Fish Species Growth - Practice catch & Release In South Africa
I am a catch and release angler and I always will be, no matter the species or the size of fish, the only fish species I keep are Karanteen and Mullet, and during a trip, on average I will keep at most 1 Karanteen and 5 Mullet. I promote Catch and Release as much as possible, and try to let every one know more about the conservation and breeding habits of fish, here is some interesting information I thought I would share with you...
Since 1850, science has revealed the Dusky Kob population is less than 4% of what it used to be, and that recreational anglers are the main people who take the blame for this as Kob are a shallow water fish. The bigger the Kob, the better breeding stock it is, the bigger the Kob the bigger the eggs and larvae it will produce, at 75kgs a Dusky Kob is over 40 years old... This image below is a Kob that is almost 2 years old...
The White Steenbras can live up to 30 years and the fish in the picture below, at 42cm, is just over 4 years old...
Spotted Grunter can live up to 20 years and at size (40cm) they are nearly 3 and a half years old such as this fish below...
At 37cm this Bronze Bream is just becoming sexually mature at 5 and a half years of age.
A Blacktail of this size has just reached sexual maturity and is already at least 2 years old!
The Juvenile Garrick below, is already around 7 months old...
This Zebra is over 10 years old at 2kgs...
And now the white Musselcracker, which lives up to 31 years, gets to breeding level at 5 and a half years and the minimum size limit is when the fish is at 11 years!
The fish below is almost sexually mature!
Just something to think about before you decide to keep one of these fish...
