Summer Break Bites
Holiday fishing is all about family, fun and filling the camp feed — not marathon sessions. Over the summer holidays you’ll see surfcasting rods propped by tents and kids keen for a feed, and with a bit of know-how you can turn relaxed days at the beach or wharf into great seafood dinners.
Start with the most reliable options: grab the kids and hunt shellfish. Tuatuas are usually best in the last hour of the outgoing tide near low; feel 10–15 cm into the sand or stir the surface in shallow beds. Keep them in an onion sack in seawater for 24 hours to purge grit, then cook just long enough to open —perfect for fritters, chowder or bait. Cockles and pipis live around estuaries and harbours at low tide and don’t need flushing — steam in a little seawater and serve with olive oil and lemon.
Mussels turn up on mooring lines, kelp and reef structure and are a brilliant, easy meal — marinate or make fritters. Wharf fishing is ideal for bringing kids along: target baitfish and piper with a light rod, 2 kg mono, tiny hooks (size10 or smaller) and bits of shellfish or flour dough; rolled oats or breadcrumbs attract them. Small sabikis or micro soft plastics like tiny Black Magic Pink Shrimps work a treat. Always have a heavier rod ready with a live bait on the bottom — kahawai, kingies, john dory and even snapper will take it.
From the beach, fish the change of light — dawn and dusk — when bait moves in shore. Use a breakout sinker, firm bait elastic and aim for gutters or holes where fish feed. For a reliable daytime feed, kontikis and long-line devices are brilliant for families; get baits through the surf fast, weight the lines to stay on the bottom, use tough baits (kahawai, squid) and only set for 15–30minutes to avoid rays and sharks.
Spearing flounder on calm, rising-tide nights with a hand spear and underwater light isa cracking family activity — slow, quiet stalks usually pay off, and pan-fried flattie for breakfast can’t be beaten.
A few simple rules: only take what you need and stay within limits, keep your catch chilled, wear lifejackets and use common sense around water. Do that and your holiday will be full of great memories — and better seafood.
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