BLOG: Fish that I hate...

I try not to take things personally and look for the positives in life but sometimes, however, you have to call a spade a spade and come out with all guns blazing.

The other night I hatched a plan to chase a few mulloway in Sydney. My bait gathering equipment consisted of a poddy mullet trap along with a light rod rigged with a tiny hook and float. Poddy mullet are my nemesis; most bait collecting sessions are as futile as my childhood years searching for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The pattern has repeated itself many times over – there are no leprechauns, no pots of gold and usually no poddy mullet.

I hate poddies. I see them milling around in the shallows yet haven’t figured how to lure them into my trap. Coke bottles, juice bottles, Tupperware containers, oyster bottles, light tubes - I’ve tried everything but the little buggers know that something is awry then taunt me by milling around and picking off any bread that’s outside the trap - without venturing inside. I resorted to using a rod and reel the other night but only caught one. I hate them.

A seven pound tailor swimming around at Coffs Harbour is another fish I hate. After hooking the fish and taking a few photos I noticed it was struggling to swim when released. In order to do the right thing I grabbed a lip gripping tool and swam the chopper. As soon as I plunged its head beneath the waterline it came to life – it wasn’t sick at all. In an attempt to minimise trauma and leave the fish fully submerged I leaned right over the gunwale and disengaged the lip grip tool, which caused me to lose my footing and send an expensive pair of optical specs into the drink. We should have eaten grilled tailor that night and I should still have my favourite specs, which I haven’t been able to replace since. I hate that fish.

I love catching dusky flathead – they’re a fun species that eat almost anything, are readily accessible and make for a great meal. They call little flathead “spikeys” which makes sense given the little buggers erect their spines when under attack or in distress.

We were having a blinder on some decent duskies in Botany Bay one day when I hooked a little tacker that usually would have been quickly and easily released. I grabbed the jig head and placed it over the side of the boat to minimise contact with the fish and avoid damaging its slime or scales. While trying to shake it off it went into psycho mode and flipped out, eventually coming free of the hook but not before impaling me with those horrid spikes on the side of its head. The cut felt weird but didn’t really hurt and I thought nothing of it till a couple of days later when my hand started to throb. An x-ray showed a tiny fragment of flathead spike lodged adjacent to the bone – when the fish kicked its spine pierced my skin, hit the bone and broke off. It was a small fragment and the doctor suggested that any surgery would be challenging and a last resort. I still have that fragment of flathead spine in my hand - I hate that fish.

I love fishing, enjoy catching almost any species but sometimes it gets a little bit personal.

Do you have any fish on your own personal "hate" list?