possibles.
Not sure what small predator it may be, maybe some of the other guys here can
help out. Leeries of that size are yellow and black, so count that out.
Are snoek juveniles inshore like that? Small shad?
Or maybe it wasn't even a gamefish but an anchovie or sardine of sorts...they can take quite large things, and you described the loose scales.
And then it could be a complete freak occurence, say something that usually occurs out at sea but got blown in...
I'll check what shad babies look like, but next time try get a photo, even if its just on your cellphone, just a look at the body shape can often be a good indicator.
Google isn't great for IDying fish. Common names get you nowhere, just try get images for 'shad' and you end up with stacks of unrelated species sharing the same name.

One of the few useful sites on the net is www.fishbase.org which is a huge database that is searchable....

[pieterkriel]

Rabbi is one thing, short of lobbing some week old barouch at you I don't think there would be much of a threat.

Now, if I were studying to become a Rabbi qualified as a Mohel ... muhahahaha

ha ha yes, it will not be pleasant picturing you as one of them

[NEptuNE]

Hi,

I caught a strange-looking fish that I have yet to identify. Don't have a photo, unfortunately.

It was about 12cm long, silver with a dark back, and very skinny (about 1.5cm wide and 1cm deep). It's scales came off on my hand on contact. It's mouth was also very thin, but very long and pointed. Big enough, in fact, to take a #4 salty bugger (mustad limeric hook). It had no teeth.

It was caught in Simonstown harbour, and was not alone... It was part of a shoal about 20 strong. They tend to be very agressive, chasing nothing smaller than a #6 clouser! They apeared to swim fairly freely in midwater, not particularly hanging around structure. I've often seen them, but only in summer.

I think it was some sort of juvenile gamefish, but I don't which one. It doesn't look like any adult I know of, so is likely to be one of those species that change with age. What's the proper term for that phenomenon?

Thanks for help. If you have any possible answers, just let me know and I'll google tham for photos to check.

tight lines,

Josh

Sounds like juvenile springer. Elops is the genus and I think the species is machinata . Adult springer lose their scales the same way when you handle them. They prefer warmer water which is why you see them in summer?

[clarias]

Elops machnata is correct. This link has a pic of a 12cm long specimen.

http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guideb...h/text/209.htm

Is this what you caught?
Guys, would springer occur in the western cape, i doubt it.
Try get a photo of the fish you were referring to.

[clarias]

Keep posting guys, the problem with the Flytalk gallery is that you can comment, but you can't start a whole thread, PM and the flypoints don't get you prizes anymore do they?
If i find anything cool i'll put them here too.

[KevinC]

Doubt one would find skippies down here- too cold

[pieterkriel]

Doubt one would find skippies down here- too cold

I would also be surprised

[grcjos001]

Thanks so much for the reply, but no sigar! Picture that skippy with a mouth about 3 times longer (just short of a garfish!), and pointy. I forgot to mention that the tail was not really convex or concave to any great degree. It's not a juvenile elf, nor leery, nor is it an anchovy, a pilchard, or a maasbanker. I've had the pleasure of catching and identifying all of these over the years. Other seasoned fishermen have suggested perhaps a juvenile pickhandle barracuda, or a hatchling billfish. I think perhaps a snoek is the likely answer. I'll have a look on fishbase. I've already checked smiths. Thanks for the help!