Funny you should mention whitebait, Te-hori. When I took my knife to the kahawai there were quite a few whitebait expressed in the stomach contents, this surprised me as I would have expected somewhat larger bait fish. However, it is obvious that by the kahawai's condition, what ever they were feeding on was packing on the weight.

I must also say I have landed three red cod this week. Whilst these fish may not be to everyone's liking as a sports fish, I have to say they were also in exceptional condition. When they took note of my filleting knife they produced beautiful, full, white fillets for the pan.

My son-in-law fished with me, and we have just had a very enjoyable barbecue dinner, complete with a bottle of sauvignon blanc. The fish of choice were spiny backs. I used the method of removing the fins and tail thin cutting the skin behind the head, and pealing away the skin as the southerners do with blue cod. The spiny catch was cleared in one dining session with the full appreciation of the diners.

My partner is Chinese and she has taught me so much about the true appreciation of fish and it's health benefits. I will be flying to Auckland on Friday and staying for ten days. I have a dozen kahawai heads, complete with wings to take with me in a chilly bag, it's great to see true appreciation for parts of the fish I would normally discard as less than useless.