Friday, June 8, 2012

Black Bass or Mangrove Jack?

I have been browsing the net for fishing tips on Mangrove Jacks and I came accross an article on Black Bass, Niugini bass, or Papuan Black Bass (Lutjanus goldiei).

http://www.pngtrip.freehomepage.com/photo4.html

After reading through the article, it occurred to me that the there might be Black Bass in the Philippines and these were probably the ones that keep on busting my tackle and stealing my lures. Here are pictures of a few of my catches. Below is the big one (3.5kg). It was wide, thick, and has golden fins. They were vicious on the first run. I have lost a lot of lures already during their initial run. Almost all of them snapped my 20lb braid. I caught this momma on 35lb Sufix braid. From experience, 20lb braid is not enough to stop their first run.


I have also caught smaller fishes and they have the yellow fins, wide body, and they have stripes, similar to what was described in the article.




If this is indeed a Black Bass, and not Mangrove Jacks, this means that it is possible that there are bigger specimens in the Philippines. Up to 30kg! Oh boy, I think I better start learning how to cast Top Water lures using my Accurate Boss!

4 comments:

  1. Hi,


    Recently I came across some great articles on your site. The other day, I was discussing (http://hibikifishing.blogspot.in/2012/06/black-bass-or-mangrove-jack.html ) with my colleagues and they suggested I submit an article of my own. Your site is just perfect for what I have written! Would it be ok to submit the article? It is free of charge, of course!

    Let me know what you think
    Contact me at john26anderson@gmail.com

    Regards,
    John Anderson

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello,

    What you are catching and holding there are really lutjanus goldiei. Mr Black bass. We also have them in parts of Malaysia and currently I am working with the authorities to get the species distribution recognized beyond Papua New Guinea.

    Yes, they can be very punishing on tackle even though their stamina are very short. We use 40 to 65 lb braid and 60 to 80 lb mono leaders if there big specimens around.

    Best of luck and good fishing over there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting to see that the range for Black Bass is wide, from Borneo, to Philippines to New Guinea.

    Are your fish wild or pond captures?

    ReplyDelete