The Elephant Fish is also known as Elephant shark, ghost shark, reperepe and whitefish. Elephant fish is silvery coloured fish with an almost entirely scaleless elongated body this why it is also known as the ghost shark. With beautiful iridescent reflections and dark, variable markings on the side. They have large pectoral fins and two dorsal fins are high and triangular. The first dorsal fin is preceded by a large spine which is thought to be poisonous. The snout is covered in pores that sense movement and weak electrical fields, which are used in detecting prey in the muddy bottoms of deep water. Elephant fish have a single gill opening immediately in front of the pectoral fin on each side of the fish.

Size
Up to about 1.2 metres in length and 7 kg. Females grow larger than males.

Habitat
Adults are inhabiting near offshore reefs and deep water headland areas. Juveniles inhabit estuaries, bays and shallow coastal reefs.

Best Time: February to May
Favourite Rig: Bait fishing use a running sinker to the hook or paternoster rig.
Best Baits: Pilchards halve or cubed, squid, fish fillets

Distribution
New South Wales (southern waters), Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia to Esperance WA

Rods Reel and Tackle

Best Rod
2- 6kg, 7

Best Reel
2500 to 4000 series threadline reel

Best Line
Braid With a breaking strain between 3-6kg
Leader 1.5 – 2 metres of 5kg low stretch shock leader or Monofilament.

Terminal Tackle

Swivel
small rolling swivel

Sinkers
Teardrop or bomb, sinker weights can vary between 28g and 100g depending on water currents.

Hook
Circle hook 2/0 or 3/0

Elephant Fish Size and Bag Limits

Please Note: Bag limits, minimum and maximum lengths are subject to change and review by your State Fisheries Department.