2012 surf catches Spring/summer

all good info there SS….I will add that I used to think that the perch’s spines were “over-rated”, and for 30 years I handled them(lots of them), without incedent. When I actually did get a real spining from one, by golly….I still remember the pain, and being a ways off-shore(miles), by myself, I also remember thinking I may have been in serious trouble…all in all, a very uncomfortable hour or so….also congrats on your fish, you seem to do ok

They are both sea perches. Here is a paper by L.J Paul and he refers to Helicolenus spp. as ‘sea perches’. So Helicolenus barathri and Helicolenus percoides [b:1k06rrl5]both[/b:1k06rrl5] are sea perches.

http://fs.fish.govt.nz/Doc/17631/1998%2 … D.pdf.ashx

a direct quote

[quote:1k06rrl5]”Sea perch” (in Australia “ocean perch”) includes the shallow water Helicolenus percoides and the deeper water H. barathri, the latter with geographical colour variants around New Zealand.

So this should be settled, either spcies can correctly be called sea perches.

He also explains other common names.
[quote:1k06rrl5]In this account the term “sea perch” is used for both species. Where a single species is referred
to, its scientific name is used. Separate common names are available, but their use is not
uniform. The shallow water Helicolenus percoides is known variously as Jock Stewart (or
Stuart) from its tartan-like colouring, highlander (similarly), scarpee (from scarpen for
scorpion), scroddie (small worthless fish?), fivefinger (from the pectoral fin rays), soldier
(supposedly from its ‘on guard’ appearance and brisk movements (Graham 1956)), and Maori
chief (in common with other fishes, from its head markings). The deepwater H. barathri has
been given the name bigeye sea perch by Paulin et al. (1989).

Yeah I also noticed anchovies looking a lot like small pillys……

you are using incorrect info from a pillock..scarpees and perch are two different fish with two different names that hang out in different depths and habitat..i will get the book and prove it to you..was to busy yesterday..how can you say two different fish both have the same name??like bastard red cod and red cod..calling them both red cod is wrong..school shark and rig..should we call them both school shark because they are related??anyway no point in banging my head against a brick wall…well done on the snapper there hipp..wishing i had of gone up now haha..got any photos??..sea is filthy and rough today gonna pop down and try the mustad circle hooks on the rig..im off

shark slayer

do you get much snapper/gurnard in nelson trout fisher?went out myself last night..just a wee 11lb rig released..only got a shit phone photo no point in posting it…need another digi cam..bit of a southwester blowing this evening was gonna have a moki sesh but will leave it until the morning i think…got some whole fresh squid from new world today i think i will do some catch and release on the seven gillers tommorrow…

Went on a last minute snapper fish, first checked out Mahua Sounds but the wind would have made fishing unpleasant. So decided to back track to a old favorite which was the grove wharf. The small wharf was occupied when I arrived, which was fine with me because the best spot is off the beach a short distance from the wharf

Got there just before low tide, and the fishing was slow (It has never really produced well over low). The highlight was a powerful running fish which broke my braided mainline on its run. Only one type of fish have achieved that before, although there must have been a weak spot in the braid. Might discard the first 50m or so, been using it for a couple of seasons….