Conway Flat – Elephantfish

Heres another Elephant fish from the Conway Flat, caught on squid and mister twister crabs, caught 5 with in 2.5 hours of fishing biggest was 5.9kg and smallest was 4.9kg. It is an excellent sandy beach and very enjoyable on the nicest sunny windless days. — Heres another Elephant fish from the Conway Flat, caught on squid and mister twister crabs, caught 5 within 2.5 hours of fishing biggest was 5.9kg and smallest was 4.9kg. It is an excellent sandy beach and very enjoyable on the nicest sunny windless days.

*A good bag of five elephantfish taken surfcasting at Conway Flat.*

Congratulations to Donald Searles for catching and sending us this picture of a limit bag of elephantfish he caught while surfcasting at Conway Flat, near the mouth of the Conway River, about 50km south of Kaikoura, on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Turn off SH1 at the Conway River, which follows the north bank down to the sea about 6 km. There is a small settlement at Claveley on the coast north of the Conway River mouth. It is best for surfcasting when the sea is clear and the wind is from the north-west.

Donald caught his elephant fish on Mister Twister sand/surf crabs and squid bait while fishing an out-going tide. Some anglers have the nack for catching elephant fish and Don is clearly one who knows how it is done.

Turn east off SH1 at the Conway River bridge and follow Claverley Road east towards the sea. This long shingle beach offers excellent surfcasting. It is a bit out of the way and so is seldom fished. Also a good spot for kite fishing. Target rig shark, elephantfish, kahawai, red cod and other species. During the summer months, it isn’t unusual for huge schools of kahawai to press shoals of baitfish hard into the beach. The sprats will even strand themselves on the beach as they try to escape the kahawai, but are instead picked off the stones by the screaming gulls and turns that accompany the kahawai schools.

I am reliably informed that in the past anglers fishing with Kon Tiki rafts have caught groper from this beach.