How do you tell if fish are good to eat

[veep]

I wouldn't know a sick fish from a health one that I could tell?

Any tips for a new fisherman on how you tell if one's good for eating?

I got with a mate who just does catch and release so he didn't really know. I'm out the eat the buggers though

[MeccaOz]

Not much of a fisherman, but give one to your mate, if he doesnt die, it should be safe .... OK Im not much a mate either, lol

[Timb0]

What are we talking here? Radioactive fish? Or just a dose of Mt Isa lead?

[wrenchman]

If it bites the hook it will tend to be healthy fish that are sick won't chase bait.

Fish tend to start float on the top they will also look sick black spots or scales coming off and smell bad.

[veep]

What are we talking here? Radioactive fish? Or just a dose of Mt Isa lead?

Fishing in around Lake Eildon here in Vic.

[Lorgar]

If they look good I just eat 'em.

No manky scales or that kind of thing.

A good dose of fire fixes most potential food issues

[AusC]

I've been fishing up that way for trout and never had a problem.

Head off, guts out and scaled... They've all had healthy looking flesh and made good eating.

[Timb0]

Veep, that looks like a nice place doubt you would have much trouble there.

I usually like to know a bit about the back ground of a place if I'm eating the fish from there. Gladstone power station's hot water outlet is a great place to catch barra but I'm not keen to eat anything out of Gladstone harbour due to the heavy metals. Plenty of people do though and they are not dead.

The photo below I took of the Ok Tedi river in PNG in 2007. It shows the rubble and dirty water that came from the Ok Tedi mine when the tailings dam gave way in 1984. BHP sold the mine to the PNG government after for $1 to try to get out of paying compensation. The government owned mine (OTML) continued to pump untreated waste down the river for many years. This waste water contains acid sulfates, heavy metals along with other dodgy chemicals.

The clean water coming in on the right is from a pristine mountain steam and is what the Ok Tedi used to be. There is some of the worlds best barra and mangrove jack fishing up there but it always pays to know whats up stream.

Bit of an extreme case but more a conversation point, after all I'm a bit of a gun toting hippie at heart.

[Patrol66]

Fish from Eildon area will be fine. Keep a look out for blue green algae outbreaks in some smaller lakes, this will be posted near boat ramps etc. Mercury can be a problem in some bays, but you would have to eat heaps every week to effect you . Mate of mine eat a carp caught at Eildon and I had a piece, wasn't to bad really

[VICHunter]

Fish from Eildon area will be fine.

+1

I've had dozens of trout and redfin out of there. All good eating.

[Chronos]

Veep, that looks like a nice place doubt you would have much trouble there.

I usually like to know a bit about the back ground of a place if I'm eating the fish from there. Gladstone power station's hot water outlet is a great place to catch barra but I'm not keen to eat anything out of Gladstone harbour due to the heavy metals. Plenty of people do though and they are not dead.

The photo below I took of the Ok Tedi river in PNG in 2007. It shows the rubble and dirty water that came from the Ok Tedi mine when the tailings dam gave way in 1984. BHP sold the mine to the PNG government after for $1 to try to get out of paying compensation. The government owned mine (OTML) continued to pump untreated waste down the river for many years. This waste water contains acid sulfates, heavy metals along with other dodgy chemicals.

The clean water coming in on the right is from a pristine mountain steam and is what the Ok Tedi used to be. There is some of the worlds best barra and mangrove jack fishing up there but it always pays to know whats up stream.

Bit of an extreme case but more a conversation point, after all I'm a bit of a gun toting hippie at heart.

Hey timb0, it's been a while since i've seen the view from that bridge in Tabubil. I was there for 3 months in 2009 for work (I was based in PoM)

don't suppose you manager to down a beer or two in the HASH bar?

Chronos

[Timb0]

I had a few big nights there Chonos!

I almost would have been there in mid 2009, but I was more of a Tabubil golf club kind of guy.

That photo was actually taken a few Km's down stream from the bridge, I was trying to take a photo of a fresh water crocodile. As you probably know the river looks the same for a very long way!

[Chronos]

I left in April 2009, we installed do VIP dongas in town, we also built the the airport terminal building. i designed everything and had it cut and shipped up then the guy i worked with flew a crew up to erect it

i ate at the golf club most fridays for 3 months i was there, just lucky the take away beer kicked in when i arrived otherwise i would have gone a bit crazy LOL

on topic i agree with a few others here, if the enviroment is safe and the fish looks healthy there's little chance of it being bad to eat. unless it's carp or red rock cod and then it's always bad to eat. if in doubt ask a local

Chronos

[lapp]

Carp - Ok to eat, just bad to taste!