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A catch of tiddlers from the Lyttelton wharves: warehou, red cod and a yellow eyed mullet. |
Despite being a surfcasting fanatic I still find tiddler fishing irresistible. I guess a summer afternoon spent, rod in hand, dangling your feet over the side of a wharf is something you never grow out of. Lyttelton Harbour is just twenty minutes by car from Christchurch . The last two kilometres of the journey being through New Zealand 's longest road tunnel.
During summer the harbour is teeming with juvenile fish - otherwise known as "tiddlers". On a recent outing to Lyttelton (for the sake of the kids), we caught: red cod, yellow eyed mullet, blue warehou, spiney dogfish and a poisonous green pufferfish. The majority of which went back into the water alive.
The secret of successful tiddler fishing, especially when taking the kids out for a fish, is to use very small hooks. I tie on size 16. Size 6 - 10 is a good size to use for most fishing as these are ideal for catching yellow-eyed mullet. These are tiny, but they will still catch fish in excess of four pound. It always amuses me to watch people fishing from the wharf with 5/0 hooks. They never catch anything. Their hooks are too big to fit into the mouth of the fish. Every time they wind in their line their bait is gone but they never seem to work out why!
As for bait, little fish will eat almost anything. I use frozen mullet or whatever else I can find floating around in the bowels of the freezer. The most important point about the bait is that it be cutup into little cubes to match the small hooks. Hours of fun can be had from this type of fishing. The tiddlers keep biting one after the other. It is surprising the amount of fight a four inch warehou can put up on a light rod and two kilo line.
Tiddlers are not the only fish in the harbour. Over the years I have caught many good size red cod. However, the prize catch now, is the returning quinnat salmon that were released into the harbour a couple of seasons back. Some of these fish now weigh in excess of 3 kg. Conventional wisdom has it that the way to catch salmon is by either jigging or spinning with lures. They will, however, take baited hooks simply hung over the side of the wharf.
You don't need a fishing license to catch salmon at Lyttelton, though MAF Fisheries would obviously prefer it you had one. What you definitely do need, is a drop net. There are no readily accessible stairways down to the water. If you attempt to simply lift the full weight of the fish the twenty or so feet up to the wharf, you will lose it for certain. Either the hook will pull out or the line will snap.
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Drop Net |
A drop net can be made at home from the following items: an old bicycle wheel rim, with the spokes removed; 15 metres of nylon rope, about 100 kilogram or stronger; and a landing net bag. Cut three or four, one metre lengths from the rope and tie them at equal distances around the wheel rim. Bring the opposite ends together and fasten them to the remainder of the rope. Finally, tie the landing net bag to the bottom and you're in business.
Keep the drop net in the boot of your car. When you hook a good size fish, lower it down to the water, and gently guide the fish over the net. Then you can lift the fish up to the wharf without the fear of it falling off the hook'
The main advantage of the drop net is that it allows you to fish with much lighter tackle. If you think you can get by without one, just wait until you have a salmon drop back into the water as you tried to lift it up to the wharf, you'll be rushing out to make one.
The drop net is also good for catching crabs. Tie a lead sinker to the bottom of the net. Tie some bait like an old fish head or frame in the centre of the net and lower it to the bottom. Wait a few mintes for the crabs to start feeding on the bait and then lift the net.
On the, weekends there can be a big crowd of hopeful anglers trying their luck at Lyttelton. Most hurry down to the ends of the wharves. That's not where the fish are. In my experience better catches can be made from the end closest to shore. Here the little fish find abundant food and shelter amongst the rocks and wharf piles. You can even entice them out towards your baited hooks with a berley made from toasted bread crumbs: Looking over the side of the wharf, you can clearly see the little tiddlers dart out in search of a free meal.
During days spent fishing at Lyttelton around October and November, the water was thick with whitebait. Unfortunately, I had no suitable net to scoop them up.
Lyttelton Harbour offers something for everyone: spinning for salmon and kahawai; live-baiting for kingfish from the breakwater. And my old favorite, tiddler fishing.
The New Brighton Pier is another good place to take the kids fishing for tiddlers. It will help if you can distribute berley on the surface of the water. Also use the small hooks. If your bait is dissapearing but you aren't catching anything always suspect that small fish are pinching your bait. The answer is to use smaller hooks.
Here is a list of some other good places to fish close to Christchurch City. Here a some trout fishing places around Christchurch.
Look here for sea fishing off the Kaikoura Coast which is a good place to catch blue moki. See boat fishing at Motunau Beach in North Canterbury. Fishing for Yellowtail kingfish and trolling for albacore tuna.
You might also be interested in: Surfcasting at Kaikoura's Goose Bay, and Surfcasting for Elephant Fish. What about these snapper caught with a longline off the beach at Hokitika. Catching elephant fish at the beach. Snapper from the Marlborough Sounds. Other New Zealand sea fish species. |
