Floundering at Waikanae | Murray Lloyd Photography
Flounder is always on the menu at this time of year. Brother-in-law, Powerful Al usually manages the drag net operation along the beach with any other able bodied person tagging along. Although the net requires two people to drag it, crabs invariably scuttle in and it's all hands on deck to untangle them. The large ones end up as bisque or some crab flavoured dip ( thanks to painstaking work by Al) while the smaller ones are delivered back to the sea. A drag might net a couple of flounder, or even three, and sometimes there are just a few stray herring. After being gutted and scraped, flounder are cooked whole on the barbecue and served up with a wedge of lemon – a very delicate, sweet flavour; yummo.