‘ Matching the hatch’ key to kahawai catch
Kahawai have moved in close in good numbers and can be found by locating birds. Barracouta are still around in the Hauraki Gulf which can be a problem for those using jigs or lures. They are not highly regarded as table fare, but they can be smoked or used for bait and berley. They will disappear to deeper water as temperatures rise.
There are also large numbers of kahawai in the Manukau Harbour. They can be targeted by sending out a berley trail and dropping flasher rigs. The occasional gurnard or snapper may also turn up as a bonus.
Kahawai will be the main target for hundreds of anglers later this month as they head out for the annual Kahawai King Fishing Contest, an event run by the Weymouth Cosmopolitan Club for the past 16 years.
Fishing i s restricted to the Waitemata Harbour chart 532 and the inner Manukau Harbour for both boat and shore- based fishing. Fishing starts at midnight on Friday, September 23.
The $ 10,000 prize pool includes both cash and tackle prizes and contestants may enter up to five kahawai over 300mm long. Proceeds from the event will go to the South Auckland Health Kidz First programme. There are also prizes for junior anglers aged under 13 and tickets are available from the club in Manurewa and selected sports shops. The weigh- in will be held at the club from 4pm.
Kahawai i s a highly prized fish underrated in the past but is now more highly regarded for its sporting and eating qualities. They are widespread and easy to catch.
Kahawai will take baits aimed at snapper and other fish, but because their main prey is small fish, they will also respond to lures that resemble bait fish. Silver metal lures can be cast from rocks or wharves as well as a boat, and trolling lures is a popular method. Boats can often be seen heading towards flocks of birds wheeling and diving as they feed on small fish forced to the surface while trying to escape the foraging predators and the kahawai can be seen splashing on the surface.
The traditional kahawai lure i s a plastic lure with double hooks which spins. This Smith’s jig will catch fish, but not always. The reason is the size of the lure. It is much bigger than the tiny whitebait- like silver fish the kahawai feed on.
The answer is to take a leaf out of the trout angler’s arsenal and “match the hatch”. A smelt fly, as used on the Rotorua and Taupo lakes, will be instantly snatched up by the marauding kahawai. It may be a silicon smelt or a grey ghost pattern, but these flies will just skim the surface, so a small sinker should be added above a swivel a couple of metres ahead of the fly, and the leader should be lighter weight than the main line, as in trout fishing. This rig is best fished on a light spin rod. A soft- bait outfit i s ideal, but the braid line i s unforgiving when a lively kahawai is bouncing around on the other end, so with the drag on the reel set so the fish can take line without breaking the leader, it becomes a question of raising the rod and winding in line as it is lowered.
And when the fish is finally tired and brought to the boat, a net should be employed — you can’t lift a fish over the side without risking a breakage.
Snapper fishing is improving very slowly and there have been some reasonable snapper coming from the Ahahaa Rocks, straylining down a berley trail. In the shallows, baby flounder seem to be the main attraction for the snapper.
Fishing in the Bay of Plenty has been slow in close, with the best action coming from 60m or 70m of water.
Kingfish are running well on the edges of the offshore reefs, and banks around Mayor Island, and can be targeted with speed jigs or live baits. Trout anglers are looking forward to the opening of the new season on October 1 and next week we will preview prospects.