# Outdoors > Fishing >  Kahawai

## gimp

Can you freeze the fillets?

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## Shearer

As long as you don't want to eat them.

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## gimp

I see

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## veitnamcam

Smoke then vac pac and freeze.

Annyone into hunting and fishing should have a vac packer.

Really it is more important than bullets or lures. GET ONE.

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## jakewire

Hard to catch fish with a Vac pac Vc :Have A Nice Day: 

I got kahawai at the Waitaki the other day
filleted, rubbed with brown sugar and sea salt/garlic, marinated in the fridge untill tea time
then wiped off the sludge with a paper towel and grated some more salt and garlic on , just a sprinkle, then smoked in the portable smoker and put a knob of butter on when they were ready.
beauty.

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## Sideshow

Gut them and freeze them with the head still attached. For some reason this holds the flavour a little better than with out.
But I'd date them and eat within a year.
They will make lovely fish cakes :Thumbsup:

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## sako75

Kawhai? We used to feed it to our dog till she got sick of it. Although in saying that is nice straight out of the smoker on fresh bread or better still make a smoked fish pie

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## Sideshow

Our a chowder  :Thumbsup:

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## veitnamcam

> Hard to catch fish with a Vac pac



True but to my mind not much point in catching them without one.

Unless of course you can catch a feed litterally whenever you want.
They are so plentiful up here I can catch them pretty much anytime i can get out but best to get 10-20 good ones and smoke em all up at once.

Most kahawai I bring home are chucked in the fishing chest freezer whole to be later minced with fish oil for burly.


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## gimp

It's easy enough for me in summer to pop down to the Hoki mouth, 5 min drive from home, catch a couple and have them on the BBQ in an hour. Both the girlfriend and I hooked one first cast today. Goes well on the charcoal Weber rubbed with brown sugar, sea salt, fennel and crushed garlic

Keen on the idea of stocking the freezer a bit too so I shall look into the vac sealer

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## jakewire

What size do you get up there ?
I took cell photos of mine but haven't figured out how to put them into the computer as cell is new.
The ones i got the other day went 5-6lb and fought better than any trout I've ever caught

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## Sideshow

I've seen them schooling so hard at HiHi in doubtless bay that I've kicked them onto the beach.
That was back in 87/88 though.
Used to fish them using a string of shamarno flys with a lure on the end could get double hook ups!
Was a load of fun even better if a big kingy came in and smashed them  :Zomg:

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## gimp

A couple from today. Didn't weigh them

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## Sideshow

> A couple from today. Didn't weigh them
> 
> Attachment 44211Attachment 44212


That one your holding looks frozen......is the fish shop behind the camera woman :Zomg:

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## jakewire

Figured it
First there was one,

Then there was two

Then they were prepared to be smoked

Then they were consumed.

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## veitnamcam

Got a heap on sunday and monday. I would hook em up then grab a kid to wind em in.







off the beach they were all good fish with some being real donkys. Later fishing in the river a pool must have had a thousand kahawai in it all around a kilo size wise.

Gave one to some trampers for tea and kept one for bait all others released.

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## jakewire

They must be very widely spead around the country.
Are they further south as in dunedin and south from there?

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## gimp

This one from tonight was 4 lb

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## gimp

Anyone cold smoked them? Would that keep ok? Poor mans salmon?

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## Shearer

I think bottling/canning them (like salmon or tuna) is best if you want to keep it for a while but never done it myself. I'm sure Google can help though.

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## john worthington

we fillet and put them in a brine for 12 hours pat dry with paper towels .cover the flesh side with cracked peper and piri piri seasoning and cold smoke for 8 hours .let set in fridge for a night and vacume pack you can freeze or leave in fridge will keep for 6 weeks in fridge no problems
cheers john

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## Wildman

Have you tried it as sashimi

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## Friwi

Yes, and cooked cold in lemon juice and then coconut cream is one of the better way of eating them!

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## Ryan_Songhurst

Lucked out on the Kingfish up around Abel Tasman the last few days, so had a fish from the beach at the inlet to Torrent Bay and got this one, half way through fighting him there was a real big splash and flash of colour and all of a sudden the Kahawai seemed to have gained twenty times the power of a normal Kahawai and was stripping line like crazy......  After a while and just before I was about to run out of line he went back to being a normal Kahawai and I landed him, take a look at his back, im thinking a Kingy slammed him while I had him on the line? Was pretty exciting stuff on the wee rod!

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## craigc

If you can't get a vac packer try excessive amounts of cling film. (Glad wrap)

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## veitnamcam

> If you can't get a vac packer try excessive amounts of cling film. (Glad wrap)


and you can use it to "shatterpack" your fillets so once frozen you can just unwrap as many as you need to defrost instead of the whole lot.

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## Gibo

> and you can use it to "shatterpack" your fillets so once frozen you can just unwrap as many as you need to defrost instead of the whole lot.


'shatter pack'?? Free flo? I had some fresh car-y fried in butter the other day, was good. Still the best big snapper bait imo  :Grin:

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## veitnamcam

> 'shatter pack'?? Free flo? I had some fresh car-y fried in butter the other day, was good. Still the best big snapper bait imo


Yes sorry. Shatter pack is a comercial term for free flowed.

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## Bill999

kahawai are really good hot smoked when fresh
i havent cold smoked any yet, too much energy for kahawai in my mind

raw fish is good use of them too

vaccum seal the filets if you can and eat them sooner rather than months later
I only freze fresh
bleed them as well while they are still alive and ice them down

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## veitnamcam

Im on the hunt for some Jars and goin to bottle some.

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## EeeBees

@veitnamcam, secondhand shops often have them...

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## veitnamcam

> @veitnamcam, secondhand shops often have them...


Just scored a dozen off of trade me.
The trouble with second hand shops is they work while I work.

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## ethos

Problem with kahawai is the flesh is so oily hence it oxidises and goes fishy when frozen. Im no expert but hot smoked has worked well for me- cooks the oils in , not sure cold smoked would do the same?
If you are rich or know a beekeeper, try using manuka honey and salt instead of the brown sugar, awesome flavour. We eat then it cold over the next few days, dont freeze it at all.

Unloved kahawai and leftover (raw) frames are primo cray bait.

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