Rock Fishing and Surfcasting at Kaikoura

There are many miles of excellent surfcasting beaches at Kaikoura, particularly north of the peninsula on the Kekerengu coast, most of which is isolated and rarely fished.

Many surfcasters fish the steeply shelving shingle beaches close to the peninsula. Popular spots are in front of the race course at South Bay and in front of the old railway station. A surfcasting contest is held here each year around Christmas time.

Surprisingly salmon are caught by anglers spin fishing for kahawai from the beach in front of the old railway station. This is right near the middle of town. I'm not sure why this should be. If you think you know please write and tell me!

Surfcasters also regularly catch skate weighing 5kg or so, along with kahawai and sharks.

Almost anywhere is good for rock fishing. Wrasse seem to be the most easily caught species, and some of them are quite big.

If you want to try something a bit different you can catch barracouta on heavy spin fishing gear off the rocks near Goose Bay. Use 30cm of light wire to guard against "bite-offs" from their sharp teeth. Cast out as far as you can and start winding. You will be surprised just how easily barracouta can be caught here with this method. I stumbled on this technique while fishing for kahawai from the rocks. On almost every cast I either caught a kahawai or had my ticer chopped-off, one or the other. The 'coutas make good bait and berley for other species. I had a lot of fun on this during the holidays. Unfortunately the barracouta - they are astonishingly numerous in summer - don't always bite the wire leader so be prepared to loose some gear!

When climbing over the rocks in search of a fishing spot watch out for fur seals. They sleep in the sun sometimes causing great fright for both parties when you catch them by surprise.

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