Manukau Harbour & West Coast fishing
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: Fishing Reports
Forum Description: Share information about your latest fishing trip
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=91763
Printed Date: 24 Sep 2023 at 1:28pm
Topic: Manukau Harbour & West Coast fishing
Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Subject: Manukau Harbour & West Coast fishing
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 8:27pm
After waking up and checking metservice this morning seeing the forecast wasn't too bad, Coxie and I decided to go out on the Manukau and look for gurnard. We only managed to land 2 with the biggest one being 41cm. We had quite a few gurnard bites but they were a bit shy today and the kahawai kept getting to the bait before the gurnard could.
We saw there were white pimples on the skin of the gurnard but kept them anyway because aparantly it doesn't affect their flesh.. Has anyone had experience with this before? Here's a couple of photos for anyone who hasn't seen them before..

Not long after we iki'd the gurnard, we realized there was a browny-greeny colour in by the gills.. Is this normal? I've never seen it before  Not long after catching the only 2 gurnard of the trip, something reasonable size grabbed my rod. I thought it was a big kahawai, as we'd been catching them all day, but when I pulled up into the boat and saw it was a barracuda I couldn't believe it.. Second one in a week! Feisty little mongrels they are! I caught one for my first time last week and only found out after we released it that they're good for bait, completely forgot today when I caught it to keep it for bait, but maybe next time! Has anyone else been catching them and those that use it for bait, is it any good to use on the Manukau?  Any help with either of those things would be greatly appreciated  FC
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Replies:
Posted By: Dunwurkn
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 8:34pm
Wouldn't worry about those spots fc seen it before and ate the fish no problems.
Not so sure about the green in the gills though and also never seen a barracuda in the harbour, infact never even heard of that before.
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 8:53pm
Aren't the pimples like a parasite on their skin? I was thinking the green in by the gills might've been related to that, but then again i really have no idea...
Oh well, we'll find out tomorrow when we eat it 
And yeah i didnt know you could get barracuda in the harbour either until the guy in his boat not far from us pulled one up the other week. They're such awesome looking fish
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Posted By: Skoti
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 9:07pm
I 've caught a heap of 'couta in the harbour , not too uncommon at all at this time of year and yes they make good bait . But like all bait it can be red-hot one day and untouched the next . Pimples on gurnard is a new one on me though , caught a couple last weekend with this condition , didn't affect the fillets or taste . ( Not sure what is up with this font )
------------- COVID is no joke ! One former patient was so brain damaged after , he thought he won an election he lost by 7 million votes .
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Posted By: Dunwurkn
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 9:08pm
I think they are some of sort of virus. Smudge may know,hes caught quite a few with the same condition but i have eaten them like this as well as many others so you should be fine. Barracuda are great hapuka bait, havent used them for,anything else but dont see why they wouldnt work for other species.
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 9:12pm
Thanks for that guys, we didn't keep the last fish with pimples on it but after hearing they were ok to eat we kept the 2 with pimples today
Skoti do you know what the green in by the gills may be caused by?
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 9:36pm
The pimples are a very common condition, some years more common than others and more so in summer than winter. We caught a couple in the last few weeks like that. They are fine to eat but if they have it particularly bad they lose condition. That one in your pic is only a mild condition, they get much worse. I thought it was a parasite but it appears to be a viral condition harmless to people.
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Lawler_Lymphocystis.html" rel="nofollow - Here's a link to some info about it
That gill colouration is also nothing to be concerned about.
Barracoutta show up in the harbour some winters, I've gone several years without catching them but then I've caught several in one day. They can be an ok bait. They also get pretty big.
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Posted By: daz500
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 10:19pm
we get the same up here on the kaipara little white spots when you get a bin of 20 at least a couple have it , and we get the dark brown & green colouring around the gills but the fish seem ok, its the pasty flesh ones you need to keep your eye out for , even when you chill them right down they don't fillet as good, a bit soft and mushy , the kaipara is full of baitfish at the moment how is the manukau ?
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 10:20pm
Didnt head out today for solo mish. Rained early on ,and forecast for rising N.E About the time i should have been fishing it calmed down ,contary to forecast. Green gills ,sure it isnt connected to too much booze being spilled at last weeks comp. Fish still getting over a hangover.
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2013 at 10:23pm
Heaps and heaps of kahawai, big and small in the harbour Daz. Cirrus, we like our beer too much to spill it 
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Posted By: samax
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2013 at 1:21pm
hi mate we headed out in our trusty bright yellow thundercat yesterday aswell from french bay and headed strait over to the port marker straight off the end of the airport and fished the verry end of the incomming tide and the first 2-3 hours of outgoing and didfairly well getting around 8 gurnard biggest weighing a touch under 2kg and around halph a dozen kahawai for raw fish. there also seemed to be alot of smaller snapper milling around. also with those lice we caught one gurnard almost completely covered with them and it made no difference to the taste. quite a good first propper trip out on the manukau in the boat. 
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Posted By: crustycrab
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2013 at 1:34pm
we get barracouta in tga harbour over winter aswel
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Posted By: spaceships
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2013 at 7:45pm
Good to hear that manukau is going well with gurnard back in. Hoping to try an evening fish this week when the wind drops to get some gurnard and kahawai. In an orange thundercat.......there could be a plague of tcats out there soon.
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2013 at 9:39pm
yeah the manukau's been awesome for gurnard at the moment, we've been catching them at almost every spot we try nice change from tonnes of little snapper in the summer! that was all we seemed to be catching, haha
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 17 Jun 2013 at 12:53pm
Anyone know how freshwater effects Gurnard fishing. A lot of rain and runoff over the last day or so.
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Posted By: Telecaster
Date Posted: 17 Jun 2013 at 1:57pm
Skoti wrote:
I 've caught a heap of 'couta in the harbour , not too uncommon at all at this time of year and yes they make good bait . But like all bait it can be red-hot one day and untouched the next . Pimples on gurnard is a new one on me though , caught a couple last weekend with this condition , didn't affect the fillets or taste . ( Not sure what is up with this font )
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Skoti - CTRL + i turns Italics off and on - suspect you fat-fingered the shift key at the start of your post.
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 17 Jun 2013 at 2:28pm
cirrus we've been going out almost every weekend since the weathers turned to sh*t and we always manage to get gurnard in the bin raining or not.
i dunno if it has any effect on the gurnard fishing but if so, it's never affected us
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 17 Jun 2013 at 2:41pm
but then again we wouldnt really know would we!
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 17 Jun 2013 at 3:27pm
Thanks F C. Yes fresh water would probably dilute fairly quickly. Planning trip tomorrow or Wednesday before weather goes downhill. Either a French bay launch or Huia launch. Are you getting fish well up the harbour. If so maybe French bay would do the trick. Sheltered in a N.W
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Posted By: Skoti
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2013 at 6:14am
Telecaster wrote:
Skoti wrote:
I 've caught a heap of 'couta in the harbour , not too uncommon at all at this time of year and yes they make good bait . But like all bait it can be red-hot one day and untouched the next . Pimples on gurnard is a new one on me though , caught a couple last weekend with this condition , didn't affect the fillets or taste . ( Not sure what is up with this font )
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Skoti - CTRL + i turns Italics off and on - suspect you fat-fingered the shift key at the start of your post.
| Cheers Patrick , thought it maybe a case of fingers 
------------- COVID is no joke ! One former patient was so brain damaged after , he thought he won an election he lost by 7 million votes .
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2013 at 10:07pm
we launch from ti toro cirrus 
did you manage to get out today and slay any gurnards?
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Posted By: FlawOne
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 12:29pm
Have been catching a few Gurnards as of late on the Manukau, I have been finding that numbers of Gurnard are higher on the southern side of the harbour (Around Papakura and Waiuku channels and surrounding banks) but quality of fish seems to be a bit better on the northern side(Wairopa and Purakau channels and surrounding banks).
Had a great afternoon\evening session a couple of weekends ago on the turn of the low tide on the edge of the Karore Bank up the Papakura channel, bite was hard and had the bin full of Gurnard within an hour or so. Just had too wait a little to recover the boat at Cornwallis ramp.
Fished the turn of the low and bottom half of the incoming on Saturday 15/June Morning with a mate. Had to stay close to land due to a nasty wind vs tide chop, ended fishing the Te Tau bank out from Cornwallis. Fishing was slow managed to pick up a three good condition Gurnards on Kahawai baits as they moved up the bank from the channel. Then my mate hooked onto something a little more solid which I picked for a monster Kahawai as we had been catching the normal bursts of the Kahawai schools running across the bank all morning. After a bit of too and fro on the 8 pound braid setup, up popped this little rat. Quick photo and back into the harbour. It was a welcome surprise and proof that there are still some in the harbour. Mate managed to point load my crappy rod as he lifted the fish into the boat, but hey with a smile like that it is all worth it!

Also thought I would post this picture of a mantis shrimp I snared whilest drifting out from Kaitarakihi a couple of months ago. Put him back to fatten up the local Gurnard population
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 12:42pm
Good report Flaw one. What depth are you getting the gurnard in on the banks. Cornwallis--what tide can you launch there. Is security O.K. Went out yesterday .Option was to launch French Bay and fish off big or little muddy or go to little Huia.Went to Little Huia as i could launch at low tide. Hard fishing for Gurnard. Started on edge of channel on the flats. Then moved to various spots around 3-4 metre in the bay as the current began to increase. Fished whole tide . Total 4 gurnard for 2 people. Biggest gurnard was 44cm to v in tail & smallest 39 cm. Few bursts of Kahawai coming through. Kept 7 total for 2 people and released others to fight and spawn for another day. All big fish 3-5 lb mark & in good condition.Gurnard didnt appear to have been feeding much,1 small paddle crab each in my two. Kahawai contained variety of feed . Including paddle crabs ,some small fish that were pink and shaped like tiny red cod. But surely not up here. Also several things that resembled small mantis shrimp. Also got a bit wet in passing heavy showers.Water temp seemed warmer than what would have been expected. One small trev -maybe just legal ,was released. Where are the Trevs that used to be abundant at this time of year. Havent seen them here for around 10 years now.
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Posted By: AlexFyssher
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 12:46pm
How do soft baits work on Gurnard?
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Posted By: FlawOne
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 10:14pm
Cirrus - I usually start at around five metres with the incoming tide and end up in about 6-7m, I keep out of the channels as I don't like the current and having to use more than 2oz of lead. Saying that I have had some of the best fishing ever on the Manukau in under 5 meters on an overcast day. Using the sounder helps as I look for gutters and depression and anchor up current slightly of these and drift my baits into them. Cornwallis is sweet to park up at, Im a local so the residents keep an eye on my rig for me I heard of a trailer going missing a few years ago, so I tend to lock my trailer chain to my towbar to be sure. I havnt caught any Trevs in a while either, perhaps its the spots im now fishing. I tend to find them in areas where there are sharp drops in depth or near shellfish beds.
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2013 at 10:26pm
Thanks Flaw one. Must try Cornwallis. Gives more of the incoming tide than french Bay which is half tide only. Would like to try the edge of the purukau channel that runs up between the two sets of banks or maybe channel edge off big or little muddy.Certainly very few Gurnard. at huia yesterday. Maybe they are feeding further up the harbour where there is more feed.Used to get lots of Winter Trevelly along the channel edge drop off out there,mainly over horse mussels. But about 10 years back they didnt turn up and have seen very few since.
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2013 at 1:10am
Posted By: FlawOne
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2013 at 8:42am
Yeah Cornwallis is a good option. The sand is usually pretty firm, I can launch and retrieve my 4m tinnie up to about an hour and a half either side of the tide depending on the size of the tide. Have had a few moments when I miscalculated but its never really too far to un-clip the trailer and push it down by hand then retrieve with a rope.
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Posted By: Maydogg
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2013 at 2:08pm
Afternoon guys & girls,
I work near Auckland Airport and was thinking of taking my boat to work for an arvo fish (I work on Saturdays but finish early arvo.)
A couple of questions:
1. I drive from Orakei to the airport for work and go over Mangere bridge. This would be my closest launching area (15 foot tinny). Where would be the best/ easiest place to launch from around here? I presume the tide can be an issue as it looks like it goes out a long way. Any all tide ramps??
2. If launching around Onehunga/ Mangere do I have to go far for a feed? Presumably mostly Gurnard/ Kahawai at this time of year as the snaps would have moved on? I usually fish the Waitemata, so Manukau is new ground for me.
Be great to get your feedback.
Cheers,
Jason 
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Posted By: samax
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2013 at 4:03pm
go to the port marker strait off the end of the runway mate got 8 gurnard and around 5 kahawai there last weekend a bro
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Posted By: Maydogg
Date Posted: 20 Jun 2013 at 10:49pm
CHeers mate, WHere would be the best place to launch from?
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Posted By: Far Quirk
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2013 at 7:02am
May - I've used Waikowhai ramp. That's probably about 10 mins drive from Mangere Bridge. The ramp is probably OK up to an hour each side of low tide depending on the size of the tide. The stuff you drive over is mostly rock and it's a little rough, but not too hairy. The ramp is only a few hundred metres from the channel that takes you down to Cornwallis. From there the big wide Muddy world is your oyster.
------------- Far Quirk - I'm goin' fishn!
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Posted By: samax
Date Posted: 21 Jun 2013 at 12:54pm
i have used the ramp at french bay most of the time and it is usually ok 2 hours either side of the tide was our rule in a 5 and a halph metre tinny
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Posted By: samax
Date Posted: 25 Jun 2013 at 8:52pm
anyone been out this week or looking to head out this weekend and any idea where the fish are at at the moment? i know the end of the airport is ok at the moment but any other ideas?
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Posted By: spaceships
Date Posted: 25 Jun 2013 at 10:18pm
regarding launching........from south side weymouth has a good ramp with plenty of parking, and I have yet to see signs of damage/theft etc. Easy launching all tides except when super low there is not much channel left. Pretty close to airport area for fishing too.
Hoping to get out soon but damn work keeps interfering with fishing.
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Posted By: Dominus
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2013 at 8:41pm
Looking like tomorrow will be a good day to take the boat for a run and have a fish down the Manukau.Looking at launching around 12ish.Hope the fish are playing the game
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2013 at 11:01pm
where are all the gurnard.???? Out today fished out from cornwallis ,purukau channel.Every thing seemed right.Tried several spots from half tide incoming. 1 Gurnard ,couple of Kahawai.Also tried channel edge little muddy ---nil on first of outgoing tide. Back at French bay ramp. 3 other boats came in ,all gurnard hunters. No one had a gurnard. So my 1 gurnard was more than the other boats combined.So where are they.?
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Posted By: Olfart
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2013 at 11:47pm
They know there's a comp or two on shortly, Cirrus....so they have gone into hiding....
------------- Semper in excreta sumus, solum profundum variat....
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Posted By: samax
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 8:45am
we were out in the thundercat again yesterday again by the channel marker off the end of the runway and got 8 gurnard and 3 kahawai there then moved down to the deeper water by the port tripod marker and managed another 2 at the beginning of the outgoing and headed back to french bay
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Posted By: coxie
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 9:06am
We fished in a gut off the Papakura channel for about 3 hours of the incoming and got 7 gurnard, probably around 40 kahawai and 2 big barracuda. Was an awesome day to be out there
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 12:42pm
You're the barracouta king Coxie!
Cirrus, join us at Te Toro for the Ice Breaker comp next weekend, we'll show you where the gurnard are 
------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Posted By: Skoti
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 6:25pm
Mmmm 'couta , could do with a few of those for 'puka bait  Gotta be better than all the spiney dogs I caught yesterday 
------------- COVID is no joke ! One former patient was so brain damaged after , he thought he won an election he lost by 7 million votes .
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Posted By: cosmo
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 6:36pm
hahaha the waiuku channel today right up and nothing but a couple small ky.heaps of boats out today tho .was a great day to be on the water been a LONG TIME COMING so still happy camper here
------------- i just want to go fishing..........amd ignore all my adult problems
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Posted By: spaceships
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 6:53pm
weymouth ramp this arvo. Took my daughter out by airport and fished off the edge of channel. Got a couple of nice gurnard and half dozen kahawai. Nice quick fish. Beautiful day.
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Posted By: daz500
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 7:18pm
we have a few of those spiny things up our way too , we had a great session on last 2 hours of the ebb then picked up about 6 nice carrots on softbaits while at anchor , ended day with about 20 nice gurnard biggest going about 1.2 average around 1kg, next month the big ones turn up ,
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Posted By: Dominus
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 7:38pm
We went for a 4 hour fish on Saturday between the Purakau green buoy and the Tripod. Glassy conditions and plenty of boats out. No Gurnard for us but plenty of Kahawai.
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 9:58pm
So you drew a blank as well on the gurnard front. Maybe you were among the boats coming into french bay late afternoon. Seems like very hard fishing in that area yesterday. Seemed to be a lot of sediment-mud in the water in parts yesterday. Maybe that played a part That Green tripod. Have seen it not too far away when fishing the purukau. Is that on the Papakura Channel
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Posted By: coxie
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 10:05pm
Caught around 7 gurnard and another 20+ kahawai today this time in the shallows between the Waiuku channel and the Ropers channel? (I think it's called that). This time the kahawai were alot smaller than on saturday.
Smudge - No barracouta came aboard today, and it's been the girls who've caught the last 5 of them haha, i'm hoping they stay away from my bait too. Heres a pic of the smaller one from saturday, shows how good the weather was too!
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2013 at 11:58pm
Nice 
------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Posted By: samax
Date Posted: 01 Jul 2013 at 9:44am
we had a better day saturday than sunday a went out sunday and got a coupl of gurnard and heaps of kahawai let most of them go but still kept a bit of a feed. also what is the go for burley does anyone use it out on the manukau and what were the results.
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Posted By: FlawOne
Date Posted: 01 Jul 2013 at 12:04pm
Launched Cornwallis on late Saturday afternoon and took advantage of the ideal conditions.
Fished the top of outgoing tide on the edge of the Karore bank and Papakura channel with a mate, harbor was a MILLPOND!Fishing was slow to start with but as the current got flowing I began to feel the familiar tickle of Gurnard playing with our baits. Being a newbie to the art of hooking Gurnard my mate quickly had some catching up to do! Ended up keeping 8 in the bin up to approx 1.2Kg, mainly smaller males. Not too bad for a couple of hours fishing on the muddy Manukau.
Heaps of phosphorescence in the water on the way back to Cornwallis as it got darker
I had a small burley down a meter or so above the bottom. I personally find this helps to bring and hold the Gurnard closer to the boat and If you chose your spot right you shouldn't get too much shark hassles.
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Posted By: zukman
Date Posted: 01 Jul 2013 at 12:25pm
We were out yesterday.Fished Sargents for an hour for no bites.Moved up to 1a off the airport.Fished 3hrs of the incomming for 15 carrots between 350 & 460 in length & 4 smallish ky.Not a bad day for us.Roll on the Icebreaker.
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Posted By: zukman
Date Posted: 01 Jul 2013 at 10:23pm
Posted By: Skoti
Date Posted: 01 Jul 2013 at 10:32pm
Nice ! Save some for the weekend though 
------------- COVID is no joke ! One former patient was so brain damaged after , he thought he won an election he lost by 7 million votes .
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 01 Jul 2013 at 10:43pm
Good work Carey.
------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Posted By: zukman
Date Posted: 01 Jul 2013 at 10:53pm
They were all fighters.Thought they were kahawai at first.
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Posted By: skunk
Date Posted: 03 Jul 2013 at 8:30am
Far out - Thats a SWEET catch. Real good going!
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Posted By: samax
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2013 at 2:56pm
anyone else head out yesterday and find the gurnard size to be pretty good. we got 3 fish around the 1.8 kg mark before the wind got up.
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Posted By: samax
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2013 at 3:41pm
also did anyone see the orcas in the harbour?
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2013 at 9:19pm
in the manukau? where abouts?
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Posted By: spaceships
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2013 at 10:32pm
was out yesterday afternoon between 2.30 and 5.30 and saw no orca. Nasty, choppy, windy,
but still got plenty of kahawai and a couple of big gurnard.
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2013 at 11:44pm
 It was snotty on Saturday butSunday was a lot better.
I didn't see the Orcas but most years they come for a play in the harbour.
11210 - they are HUGE gurnard, we had a tough time finding them but ended up with 9 for the two days, all pretty fat between 700g and a kilo.
 A couple of spiny dogfish turned up too
 But the harbour is absolutely full of these

------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2013 at 10:14am
Made a very last minute decision on for a fish saturday afternoon. Launched little Huia 2 hours before low. First & only gurnard before low. Tried in the deep channel at low water for nothing-not even a bite. Went shallow for begining of incoming. Lost a gurnard at boat. Also hooked something,gurnard like bite, line slackened a bit. Took weight,fish on ,fish gone.Didnt feel overly heavy. Trace ,everything gone. This has happened a few times on the muddy. What fish would do that. To me has been a hard season,numbers seem down. Also this time of year fish are getting roed up. This year only one with roe. Others no sign. This is different than other years. Is it possibly a late spawn.
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2013 at 10:20am
while typing above post could hear distant duck sounds. Then i hear wife going bonkers ,loud duck sounds. In short a pair of wild ducks had wandered in the french doors and had gone through the lounge and were standing in front of the fridge. Think it is the same pair that were here last spring eating bread put out for the birds.But they hadnt learned to do this.How would they know about fridges & food.? Hard case.
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Posted By: landman
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2013 at 10:57am
Cirrus probably a baracoutta I hear there are a few in the harbour
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Posted By: Kevin.S
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2013 at 11:05am
Plenty of sharks with teeth sharp enough to slice through trace in there as well.
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Posted By: samax
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2013 at 1:38pm
the orcas were just to the right of french bay probably 3 to 4 km out looked like they were after the stingrays or something but there must have been around 7 or 8 of them we had a quick look at them on our way over to the fishing spot.
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Posted By: craysee
Date Posted: 09 Jul 2013 at 5:45pm
Heres a bit of Spam but its for a good cause, for those who havnt seen it in the briny bar.
cheers team
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 09 Jul 2013 at 6:37pm
its spam, but it's a good kinda spam!
im working that day so i cant make it, but good luck to everyone else 
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Posted By: craysee
Date Posted: 09 Jul 2013 at 6:51pm
Thanks Fishin Chick, did I see you in the paper the other week?
how is your fundraising going?
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 09 Jul 2013 at 6:54pm
yup you sure did! haha, i'm getting there, i haven't raised a lot yet but i'm hoping the sausage sizzles and bake sales i'm putting together will raise me a bit of moola to put into savings it's quite exciting really!
maybe i'll have to put together a gurnard competition to raise some money
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Posted By: craysee
Date Posted: 09 Jul 2013 at 8:28pm
Good idea mate, best of luck on the fundraising.
I love carrot cake, let us know when your first bake sale is on!
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 09 Jul 2013 at 8:42pm
I'll keep that in mind craysee thanks
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Posted By: craysee
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 12:09pm
THE GREAT GURNARD GRAB IS POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY 21st JULY
due to the poor weather forecast.
Hope to catch you next week,
1st prize adults is a Tandem paraglide, now that sounds like fun!
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Posted By: stumpys1
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 12:24pm
If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes would never had believed but watched a bloke bring in a lovely little 5-6lb terakihi off the old Mangere Bridge this morning.Was surprised to see a fish like this so far up in the ol'muddy!!!
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 3:42pm
A tarakihi or a trevally? Terrors have a prominent black band behind their head. Trevally will start showing up in numbers from now til summer.
------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Posted By: Dunwurkn
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 3:48pm
Teraki really that must be rare never heard of that before.
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Posted By: stumpys1
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 4:04pm
1000000% Terakihi.
I was riding my bike across the bridge and saw a guy fighting a fish so I stopped and watched as I have never seen a fish caught on the bridge despite riding over it most weekends.
Saw it on the surface and intially thought kahawai or trev, but when he began winching through thin air to land it on the deck of the bridge I saw it was a terakihi. Brown/black saddle behind the head running down to the gill plate with that distinctive juju lips on the terakihi.
. 
Definately not a trev. I was gobsmacked
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 4:09pm
Wow,that is totally amazing. Have never heard of a terry in the Muddy,never. Have seen trevs and blue Moki. Any previous records of these in the muddy.?
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Posted By: Dunwurkn
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 4:25pm
Off the bridge even thats a good effort.
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Posted By: pure--lure
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 4:36pm
proabably a bionic spotty best fish I have seen of that bridge was a 90cm kingfish
------------- http://www.facebook.com/groups/hibiscus.coast.fishing/
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Posted By: 1more
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 8:19pm
I walked the bridge around lunchtime and there were quite a few fishing there, before the turn of the tide. Saw a few kahawai on the deck. Locals said they are catching them slow and steady, using cut baits. Others are targeting sprats etc with sabiki rather than wait for KY.
The boat ramp at the old bridge is being upgraded and should be ready by December. Maybe that will bring in more terakihi.
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2013 at 11:42pm
That's amazing alright Stumpys, sorry for doubting you. Every so often someone shows me a tarakihi that they've caught in the harbour and it turns out to be a trevally .
They do get caught occasionally over the coast so nothing stopping them from swimming into the harbour i guess.
------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Posted By: stumpys1
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2013 at 6:02am
No probs I would have doubted it if someone had said it to me too. Have caught enough of both types of fish to distinguish them apart have never caught terakihi in anything less than 30m myself and never in a big estuary as the manukau is this far up the harbour.
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Posted By: coxie
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2013 at 7:43pm
We were out on saturday and were plagued by good sized kahawai out by the Papakura channel, got sick of catching them, put 4 in the bin and after an hour or so came back to the Waiuku channel for some gurnard and found it tough only getting around 8 gurnard, 5 of which were between 30 - 35cm so were put back to grow bigger (25cm size limit is ridiculous if you ask me), Jaleigh also nabbed a nice 39cm snapper on softbait which was a surprise as we haven't seen a snapper in atleast 2 months. Also caught yet another barracouta, making a total of 6 being caught on our boat so far this winter, I've started keeping them for burley/bait as i'm planning a trip to coromandel for some straylining/livebaiting sessions and the fillets from 1 couta fills up a 2L ice cream container
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Posted By: Fishin' Chick
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2013 at 8:46pm
Yeah, caught the snapper on a lime tiger lizard softbait. Was a pretty decent fish considering we haven't caught any in the harbour for months 

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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2013 at 9:27pm
Nice.
------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Posted By: NICK3617
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2013 at 11:04pm
Yep my friend an I got a small terakihi in a throw net at Cornwallis wharf 2years ago an couldn't believe it,along with a deck chair and some mackerel for livez
------------- Strike while the irons hot
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Posted By: Wefaknis
Date Posted: 16 Jul 2013 at 10:18pm
Was out today on a carrot hunt with the kids picked up a few over at Glasshouse point, the bite was really soft and a gentle lift and wind was the trick..... that made it hard for the kids.... it glassed out once the wind and tide were in the same direction....
Nice little afternoon fish
Cheers Wefaknis
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2013 at 3:51pm
Headed out yesterday( Friday) at bottom of tide. Fished Huia ,wattle Bay,orua bay. Fishing patchy with bursts of activity. Ended up with 5 gurnard ,plenty Kahawai ,and a rig in the 5-6 lb range. In hindsight Think fishing would have been better inside of puponga point Biggest gurnard -2 @ 47 cm.--1.2 kg according to the kitchen scales.All others over 40 cm. Still no sign of roe in Most. Most unusual for July i think. Tried some salted Bonito in Bonito oil. Nothing would touch it. Fresh mullet and frozen bonito were the go. Interesting what they eat. Only one crab. Mostly fish-something that looked either like a small star gazer ,had a very wide head ,jaw like anchovy but to deep around the head for that. Maybe a lantern fish.? Also small flounder ,shrimp, a type of welk and a sea worm that was about 6inches long,black with a round head --looked like a centipede at first glance. BTW-anyone use Cornwallis ramp. Can this be used at low tide.
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2013 at 9:57pm
Dunno on Cornwallis Cirrus but that's some good fish We went for a snapper fish on Saturday (today) probably a bit hopeful but we've had some terrific snaps from the harbour this time of the year.
Today all we caught were sharks, kahawai and of course .... gurnard.

We got some great kahawai too..

After a few sharks we got this ... signalling it was time to move...

A few more pics to show we are ready for Craysee's fund raiser tomorrow


Don't ask me how I get such pretty ladies and such ugly blokes on my boat 

Was perfect out there today and is looking to be perfect plus on Sunday, good to catch up with Dunworkin, Coxie and Catchin' Chick out there too. See you all again in the morning!
------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Posted By: vermin
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2013 at 10:50pm
Hey circus. Cornwallis has no ramp only beach launching. Right on low on a big tide there is a softish top layer but if u have 4wd and the boats not to big is it sweet. Ideally u avoid dead low.
Good day by the looks of it smudge.
I'm out there tomorrow and looking forward to it!
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2013 at 10:32am
Some very nice looking fish there Smudge. Well done. Isnt the Manukau great.! What area did that gurnard get sharked.? Looks like a serious sort of shark to do that. Just thinking all yesterdays fishing would have been on the outgoing tide. Must try that more, rather than the incoming Vermin. Thanks. Would like to try a cornwallis launch sometime. Would give access to the area inside the Puponga -Kauri point line & at most tides. I often beach launch at Little huia,via the cutting just before the stream.Other ramps such as French bay are only really half tide ramps,unless you want a very salty wet ,muddy car.
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Posted By: skunk
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2013 at 10:39am
those are some meaty carrots Smudge and crew
------------- "Team Skunk 10th equal Grunter Hunter 2020"
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Posted By: P.T
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2013 at 10:41am
For all you carrot catchers, Mangere Boating club is doing a comp $500.00 for biggest. Should be well worth looking at
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2013 at 9:11pm
Had another pearler day out there today.
That was a coutta that took away that gurnard yesterday and it was in the Papakura Channel.
we fished the usual places today and interestingly the 2 biggest gurnard took the same rig as the two biggest yesterday, a 2oz sinker straight onto a 4/0 recurve hook, cast out on the baitrunner.
 Skoti was first up with a nice little carrot that will be a whole lot bigger next year.
 Cypri's fish may take two or three years to get bigger 
 Of course the pics I post of myself would be the best ones! Got me 2nd place in todays fundraiser comp
 Things were going well till I had a dizzy turn that reminded me why the 70's were so bad ...
 I would like to say Skoti was loaded up on a mega gurnard but just another of the zillions of ky in the harbour right now
 Hallucinating now from sun stroke it was obviously time to go to weigh in.
great laughs on the boat today, thanks Skoti & Cypri for making what has been one of the best days on the harbour this year, even if the fishing was slow. All up only 7 gurnard today but 3 real nice fish.
------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Posted By: spaceships
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2013 at 9:20pm
excellent write up and pics, looks like plenty of fun was had
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Posted By: cirrus
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2013 at 9:21pm
Another great day for you guys. May this spell of light winds linger on.Agree that a big gurnard can fight like a Kai. The 1.2 kg fish on friday really took line and went well out the side of the boat and seemed to come to mid water. Was certain it was a Kai ,until i began to feel the bounce ,bounce motion that gurnard make as it neared the boat
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Posted By: Skoti
Date Posted: 22 Jul 2013 at 1:37pm
smudge wrote:

| I was going to say that looks like it could be a big carrot , but then I forgot Darren is only 3ft tall 
------------- COVID is no joke ! One former patient was so brain damaged after , he thought he won an election he lost by 7 million votes .
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Posted By: Kevin.S
Date Posted: 22 Jul 2013 at 2:28pm
What weight sinker is that hanging from the half gurnard? I could have done with some of those yesterday, we had to abandon the spot we caught our only gurnard because our sinkers weren't big enough to get to the bottom once the tide really started going. I sense a trip to the fishing shop coming on.
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