Little blue penguin work up

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    Posted: 04 Mar 2019 at 8:04pm
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Titanium
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It's been a while, but I finally had the chance to get out on Sunday with my 5-year-old for what turned out to be a memorable trip.

I'll describe the fishing shortly, but the highlight of sharing a fun morning with my little fella was the chance to closely observe a korora (little blue penguin) slashing through a small bait ball of anchovies.

We had seen a weird disturbance from about 50m away, something breaking the surface then disappearing, and splashing again. Big kahawai? Demented shag? As it was time for a move anyway, we puttered over and were surprised to see a sleek penguin's destroying a bait ball solo. We stayed at a distance so we didn't alarm it. It would slash through the bait mouth open, they'd spray out of the water trying to get away, then re-form into a tight ball. The penguin would then bob up for a breath before diving and coming back fast from another angle, scattering the little fish again. Poetry in motion. This went on and on. Amazing to see in clear, calm water. Eventually we left the little penguin to its brunch.
During the morning we saw several pairs of them, and heard a few honking. A real privilege and we think a good omen given it's what we've called our boat.

Anyway, it was pretty slow fishing for this time of year, but it was a fairly small tide and I don't think the millpond conditions out on the Tamaki Strait shallows and blazing sun after about 8am helped. Very slow drift for soft baiting. We eventually got a good bin of snapper. Boy dragging, me casting ahead. Best was a 56cm string puller which was starting to get a head bump. It nailed a Gulp Squid Vicious - the snapper noticeably bang them aggressively, and they are quite tough for a Gulp. Dragging, we got a few on various Z Man grub colours, one was 44cm. The rest in the mid-30s.



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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote terrafish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Mar 2019 at 8:27pm
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Awsesome, these are exactly the things that corrupt a young childs mind and make them turn into the next generation of the rare tanned variety, instead of the pasty common variety only found inside on a device. In fact the only times you find them indoors is when they are drooling over the latest bit of kit, they wish they could afford. Look out he will start showing you how to do it soon. Best memorys I have, is fishing with dad, and still making em. Only difference is.....now i'm teachin him! Keep up the good work and may the path be smooth, the sea be flat and the young fella keen to finally be the teacher(and boat driver, fish filleter, winch operator, anchor retriever and drinks tender. But sorry you gotta pay the gas!!!)

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Far Quirk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Mar 2019 at 9:22pm
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Well done Lester.  Good to see you back in action.  And nice to see your son is keen. You certainly did much better than me, and we were not far apart when I was south of Sergeant's channel.  Over recent years I've done very well with kaburas in the rodholder, more or less straight under the boat, one at the bow and one at the stern.  On Saturday they caught the occasional undersize snapper, but nothing for the bin.  The drag and jiggle technique with soft baits - that used to get exciting hit and run strikes - also fizzled.
It must be 10 years since I've regularly used the cast ahead technique, but I've used it less and less since other simpler techniques have generally paid off.
Far Quirk - I'm goin' fishn!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Espresso Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Mar 2019 at 9:18am
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Very cool to see that, cheers.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Mar 2019 at 8:56pm
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Originally posted by terrafish terrafish wrote:

Awsesome, these are exactly the things that corrupt a young childs mind and make them turn into the next generation of the rare tanned variety, instead of the pasty common variety only found inside on a device. In fact the only times you find them indoors is when they are drooling over the latest bit of kit, they wish they could afford. Look out he will start showing you how to do it soon. Best memorys I have, is fishing with dad, and still making em. Only difference is.....now i'm teachin him! Keep up the good work and may the path be smooth, the sea be flat and the young fella keen to finally be the teacher(and boat driver, fish filleter, winch operator, anchor retriever and drinks tender. But sorry you gotta pay the gas!!!)

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Haha, just try to keep my little fella away from the filleting board. Won't get suckered with a butter knife any more, goes and gets himself a vege paring knife! Cyfs would have a field day if they saw us dealing with a bin of snapper, him stabbing away with the knife...
 
He has been desperate to go out fishing with me since he was 3, loves it. Fishing shops are more fun for him than a toy shop.
Only trouble is he caught the first two fish on Sunday before I really had a chance to cast my softbait and focus on the retrieve, so I had to hear him saying "don't worry dad, you'll get something soon"...

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Mar 2019 at 9:03pm
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Originally posted by Far Quirk Far Quirk wrote:

Well done Lester.  Good to see you back in action.  And nice to see your son is keen. You certainly did much better than me, and we were not far apart when I was south of Sergeant's channel.  Over recent years I've done very well with kaburas in the rodholder, more or less straight under the boat, one at the bow and one at the stern.  On Saturday they caught the occasional undersize snapper, but nothing for the bin.  The drag and jiggle technique with soft baits - that used to get exciting hit and run strikes - also fizzled.
It must be 10 years since I've regularly used the cast ahead technique, but I've used it less and less since other simpler techniques have generally paid off.

Thanks Geoff. I liked your honest report in the Twelves thread. The area we fish is 7-9m deep, so casting ahead or dragging well behind - both well away from the shadow of the boat - is much more effective. 
I also like the constant activity of casting and retrieving, trying different retrieves, watching the line (until the little fella's line goes off and i have to down tools to oversee his battle).
I like the buoyant Z Man grubs dragged behind. I will try some Catch Livies on the next trip, they are also buoyant and the curly tails look promising.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote terrafish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Mar 2019 at 9:04pm
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Wait till he starts rearranging tackle to "how it should be"!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Mar 2019 at 9:41am
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Titanium
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Originally posted by terrafish terrafish wrote:

Wait till he starts rearranging tackle to "how it should be"!

There have already been a couple of unfortunate incidents involving Z Man softbaits mixed with some other brands - the end result looked like a jar of novelty snot from the $2 shop.
And the 3-year-old managed to pull the tails off a new packet of Savage Eels when I had my back turned.
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