# Outdoors > Fishing >  Real Whitebait!

## Gibo

Just reading the ever informative "Te Puke Times" and come across this fine speciman.

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## R93

Grew up calling them mountain trout on the coast. Used to catch heaps as a kid in most tannin creeks around the place. They get heaps bigger than that one pictured.

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## Chris

I think these are the same breed Gibo ,could be wrong, sort of cucumber smell to them .

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## nelpop

Thems be late season whitebait  Chris  :Thumbsup:

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## Gapped axe

friggin big fritters comin up

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## Munsey

> I think these are the same breed Gibo ,could be wrong, sort of cucumber smell to them .


Have you or do you eat the cucumber fish cucumber fish chris.?

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## R93

Kokapu are whitebait. They are a strong running bait and i think the largest bait. Those are cucumber fish Chris. If you are catching them it usually means an end to the run for the season.

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## Munsey

> Kokapu are whitebait. They are a strong running bait and i think the largest bait. Those are cucumber fish Chris. If you are catching them it usually means an end to the run for the season.


And the start of the sea run trout  :Wink:  . I have herd of people eating cucumber fish , interested to find out if they any good personally I hate cucumber so they would taste like arse .

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## R93

> And the start of the sea run trout  . I have herd of people eating cucumber fish , interested to find out if they any good personally I hate cucumber so they would taste like arse .


Ha Ha I like cucumber but not in a fish. 
They have a strong smell. Good surfcasting bait.
The kokapu would be the best eating bait depending on what river it's come out of IMO.

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## Munsey

Iv been invited to fish a good  Stand on the mokinui for a week  :Thumbsup:  , been in the pipeline for a while , been chomping to go , just got the dates txt last night ! Fucking mrs 40 th birthday smack bang in the middle of it  :XD:   this may take some cunning to get around this one  :Wink:

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## veitnamcam

> Iv been invited to fish a good  Stand on the mokinui for a week  , been in the pipeline for a while , been chomping to go , just got the dates txt last night ! Fucking mrs 40 th birthday smack bang in the middle of it   this may take some cunning to get around this one


Just sneak off and when you get back burst in the door holding out a pound of bait and yell happy birthday baby ! :Grin:  :Grin:  :Grin: 

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## Gibo

Personally never tried a kokopu.
To be honest never heard of them.
R93 i take it the prep is a bit more than mix with egg and make patty? 
More like fillet and cook???

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## Dundee

There you go white bait is bigger girls :Psmiley:

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## Toby

Call them smelt here, your cucumber fish. Dont blame you for that name though.

Walking the river talking to old guys one guy was throwing the whitebait back and keeping the smelt. Silly old fart. His logic was theres more to a smelt

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## Gibo

Is smelt an enunga?? If thats how its smelt or spelt?

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## Toby

> Is smelt an enunga?? If thats how its smelt or spelt?


To me nope. Smelt are smaller and dont have the color like a enanga.

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## Chris

Walking the river talking to old guys one guy was throwing the whitebait back and keeping the smelt. Silly old fart. His logic was theres more to a smelt[/QUOTE]

They do that here to Toby ,theres nothing wrong with them.Think they have a better flavor personally.They're sold here as Whitebait(Paeroa) .They make good trout bait too. 
Found the bigger stuff runs in the top 2' of water & the good stuff(fine bait) runs on the bottom.I pick them up with my Hasst sock where the scoop netters only get the bigger bait.

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## R93

Inunga is a whitebait as well. Grows to around 10cm if left to grow. Smelt or cucumber fish is no relation. I know people eat the cucumber/smelt but I have no idea how.
Tried eating a kokapu when I was a kid. It was around 3 lbs and iirc it tasted ok. Had a gazillion bones.
Only fresh water fish I like or try to catch are eels and koura. Searun trout are pretty good as well.

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## veitnamcam

Yea. Its the most common species in nz .
Part of the galaxid family? Its nearest cousin is the one that climes up the side of your bucket. Forget the name starts with h i think?

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## R93

Kokapu climb waterfalls etc and inunga dont or at least thats how I understand it.

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## veitnamcam

That will be the one then

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## R93

I hope there is a feed around at the start of our season. I am home for the first week of it, at this stage. If I was there now, I would could go raid all the illegal nets before DOC find them :Grin:

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## nelpop

Talked to a knowledgable Maori lady toward the end of last season ans she said to use a bit of chilli with them. aparently it enhances the flavour and gets rid of the cucumber smell??? :Thumbsup:

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## Munsey

I've seen cucumber fish in the raikaia pouring up the edges for days on end , about a meter wide and deep . Fishing for sea runs  it would seem impossible to catch a trout with that much bait about , but you can, fuck knows how !  :Wtfsmilie:

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## nelpop

I talked to a whitebaiter last year about the cucumber smell on late season bait. If you use abit of cilli powder with them they taste better and it helps to remove the smell.

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## R93

> I talked to a whitebaiter last year about the cucumber smell on late season bait. If you use abit of cilli powder with them they taste better and it helps to remove the smell.



Late season cucumber smell on bait? :36 1 7:  Bro, you need to stop covering the bucket with your old undies. :Have A Nice Day:

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## doinit

As R93 said,Kokapu climb water falls no problems. They will find a suitable pool after climbing and grow,very quiet at times and will let you pick them up if in a small shallow pool.
They climb up a very high waterfall here and into a dam from where we get our water from. We have actually had the wee buggers come down through our water lines and out of the tap lol. 
Yip,white bait on tap.
We have always preferred the bigger Kokapu bait as they take less to hit the pound mark.Up here they seem to show more near the later part of the season.
Out with the wishfull thinkers,in with the bucket climbers .

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## Chris

The Whitebait maybe starting to move now ,kahawai have come inshore & that's normally chasing the Whitebait this time of year. 
Might be the rain & the fresh down the rivers this week has got them started.

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## Toby

Got 1pt this morning

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## Maca49

> Got 1pt this morning


Geeezeee Toby I check the courier every morning and get the same answer "nope"

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## Maca49

> Got 1pt this morning


Geeezeee Toby I check the courier every morning and get the same answer "nope"

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## Toby

Hahaha. Come down and I'll get you some

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## Maca49

I'll be there at 5 am in the morning that ok                                         M.       M m mm. M. M. M mm m m  nope that's a negative
But thanks for the offer

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## Toby

Its whitebait for breaky  :Psmiley:

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## Maca49

Hope your eggs are rotten

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## R93

Sunday week I hope to get a scoff. Weather looking good as well.

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