An action-packed surfcasting session with rods bending all day and multiple species landed. We also head into the kitchen to try crispy skin-on gurnard along with a few other dishes.

🎣 A Last Minute Decision

This was another fishing trip where I only decided to go at the last minute. I had semi-prepared the night before, but in the morning I checked the conditions and since they looked borderline OK, I decided to give it a shot. It turned out to be the right call!

I arrived at my fishing spot around 10am - the surf was up a bit and a bit discoloured, but still fishable. My two target species to start with were gurnard and rig, so I baited up with banana prawn and oily fish baits (pilchard and kahawai). There was no action for the first 10–15 minutes, so I decided to send my drone up for its first scenic flight.

Mid morning sea conditions

🦈 Dogfish and More Dogfish

Just as my drone was coming in to land, the first fish of the trip took the bait. It felt like a decent size, but unfortunately a dogfish appeared out of the surf. Not really that surprising since they seem to prefer discoloured water and I was fishing with oily fish baits.

I was soon into something else which again felt like a decent size, but wasn't putting up any fight. To my disappointment, I pulled in two dogfish. At this point I decided to change over to prawn baits to try and limit the dogfish bycatch. Paddle crabs would have been even better if I had them.

Double dogfish catch

🥕 Gurnard Make an Appearance

Just after midday, I had a fish on which felt a bit different to what I had been catching. I never saw the classic gurnard tap-tap in the rod tip but quietly remained hopeful. It was a very welcome surprise to see a few flashes of orange in the waves, and before long the first gurnard of the trip was on the stones.

First gurnard of the trip

I've caught many of them over the past few years, well over 100, but despite that I never get sick of catching them. They are visually impressive to look at and are very hard to beat as a table fish!

This gurnard was just shy of 35cm, a bit on the small side, but cooked whole in the oven it was still big enough to provide a good feed, so I decided to keep it.

Not long after, I noticed one of the dogfish I had released had washed back up, and it was clear it wasn't going to survive. Despite what many people believe, they are edible, so I decided to keep it for deep frying.

🦈 A School Shark Takes the Bait

The next fish put the biggest bend in my rod of the day so far. My first thoughts were either a kahawai or a large gurnard, but then I suspected a school shark. I was right, and it was in the size range I like to keep them for fish and chips, so I quickly trunked it and into the catch bag it went.

A school shark kept for fish and chips

One of the next dogfish I caught had gut hooked itself and since I was keeping a few fish for deep frying, I decided to keep this one too.

🎣 A Mixed Bag and More Gurnard

The next couple of hours were a bit of a mixed bag, but thankfully there were a couple of gurnard in the mix. The next gurnard, at 37cm, was slightly bigger than the first one, so I kept it as another fish to either cook whole or fillet.

Another gurnard - such a stunning fish

I'm getting pretty good at predicting when I have carpet sharks on now, and that's what the next fish turned out to be. They are basically a big dead weight, and their mouths open up like buckets, which makes them really hard to pull in.

Carpet shark bycatch

Later in the afternoon, I hooked something that was putting a bit of a headshake down the line. I had a feeling it might be a gurnard but wasn't sure, so it was a welcome surprise to see the biggest gurnard of the trip appear from the surf.

Biggest gurnard of the trip at 45cm

🦈 A Sevengill Shark to End the Trip

With plenty of fish in the catch bag and the temperature dropping, I decided to grab a photo of my gurnard catch with the surf in the background. Just as I had put the fish back in the catch bag, I heard my reel screaming and knew something big had taken the bait.

As soon as I put some tension on the line, I could see a sevengill shark thrashing around on the surface. I was hoping it wasn't a really big one, since I wanted to land it but only had my lighter hook traces on.

The battle lasted a couple of minutes, but eventually it busted me off. The line had snapped at the knot on my speed clip. I use a 5-turn uni knot here, and I soon began questioning it. Given it was 60lb mono, I would have thought the 30lb braid would have failed first. Or perhaps the shark's teeth had severed the knot - impossible to know for sure.

Sevengill shark hookup

🍽️ Catch and Cook

This trip provided a few seafood meals over the next week. I filleted the biggest gurnard, leaving the skin on, and kept the smaller two to cook whole.

Later that night, I had whole cooked gurnard. Prep involves removing the guts and gills and making sure the gut cavity is fully washed out. Next, I score the fish along each side and fill the cavity with lemon slices and softened butter. Finally, I coat the fish with softened butter, sprinkle with salt and cook it in the oven for around 15 to 20 minutes.

The eyes turning opaque is an indication the fish has cooked, but I leave it in long enough for the skin to go crispy. This is a great way to have gurnard, and nothing goes to waste!

Whole cooked gurnard

The next day, I had skin-on shallow fried gurnard fillets. They were absolutely delicious - the skin comes out nice and crispy and adds flavour too.

I will often use the sock method for filleting gurnard, which is quick and simple, and the main benefit is the guts come away cleanly. To leave the skin on and fillet using the traditional method, you ideally need to gut the fish first, which isn't all that easy with gurnard. Commercially, they slice straight through the guts, which I prefer not to do since it's almost impossible to keep punctured gut juices away from the fillets.

Crispy skin on gurnard - so good!

I also had deep fried fish with the school shark and dogfish. This was a really good opportunity to do a side-by-side taste test with dogfish and school shark. The dogfish was surprisingly good - not quite as good as the school shark, but I'd definitely have it again and will consider keeping more of them rather than returning them all as bycatch.

Deep fried school shark and dogfish

Really glad I went on this fishing trip. The gurnard might have been the last of the season since it's now late April, but I will have at least one more shot at them before winter.

📓 Field Notes

• Location: Canterbury
• Target species: Rig, gurnard, elephant fish
• Landed: Gurnard, spiny dogfish, school shark, carpet shark
• Conditions: Moderate NE winds, patches of cloud, 0.6 m swell, discoloured water
• Tide: Outgoing
• Best bait: Raw banana prawn with a square of crab fisbites for gurnard
• My gear: Shimano Xitus Pro 13'6" rods (x2), Shimano Ultegra CI4+ 14000 XTC reel, Shimano Ultegra XSD 14000 reel

🎥 Watch the Full Video

The full mission is available on my YouTube channel.

👉 Watch it on YouTube

Got any feedback or questions? Feel free to drop a comment on any of my social media channels — I read them all.

— Dan