Mai Mai talk/advice/showing off

Evening everyone,

I'm in the process of doing up an old Mai Mai, unused (apart from shags) for 10+ yrs on Lake Waikare. All that's there is 6 posts in the water plus a side panel. I've got a rough design in mind but was wondering if anyone has an advice on configuration/setup. It's 2.7 x 1.3m so not very big. Plan is to build a floor and some side panels, and cover half with a corrugated iron roof so I can shelter when waiting for birds, then go out into the open to shoot. Birds here come from a few different directions I understand so no particular side I need to leave open more than another. Got heaps of Manuka I can use to hide the Mai Mai closer to the season.

Anyone got tips for a first time Mai Mai builder/amateur duck hunter trying to make a good setup? It would be great to see/hear about everyone's setup

2.7x1.3.......a big milk powder pallet is nearly that big so could well take care of floor on one hit... consider leaving it high enough to drag boat underneath... or for first season build 3 walls leaving one end open and shoot from boat secured between poles..if it turns out its a dud area,not as much has been invested.
place out stakes now at 30mtrs so they are always there to give you range for setting decoys inside of.if you have a dog,consider thier needs in construction..a wee area off to one end that isnt as high with a ramp maybe...just not inside tin walls to have all noise reflected back at them.

What he said..shoot it from your boat first ,see how it goes,might be a reason it was abandoned ..I’m almost gonna give up on shooting from my usual maimai and just use the boat and follow the flight lines.

I've got a tinny I can use but the Mai Mai backs off our place so I usually put the waders on and just walk out. Good thought not to make it too permanent I will remember that. Cheers

Waikere needs some serious professional help.that thing is so polluted. Dead.i would not be surprised if it had a real big contribution to the current disaster with botulinum further down stream in the whangamarino. But like other say shot it for a year tag it.see how it goes

https://fishandgame.org.nz/game-bird...on-guidelines/

Fish and Game have a page on their website about building a Maimai

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Originally Posted by Quackers

Waikere needs some serious professional help.that thing is so polluted. Dead.i would not be surprised if it had a real big contribution to the current disaster with botulinum further down stream in the whangamarino. But like other say shot it for a year tag it.see how it goes

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Yea its pretty terrible. In the shallows there's more than 1 Koi carp per sqm, they're everywhere and darn hard not to step on. No doubt those are also a big contributing factor to the poor lake health. If anyone needs cheap burly then this is the tac - easy as to catch with a sharp spade or spear.

All the Huntly lakes are fuc#$d up ,water condition is terrible,we mostly shoot geese on them these days the mallards,teal and grey ducks have mostly abandoned the big public lake I shoot on opening day,gonna start look8ng closer to home and jump shoot creeks more this year.been shooting the same spot on the same lake for nearly 35yrs now.

Yeah boat loads of dead ducks being picked up atm around falls rd to Ropeway bridge ... such a shame.we were talking amongst our hut and thought we might just shoot the morning and give the ducks a chance or some how limit the amount we shoot.they raised limits to 10 this year but I'd be happy to shoot 5 a day in conditions like this .it's a bit like fishing limit your catch not catch your limit

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Originally Posted by slk12

Yea its pretty terrible. In the shallows there's more than 1 Koi carp per sqm, they're everywhere and darn hard not to step on. No doubt those are also a big contributing factor to the poor lake health. If anyone needs cheap burly then this is the tac - easy as to catch with a sharp spade or spear.

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Does anyone ever have clean-up days for that purpose ? Like a working bee, nets & spears etc to reduce the carp numbers.

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Originally Posted by No good names left

Does anyone ever have clean-up days for that purpose ? Like a working bee, nets & spears etc to reduce the carp numbers.

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Back in 2007 they estimated there was nearly half a million carp in the lake, and because of the huge area it covers I'm not sure stabbing even a few thousand in a mass cull would make a big difference. In saying that, I applaud anyone making an effort as every bit counts.

When the lake level's high they swim up streams too, my siblings caught 90+ in an evening just by grabbing them from our drain and throwing onto the grass. Terrible things.

poisoning them works well,but will also kill other species. that said,there will be more going on than just the carp issue,they are just goldfish afterall. the eels will be fat,feasting on them,but if another underlying issue is at play,nothing will improve till that is fixed.

SLK-hers a simple idea-instead of rebuilding this maimai ,dopn waders etc and go find a bush or flax you can sit in in partial concealem ent and see what the ducks are doing ,times flightlines ,preferences eraly morn /late evening ,even if the smart buggers just moon on in to raft up for the day.a few outings like this coast literally nowt and will give you all you need to make a decision .youd be suprised how effective this is .

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Thanks for the advice everyone. I started on a low-input, more temporary build to see how this season goes on the lake, but couldn't help myself after seeing birds out and about, getting me all excited. I've ended up with a decent structure with quite serious framework underneath. In the last few days I've been putting green tin on the walls and wire mesh on the outside of that to weave some brush through. Even if the birds don't come near me its a nice spot for a fry up and a cup of tea out there.

Does the smell of bacon scare the birds..?

The best mai mai I ever saw was up a tree, the guy used to limmit up every opening day.

He was up high and the ducks didn't suspect a thing until it was too late.

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Originally Posted by 7mm Rem Mag

The best mai mai I ever saw was up a tree, the guy used to limmit up every opening day.

He was up high and the ducks didn't suspect a thing until it was too late.

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First blind I ever shot from as a young fella was in a massive tree along the Waḻpa river ,learned a lot about how much to lead a duck by as sometimes was shooting down on them and could see how far behind I was by the pellets hitting the water away behind the birds,getting up the tree was a bit scetchy in the dark ,was just an old pallet with basic frame but we shot alotof ducks from it,the old man did retriever duty and cleanup from a small dinghy so we didn’t have to climb up and down all the time ,I was 14 and am 53 this year so along time ago,area surrounded by a subdivision now.

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Originally Posted by slk12

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Does the smell of bacon scare the birds..?

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well there is a school of thought that suggests it ATTACTS them.....cause you no sooner heat up your wifes world famous bacon n egg pie to the nearly burning stage and a flight of mallards pop in....this is unless of course your Swedish mate has already eaten said pie!!!!
there is NOTHING quite like either reheated bacon n egg pie or bacon butties to make it really feel like opening weekend.

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Originally Posted by Quackers

Yeah boat loads of dead ducks being picked up atm around falls rd to Ropeway bridge ... such a shame.we were talking amongst our hut and thought we might just shoot the morning and give the ducks a chance or some how limit the amount we shoot.they raised limits to 10 this year but I'd be happy to shoot 5 a day in conditions like this .it's a bit like fishing limit your catch not catch your limit

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Fish and game estimate that 10,000 ducks have died in the greater Whangamarino swamp area.

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Originally Posted by Got-ya

Fish and game estimate that 10,000 ducks have died in the greater Whangamarino swamp area.

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Yea mate i was one of the guys out there fishing them out wasnt very nice
Seems to All right down there now thou was there last weekend and saw nothing dead

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Originally Posted by Dynastar27

Yea mate i was one of the guys out there fishing them out wasnt very nice
Seems to All right down there now thou was there last weekend and saw nothing dead

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Good effort in helping out @Dynastar27 . Hope you have a good season for your efforts.

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Originally Posted by Got-ya

Fish and game estimate that 10,000 ducks have died in the greater Whangamarino swamp area.

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Shit that's alot .where's that info

Has there been any reasons given as to what caused the botulism?

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Originally Posted by Lentil

Good effort in helping out @Dynastar27 . Hope you have a good season for your efforts.

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Yea thats if Tainui Let us up the Causeway ( Bucket Line ) still heaps of birds flying around

What was the end result of this caper?get a few birds in the end?