Anglers the world over seem to gather excitement at the prospect of catching pink and red fish.
Especially when they’re big, beautiful and tasty. In this feature we’ll take a look at some of the species residing in Australia’s northern half plus a few techniques for catching them.
Rather tahan an exhaustive list of red and pink fish varieties, we will look at some of the more commonly encountered, tastiest and hardest pulling variations on the theme.
For the majority of the fish covered in this article, we’ll focus on water depths ranging 15-50m where the most anglers target them. Of course some these species range outside these depths both shallower and deeper. They might be targeted with modern sounders in water over 100m or popped on the surface over shallow coral reef, but for the most part we are talking about bait fishing, jigging, vibing and dropping soft plastics to our target species.
Red Emperor
Perhaps the king of red fish, nothing quite makes an anglers heart beat like a big red emperor nearing the surface. The dazzling colours and dogged battle all the way to the top add to the thrill, coupled with the knowledge your esky just grew a lot more tasty.
Reds will take a wide variety of fresh baits and many old school anglers believe bigger baits = bigger fish. They often do this using dropper rigs where lead takes a bait down to the bottom, suspending it just above lead. In this way fish on the bottom and up to 5ft up in the water column will see a bait twitching around seductively.
Reds will also take jigs and vibes when hopped just up off the bottom. Even a quick look at the stout shape of these fish and, with large blubbery lips, it is clear they feed using both power and suction. Any crab, shrimp, squid, shell or wounded baitfish better watch out.
Red Emperors release strongly and don’t suffer from barotrauma like many of the other listed in this feature. Both the smaller and very large models can be released without much harm to fight another day. The juvenile fish are amongst the most striking of all the fish on the reef. Dazzling vertical red lines accentuated by chrome whitish silver surrounds. They generally grow to a more reddish-pink as they mature and the striking lines fade with size.
Reds have quite a large minimum legal size in Queensland but not so in the Northern Territory. A smaller size limit in WA reflects the generally smaller nature of the fish in the west. Some of the reds taken around central and southern Queensland are amongst the biggest and it is usually from this area the big 10kg+ models are recorded.
Common Trout, Coronation Trout and BlueSpot Coral Trout
A couple of the more dazzling and tasty specimens in the red category are common trout and larger blue spot trout. Commons tend to be red-ish pink in colour when taken from slightly deeper water and look absolutely amazing. These are the fish the Chinese restauranteurs will pay big bucks for as they are the right colour, taste awesome, look great and supposedly bring luck! Either way, when you keep a few for the esky, the brilliant white flesh and delicate taste rarely disappoint.
Coronation trout have stunning markings and are often a flush of red, purple and yellow, with a captivating lunar shaped tail. That dazzling red shines through brightest as they near the surface, making for one of the prettiest fish on the Great Barrier Reef. Not quite up there with the eating quality of some of the other coral trout species, they certainly make up for in looks what they lack in taste.
The larger blue spot coral trout come in a reddish colour morph and are quite often simply too big to eat. Anything 80cm and over is protected in Queensland, but even fish just shy of this size are getting a little large to eat safely. They are a big predatory fish and actually start to look a little mean and menacing when they grow large. No small fish of almost any species is safe with one of these guys hiding in a cave nearby.
Most fishers will agree that for catching coral trout, you don’t have to be too fussy about sinker placement. A professional fishing scene has been established around these fish for decades. Mostly they are handling using pilchards as bait. But trout can be taken just as easily by slow pitched jigging techniques, fishing vibes near the bottom and hopping almost any soft plastic ever invented close to the seabed. The reefy nature of their habitat can make gear loss a bit of a factor so anglers need to understand the depth of water they are fishing well.
Small Mouth Nannigai or Crimson Snapper
Found more in the shallower 5-20m mark, Small Mouth Nannies can show up in numbers all the way from inside river mouths around rock, rubble and wrecks all the way out to the mid reef areas.
Not associated with excellent eating, this nannygai is sometimes the sad consolation prize to the star or this show discussed below. But they are a welcome catch when it feels like a reef species is being caught well inshore and in comparatively shallow water.
Large Mouth Nannigai or Saddle Tail
With colours combining red, pink, silver and crimson, these fish are one of the jewels of Australia’s north. When caught and alive, they have a distinctive saddle spot behind the dorsal fin which gives rise to their common name.
Often caught around wonky-holes and depressions in the paddock areas, Nannies tend to congregate as a species and where you find one there are usually more. In that same open ground, little rises and patches of rock or reef provide, cover, shelter and break up the current for circulating fish.
A huge variety of baits and lures can be used to effectively target these fish, being aggressive and feeding from the bottom upwards through the water column. Jigs, vibes and soft plastics can be every bit as effective as squid bait, fresh strip flesh and pilchards. If you are lucky enough to capture some good-sized nannies, try and leave before catching too many as they stick around localised patches.
After being caught in commercial quantities over the years and now targeted so heavily by the recreational sector, these fish have contributed to as many fish dinners as any. Treat them respectfully and responsibly.
Ironjaw or Rusty Jobfish
Showing up often as a surprise capture when jigging the slightly deeper reefs, these Ironjaw are a stunning pinkish fish with beautiful markings and fins. Feeding on fish, squid and stray crustaceans, they are aggressive, fight hard and taste absolutely great.
Fishers working the deeper depths from 80m+ are likely to run into them more regularly but they will feed mid water up in the 30-50m range. They are an interesting looking fish with a large protruding bottom jaw and a clear row of tiny teeth. When these things grow big (up to 1m), they would look like a batfishes worst nightmare underwater.
Goldbanded Snapper or Goldband Jobfish
Another delicious table fish found right around the more tropical north of Australia. Goldband are a popular commercial species which are normally encountered in deep offshore reefs heading out towards the continental shelf. Anglers fishing the deeper reefs (40-60m) out off the Northern Territory coastline will be running into a lot of these fish.
They are mainly taken on bait but will also fall to a range of jigging and vibing techniques. But generally a decent wight is needed to fish the bottom in target depths, using fresh strip baits, squid and prawns. Just like all the job fish, they put up a great fights and taste delicious.
Pink Snapper
Prolific across the more temperate waters from mid to southern Australia, snapper have made up a fair proportion of the recreational catch over the years. The juvenile snapper are usually known as squire and right throughout their size range, they remain a fantastic eating species. Probably because like most of the fish discussed in this feature, snapper tend to eat a mixture and prawns, crabs, squid, molluscs and baitfish. A diet that often produces the most delectable flesh in a predatory fish.
Caught right through the depth range, snapper are susceptible to all manner of fishing techniques. Fresh baits fished near the bottom, suspended baits up in mid water, slow pitched jigging and a range of soft plastics will all account for snapper.
Quite often living with numerous others of their species they are a competitive fish and fight hard. Snapper will move inshore during times of suitable water temperature and spawning periods. They can be caught during the night and during a shift to warm weather, snapper often get very active.
Chinaman Fish (no-take species in Qld, linked to Ciguatera)
Not much in the ocean pulls harder then a Chinaman fish. These brutish red fish come in a huge variety of colour morphs and patterns. Beginning with the stunning juveniles with the trailing dorsal fin rays and exotic blue lines down their face and sides. With a sulky look about the largest models, these massive brutes up to around 90cm in length make a bad day for any small fish, squid or crab lurking near bottom structure.
Another things that makes Chinaman fish a little unique amongst these red fish is their propensity to sit up on the flats around coral bommies and lagoons. Surprisingly large fish can be seen at times in only a meter or two of water. Capturing these beasts is a whole different story.
Chinaman fish respond very well to artificial lures, but are also quite easily hooked on bait. In this circumstance, they tend to be much maligned by bait soakers who are looking for more delectable species such as red emperor or nannigai. But because they pull so hard and look so cool, they are starting to gain a little bit of a cult following amongst sport fishers.
Red Bass (no-take in Qld, linked to Ciguatera)
Another of the extremely hard pullers, Red Bass are like the mangrove jack of the reef. Just a little deeper red and with yellow eyes, they patrol around rock and reef patches in schools of varying sizes. When anglers encounter them, they’re never too far from cover and know how to fight dirty. A tussle on light line with even a small red bass will normally land in the fishes favour. But the big ones grow to around 6kg and 70cm and fight like freight trains.
Fishing the shallow reef flats with diving lures, poppers and stick baits is a sure fire way to attract a school of red bass. They will rise as a pack from their rocky lairs and give chase to whatever previewed baitfish was fleeing overhead. With powerful teeth and a canine determination, red bass make up one of the meanest small predator niches on the reef.
They are another food lover who feeds at night time. A good session on tastier fish might have continued, only to be hijacked by a pack of ravenous red bass. Once they are in feeding mode, they will be queuing up to take the next turn. At times during the day bass might be sluggish, however at the right trigger point, usually tide related, they will engage in a quick all-in feeding frenzy before quietening down again.
Bad attitudes
All of these red and pink fish covered are carnivorous, with bad attitudes and sharp or grinding teeth. It is understood that below a certain depth, the vivid reds and pinks that we see at the surface are actually perceived as greyish and bland. Helping these fish camouflagewith the bottom. It doesn’t pay to be vegetarian hanging out in the midst of this company. Any slip up and you’re dead!