King Threadfin Salmon is the larger of the 2 Threadfin Salmon varieties found in tropical and Sub tropical Australian waters.
They are a much sought after sportsfish by anglers especially those who have mastered the art of catching barra. If you want to move on to the next challenge, King Threadfin are the fo.
King Threadfin can do some strange things at times and often many anglers find it hard to catch them with consistency.
Accordingly, this blog will focus on some techniques to catch King Threadfin including my favourite lures.
Large King Threadfin can be a challenge to catch as they are a complex species. I guess that’s why they are the next step up from barra.
Best of both worlds… King Threadfin change sex!
An interesting fact about Threadfin is that they are hermaphrodites just like Barramundi.
Like Barra they are all born male and change sex at various lengths depending on geographic location.
East coast threadfin are reported to have to reach almost 120 cm before they become sexually mature. Yet in northern WA they can reach sexual maturing as small as 90 cm.
Regardless, having to achieve such large sizes to reach maturity means the species has to endure a lot of pressure from netters. And to a lesser degree fishing tourism, before they can make the breeding size.
In fact in areas of very heavy pressure they have been fished to nearly extinction for that region.
The reason for this is that they are known to be endemic to each region. Barramundi have been known to move up and down the coast many hundreds of kilometres especially in their younger years. Whereas threddys will hang in the same region where they we born.
King Threadfin stocks in decline.
When I was younger just starting my fishing career, the Bohle River and southern Halifax Bay was a King Threadfin mecca.
You could practically walk over the back of them in the shallows at certain times. They were littered with endless schools feeding on the flats and they were a common capture. In the last 15-20 years since gill netters moved in, stocks in these areas have been decimated. It’s now much harder to catch Kind Threadfin and catches of large threadfin are now rare.
Because they are not transient it takes forever for stocks to recover. Perhaps they never will.
Threadfin like to forage
King Threadfin have a transparent fatty tissue or gel that covers their eyes. This helps protect their eyes when foraging rough or structured areas.
They also have a set of long filaments protruding from the pectoral fin area which in fact give the threadfin its name. They use these filaments to feel for crabs and shrimp in the rough bottoms. Their massive tail is designed for speed when crashing through herring and sometimes mullet schools.
So they are in fact a fish that forages as well as feeds predatory too. So it pays to remember this when choosing techniques to catch King Threadfin Salmon.
Distribution
They are found only in Northern Australian waters and southern Papau, and their boundary in Australia extends from Exmouth in the west right around the top and down to Brisbane on the east coast.
However their smaller cousins the Blue Salmon are found all throughout southeast asia, India and into the Persian gulf.
Techniques to catch King Threadfin includes soft plastics and vibes.
Threadfin are a very avid lure taker.
The introduction of soft plastics and vibes in the last decade has been one of the most popular techniques ever developed for the species, but it only works at certain times.
Getting to know this species inside out can take many seasons on the water. Anglers in recent fisheries such as Brisbane and the southeast QLD in general will find it tough for some time yet to nut out what they do.
Especially when they go off the bite or are not showing on the sounder in traditional areas where they have caught them before.
