Nannygai / Bight Redfish
Nannygai, Bight Redfish, Redfish
Centroberyx gerrardi (Bight Redfish) / Centroberyx affinis (Nannygai)
Overview
Nannygai — known in South Australia as Bight Redfish — are a much-loved deep-water table fish. They live in schools over deeper reef and rough ground and are targeted on the bottom with baits from a boat. Their bright red colour and sweet white flesh make them a prized reef catch.
Quick Info
Identification
A bright red, slender-bodied fish with a large eye, a slightly forked tail and a serrated keel around the tail base. Bight Redfish carry a deeper body and a blunter snout than the classic Nannygai.
Vivid red body, large eye, forked tail and a slight keel around the tail base. Two closely related species — Bight Redfish and Nannygai — are often caught together.
Bight Redfish are deeper-bodied with a blunt snout and red colour; true Nannygai are slimmer and more yellow-tinted below. Both are red reef fish from deeper water — the family is easily told apart from other red fish by the large eye and forked tail.
Where to Find Them
Typical depth: 20-100 m
Fishing environments: Boat
When to Fish
How to Catch Them
Anchor or drift over deep reef and drop a lightly weighted baited line to the bottom, then lift it just off. Berley draws schools; a small bait takes wary fish. Keep the bait near the structure and expect a solid steady pull when hooked.
Small fresh baits of fish fillet, prawn or squid on small but strong hooks, presented just above the bottom on a light paternoster or a simple running sinker rig.
A firm tap and steady weight — nannygai bite confidently on the bottom and load the rod quickly.
Lift smoothly into the weight; small hooks set easily — nannygai hook themselves against a light sinker.
Find deeper reef or rough ground with your sounder and drop a small baited rig with a berley trail. Nannygai respond fast to berley and are one of the more consistent deep-water species once you find the fish.
Fishing too heavy and sinking into the structure, using hooks that are too large for their small mouths, and losing the berley trail in deep water.
Best Baits
Rigs & Gear
The dedicated snapper rig — two snelled hooks on a long sliding leader with the sinker running free on the main line, so a suspicious red can mouth the bait and run without feeling any resistance.
A versatile and highly effective rig for King George Whiting and many other species.
Current SA Fishing Rules
CURRENT SA FISHING RULES
Method: Total length
Measured at: Measured from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail.
Always check current regulations before fishing. Fishing rules and closures can change.
Keeping Your Catch
Support the body with wet hands; deep-water fish can be delicate when brought up — hold them gently and release unwanted fish quickly by swimming them.
If keeping, dispatch and bleed promptly before icing.
Slush ice promptly — red flesh firms up and stays sweet when chilled.
Cleaning & Filleting
Gut, scale and rinse. Nannygai scale easily and gut cleanly.
Nannygai fillet cleanly along the backbone; the body is solid enough for full fillets.
Skin is thin and crisps up when pan-fried or grilled skin side down.
Few pin bones; check the fillet with your fingers and remove any you find.
Cooking
Sweet, delicate white flesh — dust in seasoned flour and pan-fry in butter, or crumb and deep-fry. Excellent eating quality all round.
Where to Catch Them in SA
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