ive been wondering this to good question.
unless jigging i dont bother now .
no one can say its for the fight cause it is a little boring in my eyes (unless fishing pe 2)
and the taste is a little overrated to id much rather a baldie or kg.
all the same i might just be being harsh as all my life i have caught to many to count cause thats all dad targets at wedge and fishing up there we are blessed with that many dhuies that they are almost jumping in our boat.
brenz

i dont know why either.  i mean dont get me wrong they taste bloody good and yes they are a bit overrated. to tell you the truth me and my mate use a lot of soft plastics light gear 2500 reels with 8pound braid and just play around on some good ground i myself have only got one dhuie and it was enough.  i think if i eva get another one i will let it swim another day my mate has got a monster on soft plastics and it had a great fight sorry brenz but they are alot of fun on the soft plastics we didnt know it was a dhuie untill we got it up took about 10 min we thought it was a sambo so yer they put on a good fight but mind you thats only on sp cherz .

The dhu is at the top of most anglers catch list and they are a special fish.

For myself its more about the challenge of catching them on jigs and plastics.

As far as eating goes the taste is a little bland for me.Would go red snapper and kg any day.

Taking everything (size / table quality) into account Baldie all the way, as good a fight for the weight and alot better on the plate.

IMO the reason Dhuies get hit so hard is they freeze so well. Personally I eat fish fresh and only take enough for one feed. that way you get the best of it, but out of all the fish I think Dhu and baldies freeze the best (of those in our south west anyways).

My south west table targets are (in order of pref) Baldie, Breaksea, KG, Boar, Harli and then Dhuie.

The Dhuie is just such an iconic fish for our state and this area so i think it is on everyones catch list. I think everyone has a pretty satisfied feeling seeing that wide mouth come up from the blue. Like everyone has mentioned, there are better tasting fish out there and each to there own.

I guess they're like big snapper in SA and Vic, people just want to catch them and can't really explain it.

They are pretty good table fair; at least the smaller ones are. Anything over about 12kg goes back, once they get up to around 15kg they are tough and the flesh is coarse.

My favourite would be the KG by far; pitty they don't seem to be around in big numbers

...'cause I've got a big family I will every now and again target dhuies since one good fish feeds us all. As stated above I'd rather sort them out with two or three baldies but there is a LOT of water between those down here in Mandurah!

The other day the kid and I got a just size dhu (55cm) along with a big KG and a 50cm flounder...just enough to feed seven people!

Other than that, I prefer to steer away from dhuies, and bottom fishing in general, when there's so much lure casting/jigging/trolling to do!

i guess another question to ask is why we fish? i don't target any specific fish i just enjoy getting out and wetting a line......if something good jumps on it just makes the day better.

because they are one of WAs most prized fish but mostly because of their wicked taste and the fun of the catch.

Personally im not up for taking a huge dhufish i would rather take a smaller sized dhufish i think that is when they taste there best and there flesh is nicest . I find that the larger fish taste more bland and even have tastes of ammonia in them. Also the Bigger dhufish are what keeps the populations Sustained .

ive gone right off dhuey fishing and bottom bouncing in general. snags, wrasse, long winds to the top, and i rarely suceed. i much prefer lure fishing these days like trolling or spinning for tailor with the light stuff, more fun, better fight in my oppinion.

Bottom bouncing is what happens when your boat sinks.

No really its just a term for bottom fishing on the drift

Cheers

I have been luck enough to have the oportunity to catch most species of fish that WA has to offer, and not much comes close to the feeling when a big silver sided beast breaks the surface. Its pretty good to catch a species that can only be caught in our part of the world too.

are like sheep...just follow each other. Its like a cult this dhuie fishing and they dont even rate in the top 5 eating fish. I would swap you a kg of dhu for a kg of just about anything including mullet and whiting.

Maybe Dhuie not in your top 5 out wide, but its 1 on mine. Next time you get one I will happily meet you at the ramp with a box of mullets for the swap. LOL

I 2nd that in fact i would give you 2 boxes of mullet , dhuie is the no 1 fish maybe not on the fang but its what makes a top days fishing & as said before its a great feeling seeing them come up

they come low down in top five for me

pinkie , black arse , kg , baldie  all better , but seeing a dhuey surface next to the boat  definately puts a smile across everones face. 

WA's own iconic fish!

(went out on thursday for a fish and we caught 6 dhueys , way more than anything else. i think they seem to be doing better that some might sugggest, but i still think the ban and more importantly size limits  are a great thing to protect these fish for the future)

i love dhuie for the texture which is firm but flakes beautifully when cooked perfect. The taste is minimal but i flavour it with salt/pepper. Flour then into a buttered pan. I find most class one bottom fish to have little flavour. Like chicken it has little flavour but when you add salt,,,,its magically comes to life.

In shallow water I would say yes they put up a good fight but once out in the 45/50 there not a lot of fun, you get them  half way up and their  just a twisting weight getting pulled to the surface.

Garry

special to see a big dhuie surface near the boat. mikw and yellow and black next week on pension night [Wed] how about stringing a couple of wings of 3 inch out down at mandurah, gill me some mullet and i go and have a look for a dhuie or two out from Bunno and we might be able to do a deal. lol

To me they are the best tasting fish, they freeze well and still maintain their flavour when thawed and cooked. I like to eat fish that have course grained flesh, also I like the excitement of catching these magnificent creatures.
DHUFISH RULE

Cheers Kev

Well for me I love dhuie on the dinner plate, I guess I don’t target dhuies over any other fish, the ground I fish is where the dhuie lives and they seem to like my line more than the other fish. The size of the fillets is another good reason I add them to my bag, as all my trips I have deckies along for the ride ,a couple of good size fish means we all get a good feed as I split the catch .I’ve never really been into snapper as the ones I get don't give a good size fillet, and once filleted I look and think it’s a shame to kill the fish for two little fillets. I fish because I love to fish it’s in my blood to speck, and catch or not catch, I love being on the water or in it .And hope I’m out there till the day I die.

Freezes best.

Tastes better when it comes out of vac bag.

One fish - 10 kg of fillet

Apex predator in the food chain

Whats not to love about dragging a beautiful fish that outpoints all others on taste and texture.

Best fish in our ocean

For me it's catching the dream fish of 20+kg which hasn't happened yet the best to date is 12kg and that was a cracker. Still I've caught plent of them and I also reckon it's the old hunter gatherer thing when you come in and there's good fish on board you get a great sense of achievment (and brownie points with the missus)

Woooo how the hell did that happen ,alls good

yeah the dhu is over rated .. and i much prefer pink snapper (i hate breaksea) id much prefer to be out super deep trying to catch a harpuka or something like that .. but for some reason i catch more dhu's than anything else .. just wish i could catch pinkies better :(

looks to be plenty that prefer other fish as i do. its interesting to see the different reasons behind the chase

Never really been fazed about catching dhuie's in the past as I was never really into bottom bouncing. Probably give it more of a crack down the track though as I've really enjoyed red fishing these past 12 months.

size matters I guess and when you combine eating qualities with size you inevitably will attract a lot of fishing pressure.

I love the dhuie on the plate as much as the next guy. If Baldies or KG's grew that big I would be chasing them instead.

Sane as Paul, the ground I fish is pretty much Dhuie country so its a regular part of the catch.

as its been said i fish the ground and am always happy to see any keepers weather its a queenie kg b/a baldie or dhu but i love dhuie

Iconic fish for the area. Similar to a red emp up north.

Been chasing dhuys for over 15 years now and still love it.

Never stop learning about them and there habits. I suppose that what keeps me keen. The desire to learn more about them.

Awhile ago I posted a recipe for Dhuey stock, for those who recon they don't have a strong flavour. If you reduce this and add some butter to make a sauce you can increase the flavour to your level of taste. I have an old mate (58 years old) who I cooked a pasta dish for using the stock, (the recipe is also on here) he has caught Dhuey all his life and loves them, I used no actual fish in the dish and in his own words "I did not think I could love Dhuey anymore than I already do and theres no fish in this dish".

They are an amazing looking and tasting fish.

Dont catch many, used to years ago when we spent every other weekend out at sea growing up, just getting back into fishing for them again so still finding ground to fish again. happy just getting any size fish at  the moment but have always loved the taste of dhufish, queenies and the good old ba.

My better half grew up on mullet from the murray river system and could not understand why i didnt eat fish with them until I brought home some fish from out deep and now she loves them too just as much.