Differant Colors In The Same Species

[BR65]

I seem to be followed by Tandanus (eel tailed caties) lately, with 2 last week end on Rapalas, and one this week end on a jigged Berkley Big Eye blade.
I found the color difference between the 2 locations interesting, fish on the left is from the flooded grassy shallows of a newly risen Monduran, fish on the right is from 30 foot of water at Borumba, it was sitting in a tight school of lock jawed Bass.

[darylive]

the shallow fish is darker, more difficult to see. Suntanned :rolleyes:

[warrior]

dont know wether you have seen it up at mondy brian ,i was there on friday night and slept in the boat early morning heard strange noises along side of the hull ,popped my head over the side to see hundreds of eel tail lapping around the boat,is it breedind season for them ,i saw it up in the kimberys a few years back

[Tropicaltrout]

Yeah Rakey funny how the colour varies, like gold barra then silver. Same in trout down south they change colour depending on food, water etc. All fish must adapt I guess into there enviroment.

You are the Jewie King!

[Obi _ Wan]

G'Day Jewie King,

I know a fish breeder who has a pure yellow eel tail cattie and i have caught them a dirty yellow base colour with darker spots, also got a couple with a green colour, just like cod, plus a big range of shades and base colours.

I can remember, as a kid down home, laying on the river bank and tossing a hook loaded with worms into a catties ring, the fish would pick it up and carry it outside the nest before dropping it, time and time again. No doubt you would have seen the cattie ring nests, i have seen them out at North Pine Dam when the water level falls, they also seem to get very active after a rise in water levels.

Cheers,

John.

[BR65]

You are the Jewie King!

Hmm, a title I would be proud to hold, much better than "The Catty Queen" I spose!

Thats interesting Al, Ive seen the forkies do that, but never eel tail in those numbers.
Johnno, also seen them defending their nest rings, very toey at times!

What else do people have re differant colors in the same species??

[ffejsmada]

Jacks, Flathead, Trevallies, Snapper, heaps of species.

[matt fraser]

Love the Eel Tailed Catties, I've got a soft spot for them, from when they used to be my premier sportfish. Before school or on weekends I'd ride my bike out from Murgon to various water holes on Barambah or Barkers Ck and fish for them with worms or shrimps. The only other species available were eels and spangled perch.

Tandanus are a tough fish, I've seen them survive in the smallest water holes for years at a time waiting for the next fresh. I've carried them home on the handle bars of the bike in a plastic bag for half an hour, put them in the laundry tub and they were still alive. I also saw one wriggle out of the water around a log and back in the other side!

They come in a wide range of colours from creamy ones from the condamine and western rivers, speckled ones from many dams and clear rivers, and I've seen an albino one up near Tinaroo - in Dam Hot 2. I've also seen some very dark ones (suntanned) from clear shallow water.

They make nests that look like a little crater, they are very aggresive when nesting, and will attack anything at this time. There was a popular swimming hole where they used to bite toes regularly - I've been bitten several times. Never a mark, but it used to scare the hell out of you.

I've never seen tandanus school in big numbers, other than when there was a fresh and they'd swim upstream and school in areas below weirs, where they were easy to catch.

Great fish! I've got a little 15cm one in my aquarium at the moment, with some bass and silvers. a real garbage guts, that doesn't mind throwing his weight around and pleny of personality!

I'll take a tandanus over a stinking forky anyday!

Matt

[Chep Buxley]

I'm a fan of the Jew for the same reason.
Thats all there was to catch in Moogerah & surrounding creeks before it was stocked. Very tasty as well.

I've found the darker ones come from clear water, the pale ones from dirty flood water.

We used to keep them alive in a bucket of water until we were ready to clean them. If you put a dark coloured one in a white bucket, it will change to a very pale colour in less than 30 minutes.

[BR65]

Thanks Chep, that would gell with the differant colours Ive seen lately.
I havent had much to with ol mate tandanus, they arent really a species targetted on lure, at least by me!