Koheru.
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: Landbased & Surfcasting
Forum Description: From rocks or beaches, here's the place for the landbased fishos to share information
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=106928
Printed Date: 03 Nov 2026 at 10:35pm
Topic: Koheru.
Posted By: kingfishers
Subject: Koheru.
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 4:44pm
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Just wondering where all the koherus have gone..!! Used to see them around wharf and other locals spots in auckland. But havt seen one or caught one for ages.!! Any one experiencing same thing? ------------- "My mind has gone fishing, ask all questions tomorrow" |
Replies:
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 4:50pm
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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. ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: kingfishers
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 4:57pm
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Na smudgee am talking about the original koheru which actually looks like the miniatute version of kingie. Used to catch them and use it as livies..!! But very hardly see them on the usual spots.. there are yellowtails around.. but not in as many numbers..!! heaps of herrings though..! ------------- "My mind has gone fishing, ask all questions tomorrow" |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 5:02pm
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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. ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: makka
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 6:00pm
| There were plenty up at BOI over New Years, bloody tasty smoked |
Posted By: Capt Asparagus
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 6:54pm
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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? ------------- It is only my overwhelming natural humility that mars my perfection. Captain Asparagus, Superhero, Adventurer. |
Posted By: kingfishers
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 9:00pm
Koheru. yellowtail.  slimey mackrel  Hi CA, this is my understanding and the closest picture i could find.. ------------- "My mind has gone fishing, ask all questions tomorrow" |
Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 9:03pm
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Those pics look spot on to me. You have caught Koheru in the Hauraki Gulf Kingfishers.? |
Posted By: kingfishers
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 9:07pm
yes.. but roughly around 3years back..!! ------------- "My mind has gone fishing, ask all questions tomorrow" |
cirrus wrote:Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 9:18pm
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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. . |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 9:39pm
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I should never have doubted you Sabin! Well done. ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: Capt Asparagus
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 9:57pm
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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. ------------- It is only my overwhelming natural humility that mars my perfection. Captain Asparagus, Superhero, Adventurer. |
Posted By: LBGer
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 10:11pm
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Ive caught koheru up around Toaktu peninsula land bsaed... ------------- A king on the bricks is worth 5 in a boat. |
Posted By: kingfishers
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 10:24pm
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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. ------------- "My mind has gone fishing, ask all questions tomorrow" |
Posted By: FishMan
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 10:25pm
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The blue mackerel is the same as the slimy/slimey/english mackerel above. The koheru is the commonest species of the Decapterus scads in NZ. There are one or possibly two more Decapterus species in NZ, but they are uncommon. The koheru is also one of the largest Decapterus species in the world. It is uncommon in the inner Gulf and prefers more oceanic coastal waters (they use to be a regular catch at Marsden Point). Jack Mackerel are one of at least three similar species in NZ. The species pictured above is common in inshore waters and is most active at night.
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Posted By: FishMan
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 10:32pm
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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. There is some info here for starters - http://fs.fish.govt.nz/Doc/5478/JMA_06.pdf.ashx |
Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 10:41pm
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Will dig up pics of the one i caught in the Manukau and check lateral line. So if they are also West coast could the Koheru enter the Manukau at times. |
Posted By: kingfishers
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 10:57pm
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[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 ------------- "My mind has gone fishing, ask all questions tomorrow" |
Posted By: Capt Asparagus
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 11:24pm
Then what is this. It is not what I used to catch as "Koheru", I called it a blue mackerel... If it is a koheru, it was in a school of kahawai and slimey macks off needle rock at whiti last summer. The slimeys were good size....  The jacks we got the other day for livies were...  ........ a little critter whose view of the world was most unsettling, but sadly brief, winding up shortly later as he did inside a kingi :-) ------------- It is only my overwhelming natural humility that mars my perfection. Captain Asparagus, Superhero, Adventurer. |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 24 Jan 2015 at 11:40pm
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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. ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: laidbackdood
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2015 at 2:33am
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Nice pics Capt....yep that top pic is a kohie.Got the lateral line....there used to be heaps of kohies in and around the poor knights and up the top of the north island ....I did heaps of landbased(Gb/coro) and never saw them off the bricks or around Auckland/wharfs.......plenty of jack macs and slimey mackerals/piper/yellow eyed mullet etc......You were lucky if you were catching them around aucks............one thing is set in stone "Kingfish candy" and even the big snaps like em.....got my 24 pound snapper on a live kohie.....they can get pretty huge too for what they are...used to be plenty of jack macs off devonport wharf at night.
------------- Once the idiots turn up..Im outta here...No time for Drama Queens. |
Posted By: mickylb
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2015 at 2:52am
| Thats a horse of a slimey, would be a perfect livey, couldn't see it lasting long when the kings or Mr stick face turned up. Spent many hours wishing I had a couple that size in my live bait/rock pool. |
Posted By: laidbackdood
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2015 at 2:57am
they are a bit of a prick to keep alive i found.........they dont like any form of sun bathing either  ------------- Once the idiots turn up..Im outta here...No time for Drama Queens. |
Posted By: mickylb
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2015 at 7:00am
| Lots of clean water with plenty of oxygen and there are happy as, try not to handle them and yeah they don't like the sun, but if you look after them they will stay alive for ages especially if you bridle them. |
Posted By: kingfishers
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2015 at 9:44am
Awsome pictures there CA, cant be more clearer than that..  ------------- "My mind has gone fishing, ask all questions tomorrow" |
Posted By: Wanda_Ra
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2020 at 7:12pm
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We were stocking up on baitfish off the wharf at Ruffins bay,Coro, 2 weekends back. Berleyed up and they hung around for hours. Huge schools of jack macks and horse macks,no slenders though. About every third one was a 20-30cm blue mackeral.Amazing looking fish. Ended up grilling a couple that night and tasted amazing. Not seen any koheru for years. ------------- If you think you are too small to make a difference,try sleeping with a mosquito in your tent. |
Posted By: shaneg
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2020 at 8:53pm
| Koheru used to be common round Leigh and Takatu even places like Saddle Island, Mahurangi. Have caught them at Noises, and Gardner’s Gap, few years back mind you. There used to be go to livebait at Boulder bank Sth side of Little Barrier.. Mate took a 76 lb king on a koheru live at Horn Rock over ten years ago. And marlin love them, from what I hear. I’ve seen Marlin feeding on bait balls of kohl’s in close to back of Poor Knights |
Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2020 at 9:10pm
| Are they still in inner gulf. Last autumn snapper fishing and with a line out for small jack macks caught what looked like jack macks ,but were a bit larger 30-35 cm, but were somehow different. slightly different shape, a bit more colour. They were somehow different. Wondered if they were Koheru. This in rangi channel area. |
Posted By: Nek minnit
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2020 at 10:28pm
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There are 3 types of mackerel in nz that I recall. Jack mac (yellow tail) Blue mac (slimey) only caught 1 in the last 10 yrs Kohirou. Haven't caught any for about 5 yrs. I use to catch massive blue mackerel up to about 1.5kg! |
Posted By: Fishb8
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2020 at 7:07am
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My experience of Koheru is that the change of light is a good time off rocky points. They can be attracted with a fine berley and I've caught then on a very small silver jig, a few metres below the boat. Not the easiest fish to find and catch. They are chunky, fiesty little fish that really fight hard on light tackle. Jack macks and blue macs often school together. Never eaten a koheru but other fish seem to like them. Have been too valuable as marlin/kingie livies to eat. Blue mackerel, especially the 200 mm size are great eating. Have seen the bigger 1.5 kg ones selling for $12/kg in supermarkets. Blues make better cut baits than Jacks. Jack macs are NZ's biggest export fish selling thousands of tonnes to middle east. I have seen more jack macs in a marlin's stomach than any other food - saw about 20 inside one marlin off West coast and seen a couple of jack mac bait balls with numerous marlin in attendance. Almost every Koheru used as a marlin livie has scored. ------------- Be yourself; everyone else is already taken |
Posted By: BFIST
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2020 at 9:35am
| I got some a couple of years ago on the reefs behind kawau. |
Posted By: Muppet
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2020 at 1:34pm
| Greg at Gofish hit a big school at the Noises last year recall him telling me |
Posted By: Johnny Watson
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2020 at 3:00pm
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I've caught them around the Noises too, though not common. Have filled the livey tank with big ones around Leigh numerous times this year. Quite a few up there if you know what you're doing. Back of Kawau and Flat Rock has them too. The key is finding them without too much current flowing ,so that the berley stays around the boat and keeps them keen. |
Posted By: NZTurtle
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2020 at 6:42pm
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Had heaps out at the Chicks a few weeks ago and prior to that. Heaps of them and up to 40cm. Entertaining on light gear. Got some Kingies on them, kept a few to freeze and did some as sushi-mi - Bloody excellent ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2020 at 7:08pm
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Nice ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: taurangatroutmaster
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2020 at 7:50pm
| Only places I've seen them consistently is the mokes and karewa island. Never seen one landbased |