Dusky kob (mulloway, jewfish)

A big, long croaker with a bronze-silver to gray back and silver sides, a large mouth, a row of pale spots along the lateral line in live fish, and a squared-off to slightly rounded tail (pointed in young fish). Very hard to tell from the silver kob by looks alone; the dusky is usually more bronze and is the kob of estuaries and the surf east of Cape Agulhas.

5–30 lb; 'daga salmon' over 50 lb are true trophies.

About 6½ ft and about 165 lb (75 kg).

Fish (mullet, sardines, shad), squid, cuttlefish, prawns and mud prawns.

Lives in estuaries, surf zones and nearshore reefs, feeding mainly at night and in dirty water; big kob grunt loudly with their swim bladder. They grow slowly and gather to spawn off the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape coasts.

Found from Southern Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives & Pakistan, China, Hong Kong & Taiwan, Japan & South Korea, South-East Australia & Tasmania, Queensland & the Great Barrier Reef and Northern Territory & Western Australia. South Africa from the Cape to KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique (big estuaries like the Breede, Kowie, Sundays and St Lucia); also Pakistan and northwest India, China, Korea and Japan, and southern Australia from southern Queensland around to Western Australia, where it's the mulloway or jewfish.

South Africa from the Cape to KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique (big estuaries like the Breede, Kowie, Sundays and St Lucia); also Pakistan and northwest India, China, Korea and Japan, and southern Australia from southern Queensland around to Western Australia, where it's the mulloway or jewfish.

Surf to about 300 ft.

Deep holes and channels in estuaries, gullies in the surf, and nearshore reefs 30–100 ft.

Year-round; spring and summer (about September to March) are best in South African estuaries, and big kob follow the sardine run in KwaZulu-Natal in winter.

Night, dawn and dusk; dirty water lets them feed by day.

The top of the tide and the turn are prime in estuaries; in the surf, a pushing tide into gullies.

After a blow when the surf is 'dirty' and discolored; also after rain floods an estuary.

Live mullet or shad, whole sardines, squid and chokka, cuttlefish and mud prawn.

Soft plastic paddle-tails and jerk shads on heavy jig heads, swimbaits and deep minnows worked slowly.

Surf: 12–14 ft surf rod and a big reel. Estuary and boat: medium-heavy 7 ft spinning or baitcasting rod.

5/0–8/0 circle or J hooks; 2–3 hook snoods for whole sardines.

25–40 lb mono for surf; 30–50 lb braid from boats.

50–80 lb mono shock leader.

Cast a sardine or live mullet into the deepest gully or estuary hole at night, keep the reel's drag light, and wait — big kob often pick the bait up and swim off slowly before you set the hook.

Fish your bait in the 'dirty' discolored water after a southwest blow or a flood — that's when big kob come out to feed in daylight.

Catch and release: wet your hands, keep the fish in the water when you can, and release it quickly. Use circle hooks and a dehooker.

Excellent eating — one of the best-tasting fish in its range.

Bleed and ice it right away. Fillet, then remove the skin and any dark bloodline.

Excellent white, firm meat — fried, grilled, baked or in fish cakes; one of South Africa's favorite eating fish.

Night fishing in the surf and on rocks is dangerous — watch the swell, wear a headlamp and never fish alone. Sharks are common in the same gullies.

South Africa: from shore and in estuaries east of Cape Agulhas, 1 dusky kob per person per day with a 60 cm (24 in) minimum; boat-based limits differ by area — check the current rules. Australian states set their own mulloway limits. Kob may not be sold by recreational anglers. South Africa requires a recreational fishing permit, with kob limits that change by area and by shore or boat; in Australia (where it's called mulloway or jewfish) each state sets its own license, size and bag rules.

Dusky kob stocks in South Africa collapsed to a small fraction of their old size; release the big breeders and keep only what the law allows.