Hallaniyat Islands Oman Firing with my Dad!

[Jay Burgess]

We call the Yellow Dot/spot Trevally but back in SA I now they also call it a Ferdy Kingfish. A bludger in SA is usually rounder and looks more like a AJ.

Correct, it's not a bludger. It's what we call in Australia gold spotted trevally Carangoides bajad.

[Mark Harris]

Hmmmmm. Carangoides bajad (Gold Spot) and Carangoides gymnostethus (Bludger) are difficult to tell apart. I still think that is a Bludger, but enough said as this is not a Fish ID forum .  Good fish whichever it was!

[Nick Bowles]

They are definitely very similar and I think can be confused quite a bit. But we tend to call the fish by the local recognised names out here and they are not always 100% correct. But all I now is I want to catch a few more!!

Cheers,
Nick

[Mark Harris]

Yep Nick, unless you are a Fish ID freak, it does not matter too much .   Also, regional variations in  coloration especially can make it even more confusing. A lot of that can be driven by what the fish eat I think.

Sometimes, Orange-spotted (Carangoides fulvoguttatus) come into the mix as well. When they are the obvious barred ones (like the pic of mine below) they are very easy to ID, but I have seen big, older fish where the barring is virtually indistinguishable and goes altogether once they are out of the water for a minute or so. Then they look a lot like Bludger and Gold-Spot also!

Those 3 are all very good by-catch I think. Nice fish for sure.

[Cameron Mundy]

It was an awesome trip all round thanks boss! Its always nice to get to wet a line while guiding and to open the account on my new Carpenter with a 50+ geet was magic!
One thing I can confirm about the yellow dot was that it fought like hell, I'm not sure if I had less gas in the tank than usual but I swear it fought harder than the GT's twice it size!

[Vincenzo Caccico]

I was thinking that this one was the golden spotted trevally, can you confirm?





Was caught in the same water closer Hallaniyat

Vincenzo

[Nick Bowles]

Hi Vincenzo, I normally call that a Golden trevally? That is a bus of a specimen. We got a lot of them early in the season, love that fish!

[Mark Harris]

Vincenzo. Nick is dead right, that is a Golden Trevally (gnathanodon speciosus). This is a bit of a weird fish, a monotype in its own genus.  Different to the Bludger/Golden Spot/Orange Spot group.

The one pictured is a young fish as the adults lose the black bars and are more of a dusky golden colour. They can grow pretty large, certainly more than 100 cm.

[Jay Burgess]

Here's a typical Gold Spot from the north west of Western Australia.

[Mark Harris]

Beautiful fish there Jay. I really think that trio is the best by-catch you get when GT fishing. Excellent sport fish in their own right.

[Jay Burgess]

They're pretty common here Mark, and we don't value them very much.

On PE3 casting gear it's a whole different story though!

[Dan Wulf]

I think I just peed a little.....

Ditto!

[Warwick Joyce]

Once again a most excellent report! Well done

[Nathan Cefai]

FAR out,unreal trip fellas,great job...All pictures,amazing..