Clifton - December 2nd
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 5:44 pm
Time for another go out from the south east coast of Hawkes Bay
Conditions were good and it was looking to be a productive morning
Since i've been catching a lot of Snapper lately i wanted to try to target Gurnard since i enjoy eating them a lot more.
I stopped for a Snapper fish on the way out to gurnard territory which was very productive putting 4 snaps into the bin, two keepers released along with other species like Trevally and Kahawai which were too small.
These Snapper predominantly feed on shellfish and crustaceans so i've yet to hook one on a lure. hope to one day
The fishing for Snapper wasn't producing large fish so i packed up and headed NE .
I didn't go as far as i wanted towards Cape Kidnappers since i knew the wind would pick up towards lunchtime and it would be a long paddle home. There is a mark where i've caught 4 gurnard off a fizz boat well within range. but I decided to play it safe and go roughly half the distance.
Being out a few kms doesn't get you anywhere in terms of depth, i was still only in 6m and over sand. My oily fish berley got to work and the pilchard ledgers went to the bottom. Fishing was quite slow to say the least since i got no bites for the first half hour, Then out of no-where one of my rods is bent right over and a fish is charging away from the boat. This is the fight of a spotted smoothhound or Rig, Then they turn to dead weight when you bring them to the surface proceeding to shower you with water as they put the gas back on for their next run back to the bottom. I got this fish on board and the sheer strength they possess is quite amazing , they are difficult to hold onto. Perfect for dinner at around 70cm. Rig are a rarity to catch on fish bait as they are almost exclusively crustacean feeders.
Next was target species number 1! A Gurnard for the second week in a row. the only problem is they are too darn small! back it went to grow in the vege patch.
Onto something that has never happened to me before while out on the yak. a fearless seagull landed on my kayak for a rest and ate some scraps when it saw an opportunity, the bird took a while to get his sea legs but got it sorted in the end.
With those two fish that pretty much finished my day, the tide had dropped to low and the fish had disappeared.
Time to head in.
Conditions were good and it was looking to be a productive morning
Since i've been catching a lot of Snapper lately i wanted to try to target Gurnard since i enjoy eating them a lot more.
I stopped for a Snapper fish on the way out to gurnard territory which was very productive putting 4 snaps into the bin, two keepers released along with other species like Trevally and Kahawai which were too small.
I didn't go as far as i wanted towards Cape Kidnappers since i knew the wind would pick up towards lunchtime and it would be a long paddle home. There is a mark where i've caught 4 gurnard off a fizz boat well within range. but I decided to play it safe and go roughly half the distance.
Being out a few kms doesn't get you anywhere in terms of depth, i was still only in 6m and over sand. My oily fish berley got to work and the pilchard ledgers went to the bottom. Fishing was quite slow to say the least since i got no bites for the first half hour, Then out of no-where one of my rods is bent right over and a fish is charging away from the boat. This is the fight of a spotted smoothhound or Rig, Then they turn to dead weight when you bring them to the surface proceeding to shower you with water as they put the gas back on for their next run back to the bottom. I got this fish on board and the sheer strength they possess is quite amazing , they are difficult to hold onto. Perfect for dinner at around 70cm. Rig are a rarity to catch on fish bait as they are almost exclusively crustacean feeders.
Time to head in.
