Page 84 - BNB Fishing mag | May 2020

FTagatoga: event fishing for knowledge
IFTY-SIX anglers converged on “This event offers an opportunity to en- founders of the Kingaroy SFC who sadly Lake Borumba near Imbil for the joy a social atmosphere while contributing passed away a few years ago.
fifth annual Tagatoga event on to a greater understanding of this impor- This year ‘Team Hulme’ proved a family
March 2-3 for fun, fellowship and to gain tant fish in Queensland impoundments.” approach was valuable and took out the
a better understanding of the resident sara- toga population.
Tagatoga focuses on capturing, tagging, data collecting, safe handling and releasing the saratoga. Before the event kicks off, a briefing is held to ensure anglers are up-to- date with correct handling and recording procedures.
event after tagging a total of 19 fish for a total length of 10.9mtrs. This is the most fish and longest length from any team in the history of the event.
Saratoga are renowned for their will- ingness to take both lures and flies, and their acrobatic performances once hooked, which has made them a premier freshwater sportfish, though they possess poor eating qualities.
A non-intrusive tag is attached to the fish with a unique identifying number. If the fish is recaptured at a later date the tag can be reported online to ansaqld.com.au, pro- viding a record of movement and growth between captures.
As Tagatoga is a team event and teams can vary in size, the length is divided by the number of people in the team to calcu- late the length caught per person.
The prehistoric heads of saratoga have upward facing eyes making them a perfect target for surface presentations, however their hard bony mouths make hooking and landing them challenging.
At Tagatoga anglers try to tag as many saratoga during three sessions over two days using lures or bait.
The longest saratoga captured during the weekend was a magnificent 750mm model caught by Noel Day on the last morning, proving that it is not over until the siren sounds. Fish of this size are very crafty, so landing a large one is testament to the angler’s ability.
Kingaroy Sportfishing Club president Shaun Manthey said, “The Tagatoga event is part of a long-term citizen-based science plan with the aim of collecting data on population, growth and growth-rate dy- namics of saratoga in Lake Borumba.
The team that captures and records the most saratoga are awarded the Alex ‘Flick’ Robertson memorial shield, named after the local Kingaroy identity and one of the
Kingaroy SFC is affiliated with Queens- land Sportfishers, which is made up of many like-minded clubs through Australi- an National Sportfishing Association.
Team Hulme took out the event as a family, with 19 landed, tagged and released.
The weekend was a huge success with clubs from around southern Queensland * continued P85
Queensland Sportfishers president Adam Royle said, “It is extremely satisfying to see member clubs run great events that incorporate both sport, social and conser- vation science elements into the mix.
“Kingaroy Sportfishing Club is one of a number of our affiliated clubs that has de- veloped a club-specific recreational fishery monitoring plan, and are now implement- ing fishery data collection and tagging to achieve their monitoring goals.
“Credit goes to both Kingaroy Sportfish- ing Club and the anglers who fished the event for having fun and contributing to a greater understanding of a highly regarded sportfish.”
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Page 84 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020
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