Kahawai Thread

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote kaimaikid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Sep 2016 at 3:28pm
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Took the Vapen Red and the Bohemoth for a wade today must have nailed at least 40 odd small kahawai - all good fun and released.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote cirrus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Sep 2016 at 8:40pm
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Kahawai are without doubt a great fish ,and lure caught are very easy to release. Tend to sympathize with a comment Milsy made about the limit being 20. THey are a great eating fish ,but must be totally fresh,so why would anyone need 20 to take home.

Have never fished for Kahawai on fly,but that day will come.

When young & living in wellington i caught many on my little threadline outfit using 4lb nylon.
Biggest went eight and a half pound,with fish in the 6-8lb range reasonably plentiful.
But it has been a long time since i have seen Kahawai that size,with 4-5 lb being the size i now see. Is anyone still seeing the very big 7lb + fish these days.?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (2) Likes(2)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2016 at 6:40am
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Totally agree cirrus, the kahawai of my youth were big and abundant. We used to weigh them on an old set of spring scales and they weighed between 6lb and 9lb. The big fish we used to catch in the surf in the colder water months from August through to November. They seemed to disappear after that. 

I found them again on an expedition looking for South Island salmon in the late '80's. Real big buggas around the rivermouths.

The only kahawai of that size I see now are the big spawning fish we get here in the Bay of Islands in February & March. But they seem to leave as well. 

So yeah - the real big fish are much scarcer than in the past and the general kahawai average I would now put at being little better than 3-4lb.

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote cirrus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2016 at 8:56pm
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Thanks for the reply Fishman. So its not just me who is missing those big ones. I still have a pair of those old salter scales,mainly in brass facing
Have read different and conflicting reports on Kahawai growth rates.
Some say they grow quickly,some say they are slow growers.

If slow growers maybe they are still recovering after the huge hammering they received some years back ,and hopefully in a few years time we will begin to see a few of those really big ones again.
But on the other hand something tells me it may be more complex than that.
Would love to know to where and how far Kahawai travel
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Shilo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2016 at 11:04pm
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The oldest recorded Kahawai is 26yrs & although fast growers whilst young, most fish slow down in growth rate the older they get so I assume the very large kahawai would be around 15 to 20+ years old (A.Trutta not the Kermadic's).  Since they were hit hardest by commercials in the late 80's - early 90's the size of the fish should have recovered by now with the Kahawai life span.  

I think there must be another reason for the reduced size of the fish. Can't be genetic (all the "big gene fish" caught in the past) because there is a small but steady flow of genetic material from the odd ky migrating to and from Australia. And they are always going on about how much bigger "their salmon" is compared to ours! :)

Incidentally I personally haven't seen a reduction in size.  Numbers yes but not size.  It might be a difference between East and West coast fish but I used to catch similar sized Kahawai as a kid 30+ years ago at Whitianga as I am seeing caught from boats on off the coast here at Kawhia.   The harbours a bit different with the majority being small but the occasional school of large (5lb+) ones turning up at certain marks.  This is also seasonal like FishMan said the large ones becoming more scarce over summer where I think they must head out over the bar & deeper water because the boats seem to still catch them during this time.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote pjc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2016 at 6:37am
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Will we ever see the huge KY schools that we use to in gardners gap(rangi/motutap)at sunset, what a sight and they would taking anything shinhy, schools today are very small and do not appear to go in to frenzies like the 80/90 period

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Millsy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2016 at 3:50pm
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The Manukau was gold back in the 80's. Football size schools of the going up and down the Papakura channel. Used to get them in the Weymouth Estuary. Also used to watch the Weymouth local commercial fisherman sling nets from one side of that inlet to the other and just collect the net up as the tide went out. Mullet were the same.


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Shilo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2016 at 4:26pm
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Whitianga was the same with huge schools moving so close into the bay they were swimming around in ankle deep water.  As a kid I used to spot them from the bedroom window then race outside with a spinner and catch them by just sweeping the surfcaster around with the spinner dangling beneath.  Would love to come across that with a fly rod now!

It's also what put me off set nets for life.  One day a neighbour had his net set over the high tide when a school went through.  By the time he retrieved it at low tide and cleared all the KY they weren't eatable and he could only throw them all into a trailer and dump them.   
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Millsy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2016 at 7:41pm
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The monofilament gill net would have to be one of the most destructive things ever put in the sea. Even worse when they're left in there unattended. 

We take a huge amount for granted in NZ. 

Kiwi's. A bird that cant fly. I know what Darwin would have said.


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote nymphOmaniac Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Sep 2016 at 8:05am
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i would say it may have to do with the food source. nowadays we have smaller numbers of baitfish and especially whitebait which would have been a big source of food.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kaimaikid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Sep 2016 at 8:43am
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Could well be however last summer had me confused as massive ammounts of baitfish everywhere around the Tauranga Harbour - everywhere you looked was teeming with baitfish BUT not a single predator was hassling them, no kahawai, no kings, no birds or anything else in that matter which seemed pretty strange to me

Maybe they all were full up of baitfish already.... who knows
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Sep 2016 at 3:30pm
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Having great fun here at the moment. Small groups of kahawai making sporadic hits on bunches of bait close in. Got to run along a fairly gnarly foreshore and whip out a quick cast in order to connect. Not huge fish but enough in the 2.5kg range to keep it interesting. Starting to feel like summer...  
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (2) Likes(2)   Quote kaimaikid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2018 at 5:12am
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Have you thought about targeting small winter run harbour kahawai with your light trout sets?

Dick Marquand and myself have been chasing the kahawai here in the Tauranga Harbour with 3 weight sets this winter and having great fun doing so. 

There's nothing like a 3 weight rod bending over, reel screaming due to blistering runs by kahawai so far up to 5 1/2 pounds and lets face it, its just as much fun as taking on a decent kingy on a 9 weight set - sometimes even more fun as the kahawai don't give up easily and will try to exploit any weakness you show them....





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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jul 2018 at 6:00am
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That looks like great fishing Thumbs Up Some of those kahawai will be a total handful on a three weight!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kingaling Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Nov 2018 at 1:59pm
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Nice one Kaimaikid, those KY look to be in pretty good condition!
I can't wait to  have a go at some bigger Kahawai, I've only been out the one time caught some small ones which were still plenty of fun.  

I'm working in Tauranga tomorrow, might leave AKL super early so I can get down to the TGA Harbour to fish the incoming tide. 

I'm not too familiar with the area, looking at google maps I might try Shelly bay or Athenree

Anyone willing to point me in the right direction as in where I should park and walk out on the flats from?  


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Hengemaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2018 at 12:36pm
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Sent you a pm with a location
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote Kingaling Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2018 at 1:14pm
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Much appreciated!

I went out off Athenree and got a couple small kahawai. Good way to start the day!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2018 at 2:30pm
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It is interesting how much has changed in the kahawai fishery over the years. I started fishing independently in the late 70's and was thrilled by the huge dense schools of massive kahawai that were around in those days. During periods of westerly wind they seemed to hug the Northland coast and could be found in a number of different locations hard against the shore.

In the 80's and early 90's there seemed to be an abundance of kahawai in all sizes. They were often a plague and would prevent any chance of snapper being caught.

In those days the kingfish were getting slammed by box nets and snapper were under attack by longliners and trawlers. Quota regulation was only just starting. 

These days both the kingfish and snapper fisheries are in pretty good shape, but I rarely see a big kahawai. Summertime work-ups in this area are often rat kings rather than kahawai. All the big kahawai seem to be down around the South Island. 

I'm left wondering if it is a result of fisheries management or climate change? Possibly it is a combination of both. I hear there are plenty of kahawai in the Hauraki Gulf, but we don't see that many up here in the BOI's . The offshore reefs hold the biggest congregations. 

All I know is that it would be nice to see larger numbers of them. Especially when you consider they are such a vital resource for coastal anglers. 

Pleased to hear you're enjoying those smaller tasty kahawai KG Thumbs Up



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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kingaling Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2018 at 11:48pm
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Interesting to hear about what the fishing in NZ was like back in the day. I've heard some crazy stories from my granddad. Including People nearly blowing themselves up with gelignite.

Let the wee fellers off to grow bigger today. They're safe from the pickling jar this time. Can you catch herring on the fly though.. There's a challenge for you. Might need a smaller fly.

herring on the fly
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Sewin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2018 at 12:16pm
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Moved from the UK 🇬🇧 a week ago. Lots of Kahawai south of Wellington ATM. Had a few at around 30-40cm. Really hard fighting fish. Apparently can grow up to 70cm, which would be quite something even on my 9 weight. S
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