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(Click for large pic. 21Kb)
The large and very handsome Golden Trevally is commonly seen on our market floors; the younger fish, with their beautiful golden-flushed sides, are a most attractive sight. It is probably the best eating of all our commercial Trevallies. Young fish are bright canary-yellow washed over silver, the head and snout tinged with green; they have 10-12 narrow vertical dark cross-bars on the sides. With increasing length the body colour becomes more silvery than golden, and the dark bars become progressively fainter. All fins have a yellowish tint. The pectoral fin has a small black spot at its base.
The species is popular with anglers because it is as determined a fighter as it is a good edible fish. Young examples (up to about 3 kg) are taken in our southern rivers on plugs and lures by trollers seeking Mangrove Jack or Salmon. The much larger adult fish, up to 1.0 m in length, are more usually captured close to the offshore reefs. These big adults may be uniformly silvery-yellow when caught, tinged with blue above; but they flush briefly with canary-yellow as they die.
Any Golden Trevally, adult or juvenile, is a valued table-fish. The short-grained flesh is so unusually sweet as to be almost sugary.
Season: October to March is best but can be caught all year.
Location: Urangan pier, reef areas, sand flats
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