We went out to a friend for tea, so took the rods with us, in case we decided to throw a line on the way home. ( He wants to know when to expect to catch eel in the river mouth? Does anyone know what time of year they come in?)
I was worried about the weather as I had a down duvet/doona on the line outside, so we came back to the west side of the island to keep an eye on it, but it looked okay to fish for a bit.
So we went to some rocks close to Castle Rock, which is featured on every tourist pic of the island, and cast out with some squid bait. Dave caught a Wrasse, and I thought 'this is great the cats will be happy'. And then something took my bait and pulled. It fought, it went to my right around some rocks, and I thought that would be the end, but it came in close below me and then off again round to the left. By then I had worked out that it wasn't a Wrasse, as they just pull a bit, but had no idea what I was fighting.
After what must have been 5 mins, but felt like 15, Dave managed to scoop it into the net, and it was an Australian Salmon, 705g after gutting, but it looks really good. Especially as I did not lose it while it was fighting.
It is the first real fish fight I have had since we got here, so it was wonderful to actually land the fish, with Dave's help of course, and I am looking forward to tasting it tonight.
No one ever listens to Ichthyologists - I kept explaining it's the big eels that go out to sea, and the little one that come back in. And all I did was to weild the landing net. It was rather a nice spot as we got wrasse (expected) Australian Salmon and also I got a sea sweep.
ReplyDeleteHa! That's what the article at http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/eels/3 says, too. Glass eels come to New Zealand from July to December, with peaks from August to October. Turning into elvers, they go upriver. Talks about them climbing waterfalls and dams... Migration to the sea for breeding seems to be February to April? But all this is New Zealand, so add an offset for Flinders?
ReplyDeleteNothing like fighting a fish like that on light tackle.
ReplyDeleteOh well done, what a nice fish! Bet it tasted awesome too ...
ReplyDeleteTotally delicious, but then I have a really good cook!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Barbs! How is Dave going to top that?
ReplyDeleteHe caught a bigger and beter fish, but was nice enough not to write about it and out brag me!
ReplyDelete