Tua tua and Southern tua tua (which is slightly bigger in size) are closely related to the pipi (found mostly in harbours) and the Toheroa (found on west coast beaches from Auckland northwards. Tua tua look almost identical to pipi which is smaller. Tua tua can be found at low tide on sandy beaches between half tide out to 20m water depth.
Research has discovered that there are two distinct species of tua tua - P. subtriangulata - (has a white shell) is found around the North Island , and the north of the South Island, while the Southern tua tua - P. donacina - (has a grey shell) can be found all around the South Island and also overlaps the tua tua in most of the North Island.
On occasions after a patch of rough weather tua tua are washed loose and can be gathered from the beach with ease. I remember one time at Amberley Beach, near Christchurch, when, after a storm, the beach was littered with them still in their shells. Tau tua seem to be able to move up and down the beach and may not be in the same place they were in last week. Tau tau can be frozen for use on another day. They can also be kept alive for days if covered with sea water or even a wet sack and kept cool.
Tua tua were, and still are, a favoured food of the Maori. In pre-European times the Maori ate vast quantities of pipi and tua tua evidence of which can be found in numerous ancient midden heaps.
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Tua tua make good size fish baits. Photo courtesy of DJ Moresby. |
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The firm flesh, or muscle, of the tua tua holds well on the hook. |
A mate of mine would often take along any old tua tua he had in his freezer when we went surfcasting together. Some he would reserve for bait. With the others he would crack their shells and throw them out into the sea in the area we would be fishing to act as a type of berley. It is hard to say how effective this tactic was but we sure caught plenty of fish!
There are three ways of making tua tua stay on your hooks during casting. The first is to salt them as mentioned later. To my mind this is not the best as they look like dried prunes and they surely can't taste too good. Spiny dogfish seemed to like them well enough.
Secondly, you can make cocktail baits. This is a method I frequently use. Thread the end of a length of squid strip on to your hook. Then thread on the flesh of a tua tua or pipi. Then finally the remainder of the squid strip. This way the soft shell fish flesh is sandwiched between the folds of squid. It stays on quite well.
Thirdly, soft shellfish can be tied on with a length of bait elastic about a foot long which is sold specifically for this purpose. Thread the tua tua on to your hook passing the point through as many times as possible. Taking care to avoid any loose dangling bits from hanging down. Then hold one end of the bait elastic against the bait and under tension wrap it round and round the bait until you have used all of it. Take care to avoid the barb becoming clogged with bait. It must be allowed to stand completely free for a positive hookup. Bait elastic is great stuff and well worth the effort. You can also use it to good effect when baiting up with cut baits that have become a bit soft.
Tua tua is an excellent bait for some species more than others. Elephant fish and moki will readily take them as bait. Salted Tua tua
Shelling tua tua and covering them with rock salt produces surprisingly firm bait. You don't have to freeze them. Tua tua treated in this way will keep for years in a jar or plastic ice cream container. However like paua, it wouldn't be my first choice. Its main advantage is that it can be enough to get you started if you have nothing else available.
See also Yabbie baits and yelloweyed-mullet. |
