A fresh caught trumpeter has a brightly coloured handsome appearance. This one was caught by Allan Burgess fishing off Stewart Island.

Trumpeter

Latris lineata

Trumpeters are keenly sort by recreational anglers. They are a fish of southern New Zealand with the Bay of Plenty being about their northern limit. They are more abundant along the east and southern coasts of the South Island . However, trumpeter are rarely encountered other than in small numbers. Occasionally trawlers will bring in a good haul of medium sized fish.

The best fishing grounds for them are off Kaikoura, along the Pegausus Canyon , Foveaux Strait , around Stewart Island , and Fiordland, mostly over rocky foul ground, sea mounts, and sunken reef systems. Like groper they soon become fished out from the most popular and readily accessible spots. This is because they are such good biters with the bigger fish in particularly the first to be caught. It can take many years for them to re-occupy such an area.

An excellent brace of big trumpeter fresh from the sea..

A few years ago there were many large trumpeters to be found at Bushett Shoal – an isolated reef system south of Claverly on the Kaikoura Coast . Although close to shore this whole area was difficult to access with boat launching ramps at least an hour away be sea. Although Bushett Shoal still yields trumpeter the very big fish are now few and far between. To catch a big one a metre in length you would need to find a new unfished location!

Trumpeters are powerful fighters on rod and line. They will readily take flasher rigs and jigs bounced along the bottom. You can increase your chances of a hook-up still further by sweetening your flashers with bait. Just about any fresh bait will take trumpeter including: yellow-eyed mullet, barracouta, squid, terakihi, sea perch, and so on. Nowadays almost no one fishes with bait only. The flasher rigs are much more productive.

In my experience trumpeter seem to hit the moment your gear invades their territory just as you reach the bottom. Trumpeter prefer clear water and don't usually bite when the sea is rough and dirty. They are found in the same sort of locations as you find sea perch and blue cod. So if you are catching these species a trumpeter is always a possibility.

Trumpeter move inshore during summer and move out to deeper water in the winter time. They are caught in shallow water of 20 metres down to as deep as 250 metres.

This specimen taken off the Canterbury Coast is approaching the upper size limit for trumpeter. Note how the bands have faded on this fish.

The horizontal stripes running along its sides make the trumpeter immediately recognisable. These strips are bright olive green but quickly fade following capture. The fins and tail are yellow to grey. It can also be quite bronze or brown in colour. It is a very pretty fish to look at. The outline of the trumpeter closely resembles that of the blue moki to which it is related. Indeed these two species share much the same habitate and eat much the same prey of shrimp, crabs, octopus, squid, and mussels.

Trumpeter are one of the very best table fish cooking well by all methods.

According to David H. Graham, who was a marine biologist at Portobello near Dunedin in the first half of last century, he found a ripe female trumpeter which he estimated to be carrying an astonishing 12 million eggs. A prolific spawner indeed! It is sad when you consider just how few of these young will ever reach full maturity.

Deep Sea Fishing in New Zealand