Posting images of a Murral from Hong Kong. Given that I heard raving reviews on how tasty these buggers were. I went down to my favourite fishing hole (Kwun Tong Fresh Market) and bought this fish. By the time I got home he had chewed a hole throught the plastic bag.
Here are some pictures, spot the differences between this guy and the ones in your locale..
Bobby this guy seems to be suffering from a curved spine. Have you been taking him to task for biting through the packet??
Here i have seen at least 2 types.
One variety that are black with yellow thrown in, and have white spots on them that fade away within a few minutes of taking them out of water.
Then there is the other with a diamond pattern similar to the one you have displayed.
Did you give this charley a good scrub or what ? Or is it just that guy has been living clean in a breeding pond ?
Not a curved spine, he lays in a plate which has a depression giving you the illusion of a curved spine, handsome fish, bad photographer.
The fish was taken from (read my post again) the FRESH MARKET so yes he was in a glass fish tank with very clear water.
Mate, buddy, friend, you are welcome anytime. All I will say is you missed one heck of a fishing trip when you cancelled coming to Hong Kong, the timing was so perfect when you had decided to come. Moon was up, fishing was great, you were getting long haired, short haired, straight and curly, and the spine, oh the spines! how curved they were.
They came in different colours too, from pale white to real dark, some of their mouths even glowed in the dark. There was even a place organized where you could cook your meal and eat it with your bare hands, no need for table manners either and no one to judge you. All you had to do was use the right lure, which you have.
Most of the Murral here come with this markings, in these shops they sell Murral, Grass Carp, Eels, Frogs and Turtles as a regular basis. Occasionally they have small mouth bass, perch, some tilapia like fish, Rudd and Chubb.
Sorry to throw you off mate with that "curved ball", I should have not presumed you would know what "Kwun Tong Fresh Market" meant. It could simply mean like what you thought, a fishing spot.
Kwun Tong, is the district that I live in, and Fresh Market is a Chinese wet market where you get all your fresh/live foods. The Chinese are obsessed with "live" food, so all of the fish that they get live in these markets are farmed. There is a lot to be desired in the taste of a farmed fish v/s wild because of the monotonous (may not be appropriate terminology) diet. The Murral you guys catch would be a lot tastier.
On this note, I was watching a culinary program on TV here about this guy in the UK who grows, hunts, catches his own food which he then cooks, this was a segment on Grass Carp, not considered an eating fish in UK but a very popular table fish in China. What he presumed was that the quality of water in which the fish lived was a deterrent to the flavour of this fish. So he angled and caught grass carp he then put it into an aquarium into which he got fresh water from a passing river with very clean and "quality" water to flow continuously into the tank and then out. He kept that fish in that tank for a week or more and then prepared the fish for one of the "blue blooded" locals in that area who, were very suspicious at first when they were told that the main course was poached grass carp, but once the actually tasted the "treated" fish they thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Goes to show you what quality water can do to a fish.
If you look closely at the close-up of the head you can actually see a piece of the plastic bag in his mouth!
Interesting... what you pointed out. There is a distinct difference in the taste of fish from lakes v/s fish from rivers. Fish from lakes being more 'muddy'. I've heard about murral being kept alive in 'freshwater' before they're cooked.
Bobby, I think this is the other kind Owen was talking about....the eyes..gorgeous!!
I do remember the Murral. I also remember putting back the luckiest murral in all of malvalli the next day. I hope he lives to become a big fish one day. Can't remember the name of the river now.... we must go back and fish the other place we visited. I'd love to chuck a couple of plugs and spinners in there.
Yeah dude! when are you going to post their pix?????
Never received the mail with the pics Fred.
No issues posting it mate!
There is a picture of a Murral in the IGFA news letter with some real striking markings, I will scan it and post it.
Belli, the eye of that fish really stands out, it was the first thing that got my attention.