[mikeneljay]

Red Cod blues? Great fishing in Wairau!!! Great Red Cod fishing in the wairau but full of gross worms…can we eat the fish meat? One vote for a yes so far, any more takers?

[Miliwolf]

Probably a bit safer to eat the Red Cod caught from the sea rather then in the Wairau itself, because I believe the treated Blenheim sewage is released down the river at times. I can not remember exactly but the sea fish might contain slightly fewer parasites then the ones I caught in the river.

I rarely target Red Cod and in most cases try to avoid catching them so its been a while since I had a good look at the ones from the river.

[Sevengillz]

Not a fan myself,rather use em for bait.Not too sure about the worms,I thought they infected the flesh but that must be a different sort of worm.Is the flesh looking clear? like Mili said go around and get them out of the sea rather than the river itself.Id say go ahead and eat them they wont hurt ya.They just have a bad rep because they are parasite ridden and the flesh is quite shitty….still edibal none the less.Smoke them for best results too.

[Miliwolf]

I have had better luck on kahawai rather then Red Cod this year, especially in the second half of the season the red cod bait was barely touched.

Quick Summary (not enough numbers to prove anything)

I have caught 6 of my big sharks on KY, and only 2 on Red Cod. I fished both baits similar amounts of time. 3 Sevengillers took pilchard and a Tope took Salted Bonito but I fished these baits less often.

[HookLineSinker]

Personally i wouldnt eat any fish coming from a river mouth, but in saying that i have no issues with eating red cod, if looked after and prepared right it is ok for eating, and besides it demands 16 bucks a kilo in the shops so its got to be ok!!!

[yellowfin]

Red cod shouldn’t go too far up a river, and if the river doesn’t smell remotely like sewerage it should be ok. I don’t worry if they’ve got those little red worms attached around their head. I’ve only ever seen one down here that had a worm actually in it’s flesh, I just cut the flesh around it out.
I only take red cod that are about 45cm or more, and reasonably fat, the skinny ones are a waste of time.

[HookLineSinker]

Yea im the same, its jus the bigger fatter one i bother with, and the parasites arnt an issue. Usually about 10 to 15% of the reddies i catch have worms through the flesh, so theyre just descarded, but iv had several in the past year that have inch thick fillets and make nice eating, usually to firm them up i freeze them first before cooking and eating.
Preparing them for eating starts as soon as they come out of the water, i usually cut thier throats to bleed them then descale before gutting (makes it easier), then chilled before filleting, the result is a nice eadible fillet of fish!!!

[Yakkaman]

Red cod would have to be one of the smelliest fish i have caught, i usually do the same except i check there gills for lice if infested them they go back.

It is best to leave the fillets to firm over night in fridge then i cut into small pieces with scissors mix in 1 egg to 1 table spoon flour into a fry pan out comes mock white bait patties.

Yum Yum Yum

[Miliwolf]

I might have to catch myself a Red Cod to test your mock whitebait pattie idea out.

[rdeejay]

They’re all good for mashing up into fish cakes as well.

[yellowfin]

Good for mashing up for bait and berley also.

[Sevengillz]

zac

[PierMaster]

yeah make excellent crab bait

[Yakkaman]

PierMaster

[mikeneljay]

Cool!!! Thanks for all the replies. We have noted the lesser of the worms is found on them away from the Mouth of the river…good tip. I like the fish for eating though,m light but with small bones. Yes they smell bad and are not a sporting fish, just seeming to give up once they are hooked. We had a really good run on Kahawai here as well, but it sems to have slackened off now, Im told they are travellers in the cooler months. Caught Rays, Shark, Red Cod, mullet and Eel at the bar, both diversion and bar mouths. No fancy rods, no fancy bait…Mussels seem to be a favourite bait of fish. Just plain old fishing, love it.Anyone know the rules on Kontiki for fishing? we are told it is no more than 25 hooks…bit of a stink way to actually catch fish and enjoy the sport but alright for some ay…Also would like to know the rules with regard to net fishing? We have seen people doing this in the district but as far as we knew it was illegal and in our opinion an unnecessary drain on dwindling resourses

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