Species #55 — Blue Cod

Blue Cod are one of the more popular nearshore saltwater fisheries in New Zealand, but due to the water we fished (most rocky bottom and over structure), these sandy bottom dwellers were hard to come by. I caught one and David caught two.

Species: Blue Cod (Parapercis colias)
Location: Kuaotunu Coastline, Coromandel, New Zealand
Date: February 24, 2014

Sometimes you luck into a wide variety of species early and catch lucky breaks with every cast. This is not one such tale.

***

David Clarke and I had been plying the coastal waters of New Zealand for weeks before the species variety started up in force. After catching almost nothing but Australasian Snapper in the salt, I finally got lucky when we drifted away from the structure I was so used to fishing in Oregon waters and drifted over a sloping, sandy bottom.

Shrimp was expensive — even cocktail shrimp — so we’d taken to trying other baits. Cicadas we caught on a small island quickly became a favorite.

Though finding live ones was difficult, the kicking insects attracted fish within 30 seconds of every drop. It worked like a charm.

Dead ones produced, albeit more slowly, so as I impaled the final, writhing bug on my hook, I sent a silent prayer.

God was listening.

I felt a tap, then fought up a light weight. I was shocked to realize it was an entirely different fish: Blue Cod.

We’d heard great things about the second-place Kiwi marine fish, but it was too small too keep, so I snapped a quick pic and sent it back to the depths.

#SpeciesQuest // #CaughtOvgard

Read the next entry in #SpeciesQuest here: Species #56 — Estuarine Triplefin.