# Outdoors > Fishing >  Worth fighting the lettuce for these snapper

## Chris

3 - 4 hours fighting the lettuce last night but a nice result

5lb & 8lb worth making the effort

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## Gibo

> 3 - 4 hours fighting the lettuce last night but a nice result
> 
> 5lb & 8lb worth making the effort


Well done Chris! Nice eaters there.

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## Scouser

Oh yeah, shes all good!

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## username

"Fighting the lettuce"?

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## veitnamcam

> "Fighting the lettuce"?


Sea weed.

Nice goin, would like to get out after some snaps myself.

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## Gibo

> "Fighting the lettuce"?


Sea lettuce Pete, its in plauge proportions in and around our estuaries and coastlines up here. Not enough seaweed eaters up here  :ORLY:

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## username

Thought "fighting the lettuce" was a strange term that i was unaware of. Thanks

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## Rushy

Well done Chris.

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## Maca49

Nice smell when it rots, we feed it on nutrients from the shit works here I think, or it's those dairy farmers again :ORLY:

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## Chris

Its a bugger you think your hauling in another weed ball ,flick the light on & there's a bloody good snapper laying in the shore wash.
Good eaters ,snapper for dinner tonight .

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## Gibo

> Its a bugger you think your hauling in another weed ball ,flick the light on & there's a bloody good snapper laying in the shore wash.
> Good eaters ,snapper for dinner tonight .


Yeah takes the fight out of it aye...oh well feeds a feed  :Have A Nice Day:

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## Chris

> Yeah takes the fight out of it aye...oh well feeds a feed


Wear them selves out fighting the ball of weed ,tragic .

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## Gibo

> Wear them selves out fighting the ball of weed ,tragic .


When does the weed feck off up there?

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## hunter308

Got braid on one of my reels now so might have to go to Bowentown to see if that will make any difference with the lettuce around there I.E slicing through it.

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## Gibo

> Got braid on one of my reels now so might have to go to Bowentown to see if that will make any difference with the lettuce around there I.E slicing through it.


Might do mate but at the end of the day it is still going to collect on your tackle, braid has zero stretch so may have more luck yanking the weed off. 
Let us know how it works out.  :Have A Nice Day:

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## Chris

Weed not too bad yet but could be Feb / March before it clears.Ball of lettuce on sinker ,snapper attached to hook 1m away on end of trace. 
Reason I fish up the coast when it gets bad.
Problem with braid is no stretch as Gibo said,load goes onto the rod .

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## Gibo

Dont do what I did a while back either when trying to catch a bronzie at Pukahina beach (probably outside Pointers house  :Have A Nice Day: )
I shot up to the house and grabed a surf caster and a skippy head and attached a wire trace, came roaring back down the beach rigged it all up, sighted the shark and proceeded to give it the best cast I had!

Fuck me! Forgot it was braid and let it ping of my index finger as I would with mono........damn near lopped the top off my finger! Bloody beers have a lot to answer for with my scar count!

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## stingray

> Dont do what I did a while back either when trying to catch a bronzie at Pukahina beach (probably outside Pointers house )
> I shot up to the house and grabed a surf caster and a skippy head and attached a wire trace, came roaring back down the beach rigged it all up, sighted the shark and proceeded to give it the best cast I had!
> 
> Fuck me! Forgot it was braid and let it ping of my index finger as I would with mono........damn near lopped the top off my finger! Bloody beers have a lot to answer for with my scar count!


hahahahahaha I'm sorry but that is waaaay to bloody funny!!! :Thumbsup:  :Grin:

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## hunter308

> Dont do what I did a while back either when trying to catch a bronzie at Pukahina beach (probably outside Pointers house )
> I shot up to the house and grabed a surf caster and a skippy head and attached a wire trace, came roaring back down the beach rigged it all up, sighted the shark and proceeded to give it the best cast I had!
> 
> Fuck me! Forgot it was braid and let it ping of my index finger as I would with mono........damn near lopped the top off my finger! Bloody beers have a lot to answer for with my scar count!


That is why it is recommended to have a shock leader attached to braid when surfcasting.

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## Gibo

> hahahahahaha I'm sorry but that is waaaay to bloody funny!!!


Yeah and it was mate! I for good or for bad am part of a group of mates etc that love seeing the other either flying of off the back of motorbikes, falling off various objects or just in general love seeing our mates in pain! Dont know what it is but its challenging at this age to keep it up  :Have A Nice Day: 

Obviously some have gone quite far but thankfully none too far  :Wink:

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## Gibo

> That is why it is recommended to have a shock leader attached to braid when surfcasting.


Is that so you cast with the mono on your finger? If not dont see how it could help?

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## stingray

Nylon has alot more strech / give in it than braid, so when you load your rod to cast nylon will strech and still have some give in it where braid comes up tight/hard and becomes like a knife also this helps with not point loading you rod.. ie when striking or pulling on snag nylon has will give a liitle where braid won't. so you wont rip the hook out of the fishes gum / lips.

When people talk about a shock leader thats is about 20 - 30foot of nylon tied to the end of the braid. (others will be able to explain better... But a tip i have for surfcasting even when using Nylon is use a slice if old bike inner tube over your casting / trigger finger or some eletrical tape this will cut down the abrasion / cuts you get with mutiple casting.

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## Gibo

> Nylon has alot more strech / give in it than braid, so when you load your rod to cast nylon will strech and still have some give in it where braid comes up tight/hard and becomes like a knife also this helps with not point loading you rod.. ie when striking or pulling on snag nylon has will give a liitle where braid won't. so you wont rip the hook out of the fishes gum / lips.
> 
> When people talk about a shock leader thats is about 20 - 30foot of nylon tied to the end of the braid. (others will be able to explain better... But a tip i have for surfcasting even when using Nylon is use a slice if old bike inner tube over your casting / trigger finger or some eletrical tape this will cut down the abrasion / cuts you get with mutiple casting.


Ah yes got ya. I only use braid on my jigging rig and soft bait rig, jigging doesnt get cast so no issues, soft bait is light as so no issues with load. 
I learnt a lesson that day so wont be casting with that sort of rigour without thinking it through  :Have A Nice Day:

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## hunter308

> Is that so you cast with the mono on your finger? If not dont see how it could help?


yes it is to cast with your finger on mono the one thing I do like about braid for surfcasting is you can detect your bites alot easier, you get your distance that you want for getting into deeper water plus it does not get dragged up the beach in a stron current as much. I fished kawhia harbour the other week one rod had straight mono the other had braid and it was the rod with braid that got all of the hook ups even though they were only small snapper where as the one with mono did not get a single thing apart from being dragged up the beach by the outgoing tide which rips through there pretty strong and the same on the incoming. Sure it does load up the rod more and hook up rates seem to have improved now to see if I can catch some of those sneaky shits with the braid at Whiritoa that seem to elude my line or tease me with nicking my bait lol.

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## Gibo

Cheers I compute now  :Have A Nice Day:  so what knot are you using for braid to mono? Would have to be tough if you are casting it through the eyes every time. 
I use FG and PR for jigging and snell for soft baiting but dont cast them when jigging obviously and dont have a trace of fluro that goes back past the eyes on my softy rig. Have lost a few rigs with the softy when the knot has gone back past the eye in my earlier days.

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## hunter308

I use the slim beauty knot to join mono leaders to braid and use that same knot for my mono to mono shock leaders it is a very strong knot easy and quick to tie FG and PR knots just fuck me right off when trying to tie them. Also with the slim beauty it goes through the guides nicely when casting and does not catch at all due to the taper it has.

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## Gibo

> FG and PR knots just fuck me right off


I know that feeling mate, used to do the same for me. I dont use the PR much anymore, FG is piss easy once you find a technique that suits you. Cant imagine any knot with a lower profile to be honest but havnt looked at the slim beauty (thats a lie, sounds like my wife  :Wink: )

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## hunter308

1.	Tie a double overhand knot in the end of the leader. 

2.	Pull knot only semi-tight to form a figure eight.

3.	Double 15-24” of main line and pass through top and bottom of figure eight. Wrap 4 times down the leader and 3 times back again. Pass loop through first gap formed by the wraps.

4.	Tighten down the figure eight knot in the leader (pull 1’s). Then make a fast, steady pull with the leader and the doubled main line (not the loop) (pull 2’s).

5.	Trim off loop and tag ends of the double line.

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## Gibo

> 1.	Tie a double overhand knot in the end of the leader. 
> 
> 2.	Pull knot only semi-tight to form a figure eight.
> 
> 3.	Double 15-24” of main line and pass through top and bottom of figure eight. Wrap 4 times down the leader and 3 times back again. Pass loop through first gap formed by the wraps.
> 
> 4.	Tighten down the figure eight knot in the leader (pull 1’s). Then make a fast, steady pull with the leader and the doubled main line (not the loop) (pull 2’s).
> 
> 5.	Trim off loop and tag ends of the double line.
> Attachment 15880


Fuck me that looks way harder than a FG  :Have A Nice Day:

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## hunter308

I find it easier than an FG and that knot stood upto the eagle ray I caught in the surf at Kawhia so I swear by it.

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## upnorth uplander

Nice 1

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## Chris

Lettuce less a problem ,sure the amount of is relative to the westerly winds but it not gone completely
Last nights result ,nice to stock up the freezer again .

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## Gibo

Nice fish Chris  :Thumbsup:

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## Chris

hell yea ,pretty happy with those Gibo .

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## Rushy

> Lettuce less a problem ,sure the amount of is relative to the westerly winds but it not gone completely
> Last nights result ,nice to stock up the freezer again .


Way to go Chris

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## Dundee

Nice snapper there Chris :Thumbsup:

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## Chris

> Nice snapper there Chris


Had some tonight for dinner deep fried ,wicked !

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## veitnamcam

Good feed there:thumbup:

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## hunter308

some nice snapper there chris. went out for a rock hop at one of my old spots a couple of sundays ago in kawakawa bay was casting and retrieving one of those inchiku jigs from the warehouse and it got nailed by a big kingi right at my feet never got to land it though but was a good scrap for a few minutes before it got me into the foul ground going to go back with a stick bait and go for another round of trying to land a kingfish.

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## Gibo

> some nice snapper there chris. went out for a rock hop at one of my old spots a couple of sundays ago in kawakawa bay was casting and retrieving one of those inchiku jigs from the warehouse and it got nailed by a big kingi right at my feet never got to land it though but was a good scrap for a few minutes before it got me into the foul ground going to go back with a stick bait and go for another round of trying to land a kingfish.


Catch a kahawai and stick that out, way cheaper that a stick bait if you get busted off.......far more effective too  :Thumbsup:

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## Rushy

> Catch a kahawai and stick that out, way cheaper that a stick bait if you get busted off.......far more effective too


Bugger that for a joke. If you get a Kahawai Hunter308 then eat the fucker.

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## Gibo

> Bugger that for a joke. If you get a Kahawai Hunter308 then eat the fucker.


Ah thats not how fishing works Rushy, you often  have to sacrifice a small feed in the hope of getting a big feed  :Grin:

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## Rushy

> Ah thats not how fishing works Rushy, you often  have to sacrifice a small feed in the hope of getting a big feed


If I ever caught a Kingfish with a Kahawai I would be ripping its gut open to get my Kahawai back. Highly under rated fish in my opinion.

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## Gibo

> If I ever caught a Kingfish with a Kahawai I would be ripping its gut open to get my Kahawai back. Highly under rated fish in my opinion.


If the kingi is big enough to keep you can have both fish for tea  :Grin:

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## Chris

> If I ever caught a Kingfish with a Kahawai I would be ripping its gut open to get my Kahawai back. Highly under rated fish in my opinion.


They are real nice smoked,not much food on a live bait size Kahawai . Probably the best use for a 150 -200mm size.

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## Rushy

> They are real nice smoked,not much food on a live bait size Kahawai . Probably the best use for a 150 -200mm size.


Chris, my first mother in law (bloody old battle axe she was) bottled Kahawai and I would defy anyone to pick the difference between that and bottled Salmon in a blind test. Was fucking marvellous.

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## Gibo

> They are real nice smoked,not much food on a live bait size Kahawai . Probably the best use for a 150 -200mm size.


Youd be surprised what size kahawai a 15+ king with gulp down.

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## Chris

I remember grandma use to pickle trout Rushy ,had a good supply out Whaitawheta .Preserving food was the norm in those days,fridges weren't what we know now days.Shadow likes those small Kahawai (as raw fish) , not thrown back any more the #1 dog has to eat.

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## R93

Never had King fish. Is it any good to eat or just a good sports fish?

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## Gibo

> Never had King fish. Is it any good to eat or just a good sports fish?


Fantastic, any way you would eat snapper. I like smoked or cut into nibbles and battered

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## Chris

I like to add some seafood coating improves it but yea smoked its pretty hard to beat too.

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## hunter308

> Bugger that for a joke. If you get a Kahawai Hunter308 then eat the fucker.


bloody oath Rushy 
i was bought up on kahawai and you would have to pry it from my cold dead hands before i relinquish it for a live bait i even release the tiddlers

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## mikee

> Never had King fish. Is it any good to eat or just a good sports fish?


Smoked (and pickled) its brilliant eating. Plain its rubbish, at least in my opinion.

We get ours smoked locally by Aquafresh, not cheap but better than a butcher smoking it with his bacon and hams!!

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## Chris

The new rod works just fine Hunter ,that big fella was the 1st snapper its caught + a couple of the others .

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## hunter308

what model fin-nor did you get chris was it the powerlite which is what I have got or the offshore

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## Chris

I got the Offshore 16',nice to cast & getting better distance than the Powersticks.

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## sako75

Ahh the sweet tasting cheek meat from a hot out of the smoker kingi - beautiful

And a couple of old pics for the Kawhai munchers. Hot out of the smoker on fresh bread and a beer or in a smoked fish pie is how I like them

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## Rushy

Can I be your friend?  Ha ha ha ha

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## hunter308

> I got the Offshore 16',nice to cast & getting better distance than the Powersticks.


I love my two powerlights they are awesome and like you they are giving good distance and do not regret buying them.

 @Rushy with those pics from sako75 I wish I could be his freind too I would happily supply the ales to go with those smoked fish

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