Tail walking
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: The Briny Bar
Forum Description: The place for general chat on saltwater fishing!
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=106628
Printed Date: 03 Jul 2026 at 8:17am
Topic: Tail walking
Posted By: Nickfixit
Subject: Tail walking
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 5:22pm
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What fish can tail walk? Was out in whangaparoa bay on Saturday and came across a whole heap of bait and some mutton birds. While having a look around I spied a fish leap out of the surface about 100m away, it looked around 1.5m long and very slender. It leaped out of the water on a 45 deg angle and kind of tail walked for a second before going back under. It did this three times. I of course headed in this direction as wanted to get a closer look. Any ideas what this could of been? It was too lean and long to be a dolphin. |
Replies:
Posted By: AP
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 5:27pm
| marlin |
Posted By: Sambosi
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 5:29pm
| Mako? |
Posted By: Brad76
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:19pm
| Had a hammer head tail walk this morning on light gear, was only about a 60-70 cm one but impressive. |
Posted By: Lethal
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:22pm
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either one but the marlin is more inclined to dance on its tail, while the Mako is likely to flip over like doing a somersault plus go higher "clear of the water"
------------- Thanks for everything you did for us Eric. may you rest in peace, You were one of the real legends of NZ recreational fishing |
Posted By: Lethal
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:24pm
that would be cool to see, young Thrashers are also quite happy to jump and look around as well, then we have Bronzies doing it, and Gt Whites when attacking pray... ------------- Thanks for everything you did for us Eric. may you rest in peace, You were one of the real legends of NZ recreational fishing |
Brad76 wrote:Posted By: Nickfixit
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:30pm
| I did think marlin when I saw it but then thought nah no way not in whangaparoa bay. It was the body profile and the jump that made me think marlin but figured with the location it must have been a juvenile shark |
Posted By: Muppet
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:34pm
Sailfish  Who knows the way the season is going. Should paddle out and hang a livie out there off the yak. Skippies should show up in the bay this season too hopefully/
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Posted By: pure--lure
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:37pm
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definitely a mako,saw the same thing out from Stanmore it was a first for us ------------- http://www.facebook.com/groups/hibiscus.coast.fishing/ |
Posted By: pjc
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:37pm
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Off topic.but what nz tuna?pns $9.99 kg whole ------------- Sex at 58.Lucky I live at 56 |
Posted By: Lethal
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:41pm
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have a look at a chart Nickfixit, your very close to deep water, Blues Marlin Y/Fin are all caught just off the coast around that area...
------------- Thanks for everything you did for us Eric. may you rest in peace, You were one of the real legends of NZ recreational fishing |
Posted By: Lethal
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:45pm
tail walking   ------------- Thanks for everything you did for us Eric. may you rest in peace, You were one of the real legends of NZ recreational fishing |
Posted By: Tagit
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:48pm
| Not sure if he means that "Whangapararoa Bay" Eric. Could be the one a bit NW of there. |
Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 6:49pm
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Shortbill spearfish. Unlikely but with warm water anything can turn up almost anywhere |
Posted By: Nickfixit
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 8:39pm
| Well it wasn't doing Aerobics like the top picture lethal, more like this http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oNj6EUqN6-A And having seen a 1m hammerhead basking off stanmore last week that was very lean too so it sounds like it was prob a young mako. There were two of them I think as one jumped out and tail walked and 20m from that one a second later it happened again and then 20 seconds or so later it happened at the first spot again. Was cool to see. |
Posted By: Lethal
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2015 at 9:15pm
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forgot to mention both Marlin and Makos can and will often just keep jumping for the hell of it, you get to know them well and pick the difference straight off once you have seen quite a few, sometimes you only need to catch the end of the jump, see the splash and a small bit of body/tail/head and you can pick which fish it is straight off, the more time at sea you spend the more often you will see them, Sun Fish are another that jump but that is normally early hours in the morning and the splash can be huge, but that is another story, keep these sightings locked in you head and next time you see are fish jumping you may get a better glimpse of at and ID it then bring back fro memory your other fish, compare and analyze, you may sort it out one day what you saw and be confident in the future know which it is.... ------------- Thanks for everything you did for us Eric. may you rest in peace, You were one of the real legends of NZ recreational fishing |
Posted By: Eastender
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2015 at 10:36am
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I've seen small threshers tailwalk a few times, although the tailwalk action was vertical rather than 45 degrees. It looked like they were being chased by a bigger shark. |
Posted By: Lethal
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2015 at 2:49pm
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Orcas have a liking for young Thrashers, but yes other sharks are quite happy to eat each other even if its to just reduce competition, your correct on the more vertical, possible due to the nature of their propulsion...   ------------- Thanks for everything you did for us Eric. may you rest in peace, You were one of the real legends of NZ recreational fishing |