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So You Want To Catch... Kahawai

So You Want To Catch... Kahawai

So You Want To Catch... Kahawai

Catching Kahawai

Kahawai are one of the best light tackle sports fish swimming in NewZealand waters. While the massive schools that once frequented NZ waters havelargely gone they are still found in good numbers around the North Island andtop of the South. They are easy to target for shore anglers and boat anglersalike. While they can be found almost anywhere they will congregate in areaswhere smaller baitfish congregate or become vulnerable such as rocky headlandswith plenty of wash and currents, around jetties and wharfs and in particularriver mouths.

Kahawai are fast swimming predatory fish that respond toanything combining speed and flash. While they will often be caught on standardcut baits on the bottom the main method of capture is a silver based lure or flyretrieved quickly a couple of feet beneath the surface.

Another great method is a small pillie or strip baitsuspended a meter or so beneath a float.

Trolling small metal lures behind a kayak or small boat isanother great way to catch kahawai!

 

Rods:

If you wasn’t to have fun and really see just how much powerthese guys have try chasing them on a light 2-3kg set up. Make sure your knotsare good and the drag on your reel is top notch! A good kahawai hooked from therocks on 3kg can easily melt off 100+ meters of line on it's first run!

Most of the 7' trout spinning rods are excellent lighttackle rods for kahawai.

Check Out Our Spinning Rod Range

 

Kahawai On Fly Rods

Kahawai have also become one of NZ's top saltwater fly species.Hooked on a lighter 6 or 7wt set up these fish will really give you someserious fights to remember. A streamer fly imitating any of the smallerbaitfish species stripped quickly just below the surface will have any Kahawaismashing it hard if they are in the neighbourhood.

Check Out Our Saltwater Fly Rod Range

 

Reels:

Almost any spinning reel holding 200 meters of 4-8kg linewill do for kahawai but if you are targeting them on anything less than 5kg atop notch drag system will be required as the fights will be long and furious.

For light tackle work a high quality drag reel with thecapacity for around 200m of 2-4kg is ideal. Reels in our spin & softbaitrange are ideal for light tackle Kahawai work

Check Out Our Spin & Softbait Reel Range           

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