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One of the largest and most common of our Rock-Cods, occurring in reef waters and in the mainland estuaries, this fish reaches a length of 2.1 m and a weight of 230 kg ; it may be dangerous to man, but has not yet been proven so. The Estuary Cod is olive-green in colour with scattered orange-red or brown spots. The back has from four to six darker band-like blotches running across it. With advancing age the colour becomes uniformly brown, and the spots less distinct. The edge of the tail is rounded. This fish will bite readily on whole fish and cut fillets, and is very partial to large live mud-crabs, which should be lashed to the shank of a large hook.
It will sometimes remain motionless in the current immediately downstream of a tempting bait for quite long periods before seizing it in the course of a swift and powerful rush which usually ends against the piles of a jetty or a coral niggerhead. Young examples (up to the 2.7 kg) will rise readily to lures and plugs trolled for Colonial Salmon and Mangrove Jacks. This is the Cod that is commonly taken up to a weight of 7 kg in baited pots set out for Mudcrabs. While the Estuary Cod is quite a good table-fish to sizes as large as 20 kg, larger examples are coarse-textured and flavourless.
Season: all year
Location: rock ledges, off shore reefs
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