Of course there is nothing wrong with taking home some kahawai for the table. We have long been spoiled for choice in this country, with older generations regarding kahawai, trevally and mackerel as being useful only for bait.
In fact these fish all make fine dining either smoked, as raw fish, baked or as fillets which can be pan fried just like other, more popular species.
Fishing off the west coast has been hot when boats can get across the bar at the Manukau, Raglan and Kaipara Harbours. Inside the harbours there are still plenty of snapper being caught, and gurnard numbers are also improving.
Fishing is also going well in the Firth of Thames, whether accessing it from the Coromandel side or the Waiheke Island side, and if you want john dory for dinner they are plentiful, and easy to catch with the right approach. It is a question of looking for the small bumps on the sea bed, indicating rocks or pinnacles or drop-offs, and putting down live baits. Sprats or yellowtails are fine, and the johnnies love them.
But it is the snapper fishing in shallow water which continues to surprise people. One Thames fisherman said he and a friend caught their limit of snapper in water as shallow as 1.7 metres, off Te Puru. "That is the shallowest I have even fished in, and they are good fish."
He said the mussel farms were producing snapper up to 3kg and there were "kingfish everywhere". He added: "They are in plague proportions, but of course you hook them and they go straight into the mussel lines."
Surfcasters fishing from the rocks on the Thames coast were catching fish at high tide, and it looks as if the shoreline fishing would continue through the winter as it did last year.
Fresh waterThe winter fly fishing has barely started in the Rotorua lakes, with reports of the occasional fish being caught at popular spots, but few anglers out at night. The beach at Lake Okataina has been one of the best areas when the wind is blowing waves on to the beach, but otherwise fishing has been slow at stream mouths and beaches like Ruato on Lake Rotoiti.
The weather is still warm and water temperatures are high, so the spawning runs will obviously be late this year.
It is similar at Lake Taupo, and there have been some fish running in the Tongariro River although more rain will help. The lake and streams have been low all summer. The rainbows taken in the river have been in good condition, with some fish up to 2kg, and browns up to 4kg.
• More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 6.30am Saturdays, TV3.
Tip of the week
Use circle hooks when casting chunks of bait in shallow water and fish will be hooked in the corner of the mouth for easy release if they are small. But give the fish time to take the bait, don't strike at the bites as this just pulls the bait away from the fish. For large baits, like whole pilchards or yellowtail, octopus hooks with a straight point are better as the point won't turn back into the bait.
Bite times
Bite times are 8:20am and 8:45pm tomorrow and 9:10am and 9:35pm on Sunday. These are based on the moon phase and position, not tides and apply to the whole country.
