Hi Sabin, they are probably Jack mackeral (yellowtail mackeral) rather than koheru. They are a common catch from wharves this time of year at night under lights. Give that a go and see if it works. Orakei wharf (Kelly Tarlton's) used to be quite effective at night.

OK, koheru appear rather blue when you catch them. The ones with the yellow are Jacks. Don't underestimate Jacks as a bait. I've seen them outfish koheru significantly.

Can someone post up pics of koheru, Jack macks and slimey/English macks, so there can be an easy comparison for folks reading this thread?

Those pics look spot on to me. You have caught Koheru in the Hauraki Gulf Kingfishers.?

Very interesting Kingfishers. I have never seen one there but that could be lack of observation on my part and maybe have caught them and not noticed. What areas did you find them when last seen there.

Have seen Koheru in a fish shop but they were quite big and looked slightly different to the pic.

Couple of summers back i caught a fish in the Manukau. Looked very similar to the Koheru in your pic.
Sent it to Te Papa. They decided it was a aberrant blue mackeral without the zig zag markings.

Or is it possible it was Koheru,or something else altogether. 
.

That is great to have those pics. The koheru I have usually seen have been over or around rocky bottom/reef or islands, seldom over a sandy clear or inshore mud type area. They tend to be a little more highly coloured than that picture, with a bit more of a yellow tinge in the tail
Another common mackerel is the blue mackerel. I will try to go online with a non iPad, see if I can load a pic of one of them too.

What areas did you find them last..??

The last time i saw them was around land based spot in westcoast.!!
Used to be plenty around/usually saw them at low tide.


But they were quite big and looked slightly different to the pic.!!

The picture doesnt do complete justice to the colours..! The one i have seen/caught up in auckland are small ones. The biggest one i caught was up in coramandel(mussel barge) was the size of an average kahwhai.

Or is it possible it was Koheru,or something else altogether.?

99.99%sure it was koheru.

Kingfishers, The common northern inshore jack mackerel is Trachurus novaezelandiae and is often brownish / yellowish / greyish on the back while the more southern Trachurus declivis can be quite blue and almost steely looking all over.

[QUOTE=Craig Worthington] Kingfishers, The common northern inshore jack mackerel is Trachurus novaezelandiae and is often brownish / yellowish / greyish on the back while the more southern Trachurus declivis can be quite blue and almost steely looking all over =QUOTE]

Koheru -Decapterus Koheru

Top pic = koheru

second pic = slimey/blue/english mackeral

bottom pic = Jack mackeral/yellowtail mackeral

I've seen koheru in the gulf but not very often.