b'TARAKIHI TIPSUsing arm power means kayak fishermen need to be fit, well prepared and use a good F irstly, my kayak power issounder to find closer reefs.limited to around 7kph so reaching exposed offshore pinnacles are out of the question for my arm powered propulsion. I need to find reefs closer to land if I want to target these tasty fish. Thankfully at low speed my sounder clarity is off the charts compared to a trailer boat. I am in constant view of my bottom structure and a boat is likely to be travelling at a much higher speed and loses detail. This improves my overall perception of what is going on down there. Tarahiki are usually found The downside of course is the distancein deeper water over reef or structure in large schools.covered, I need to fish shallower and smarter than a boat would, but its not all bad when most anglers ignore closerTARAKIHI RIGspots in favour of the more popularMy typical tarakihi rig is a two-hook offshore reefs. Waimarama beach inUV flasher. The only difference is southern Hawkes Bay is a particularlythat since Id be fishing shallow reefy part of the coast with miles of fishywater, I could fish lighter using 50lb terrain waiting to be uncovered. The onlyleader to encourage more takes. I downside is getting the weather right.add a bit of lumo bling to finish the Often the coast is rife with big breakersrigs off and also use a lighter 3oz making a kayak launch a real challengesinker since I wont be fishing over to get offshore. Boats once again have25m. An important difference to the advantage of getting out from thesemy other rigs is a large gap between surf beaches. On few select days a kayakthe sinker and the first hook. Tarakihi can be launched through the reef, thisoften sit off the bottom a few metresLooking for tarahiki is a launch spot favoured for its swellwhen I look at the sounder, so I haveschools over reef protection. On a recent weekend theremade a mental note to get the baits offor structure Blair was no swell whatsoever and this wasthe bottom and up into their part of thefound good sign on his Raymarine the time to give it a crack. water column. Dragonfly.58FISHING IN GODZONE MAR/APR 2021'