How to catch Kahawai

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A lot of people have trouble spelling the name kahawai, but it is easy to remember once you know what it means. ‘Kaha’ (Maori for strong) and ‘wai’ (Maori for water). That could be interpreted as ‘strong in the water’ which is quite apt, or perhaps ‘fish of strong water,’ which is also fitting because kahawai love strong currents and wave-washed shores. 

Either way the kahawai is a sportfish on all counts. Their top weight, which is probably about 14kg, means kahawai can only ever be a small gamefish, but scale your tackle to suit and you have a great adversary. 

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We have two types of kahawai in New Zealand waters: the common everyday kahawai (Arripus trutta) and the Kermadec kahawai (Arripus xablion).

The Kermadec strain grows larger and is really only easily identified by its larger size and oversized tail. I have caught a few around the Far North, from Tapotupotu, Spirits Bay and Kerr Point, but they are far from common. They are classified as common in the Kermadec Islands and rare in New Zealand waters.

How to catch Kahawai

The range of Kermadec kahawai extends as far south as East Cape – I caught a 6.12kg specimen at the entrance to Tauranga harbour many years ago – but the biggest I have seen was caught at Kerr Point near North Cape and weighed 9.2kg. Kermadec kahawai might be rare but they are worth waiting for. I have no records of them showing up on the west coast, but I’ll bet they do.

Fortunately we don’t have to wait around for the biggest kahawai to have some fun because the average kahawai in our waters is over 1.5kg and well distributed around the entire country. Fish that size and bigger are perfect for 1 and 2kg line classes and for fly fishing. If there were no other fish in the sea you could be happy with these kahawai.

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Back in the 1980s I shifted to the Bay of Islands to open a fishing tackle shop in Russell. A few members of the charter fleet had an eye on light tackle fishing to extend their seasons. They wanted to target kahawai, kingfish and snapper when the marlin and sharks were not present. However, some of the others hadn’t learned to appreciate kahawai as a sportfish, so I was only too pleased to show them what I knew about fishing ultra-light tackle and saltwater fly fishing. 

To that end I arranged a day trip on the Lady Doreen with skipper Bruce Smith and some other charter boat owners. Soft-baits were just arriving on the scene and we used the day to fish both light tackle and soft-baits. For some of them this experience was a first. 

We went out to the Ninepin Rock at the northern entrance to the Bay of Islands where on my first cast with a soft-bait on 2kg line I hooked and landed a 2kg snapper. Bruce picked up the 1kg set and hooked a stroppy kahawai straight off. You can imagine the banter between skippers: “Pull him in Bruce, it’s only a tiddler!” and “I have boated marlin faster than that!”

We had a ball and everyone who hadn’t tried 1kg tackle before ended up catching fish, although tackle losses were considerable! It was a fantastic winter day out in the Bay of Islands.

Bruce and I recreated that day when Larry Hagman – JR of Dallas fame – came to visit the Bay of Islands with his mother. Fishing had been poor for kingfish so we turned to the light gear and kahawai and had a great day. Kahawai saved the day again. 

On another guiding day with American Will Pharr we were hammered by the weather and ended up sheltering behind the islands early in the day as big seas and heavy winds descended on the region. We couldn’t have had more fun. With some berley in the water the kahawai turned up and Will had great fun subduing them on 1kg line. He even looked like he was going to land a small kingfish for a few minutes before it tore off into reefy ground and broke the line.

Andrew Tuke, the northern sales rep for now closed fishing tackle wholesaler Thompson Walker, ran a series of light tackle kahawai competitions in the Bay. These were for teams of four. My wife Sue, Adam Clancey, Richard Baker and I, all passionate land-based anglers, entered as the ‘Rockhoppers’ team. We were up against some formidable boat-based teams but we had an advantage that wasn’t obvious and which we intended to keep secret from other competitors. While we couldn’t determine the size of the kahawai we might catch, we could generally catch more than a boat team in a day of fishing. 

We won a trip to Fiji in that first contest and then a trip to Australia in the second. It was close but we were able to catch more fish each day and so had a better selection to weigh in. We fished open ocean rocks where the water was fairly shallow. Kahawai responded well to our skipjack and pilchard berley and one of us at least would be hooked up all day long. 

How to catch Kahawai

The reason we could catch more fish was simple. Once hooked, the kahawai could only run and jump in the shallow water. This meant short fights to the waiting landing net. Boat fishers in contrast were likely to hook their kahawai from schools over deeper water and the kahawai, once they settled down after being hooked, would sound – and with 1kg line there is no way you can stop them sounding and no way to haul them straight up again. The angler just has to wait them out, which can lead to impatience and line breakages, or at the very least extended fights to land each fish. 

One team decided to fish the Hole in the Rock area in the hope of finding bigger kahawai, but what they found was a school of aggressive kingfish that smashed their gear every time they hooked up. 

The third year we won again and I still have the briefcase that was first prize. Strangely, no one caught on and fished the contest from the shore like we did!

You can start to see why I love kahawai. As a kid a kahawai was the first big fish I ever caught. It is probably the same story for many fishers and one needs to remember that – we owe them plenty!

Another way to really have fun with your kahawai is to catch them on a fly rod. You can tie your own flies for the job and that will make the experience even more fulfilling. 

Casting to schooling fish with the fly rod is exciting. Some days kahawai are really hard to fool into taking a fly; on other days they are all over the fly as soon as they see it. Schooling kahawai are generally feeding on krill and plankton, so you need small pink shrimp-like flies to be consistently successful with them. Just try drifting the fly through the fish with no movement. 

You will also find kahawai feeding on small fish like pilchards, anchovies or whitebait. You can then use a bigger fly: it should be sparkly and about the same size as the baitfish that are present.  Try a faster retrieve on those fish. 

The most fun (if you don’t need a lot of fish to have fun) comes from prospecting likely waters: fishing current edges, drop-offs and around structures like bridge piles and shallow reefs. You are also opening yourself up to catching other species like snapper and trevally, which is fun too.   

Wading the surf is another way to have some fun fly fishing. Kahawai can turn up at any time and grab at your fly. Don’t beat yourself up casting straight into the waves. Just wade out a bit and fish along the beach and even back into the beach as the kahawai can be found in water that’s only ankle deep. Takes are unexpected and exciting and a generic baitfish fly will do the job. Either that or a shrimp-like pattern with weighted eyes to keep it down near the bottom. 

Even on the heavier fly fishing tackle that is required to reach the kahawai in the surf they will put up a good scrap and use the surf to their advantage.

One other way to exploit the fun value of kahawai is to fish for them at a river mouth where there is a lot of current. Use light tackle if possible – don’t go too heavy. Use soft-baits and spinners rather than bait and move around a bit until you find the fish. They may be moving with the tides and can come and go quickly, so keep an eye on other fishers and look for signs like diving birds and ruffled water.

Actually you can’t do much wrong when after kahawai. Give them a chance to fight back and you may fall in love with them too.

 


May - 2015 - Gary Kemsley

New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
Copyright: NZ Fishing Media Ltd.
Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited

 

 

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