Today we went out with staff from the NT Museum to primarily look for a small species of fish called Mogurnda Mogurnda or also known as the purple spotted gudgeon. Usually when I go fishing on Groote Eylandt I'm trying to catch the biggest fish possible so this was a big change, as this fish only grows to 12 cm and wouldn't even be big enough for bait. No rods were required, using only little bait traps (similar to crab pots but smaller) and cat food as the secret bait to attract them in.

The scientists told us that the traps need to be checked every 10 minutes to ensure slightly larger fish don't get in and eat all the smaller species. The previous day a fish called "Mouth Almighty" / Glossamia aprion broke in and ate every other fish in the trap, now that's what you call an all you can eat seafood buffet! With a name like that how can you expect anything else.

In between traps we grabbed the swoop nets and tested our reflex's on catching dragon flies and butterflies. I hadn't heard of this before but in the same family as butterflies is another branch of fly called damselfly's. Dragonflies are generally more powerful fliers than damselflies and most dragonflies have large eyes that almost meet at the top of their head. Damselflies often rest with their wings folded along their backs. Dragonflies usually rest with their wings held straight out from their body.

I managed to catch around 20 dragonfly's after 3 hours using my ninja skills on the net. If anyone is interested in taking their butterfly and dragonfly catching to the next level check out the Australian Entemology Supplies website and purchase a butterfly net from there. It makes it so much easier than using dad's old fishing net from the garage, they are much lighter and the net is deeper so you "swoop and flick" trapping the catch inside.