Throughout our decades of fishing experiences nothing holds a candle to this particular encounter. It was certainly once-in-a-lifetime and we walk away feeling truly blessed to have had experienced it. Though it was only a by-catch it turned out to be the highlight of the session, if not lives!
A hot day's dismal fishing had turned into a pretty eventful one. We had trudged some way off the beaten track in search of the humble Bass and maybe even a Yellowbelly Perch. We found none, but after hours of hopping vibes off the bottom we had a take and a good one at that. A heavy slugfest ensued and before long we were staring at a truly strange creature! It was a Lungfish, sporting 'legs' and super large scales! The encounter was surreal.
We've seen publications documenting Lungfish as by-catches but never on lures let alone a hardbody. The Australian Lungfish is listed as endangered and highly protected. Possession of one is illegal and so, much care was taken to ensure they were released with minimal fuss. Even though we were ecstatic.
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| A hefty fish on the ultralight Major Craft MS-X spin rod and 4lb mainline. Runs were slow but powerful, and very sluggish... |
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| It snapped at a passing Jackall TN50 vibe. Note its puppy-like face... |
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| What we didn't expect was to encounter a second Lungfish later in the day! And we still had trouble catching Bass... |
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| This second fish got pinned by a Jackall Mask Gene soft vibe twitched sporadically. What a day! |
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