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Groper caught fishing in Cook Strait. |
Groper taken on the southern side of Cook Strait on a glorious calm day. This species is often called Hapuku in the North island, and groper in the south.
Many believe, incorrectly, that groper are a deepwater species only. However before they were fished-out they were once caught surfcasting off canterbury beaches. They were also known to be caught in Otago harbour early last century.
In the North Island this fish is often known as hapuku, or puka. Average size fish measure from 80cm to 1m while a big one can measure 1.5m and weigh more than 30kg. You best change of catching a really big groper is to fish around distant offshore reefs and pinnacles that rarely see angler's lines.
Once lifted a short distance up from the bottom their air bladder bursts and they float up to the surface. When deep sea long-lining it isn't unusually to see a string of groper floating on the surface like a row of buoys having all floated up together from the dark depths. Groper is a premium eating fish. Many expert fishermen believe the tastiest part of a groper is the flesh from the cheeks. More groper: A brace of groper from the Acheron Passage, Dusky Sound, Fiordland.
See this groper taken in Dusky Sound, Fiordland.
Ken Mitchell with a 64lb Fiordland groper.
Groper taken at the Hole, Pegasus Canyon, Canterbury Coast.
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