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A streamlined, brilliant silver fish with a deeply forked tail and a small, toothless mouth, looking like an oversized polished herring. It grazes on algae and plankton in coastal Red Sea shallows and, despite its diet, gives a famously dogged, long-running fight on fly and light tackle.
Coastal flats, lagoons and shallow inshore waters
Warm, calm flats where fish are seen sipping at the surface or tailing over algae beds
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Light fly or fine outfit with small hooks — milkfish sip algae and fight extremely hard for their size.
Drift a tiny bread or algae fly to fish sipping at the surface over the flats.
Eating & safety
Completely harmless to handle, with no teeth, spines or toxins of concern.
Best conditions: Warm, calm flats where fish are seen sipping at the surface or tailing over algae beds
One of the world's most important aquaculture fish, it is farmed in vast numbers across Asia where it is a beloved staple.