I felt it was a good time to go to Kaikoura and having mentioning this to Ali, she was excited to come along.
Arriving about 6.30am, I rushed to get down to the water at Whale Watch; it was dead flat. Being a little concerned that the usual sharks and such would not be around I flicked out a prawn/
mussel combo bait. Before I could get another rod set up, my rod was already loaded.
“S%$T, I’m in already,” I shouted to Ali.
After a brief scrap, a nice moki was on the beach, so I dealt to it, rebaited and cast again. I then proceeded to carry on getting my next rod ready, turning to check my
rod as I did. Yet again, before I could cast - another moki. After getting another one, the fishing tapered right off.
All I had to show for the next three hours was a VERY small conger, so I decided to start mixing up some baits, with tuatua, prawns, crabs and mussels. This proved to be a very good decision, with another ten moki being landed, ranging between 30-55cm. Ali even managed to get a nice moki as well.
Getting on in the day, the chilly bin was starting to fill up and with a few moki in the salt ice slurry, we decided to pack up in an hour or so. After getting three more moki, we called it quits with ten legal ones in the bin. We left Kaikoura with thoughts of a few good feeds and arriving back in Kaiapoi, I filleted the catch and give some to Ali to take home to her family; they loved it.
Moki are at times a specialised feeder, mainly wanting the things that are more suited for human consumption, so next time you have a few extra mussels lying around, give ‘em a go - well worth the effort!
At this time of year I normally find writing my article really easy, as it comes right after the Hutchwilco Boat Show where I will have been asked the same question multiple times, so I generally know what to write about, but this year wasn’t the case. So after a week of writer’s block and a few cross phone calls from Reagan, I (a colleague) came up with a subject; this month we will look at Chirp echo sounders.
This is technology that has been around in very high spec systems for the military and oceanographers for many years now, but, due to advances in technology, is now making its way into the higher end of the recreational market.
So what is a Chirp echo sounder? Well the first thing to look at is traditional sounders. As many of you will be aware your current echo sounder probably transmits on one or two defined frequencies, generally 200 and
50 kHz. The transducer transmits in these frequencies at a high power but for a very short amount of time. This limits the amount of energy transmitted into the water column; often because of these set frequencies the targets you can see in the water column are limited.
Conversely Chirp sounders transmit for a longer duration over a broad range of frequencies. For example, on the chirp transducers from Airmar, the high frequency sweeps through 130-210 kHz. As with standard sounders there is also a low frequency and this sweeps from 42-65 kHz.
The equivalent sound energy that is then transmitted into the water is 10 to 1000 times greater than a standard transducer. This gives more energy on the targets in the water column that, when paired with a chirp echo sounder, provides you with up to five times better resolution and depth than your standard fish finder giving, you a clearer picture of the targets beneath you.
Having seen some screen shots of the latest Chirp technology, it is certainly incredible being able to see the difference between this and a standard sounder. The target separation is incredible, not only on schools of fish where you can nearly see each individual echo, but also the separation of fish from the seafloor. The photo shows the level of target discrimination achieved with this latest technology: the split is LF on the left and HF on the right - I’m sure you’ll agree it is pretty amazing.
This screenshot was taking from a Furuno system using an Airmar Chirp transducer and the DFF1-UHD sounder module from Furuno, which utilises this technology. In addition to the broadband technology, incorporated into this module are improvements on other features found in their sounder range. Namely their bottom discrimination feature, which can tell you whether you are over one of types of seabed (rock, gravel, sand or mud) and Accufish, which can tell you the size of the fish beneath you. Both of these features can now work down to a depth of 200m as opposed to 100m on the standard models.
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The morning mist had just cleared and I paddled out to where the trout were rising. This wild Westland lake lurks off the beaten track and I had been fishing it for a week, learning where the fish were and what to use.
I headed for a shallow gap in the reeds where there were always fish to be seen.
I was fishing two rods, one with a new Rapala and the other using a bubble with a hook on the trace and a fly on a dropper. A couple of days previously, a rising fish ignored the bully and tried to take the float.
I approached cautiously - there was movement in the gap so I unscrewed the cap of the lemonade bottle, put my hand over the top of it and turned it upside down and waited for the cockabullies to settle down above my palm. I had to empty half the bottle to get the first one out. Using micro surgery I hooked it in the back with a size 16 hook. Too deep and you cripple them, too shallow and you lose them when you cast. A couple of days ago I got busted off. Today I tied on a shock trace.
My first cast was good and a minute later the float dipped. However, I was busted off again at the shock trace. Then the wind changed direction and I had to reposition the kayak. Another rod had thicker nylon so that was rigged with another bubble and hook. I wasted two more bullies, as the wind made fishing difficult. The last bully I hooked through the mouth, said a prayer, cast it out and finally hooked another fish. This time the line didn’t break and when I reached for my net, found it wasn’t there. Luckily for me, the fish was an old jack that didn’t take much subduing.
The next day I tried a bladed spinner over the weed-beds, using rod two again, but it got snagged and busted off, so I come to the conclusion it was
the nylon. Although it has just been put on the reel it was purchased long ago.
The new Rapala on rod one, with a white belly and light green top proved to be deadly. The first trout it hooked acted like it was on steroids. This time I was more careful because the first fish I hooked on this lake ripped out the hooks when it jumped out of the net. When it was in the net I didn’t lift it up straight away, just kept its head up out of the water for a bit. When I did, the trout went mad, ripped out the hooks and almost escaped from the net. I stopped it slithering over the side and managed to get my fingers through its gills.
The second fish took the Rapala just as the kayak drew
level with the gap. We were close to the reeds where there was deeper water and this fish proved easier to land.
It had taken three hours to get two fish, but time in a pristine place allows valuable lessons to sink in. Don’t use old nylon. Be prepared to spend time on the water if you want success. Learn where the fish are and what they are feeding on. When you catch a fish check their stomachs to see what they have been eating. There are millions of small cockabullies in this lake and all trout eat them. You should also try different things so you can learn what works under different conditions and if one lure stops working try another.
Lessons of the LakeBy Craig Grant
JD Tops Doggies at TableBy Neil Wilson
When fishing by the first mussel farm on the left in Kenepuru Sound, I had a surprise catch. After reading in The Fishing Paper that pink bait was the way to go, I rigged a cooked prawn to a hook and tested the waters. I only had five-minutes to wait before the rod dipped and a rather sluggish fight was on. Imagine my surprise when this nice 54cm john dory broached the surface. I asked a few locals and it seems they’d never heard of them being caught round these parts. It was bloody good eating all the same – especially considering I only caught doggies after that!
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You may ask why put time and money into a boat that you’re not going to use for a few months? That’s an all-too-common attitude when it comes to winterizing chores.
Beeeg mistake! Winter’s biggest dangers to engines are freezing, corrosion and fuel degradation. Undetected water in your gearbox that is left until spring can not only cause a huge repair bill but also cost you precious boating time once spring has arrived and you’re itching to get back on the water.
Too many boats die silently in their winter beds – make sure yours won’t be one of them.
Last month we covered all the things you can do yourself to prepare your boat for winter. Winterization however involves a lot more than just sloshing in some fuel stabilizer. Consider it to be a methodical process that runs from bow to transom and is best carried out by a fully trained technician. They have all the skills, tools and experience required to detect minor issues and sort them out for you before they jeopardise your safety or delay your fi rst day on the water next season.
At Totally Boating’s special price of $79.95 it is money well spent.
So don’t delay – book your Winterisation today.
Call the experts on (03) 548 2448 or 0800 999 121.
winterization – why Do It & what’s Involved?
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1. Check over motor 2. Check for corrosion3. Check for fuel or oil leaks4. Check spark plugs 5. Check anodes6. Check gaskets conditions7. Check fuel fi lters8. Check trim fl uid levels9. Check water pressure 10. Check remote cables
11. Check battery condition
12. Check steering lubricate
13. Check gear case lube
14. Check condition of prop, hub & splines
15. Run engine up to temperature
16. Flush engine with fresh water
17. Add fuel stabilizer
Here’s what’s involved in the winterization routine:
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A 4.00am start involved readying the mighty Osprey boat, rounding up the crew – and then the trash talk started as we headed over the hill to Okiwi Bay. Everyone else was waiting, looking for a guinea pig to time the tide right and it looked like we were it. In and away.
The forecast was in our favour until at least mid-day, so we decided to tame a few kingfish first, with four caught and released. From here on the day was looking promising, so it was off to catch some bait. Easier said than done, when you want specific specimens, they never turn up. When you don’t want them, there is an abundance of them. Then off to the spot.
Time was against us, as we had spent too much time trying for bait, so were half-an-hour late dropping the lines for groper.
First drop, five-minutes of line being down, the rod loaded up and we were into it.
Originally thinking three hooks, three fish, possibly pups, things were looking good.
Yeah right! This groper had other ideas and the battle was
on.
Gaining five but taking 10m: after a five-minute battle I finally got it off the bottom.
After the fight and getting it about half way up, it was time to tag in the skipper, Craig, and give him a turn seeing his day hadn’t gone to plan so far. Of all people, he would be the tinniest person, always landing the best fish of the day, or the most, but today he wasn’t on his game.
However, bringing in the big gun to finish off, we were surprised when this little pup popped up, maxing the scales out at 93lb.
As the day was getting on it got flatter and flatter, so another couple of drops and Justin cracks out a nice little 7lb pup, and then it was shark time.
The water was clear and we could see a shark hanging around possibly, a 2 - 2.5m blue. It decided it would scratch its back on the bottom of the boat and hung around for about 20 minutes until we left; awesome to see.
As the day was getting on it was time to make a move, back to Okiwi to catch the tide.
Cheers to Justin for taking the photos, you had to do something.
Pumped by a ‘Pup’By Kurt Anderson
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Staff Profile: Leighton King, Factory Team Leader, Freeman Roofi ng, Nelson
“The name says it all”the best salmon, trout and hunting in your backyard
65 Main South Road, Green Island, DunedinPhone 03 4882881 - Fax 03 4882661sales@roofi ngsoluti ons.co.nz
“Home of the Roofi ng Gurus”big cod, big trout, and big stags
www.freemanroofi ng.co.nz
MARRIED STATUS: I have been married to Tracey for 7 years and have two kids Greer (8) and Christian (5).
BIGGEST FISH: Not sure of the weight but it was a shark!
FAVOURITE BEVERAGE: Woodstock Bourbon.
TOP SEAFOOD: Lemon fi llet or squid rings.
HOBBIES: Hanging out with my family.
GREATEST PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT: Trying to get under 100kg so I can go skydiving in Nelson.
WIFE’S MAJOR GRIPE: She doesn’t have a favourite one, they are all the same!
BIGGEST BUZZ I HAVE HAD: Having my kids.
Leighton’s Tip: “Grab yourself a bag of pilchards and head to Delaware Bay for a nice feed of carrots (gurnard).”
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Barry works for one of the key sponsors who put Daiwa and Coleman products up for prizes, as well as being an eager salmon angler himself.
He’s fished the competition every year over the past decade and while he’s hooked silver on several occasions has never landed a salmon in the
competition.That changed this year
when fishing with Simon McMillan from Christchurch City Hunting and Fishing,
while based at the Rakaia Huts and fishing The Gut, which they accessed via jet boat. Very early on the first morning, Barry hooked and
landed a nice salmon but his luck didn’t stop there. Within ten minutes his 17gm ‘Zeddy’ pulled up hard and then stripped line, thanks to a very
solid fish deciding to flee the scene. The salmon headed for the mouth and around the corner, testing Barry’s skills as he worked it into a position where it could be safely tailed. He was using a Daiwa 8ft two-piece Sol rod with a 10 – 17lb rating, matched to a Sol 3000 running 15lb braid with a 15lb fluorocarbon leader.
Barry reckons you need to fish light in the low clear conditions and the braid just ‘gives that extra bit of feel’. He said that using quality gear also gives the angler an edge when a tight situation arises and there must be some merit to his thinking, because the thick, chunky salmon rolled over after a ten-minute battle. It wasn’t until then the boys realised it was a big fish, but Barry still didn’t think he had the winning fish and was tormented as a couple more biggies of similar size came in over the next 48hrs.
However, it was to be Barry’s decade and he took out first prize with a fish of 10.02kg, which was also a personal best. True to his generous nature, he donated back the prizes his company had put forward and the organisers sent away even more happy anglers with extra spot prizes.
“I went home with the trophy,” Barry said, “and after all the effort that ‘finally’ went into getting that winning fish – that was enough for me!”
Barry Blitzes Comp But Gives Away Prize Bag By Daryl Crimp
The Rakaia Salmon Fishing Competition boasts being new Zealand’s largest freshwater competition and, despite low river flows and clear water, attracted a capacity crowd of entrants again this year. Amongst the numbers of hopeful and enthusiastic anglers, with eyes firmly fixed on the $50,000 worth of prizes, was Barry McFall, with ‘two lines in the water’.
There are many ways to rig a live bait. The fi rst is through the back, generally just before the dorsal. The trick is to go deep enough so that the hook will hold well, keep rigid and not rip out.
If you go too shallow the hook can rip out, or the hook may turn and go back into the bait when you strike the fi sh. When inserting the hook insert the point on a slight angle towards the head, this way it will allow the hook to lay fl at along the body when the live bait is swimming.
It will also allow you to strike the fi sh and drive the hook home easily. Most fi sh will take a livebait head fi rst so the spines of the fi sh lay fl at on the body and it slides down easily. An added plus is that if the fi sh tries to disgorge the bait after taking the bait, it will in turn catch the point and you will have a solid hook up.
The second way is to rig it through the nose. This is a quick easy way and works really well when the bite is hot and you need to get a bait in the water quickly.
All fi sh have two small nostril holes above the upper lip. Insert the hook through here. This area is a very solid area to place the hook and allows
livies to be sent down at depths very quickly with added weight.
The third is just behind the anal area. A great place to slide a hook in.
This often works well on fi sh which are a bit skittery on the bite, and gives a slightly different action with the bait to dorsal or nose hooked baits.
The balloon rig can allow the bait to be picked off a little easier, so a bit more time is needed before you strike.
Dropper/ledger livebait rig for smaller bottom-dwelling predators.
LivebaitingReports to hand indicate that the Stephens Passage area is beginning to fire with good snapper, kingfish and groper being caught. Unfortunately some fishers seem to be unaware that the eastern side of Stephens Island is part of the Marlborough Sounds Area (MSA) and, as such, the daily limit for snapper taken from that area is 3 per fisher. If fishing for snapper both inside and outside the MSA the daily limit is 10 snapper but of that total, only 3 may be taken from inside the MSA and a fisher cannot possess more than 3 snapper per fisher inside the MSA regardless of where caught. Additionally, there is a combined daily limit of 5 groper and kingfish per fisher and of those 5 fish no more than 3 can be kingfish.
It has also been noted that some fishers do not appear to be planning their trips to the Stephens Passage area to take into account the limit of 2 blue cod between 30-35cm inside the MSA during the blue cod open season (20 December to 31 August, both days inclusive). On some occasions fishers have caught their legal limit of 3 blue cod with some larger than 35cm on the outside or western side of d’Urville Island and then moved into the Passage during the blue cod open season to target kingfish or snapper, or travelled through the Passage and further into Cook Strait for groper. If you intend to target blue cod on the western side of d’Urville in combination with fishing in the Passage, you must leave your blue cod fishing until you have left the MSA area or ensure that you only take 2 blue cod that are inside the 30-35cm slot.
Likewise, if prior to leaving from a ramp that is outside the MSA in the open season the weather forecast indicates poor sea conditions on the western side of d’Urville for your homeward trip, factor into your planning that you may not transit through the MSA with more than 2 blue cod and those fish must be within the 30-35cm slot. So if fishing on the western side of d’Urville and inclement weather necessitates passage across the top and down the eastern side of the island and through French Pass on the way home ensure your blue cod are compliant with the daily limit and size for the MSA.
There also appears to be confusion surrounding the possession of filleted blue cod at sea within the MSA or Challenger East area. A person may only possess filleted blue cod on board a vessel if it is to be immediately eaten on the fishing vessel from which it was taken. It is not allowable to fillet your cod for later consumption on the vessel. For example fish caught in the morning may not be filleted at the time of capture, if it is intended to be consumed later in the day or trip.
For further information or clarification contact your local Ministry for Primary Industries office, or go to the Ministry website at www.mpi.govt.nz.
By Ian BrightField Operations ManagerNelsonPhone 0800 4 Poacher
Rules for Snapper & Blue Cod
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TIDES OF CHANGE By Poppa Mike
TRANS TASMAN to TAUMARUNUIAlexander Hatrick was a
young teenager when he and four friends left Ballarat, Australia, in 1875 seeking adventure and opportunity in new Zealand. At age 17 Alexander found himself in Wanganui where he soon recognised the potential of this new town; its river port, and the surrounding farmland being developed. For several years he worked in a foundry then in 1880 established his own business; a chaff-cutting and grain-crushing mill with regular trading via coastal vessels to nelson and West Coast.
Over the years he extended the business to include a wide range of trading goods and in 1889 bought the sailing ship St Kilda to extend his trading across the Tasman. In 1904 he purchased another vessel, Alexa, and another, Wanganui, in 1910. During this period, he saw an opportunity to develop a tourist route along the Wanganui River, eventually linking the rail trail at Taumarunui with the Wanganui-Wellington link. His first riverboat, Wairere, was launched at Wanganui in December 1891 and began a weekly passenger, mail
and cargo service up river to Pipiriki.
In 1894 the much larger Manuwai, capable of carrying 400 passengers, joined the service. By 1903 he established the full link to Taumarunui, a three-day voyage with overnight stops at Pipiriki House and a houseboat moored at the mouth of the Ohura River. At one stage, A. Hatrick & Co operated twelve motor steamers and three motorised canoes on various sections of the river .
Alexander Hatrick became a well known Wanganui businessman and also carried
out many civic duties, including that of Mayor, 1887-1906. His death in 1918 seemed to be a bad omen for the company. The depression of the 1920s and 1930s saw many farmers move off the Wanganui River lands, while others, both Maori and European, drifted to the cities in search of work and better opportunity. Improved road access and new bridges meant that the river was now not the only means of access and the final completion of the main trunk Auckland to Wellington railway further reduced the importance of the river link.
One of the great things about the Cook Strait area, whether on the north or south side, is that there is always a sheltered area somewhere for a fish or a dive. But it is an unusual circumstance that allows one to combine these activities …
The second weekend in May I found myself in Wellington with my daughter and we decided we wanted to scuba dive despite a 25-knot southerly blow and threatening storm clouds. This raised a four-metre swell through the strait that was making the ferry passengers lives miserable. However, the Kapiti Coast was the place to go, offering flat water and reasonable visibility.
We joined a group on the Saturday morning and launched off the beach at Titahi Bay, Porirua. The rain had now become a reality but since we were about to get wet anyway, it made no difference. My daughter, Kirsty, has become quite an effective hunter-gather, so despite being told that this section of the coast had been largely stripped bare, kept her eyes open, sighting a fair number of fish and an astonishing number of paua. Most looked undersized and sadly there was no sign whatsoever of any crayfish.
Presently, I got a tap on the shoulder and Kirsty pointed out a john dory doing its best weed impersonation on the bottom. It just goes to show how good his efforts were that I did not even spot him, although the alternative view is that my middle-aged eyesight is just not as good as a teenager’s. Either way, we finned over to
have a closer look. He dropped the weed impersonation and
adopted an I-need-to-go-somewhere-else-right-NOW approach. However, he only swam a short distance before stopping to pretend he was no longer there. I followed him and he repeated the trick. Wondering how long this would go on for, I decided to do my own impersonation - of a sheep dog, and started herding him towards the shallows. He swam a metre or so then stopped until I caught up again. Soon we were in water shallow enough for me to stand on the bottom.
I thought he would surely realise he could easily swim around me. I took a moment to drop my weight belt and scuba tank, retaining mask and snorkel so I could watch him. Then I continued to follow him, herding him into even shallower water; his dorsal fin was out of the water, yet he continued to head away from me rather than towards deeper water and safety.
With a final lunge, I chased him into water so shallow that he literally fell over and, amazingly, stopped struggling as if he had no idea how to swim on his side. I simply stood up and grabbed him by hand, to the amazement of the rest of the dive group who were by now standing on the shore watching me in puzzlement. I convinced a couple of German tourists on the beach that there were so many fish in New Zealand that we simply catch them by hand while swimming.
A Capital Hand CatchBy Norman Holtzhausen
Call of the Kokako By Jeff HudsonPublished by Halcyon Press RRPReviewed By Imogen McCarthyWith direct and conversational style, Jeff Hudson tells the story of twenty years involved with the successful recovery and restoration of populations of kokako. Jeff started out as a possum trapper in the hills behind Opotiki and hearing the call of kokako, set out to find groups in very remote locations including Te Uruwera National Park.Kokako are territorial birds and Jeff’s skills in locating them in remote areas resulted in working with DoC on a territory-mapping programme. He discovered that the bell like calls of kokako were unique to each area and recorded these. He was able to ‘drag’ birds to the end of their territory by playing back their calls and so establish their limits. He identified that song was essential for the birds to form pairs and defend their territory.Jeff tells us about the hard job he had getting scientists to believe that possums were significant predators and that successful pairs of kokako nested twice in a season.There are tales of his time in the bush with many days spent tramping on narrow ridges in appalling weather. Wandering away from his intended route he was lost only to discover his compass wasn’t working as he was holding it too close to the speaker of his sound system, which, of course, contained magnets!Stories of his work are told with enthusiasm and include transfers of kokako to predator free islands, banding of adults and chicks, the frustrations of netting and danger of climbing. He shows how skilled an observer he is when he describes nest building and chick rearing. The colour illustrations help to clarify these accounts.Restoration of kokako populations on the mainland required community involvement and he shows us how groups can be motivated to get in behind a project. He maintained co-operative, positive relations with Maori ensuring that kokako were willingly given, moved, and welcomed to new areas where the populations have grown. It is refreshing to read this success story of New Zealand conservation.
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Lake Benmore has always been to me, one of those far-off places that I’d always been keen to fish but never seemed to manage. So when good friends Veronika (Ronnie) and John Phillips invited our family along on a trip to Black Forest last December, hesitation didn’t raise an eyebrow. They had kindly invited the Watts’, Turner, and the McDonald families. Suffice to say, there was a fair swag of us.
Jack Phillip’s, a salmon fisher of local notoriety, brought along his pet pigeon, which was a game move, as I did consider trussing it up for eel bait but the trout fishing proved so good, there was no need. Besides it was a cute little bird that spent most of its time perched on Jack’s shoulder.
Another rooster, in a figurative sense, was young Lewis McDonald, who wisely left his pets behind and, along with fishing rod and an obvious desire to bag a trout, brought his smiling face. On the first morning, while the other youngsters lay clutching their cell phones in a bleary eyed embrace, Lewis slipped on his strides, clutched his rod and hitched himself a lift onboard Fisher 3.
The wake from John’s V8 merely added a few bubbles to the water’s ultra smooth surface as we skimmed west. White peaked mountains reflected the sun’s welcome morning rays, highlighting the pristine grandeur of Mt
Cook. At the lake head, Andrew and John had settled on a sandy beach adjacent to the Tekapo river mouth. They appeared eager to stalk and cast to cruising fish, so we left them to it.
Seldom do I get the chance to fish lakes so I opted for a spot of trolling further out. Not being overly confident, I consulted Lewis. A few flash looking lures in his box caught my attention. We played about with a couple of different ones, at various speeds, and eventually settled on a Tazzy Devil—as you do!
Idling as slow as the 30hp outboard could manage, we merrily trolled to our hearts content; which wasn’t long, as soon enough, Lewis’s rod waggled like a wet noodle in a gale.
“Don’t panic!” I shrieked, fervently reaching for the rod and the throttle
simultaneously, a challenging task given they reside at opposing ends of the boat. Fortunately Lewis beat me to the rod and with consummate skill, reset the drag and showed that fish who was running the show. It was the first fish either of us had hooked up on in Lake Benmore. I’d heard from a couple of regulars, not to expect fish over three pound, so when a bedazzling silver flanked rainbow vertically erupted from the lake some 50 metres behind the boat, that’s what we were expecting. Only this brute was bigger. While Lewis burnt off his Weetbix playing the fish, I offered copious emotional support and rummaged about for the net and camera.
Several more times the fish jumped, adding tension to an already exciting fight. Regaining line was a slow process but eventually Lewis had his fish alongside the boat. By this stage the fish wasn’t the only one showing signs of fatigue. I slipped the net under its gleaming white belly and scooping it up, we jointly secured our first fish of the day—and what a beauty. Four more other fish were landed between us that morning, all in the two to three pound range.
Back at camp, barefoot and blinking in the sunlight, a procession of kids sauntered over to admire the five-pound rainbow. Lewis’s Dad smoked it and as we enjoyed it that night as an entrée, one boys face mirrored the smile he’d jumped into the boat with that morning. And tired though he may have been, he was still beaming when he hit the hay a few hours later, one very deserved and lucky Lew.
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ThE fishiNg PAPEr www.thefishingpaper.co.nz10
Captain’s Log: Beam me up spotty
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My son Braydon (15) was to be staying with me for the weekend and had been asking for a while now, “When can you take me fishing Dad?”
I had enjoyed a good few months salmon fishing and towards the end of April, had noticed a big increase in kahawai numbers in the river and even saw bow waves from the schools of fish up at the top of the tidal reach, below the main road bridge where I had been salmon fishing the previous week.
The weekend weather forecast indicated perfect conditions: sunny and warm with an outgoing morning tide and midday low.
“How would you like to go fishing tomorrow?” I asked Braydon after picking him up on the Friday night.
“Yes please that will be cool,” was the immediate reply.
After little sleep in, the car was packed and we set off for the nice low tide beach area at the bottom end of the ‘Banana Hole’. As Braydon had not cast a rod before, I didn’t want to take him down to the crowded mouth area. The morning turned out to be a wee bit of a challenge in that respect, as every-time I gave him a casting demo we hooked up a fish; he got lots of playing, landing and releasing practice though! This went on for about an hour and once the tide changed and ‘kys’ went off the bite he finally got some casting practice in. A couple of hours later he was starting to make reasonable distance.
As a reward for job well done and to save my good salmon rod from being broken, we stopped in at the local H&F store where I purchased him an Shimano Cazna 4000FA Reel and Raider 7’6” Combo complete with braid and a couple new shiny silver/green hex ticers .
“Now you can fish tomorrow with your own rod,” I said.
Come Sunday morning Braydon was up with the birds and I was woken at 6.30 with a, “Hey Dad what time we going fishing?”
After a quick stop at Macca’s for breakfast en route to the river, I pointed him to a nice clear spot where he could get the feel of the rod and I walked up to have a coffee with a friend who fishing about 20-metres away.
“HEY DAD I GOT ONE!”
“Okay, just play it in like you did yesterday,” I called out.
By the time I finished my coffee and wandered back to see how he was getting on, there were three good 5lb+ kahawai sitting on the beach, with another on the line.
“Best I join you,” I spluttered.
By the time the tide had turned, we had landed and released at least 20 fantastic fighting fish between us. A fabulous day
was had by both father and son but more importantly, by the time the water level reached the top of his gumboots, I personally believe our relationship had grown closer together in two days fishing than it had done in the last two years. THANKS FISHING!
The weekend ended not only with a gutting and filleting lesson but an awesome lesson in life.
The ‘People’s Fish’ Brings Life Lesson By Greg Terras
www.thefishingpaper.co.nz
Read us online
The Captain’s Log is always easy to write because it’s personal and usually about family, but this month it is difficult to write for the very reason it is personal and
about family.Last month we lost Gaynor Prestage after a
courageous battle with cancer. She is the wife of my good mate and Deputy Editor Ron and she passed on the first day of May, the day the last issue was released with her son Henry on the front cover holding up a brace of snapper. That poignant coincident had a profound impact on me and I’ll share with you why.
Come September, The Fishing Paper will turn nine-years-old and head into its decade year of being in print. Ten years ago I approached Ron, swearing him to secrecy, and told him I had a dream to create a free fishing/hunting paper and asked him if he would give me a hand to steer it away from the wharf!
He agreed to ‘help out for a bit’ and nearly a decade later he is still here, there when I need him and solid at the helm when the sea turns a little choppy. Annette and I courted the romantic notion that we weren’t just another paper trying to take people’s money for advertising, but we were building a family; we always refer to it as The Fishing Paper Family and it includes our staff and their families, our friends and families, and our customers and our readers too. It may seem a silly notion in today’s grumbly cut-throat world of business, but we try to deliver the best possible product each month to the reader through good honest editorial and we work hard to meet the needs of our advertisers and we are fiercely loyal to them because without them, there would be no paper. We encourage our readers to support our advertisers by purchasing from them whenever possible because that’s what a family does – it supports each other and becomes stronger as a result.
Gaynor meant many things to a great many people. To me she was beautiful, kind,
warm, funny, loving and portrayed a strong but understated sense of self-worth. Yet her one great quality was the one I noticed least until she was gone, perhaps because she did it quietly from the background; pouring tea and slicing juicy home-grown tomatoes and cheese for the cracker biscuits, while Ron and I dominated discussions about misplaced commas, idioms and where the paragraph should start and stop. Gaynor was inspirational: just through a simple comment or two, a laugh here and there, and through her unwavering support, she helped people shine a little brighter, strive a little harder and rise a little higher. And she understood ‘the paper’.
I’ll always remember that issue, that came out on the first of May 2013 with Henry on the front cover and Annette delivering the news that our good friend Gaynor had passed. Of course there were a lot of tears but there also was a smile in there too.
Even at the end, Gaynor inspiring from the background …
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Stick Your Oar In
Mail your letters to Stick Your Oar InThe Fishing Paper, PO Box 9001, Annesbrook, 7044, NELSON
Email: [email protected] Fishing Paper encourages readers contributions and points of view. We ask that all contributions come supplied with contact details. All letters must be emailed, type written or printed legibly, signed and not more than 300 words. The Fishing Paper states that opinions put forward are not necessarily those of the publisher. We reserve the right to publish in part or refuse to publish on legal grounds if the content of the letters are in any way legally contentious.
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Call to Increase
MPAsDear Ed,
Karin Kos from Seafood NZ writes that the
demands ‘coming from many quarters’ for the creation of more no-take marine reserves are misguided (Fishing Paper, May edition). As we are seeing some improvements in commercial fish stocks, she argues, we don’t need more marine protected areas.However, marine reserves are not designed to improve fish stocks. They are designed to improve the health and wellbeing of marine species and ecosystems, for the benefit of everyone. Closing off special areas to fishing, mining and other damaging activities allows fish to spawn and grown to adult size (increasing catches in surrounding fishing grounds) and provides refuge for endangered marine mammals at risk from bycatch, amongst many other benefits.
Marine Protected Areas are good for people too because they help maintain healthy marine environments upon which many people’s livelihoods and recreational activities depend.Far from being misguided, perhaps that is why the demands to increase New Zealand’s full marine protection, which is currently less than 1% of our EEZ, are growing from many different sectors outside of the environmental movement. WWF urges the fishing industry to join these calls. A comprehensive and representative network of Marine Protected Areas benefits us all.Yours faithfully,Chris HoweWWF-New Zealand Executive Director
Cold Fish Have Frozen Fingers?Dear Ed,I’d like to have a gripe about the recent influx of setlines to Tasman Bay – over summer it was like a knitting circle out
there. Setlining is not sporting but basic rape and pillaging. It requires no skill and will result in the decline of a healthy fishery. If guys can’t get their act together and learn to fish with a rod and give the fish a sporting chance, they should stick to buying frozen fishfingers. It’s a disgrace.Regards,Scott Simon
Spreading the newsDear Ed,Hey guys, I’m a recent convert to The Fishing Paper & New Zealand Hunting News having just picked it up in Hamilton – awesome! It leaves anything we have in the North Island for dead – I only wish I’d discovered it sooner. Love the hunting section and in particular the bow hunting stuff. Other mags don’t give us bow hunters a fair shot so good on you Archery Direct. Keep the paper coming.Cheers mate,Aaron WilliamsHamilton
The Incredible Kingfish By Kaifi Muller-Murchie
I live in Golden Bay and I am 9-years-old. This is my first kingfish ever!
It was 95 cm long and I am 145 cm tall; he is huge and my arms are still hurting! My dad and me went trolling for kingies on a warm Friday afternoon, after school in March. He thought I was strong enough for an undersized kingie, so we left Tarakohe boat ramp and raced to the mussel farm. We started trolling; it was so clear with lots of mullet feeding and little jellyfish everywhere. We trolled straight through them and then this one hit so hard on our bouncing Rapala, it almost stopped our boat.
Dad got the other rods in and tried to get the boat away from the mussel floats - we didn’t see him forever. He kept on running and diving and when we saw him the first time deep under the boat, we saw five or six of its mates following him. We waited for the right moment and Dad gaffed him in one go. It went wild in the boat so Dad hit him on the head, dead. We were all shaking: Dad, the kingfish and me.
We took a photo for mum and my sister. Only his head fitted in our chillybin. We started casting, but they were gone, so we trolled again past the mussel floats and bang, bang, a double hitter! I kept mine down while Dad got his one in. His fish was a baby kingie - just 74cm and mine, the second kingfish of my life, was the same size, so we put them both back.
The sun was going down, I was the captain, so I raced back full speed to show mum and my sister back home. He tasted so good and inside his tummy, we found a big mackerel. Best day ever!
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www.thefishingpaper.co.nz12 NEW ZEALAND huNTiNg NEWs
HUNTING
NEWS
new ZeALAnD
Young Hunters Make a Meal of
Kaikoura Mountains
By Dave McDonaldZac McDonald finally bags his stag.
I took a bunch of young Auckland guys for a hunt in the mountains behind Kaikoura, taking young Zak up towards the Clarence River as soon as we had arrived. We had gone for about half an hour when I pointed out a small rocky garden in a valley and
whispered, “This little valley always holds deer. Take a look through your bino’s.” Zak and his Dad scanned the area, sighting four or five large reds. Zak threw up his .25-06 and took aim. “NO,” I hissed, “we will wait here while you make your way around to the left and
keep out of sight. The wind is good, so close the gap to 200-yards; then shoot.” Zak disappeared while Neil and I hung back. Boom! A shot split the silence some 20 minutes later. He had taken out the biggest deer in the mob.As we were cleaning it, a large stag appeared at the top of the clearing and watched the proceedings, but we held off because I knew Nick wanted a stag. I would bring him up tomorrow. On the way down I spotted a bigger stag in a gully by the river - a long shot for anybody. I took note of the time and thought about Nick. I had twisted my knee dragging Zak’s deer to the track and it was getting worse.
We awoke to a clear dawn, the mountains
painted golden by the sun.
Nick decided to hunt alone, so I hung around camp most of the day as the weather deteriorated to light misty rain. By late afternoon, Nick had returned, rested and was ready for the stag; I looked at my watch and the time was about right. Clint and Brady came to watch and we
stopped and glassed the clearing by the river where I had seen the second stag. I picked up a ginger speck and realised it was a hind.I told Nick the stag would be there and may appear soon, but after ten minutes, Clint asked if he could have a shot at the hind. Nick nodded. It was close on 300-yards but Clint was keen to try the .270, so took careful aim and touched off.
There was a pause and then the hind’s
coat exploded as the water in its hair vaporized.
Clint and I went on down, with Brady directing us to the spot. It was huge. The stag was with it and it bolted back up the hill and away.Nick and Brady then continued to where I had told them stag number two was situated. They split up at the head of the rocky garden and Nick commenced the stalk, just getting into position when Brady demolished a hind in the next valley with his .270 Magnum ruining Nick’s chances. Lane rode up and we loaded
the deer onto the bike. Because I had a crook knee, I went for an easy deer along the side river and spotted a hind at the top of a slip and thought, that will do!
I shot her in the neck at 200-yards and
dragged her back out to the track.
By this time Lane had neck shot an easy spiker that crossed the river in front of him, with four other deer. Zak later asked Ivan, our host, if he could get a small stag, so Ivan guided him on a four hour hunt, which produced a nice six-pointer. Needless to say, he was elated.More deer fell to the lads, but I secretly think they took more from the Kaikoura Mountains than an ample feed of tasty venison.
NEW ZEALAND huNTiNg NEWs 13www.thefishingpaper.co.nz
Lane Anderson had a close encounter with this spiker.
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www.thefishingpaper.co.nz14 NEW ZEALAND huNTiNg NEWs
Persistence Pays OffBy Ezra Oates
When I woke up, I had a feeling that today was the day I was going to shoot my first deer. My uncle Mark had mentioned he’d seen two deer in the pines, so I jumped on the four-wheeler and headed towards one of my most prized hunting spots.
I got off the bike before the pines and started the stalk, hoping the deer would still be there and they were.
I stalked closer and closer, step by step, but suddenly stepped on a stick, which broke, causing the deer to run out of the pines.
I bolted up to where I’d last seen them, but they were gone.
As I started back to the bike, I caught sight of a nice fallow hind out of the corner of my eye about 40 metres away, so I slid under the fence to get a good shot, but sadly I just missed and she was off into the native bush. I retrieved the arrow and decided to go for another walk.
As I started stalking through the bush, I heard sticks break and thought to myself, is that a deer? I sure hope so!
From the corner of my eye I
saw another black fallow, but this one was a spiker. He was looking at me, so I stood still and he couldn’t make out what I was; I was fully ‘camo’d’.
I unclipped my release aid on my D loop, drew back and held it for a couple of seconds: the deer walked straight in front of me, broadside on at five metres, so I aimed my 10 pin at his heart region and squeezed the release.
Thwack!The arrow hit the mark and the
deer ran off for like, 15-metres. I was so stunned and excited I had just shot my first deer with a bow. I waited for a couple of minutes before looking for a blood trail, which took a good five minutes before I located a pool, which I followed splotch by splotch.
Then I looked up and saw this wicked animal dead and man did I have happy tears or what? After taking some photos I drew my knife and did what needed to be done. Slinging the deer on my shoulder, still grinning from ear-to-ear, I slogged off toward the bike, some 2.5km away. God I wish I could have told someone but I couldn’t because I was alone.
Half a ‘k’ from the bike I stopped for a break. There stood five deer looking at me and wondering what I was doing with their friend. I continued on and after two hours, made the bike. God was I tired!
Later, my uncle shook my hand and said, “I knew you had it in you boy!”
Then we headed back to the house for a drink.
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story
She had no idea I’d seen her. How could she?Binoculars in-hand, I was two kilometres away
on the river flats whilst she was high on Blue Mountain.
She was feeding in a clearing so high that she was bathed in dawn’s early rays but, down here, the frost was yet untouched by light or warmth. She was on her own, bar a gaunt red stag and a band of wandering Williams. The Black Billies trailed single file towards warming rock crags but Red and her cervine companion both hung close to the manuka edge. They took turns at testing the breeze and glancing nervously towards the distant clamour of yarded cattle and of barking dogs.
Of course I wanted to pit myself against her for she had eluded two sweeps so far. Thorough sweeps by men and dogs better than me and mine. On the pretence of casting a bloodshot eye over the catchment of Blue Mountain Stream, looking for tail-enders, I set off with an ex-SPCA huntaway at foot and a cunning plan in mind.
There were no tailenders to contend with down low so huntaway and hunter began scaling Blue Mountain via the back passage. The breeze was in our favour and stealth was evident in our every move. Stealth, until said huntaway, ex-failed pig dog and SPCA attendee, sniffed out a mob of mid-sized mountain grunters.
Don’t believe for one moment I did not enjoy the interlude, as did the ex-pig dog as she toyed with grunters who toyed with her. But I knew from the moment I heard her first excited bail bark that stealth had flown the coop – and in all likelihood Big Red had too.
I hastened until I came upon high. In a clearing in the scrub and with a view of the bustling cattle yard far to the north, I sought the spoor of a red cow vanished into thin air. She had not taken cover among the crag-hopping goats. She had not sidled across the shale slips on the eroded back face. Where was she then?
I hunted a wild beast with no fear of man, but held instead contempt. Crafty, and with experience gained from ten years of musters (and musterers) the big Hereford played a game of stealth herself. A game which had seen her evade
manhandling for many an autumn. She hid. She lay low and kept absolutely still.
Big Red played hide while I played seek. She hid in a small, tight patch of snow-stunted scrub and it was not until I literally fell upon her that she burst from cover.
Red was no fool, no flighty heifer. The old girl knows she could not cross the slips and would be exposed in warm rock crags. Mountain born and raised, more hornery than any wild boar, she made me work. She alternated between hiding and hightailing and if it weren’t for her enormous big hoof prints and skid marks, indents and slides in soil soft after recent rains, she would have vanished yet again,
‘Twas glorious sport on Blue Mountain. The hunter and the hunted and a half-educated huntaway. Red bailed and she bolted but all too soon it was over, the old bovine trotting stiffly along the frosty flats before fording the Waihopai River.
After ensuring she was resigned to her fate, I left Red there to be scooped up with other tail-enders, the last of the last brought in by better men and dogs than me and mine.
Later, however, Red continued her ruses. She came to within cooee of the cattle-chaos but never allowed herself to be trapped within the confines of the yards. No dog could work her, no fence hold her and no amount of bluster could rattle her determination to remain free and wild.
Whilst better men and I waded in the muck and waved yardsticks and yelled ho-ho’s herding hundred of semi-wild bush cows till all were TB tested, pregnancy tested and divested of their bulls, their calves and their pride.
Big Red quietly grazed nearby. When the yard-work was over she joined her bellowing, bereft mates and once again headed for rocky mountain high.
Should I be so lucky to do the Glazebrook muster next autumn, I hope to see a Hereford cow grazing the snowline of Blue Mountain. I have a lot of respect for her and hope the old girl dies up on her hilltop haven when her natural time is up – I doubt she feels the same about me.
Seeing Red By Kim Swan
StRaigHt SHOOting with Brad McMillan from Belmont Precision ammunition
NEW ZEALAND huNTiNg NEWs 15www.thefishingpaper.co.nz
Clean you rifle, yes it seems like a no brainer, but I’m constantly surprised by the amount of customers I encounter who do not clean their firearms after every shoot. You risk serious corrosion and or bore damage by not inspecting and cleaning regularly.
Young Waimea hunter Shawn Burnett with his grandfather Alick Burnett and some of the many paradise shelduck they bagged on opening weekend.
Opening Weekend of the game Bird Season
nelson
The general consensus for most of the nelson/Marlborough region opening weekend was that a reasonable two days was had by most hunters, with pretty good numbers of ducks about. Hunters were pleased that the 4 May opening weekend fell ten days after a full moon, unlike last season when it coincided – the general feeling was that the lack of full moon contributed to later mallard flights, with dribs and drabs moving all day.
While hunting may have been a bit slower than usual on Saturday morning, some hunters that persisted all day were rewarded with bag limits. As usual, the hunters with good ponds who had put the work in prior to the season by feeding out several hundred kilograms of grain did very well, others less so. Good numbers of paradise shelduck were bagged throughout the region - a bumper parry breeding season this year with very large brood sizes observed by landowners in some areas probably contributed to this. A strong Tasman Bay north-easterly on Sunday also got estuary loafing mallards moving in the afternoon for those Tasman hunters still out having a go. Marlborough hunters putting in the effort also did well, although Wairau lagoons was a little slower than usual on Saturday morning due to calm dry conditions. Good numbers of paradise shelduck were also obtained in Marlborough.
Out of a total of over 95 hunters, that staff and honorary rangers checked over the opening week, only four were picked up for offences such as use of lead shot and/or no-hunting licence, and opening week will turn out to be a very expensive exercise for these individuals. Marlborough Police also decided to undertake firearms licence checking of game bird hunters on opening weekend this year in Marlborough.
Pheasant Hunters – don’t forget your permits! These are now a legal requirement to hunt pheasant in this region and can be obtained online through the Fish & Game website at www.fishandgame.org.nz/content/pheasant-hunting-permit or through phoning our office on 03 5446382.
Quail – plenty of surviving broods observed this year possibly due to the long hot summer. Contact BG Securities or PF Olsen for forest access permits if you want to massively expand your available upland game hunting area outside the public riverbed space – permit fees vary depending upon your area of interest.
Know Anyone Who Is Interested In Taking Up Hunting?Nelson Marlborough Fish and Game and NZ Deerstalkers
Association are again offering an introductory course in hunting (both game bird and big game) that is designed to help and encourage new and potential hunters (minimum age 16 years) into the sport. This course is ‘hands on’ and a great opportunity to gain practical skills and information from experienced instructors.
For more information contact Fish and Game NZ, Nelson Marlborough Region (03) 544 6382 or Bill O’Leary, NZ Deerstalkers’ Association (03) 5476202.
My young grandson Miles burst through the door fit to burst.
“There is a deer in Milsom’s paddock,” shouted the youngster.
Mmmm,” says Grandma!“There really is!”There was indeed a deer in the neighbour’s paddock,
but the problem was, we don’t own a gun.So off went Miles to tell our tenant, who wandered
up with his trusty twenty-two, but he faced a slight problem. The young fallow was cuddling up to some cows.
Bang and a miss. Oh god where did that go? Not into a cow anyway, as
they continued dopily grazing on. So we rang another neighbour who possessed a more
reliable weapon and he ultimately arrived upon the scene.
Big bang ... that did it!Miles learnt a bit about butchering, as Grandad did
the honours while it hung in the shed. And then there were deer ribs for dinner.Milsom got a good bit too. After all, it was in his
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The Hughes 500 E easily lifted off, gathered speed and headed in a southwest direction. After all, one passenger and a small Labrador dog, plus pilot isn’t much of a load. Before long both the tussock and the hut appeared; sure the Roar was over, but winter was still deciding to arrive, and those exhausted sika stags would be doing their best to regain vital body condition before the snows arrived. They well know that once the snow arrives, virtually all growth stops and the food supply will be meagre indeed. These conditions make for good hunting and much less competition from other hunters. Not all the best stags are shot during the roar.
So after a quick unpack, the inner man satisfied for the immediate future, it was off to take the rifle and the dog for a walk. An hour of careful walking brought us to a good viewpoint in the tussock; remember we were there to hunt deer, not spook them, so we didn’t want our scent over the whole block in the first day. If you need more exercise than normal hunting provides, take up mountain running. Even though the Roar was over, that doesn’t mean that you can’t try the odd sika or red call. The latest I have heard sika stags going to town, is early June and I know of others who have heard them going later.
No takers for my efforts, even though the dog seemed to think there was something
around. Suddenly I noticed some movement and spotted a sika hind barreling through the tussock; too far away and too quick for me. No point in stirring everything up with a barrage of ineffective shots, let’s wait and see if any more potential customers reveal themselves.
Sure enough, an hour or so before dark I spotted a couple more hinds walking up a gully system a couple of hundred metres away. The Swarovski 10 X 42 HD binoculars quickly pulled everything into perspective, revealing five hinds and a medium sized 8-point Jap stag trying to make good their escape. While high points do make good observations points, by default they are also better at spreading your scent with the prevailing wind, which is what had happened here. When is the wind not blowing in the Kawekas? Even a light breeze doesn’t take long to spread bad news.
With the rifle already loaded and a reasonable shooting position organised using the daypack as a rest, it only took seconds to send a Sierra 6.5 MatchKing on its way. The initial velocity of 3000 fps made short work of the intervening distance and another stag was added to the tally. That was enough to carry, so the hinds were left.
Points to PonderThink a little differently at
times. While the Roar is a good hunting period, everybody is doing it, which means more competition for the resource. The trophy rack won’t be any
smaller if it is shot a month later.
Your scent in the wrong place will ruin any stalk or hunt, so always hunt into the wind. Appropriately trained hunting dogs are very good at detecting deer and sometimes they even seem able to sense their presence; this ability sometimes applies to good human hunters, also.
Use appropriate equipment for the terrain. My rifle was a 6.5 x 284, a good medium-power open country cartridge, sighted in for 200 metres, using an appropriate medium range projectile. The scope was a Swarovski Z6 1.7 x 42, the binoculars as above. Both sets of optics have very good low light resolution: if you can’t see it, you can’t shoot it.
Don’t take a rushed shot unless absolutely necessary - no point in stirring things up.
Two days later on the other side of the valley I shot another 8-point Jap stag. He was out feeding up large; the one shot two days previously hadn’t disturbed things at all.
If you have the confidence, I personally believe solo hunting is more productive, and safer. You can and should carry a personal locator beacon. Solo hunting also prevents too many hangovers. Maybe it’s fun to drink your hunting mates under the table, but it doesn’t help produce positive hunting results. Besides, why are you really there?
the Secrets of a Successful Solo By Paul Clark
Now please don’t shoot off my tail feathers if you, the reader, knows that your knowledge and findings are at odds with what I have written here. I don’t have a degree in whatever it takes to form a scientific opinion ... I’m just tossing my hat in the ring and have based this article on what I’ve gleaned throughout the last few decades. Hold onto your shorts - here we go!
Belgian scientists produced 1080 in the late 1890s, however, it was so deadly that almost every western country had 1080 withdrawn from the market by the 1920s. In fact, banned it 100%.
Tasteless, odourless and with no known cure or antidote, America ranks it as the most deadly toxic poison known to man. In a lot of countries (including the USA) 1080 is classified as a terrorist weapon; it takes ages for it to break down, with toxicity remaining the same.
Now here’s an eye opener - 1080 won’t break down in pure water (excluding impure water - not my argument but one that I believe Mike Meads ex-Government ace scientist puts forward). He states that 1080 dust or residue clings to aquatic life i.e. plants, insects, worms, snails and hundreds of others.
A scientific programme initiated by Prof Meads was based at Whitecliffs Forest to study the effects of 1080 on beetles, weta, flies, moths and wasps; a food chain. Almost 10-tonne of 1080 was dropped by helicopter. The result showed positive damaging effects.
It seems that the kill rate of non-target species is one of concern but ignored, and yet 1080, which is totally banned in most countries, is still being applied in hundreds of tonnes throughout NZ.
Now for the real shocker: Depending on the intake, it takes around 8 to 40 hours for an animal to die from 1080 ingestion - larger animals longer.
People should be asked to watch a film on this horrific happening: Animals screaming in pain, jaws locking, blood, necks twisting around violently, eyes rolled back, crunching and grinding teeth, total loss of control of body parts, bleeding from nose, rigid limbs, agony, mucous ... and after hours or days of sheer torture, cardiac arrest. That’s it!
I’ve based this on my wanderings and observations. Peter Hancock and myself came across a large stag behind Norm Trebilcock’s farm at Te Kuha, just out of Westport. It was dragging itself across a large swamp and was obviously in agony. Peter shot it. He was a big tough guy but was in tears. His opinion of those who spread the poison cannot be printed here.
Californian doctors claim lab evidence suggests that 1080 could be related to Parkinsons disease and papers also link 1080 to cancer.
As the USA have stated: odourless, tasteless, no cure and a teaspoonful could kill many people. The ideal terrorist weapon!
VIewPOInT: NZ Harbours Terrorist Weapon By Peter Harker
Photo credit: The Graf brothers
NEW ZEALAND huNTiNg NEWs 17www.thefishingpaper.co.nz
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Dear Heslops,Thanks for fi xing the rattle in the car. Who would have thought it was loose change in the ashtray. I speared this big fl ounder in Westhaven Inlet and am too busy to pick up the car. Can you drive it to Westport and I’ll meet you there? Bruce.
Here Pig, Pig, Pig … Pork! By Mark Wills
On this trip I had an ol’ mate with me. Gav an’ I go back a few years. By the time we got to the hut it was about 3.00pm Sunday afternoon with a very slight breeze and starting to cool down. After we got unloaded and set the fire (but not lit) we decided to go out and look for a pig.
On the trip out the back I shot three bunnies, from which I removed the back steaks to be eaten at a later date. We were now into the last thirty-minutes of daylight and we were riding the ATV’s very slowly along a track very high up, which gave us a good view down onto each small gully that we crossed. After going through three small creek heads, I spotted fresh rooting
below us. With the bikes turned off it wasn’t long before we saw the target species and there were five of them just casually nosing through the roots of a fern patch. They were totally unaware of our presence so I had all the time in the world to get a bead on one and squeeze the trigger. Instantly one collapsed and the other four started to run towards us, not knowing where we were; bad move for them, with two more hitting the deck before the last two changed direction and disappeared over the ridge and out of sight.
Thankfully Gav had bought out a long length of rope, which I dragged down the hill towards the pigs. After I gutted them, I had to carry them about 60 yards to the end of the rope, which I attached to the back legs and then with a shout up to Gav, he started to ride his bike down the other side of the ridge and the pigs started to move up towards the track. This method sure beats the hell out of having to ferry the pigs up the hill. With all of the pigs lashed to the side of the bikes it was now back to the hut with the use of the headlights. The pigs were hung and a
meatbag put over each one. The fire was lit and and a cool beer was next on the list.
Dinner was eventually served: venison steak, spuds, onions and tomatoes, washed down with a Rapaura series Pinot - we do it pretty tough!
We were up at 5.30am and it didn’t take long to get a flame going on top of the hot embers; breakfast was fish, eggs and toast. Gav decided to have a look back down the track, so I decided to walk up a creek where I shot pigs a few years back. I saw sign high up on the right side after about thirty minutes of walking but didn’t see pigs, so carried on. After about two hours
glassing and walking, I glassed a mob of 50lb pigs not far from cover about 150 yards away, so I quickly got a good rest and shot a nice shiny grey boar. The others bolted into the cover and out of sight.
With the pig gutted and head removed, it was on my back and back down the creek I slogged. When I got back to the first bit of sign I had seen earlier, I was pleasantly surprised to see a good size boar out in the open sunning himself. I dropped the pig off my back and used him as a good rest to get a bead on the boar. With a slight squeeze of the trigger, the boar rolled 180 yards down towards me in the creek so I only had to climb up about 40 yards to get him.
After removing his hind quarters and back steaks it was back on my back with the other pig and back down towards the hut. I arrived back at the hut about 12pm to find Gav had shot four goats. I was feeling a bit buggered and hungry so had a feed and then put meatbags on the pigs. I then had a lay down for
a couple of hours. Tea that night was bunny back steaks dusted with a few spices, then crumbed and served with wedges. After tasting that Gav thought Colonel Sanders must have been my grandfather.
Next morning we were going to have a look out the far end of the farm and we only saw one pig, which I had to shoot on the run because it saw us about the same time we spotted it. It was a nice fat sow of about 80lb, which was soon gutted and on the bike. Back at the hut all the pigs were loaded onto the bikes and off back to the ute we went , very happy with our few days hunting and lots of fresh pork to take home.
Photo credit: The Graf brothers
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I got a phone call in the late 1990s that went a bit like this:
“Gidday, is that Mike the painter? This is Steve the builder, I’ve got a hut way up in the back of the Karamea and was wondering if you’re keen on painting it?” The bloke called Mike continued, “We will be driving up the Wangapeka and then flying in by helicopter”.
I said,” I’ll have to think about it.” And then promptly said, “Thought about it, when do we go”?
I rang my dad and said, “Guess what? I’m flying in by helicopter to Karamea and painting a hut”. And then the phone calls started. “Geez son, what a great trip that would be, I’ve never been in a helicopter before, bet its great hunting in there”!
“Yeah, will be Dad and I’m looking forward to it,” I replied.
Ten minutes later the phone rings again and the conversation went like this:
“Dad?”“Hi son, I’ve been thinking about your
trip and reckon you should chuck your trout rod in as the fishing in there would be awesome”.
“Yip Dad, will do”.“You’re very lucky son; I’ve always
wanted to do a trip like that. Ten minutes later the phone rings again
and I’m thinking that’ll be Dad again.“Gidday Mike, Steve here, how many
painters do you have. “Two,” I replied. Then I thought of the
old man and said, “Oh yeah, I’ve got an adult apprentice as well”.
“How old?” asked Steve. “Um, he’s just under 70, but he’s great
at doing smokos and cleaning up and any other stuff you want done,” I said.
So there it was, I had just perked Dad a free heli hunting/fishing trip for doing a few smokos.
So I rung him and said, “Hi Dad, you’re back in the workforce again doing an
adult painting apprenticeship and you’re flying in with us tomorrow. How quick can you pack?”
So we drive up the Wangapeka. And it starts!
“Geez son, I’m looking forward to this: I brought my rifle, chucked the spotlight in too, got my trout rod too, didn’t think the waders would take too much room so I’ve brought them too. Might see a deer on the way in, might get one of those helicopter radio things to put over my ears”.
I can just hear it now - “Doug to pilot - come in pilot, do you know any good clearings for a deer?”
“How about a hole for a trout?”“How long have you been flying?”“How high are we?”“Gidday I’m Doug”!We get to the clearing and see the
helicopter and a huge pile of gear. I introduce my adult apprentice to Steve.
“Gidday mate I’m Doug, I’ve never been in a helicopter before.” Steve’s looking sideways at me and I know he’s thinking geez if this old bugger’s under 70 it’s only by a few weeks.
Then Doug doubles the gear pile. I’m looking at the gear pile and the helicopter and thinking it doesn’t look like it’s going to fit. Oh well, I’m going to have a great view from the front; after all its my trip. Steve looks at all the gear and says, “Okay it’s going to be two trips”.
Yes! I’m thinking I’ll definitely get a front seat. So we load up about half the gear and Steve says, “I’ll take the adult apprentice and the builders in first and do a second trip for the rest”.
Guess what? The old bugger got the front seat and the head radio! When it returned we started loading up and Steve picked up a large box with Dads waders and spotlight in it and said, “What’s this”?
Without hesitation, “I said its sandpaper
and turps”, so in it went on the front seat. I hopped in the last square foot in the back and thought, ‘Oh well, I can still see out the side.
Then I was given the dog to hold! So knees doubled over and jammed in amongst the boxes and trying to hold the dog, in we flew. We landed, unpacked and started work. Dad helped sand, cover up, clean, did smokos and made the tea. The next day all the prep work was done and I gave him a ladder - an 8ft ladder. And he fell off. From the top, to the bottom. And it hurt. Steve came round the corner and said, “Your adult apprentice has fallen off the top of the ladder and isn’t looking good, might have broken a leg or ankle”.
Dad said, “I’ll be right son, so long as I keep moving I’ll be right” while hobbling around.”
The next morning both legs were black and blue from waist to toes. So Steve made the call to fly him out. In the bloody front seat again, with the bloody radio again!
“giDDaY i’M DOUg” By Mike White Biscuits for Brownie PointsBy Ian Hadland
I can usually keep most pre-autumn hunting preparations hidden from the missus - not that after 20-years it’s any secret I’ll be away hunting at every available opportunity during April and May. Maintaining a low profile and doing the odd lingering home project at a critical time of the year, does help to keep that delicate balance between ‘happy wife - happy life’. This means I can leave for a trip without the door slamming behind me and that makes the first few days away hunting a little more guilt free.
One activity I cannot hide is the annual cook-up of ‘hunting biscuits’, which are great for day hunts and better value, dollar-wise and energy-wise, than muesli bars.
They are essentially made using the standard ANZAC biscuit recipe from the Edmonds cookbook. I make a double batch. Add a little more butter and a cup of fruit cake mix to the bowl. I also use one third less sugar than quoted in the book, as the fruit can really lift the sweetness.
I make them big biscuits - 10cm+ in diameter and 2cm high. They take a little longer to cook, so keep an eye on the oven. When they are removed from the oven, top them immediately with some chocolate buttons and press them on so they stick on the biscuit.
When cold, store in pairs in snap-lock bags in the freezer until you are ready for a trip.
If you have kids in the house, it is worthwhile making a bunch of smaller ones too. Top them with chocolate buttons so they can have ‘hunting biscuits’ at school, while you are out in the hills. This small token of thoughtfulness can really bring the brownie points back into the black - at least temporarily!
One of these large power-packs can do you for lunch on a day hike, or are great at the end of a hard day on the hill, when your energy really starts to wane. They can really bring you right. Holding an extra one in your emergency kit could just keep you going if you were out overnight.
One last tip: these have high quantities of both coconut and rolled oats so are heavy on fibre that can strip your body of valuable hydration during digestion. Always drink plenty of water with them.
Finally, a cross between economical boating and a fishing kayak. That’s what Nifty Boats offer with this unique style of watercraft. It packs down into a carry bag within minutes or, alternatively, it will fit on most standard roof racks. Easily managed by one person it is also rated to take up to three people or carry around 225 kgs. They come with a CE certificate and are rated to take up to a 2.5hp outboard. This makes for super economical boating. The package includes a foot pump, carry bag, two alloy seats, a pair of alloy shaft oars and a repair kit, and comes in a choice of colours, including camo.
They are ideal for ocean fishing, rivers, lakes or any waterway that is hard to access with most boats. Ideal for duck hunting, deerstalking, free divers, fresh or saltwater fishing, or just exploring. If you are looking for an alternative to a fishing kayak, be sure to check these nifty little boats out. Enquiries to www.niftyboats.co.nz or call 0278249020
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THE INSTIGATORThe Instigator: a person who initiates a course of action. Arrow selection can be difficult, expensive and a daunting experience, especially if new to archery. How many times have you taken a shot while hunting and lost your arrow, or damaged your arrow when practicing? The price of arrows can quickly add up to a small fortune, especially if you’re hunting with a Broadhead. The Instigator is an economical hard-hitting, super durable arrow at an affordable price, providing excellent performance for New Zealand’s hunting conditions. The Instigator has the image of the silver fern, a powerful and emotional symbol of inspiration at times when it matters.
Made with bow hunters in mind in the USA, The Instigator arrow is a consistent product, offering stable flight and high hitting power. Available from Archery Direct – New Zealand Archery Products. www.archerydirect.co.nz or phone 0508 ARCHERY (0508 2724379) for all your archery needs
Yukon Optics, and their professional Pulsar branded products, are proving successful amongst pest controllers and landowners throughout New Zealand.
The use of night vision for pest control increases productivity, for a minimal investment. Commonly target species include rabbits, wallabies, goats and Canada geese.
In some areas, farmers protect their crops from deer, and their lambs from marauding pigs. Night vision is especially effective when animals have become light shy from intensive spotlighting.Yukon and Pulsar night vision products are available though a nationwide network of authorised dealers. Visit the Yukon Optics website for product and local dealer information. www.yukonoptics.co.nz
Night Vision Systems for Pest Control
ThE fishiNg PAPEr www.thefishingpaper.co.nz20
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I recently travelled to Huntly for a new event on the match fishing calendar, on open competition organised by Kiwi Coarse Tackle (see www.kiwicoarsetackle.yolasite.com
I’d heard the summer’s drought had left water levels low, but I was astonished to see the Mangawara River reduced to a virtual trickle, with exposed muddy banks four to five feet high in places.
This made pegging the match stretch interesting to say the least. Some fishing positions were perched high up on normal bank level with the water only just reachable with a landing net, while others were sat low down on exposed mud flats with a high bank behind making pole handling difficult. Pegs situated on bends in the river were also fortunate to have a deeper channel of water; whereas those on the straighter sections had little more than 2ft depth right the way across. What difference this would make no-one could tell, as there appeared to be plenty of fish activity throughout the river on the day before the competition.
My draw for Saturday was Peg 7. This would normally be Peg 6 and at the end of A section, but with sections of 8 being used for this match there was an additional peg in place above a bridge at the top of the section, and one more around the bend in the river approximately 40m below me. Both of these ‘end pegs’ had
a water depth of around 6ft. Peg 2 had 5ft and everyone else just 2ft. You can see from the photo how low the water level was by the fence post at normal bank level. I also had a tree lying in the water to my right preventing me from casting downstream into the deeper channel, and this proved to be a problem.
To cut a long story short, all the fish were in the deeper water. The angler on Peg 1 weighed in 17lbs, Peg 8 - 19lbs, and I managed one eel, two rudd and a small carp for just 3lb 5oz. Not a great start!
My hopes of some more water on Sunday were dashed when I drew Peg 3! At least all my pole rigs were ready, as I again had just 2ft of depth in front of me. This time, though, I did have some far bank trees where I hoped a few fish might be lurking, but regular casting across the river with swim-feeder only produced one rudd and a small catfish. I rotated my efforts around a short and long pole line and the feeder but there was never any regular sign of fish and bites were sporadic. Fortunately, two of my bites were from carp of around 3lbs each and with some bits and pieces I managed to put together a weight of 8lb 15oz, which was enough to win the section on another tough day. It also rained, and we all got wet, but I’m hoping for plenty more rain to restore the river to its best form ahead of the Nationals in October.
New forms of electronic gadgetry we now take for granted in our everyday lives can be used to advantage in the seafood industry as well. A recent trial of electronic monitoring in the fleet off Timaru is showing a way to the future.While the attention may be on the use of video cameras, other electronics, such as; GPS, motion sensors, engine and net and winch operation recorders, are all used already on some vessels.
As Richard Wells of the Deepwater Group puts it, “On a fishing vessel, we can measure everything that goes round and round, pulls ropes, goes hot and cold or freezes”.
Human observers reporting to the government have been used for by-catch surveillance for years. For instance, MPI observers have been on the inshore trawl fleet off Taranaki for the past year, because of a concern that Maui’s dolphins may occasionally be in these waters. But human observers are expensive, costing more than $600 a day, and because of legal requirements and the limited capacity of small vessels, they often displace working crew. Also, they can’t see everything at once.
There are two advantages with electronic monitoring for the seafood industry. Firstly, it proves to the public and our regulators that we are
behaving responsibly.
As Seafood New Zealand’s Chairman Eric Barratt says in his advocacy for electronic monitoring, “It can be an effective tool to fight back our critics by providing a tangible demonstration of New Zealand’s sustainable fishing practices.”
The industry is accused of widespread underreporting of by-catch of Hector’s dolphins for example. The Timaru monitoring has proved that this is not the case.
The second and more direct benefit is that huge amounts of useful fisheries data can be collected objectively, throughout a voyage and across a whole fleet. Electronic monitoring can gather information on exactly where and when the various fish types were caught, and even the size and age of the fish. There are devices overseas that haul the caught fish across a ruler, which electronically measures them.
This information is invaluable in calculating the recruitment of young fish into the population and how many there will be in say, the next three or four years. This information, on the potential scale it can be gathered across a fleet, could also be vital to assess the status of a particular species population and whether the allowable catch could go up or should
go down. Currently allowable catch limit adjustments often either don’t happen or are very slow to be amended on the basis of either sparse or very expensively gathered information.
Electronic monitoring is not an instant panacea. One size does not fit all. Vessels vary enormously in the way they work. Monitoring of one species catch with one technique is not the same when the season changes and the skipper goes after another species with a different catching method.
And for many fishers detailed surveillance is perhaps a fearful prospect. Things go wrong at sea and mistakes are made, as they do everywhere else. Nobody wants to feel that their embarrassing moments are recorded with the prospect of going viral on YouTube.The industry is well aware of the need to resolve the privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, cost, suitability and technical aspects and so extract the value of the information to best advantage.
New Zealand Seafood Industry Committed to Electronic Monitoring By Tim Pankhurst, CEO Seafood NZ
Coarse Fishing By Dave Dixon
no water, no fish
ThE fishiNg PAPEr 21www.thefishingpaper.co.nz
New Zealand’s annual drowning toll is one of the worst in the developed world.
Hypothermic and I Didn’t Know ItBy Annette Bormolini
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Today I had truncated gurnard for lunch: fresh from the sea, poached gently in milk and served with a squeeze of lemon ... how good can it be? Even better; it was gurnard I had caught, and the snapper for tea tonight is the biggest snapper I’ve ever landed. It may not be a whopper compared to the photos in the Fishing Paper, but it was much bigger than the usual pannies, and makes me proud.
My freezer is freshly loaded with the beautiful crayfish coloured flesh from the perch, blue cod, tarakihi and more. All this bounty from a day’s fishing near Separation Point, Golden Bay.
The forecast was predicting rain for the next eleven days, so this day was the day! The sea was smooth and calm as a millpond, the colours amazing, with spawn floating like gold lace in the deep green. Small shoals of tiny silver fish darted hither and thither, not sure where they should be. There were penguins fishing and mollyhawks, frowning at us from a few feet away, waiting for the opportunity to snatch a feed.
In the distance the gold of the National Park beaches, intercepted by outcrops of rocks and backed by bush. A glorious setting for fishing!
Not that we had time to admire the view! The first place we stopped immediately
supplied blue cod and tarakihi, and we quickly filled half of our cod quota with fish much bigger than the minimum size. So we moved and what a change that brought: noisy winged gurnard, colourful red perch, tasty rig and those much-sought after snapper. Both of the octipi we pulled up were over two-feet across and a rich apricot colour. We didn’t have the heart to put them on ice, so back they went for another day. I caught a fish I’d never seen before ... an opaque-like fish that looked similar to a flounder, but only about four inches long.
An American gentleman who has fished all over the world was trying his hand at fly-fishing and, amazingly, he hooked a snapper for his efforts. The skipper decided to give the idea a go also and pulled up the biggest perch of the day on his first cast!
Another of our team had never caught a snapper, even though he’s been in NZ 35 years and in Golden Bay for six. He was delighted to not only get a snapper, but then another, and another ... What a day he had!
There was a brilliant battle with a kahawai, but the fish took one look at all of us and decided
t h a t he didn’t need to be anyone’s tea!
We all forgot to have lunch, as the fish just kept on coming, but the skipper made sure we were primed with tea and coffee. There was much laughter, and, of course, the odd fishy story.
We were up to quota for cod and the fishbox was full, but there’s always the chance of that special catch. Mine came at that last spot - the biggest snapper I’ve ever caught and what a great end to the fishing that was!
None of us knew each other when we met up, but a day’s fishing is great for building friendships and encouraging teamwork. The equipment was easy to use, the advice useful, the skipper patient and knowledgeable, and the day stunning - and definitely a great antidote to all the stresses of busy lives.
So, thanks to Leigh from Wildcat Charters, I had a great day yesterday!
As winter starts showing up it’s a rude wake up call to stay warm, pull out your gear and always be prepared to stay warm. In winter there is a good chance of getting cold but when the summer is so hot, you do not think about the cold so much. I got cold while swimming in summer, without being aware of it.
Family had invited the children to Momorangi Bay for the school holidays; the weather was hot and still and after countless phone calls from Anna and Daniel to come to the bay, we decided to put work aside and visit. They weren’t wrong, it was glorious and soooo hot and the water was calling me, “Come to me Annette!” (Editor’s note: Thought it was only me who said that!) Togs on and a round up of kids and the usual who’s coming? I am from Daniel and I’m not from Anna. That sorted it was a race to the wharf, for the kids to show us their jumping skills.
I am a relatively strong swimmer and will get in the water at the first opportunity and today was not going to be a freeze your skin off red day.
I jumped from the wharf, swam out to moored up boats, dived down several metres and had races with the kids. It was great; I would have been in the water for about 30 minutes and just about had my fill and was getting out, but like all kids, Anna changed her mind about coming for a swim and begged me to stay in and to watch her jump from the wharf. Okay.
So for another 20 minutes I treaded water only 8m from the wharf in about 5m of water. The kids were finally satisfied that I had viewed enough jumps and I was allowed out. Great, I went to move and found that I could hardly lift my arms or kick my legs. I could feel
panic set in a little; no one was watching me and I was a little embarrassed to yell out for help, as I was not that far from the wharf and a competent swimmer. Once again I tried and still very little movement. I thought, oh my god I am just going to sink to the bottom and no one is even going to even know. It seemed like everything on my body was freezing up. I could feel tears coming out my eyes. No, I thought, I can do this, and willed my arms to start moving. Slowly they did and what should have been a dash to the wharf, felt like a marathon swim.
When I got to the wharf I was breathing like I had indeed run a marathon and it took a little while to get my breath back. Everone was playing completely unaware of my battle.
Once on shore, I realised I had become cold and fatigued, possibly almost hypothermic, and I didn’t even know it. It happened quickly ... and on a hot day in summer.
Regardless of how warm you feel, it is important to keep arms and legs moving while in the water – BUT GET OUT the moment you start to feel weary.
ThE fishiNg PAPEr www.thefishingpaper.co.nz22
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We are at the NZ National Field Days, Mystery Creek, 12 - 15 June, Stand C1
Mick’s Makara Monster
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444 Cuba St, Alicetown, Lower Hutt – 04 589 9500
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The staff here at The Fishing Paper & New Zealand Hunting News got quite a shock when this photo appeared over the editor’s desk last month, because it proved that some Aussies could read.Pictured is legendary Australian
fox hunter, Cobber Costin, taking a break and reading his favourite outdoor publication, The Fishing Paper & New Zealand Hunting News. He reckons there is nothing like it in Australia, although he does struggle a bit with it being written in English.Cobber is well known throughout
the Outback because he was the real-life bloke Crocodile Dundee was originally modelled on, but of course Cobber is humble about the exposure and doesn’t like to talk about it.“Typical bloody Hollywood
exaggerated me out of all proportion – I was actually a goanna hunter in those days and, yes, I did have the power to hypnotise the big evil lizards and stop them in their tracks –
like Dundee did with that water buffalo.”But when pressed, he admits it
was actually achieved by simple trickery.“I’d throw salt in their eyes and
they’d freeze on the spot and glare at you as though you’d caught them pinching the Crown jewels!”He reckoned that ‘Paul Hogan
fella’ did all right with that Linda Kozlowski. Cobber later became a professional fox hunter himself and has the odd story to tell about a few snarly vixens from his early days. He made good money spotlighting, but these days he’s now a bit past the nightlife and mainly whistles at foxes.“If you sit real still, you can almost
whistle them up to your feet,” he reckons. “Strangely I have my most success when whistling the theme tune to that Pommie TV series Only Fools and Horses!”Could it be that Cobber Costin
is also Australia’s answer to ‘Del Boy’?When The Fishing Paper &
New Zealand Hunting News put the question to him, he deftly sidestepped the issue and posed a question of his own.“Trust me cobber, have I got a
deal for you … ever tasted salted goanna?”
Fishing Paper a Good Aussie Deal
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A cracker day in late March saw fishing mates, Mick Binns and Daryl Wellwood, take Daryl’s custom built Morris Metal’s five-metre alloy runabout for a day out. The mission was to have a great day on the briny and bring home some nice table fish. No pressure, but Daryl’s wife had hinted that fresh fish hadn’t been on the table for quite some time.
The intention was to target groper and tarakihi south of Mana Island, but by midday things were looking grim, with neither of the target species on the menu and only a few Scarpies(Sea Perch) and Spiny Dogfish to show for their efforts.
A decision was made to head down to the Boom Rock area, north of Makara, and target Snapper. Not long after anchoring, Daryl pulled up a couta and after the usual debacle of getting it unhooked, tossed it back over the side where it rolled over on the surface a little worse off for wear. At that instant, a humongous kingie cruised up and glided around the couta for a look, only a few metres from the boat as only kingies can do; however it wasn’t interested enough to make meal of it.
A frenzy of activity on board followed, with a mad quest for something that could entice the big king. A lucanus jig was tied onto one of the snapper rods and cast and retrieved hurriedly; not really the right lure for that situation and needless to say, it didn’t raise too much interest from the big brute. In hindsight, it probably would have been over very quickly had it actually struck the lure. The fish disappeared and the boys presumed bottom fishing. When Daryl pulled up a blue cod, Mick, not one to miss an opportunity, promptly rigged it up as a live bait on his trusty 9/0 Penn Senator deepwater outfit, loaded with heavy nylon that hadn’tt been changed for years. The bluey had not long hit the water when it was monstered by the XOS king.
It was all on for the next 40 minutes or so, and Mick doesn’t understand how it didn’t get away, having circled everything, including the anchor rope, the burley pot and some rocky outcrops near the shoreline, several times, This was destiny for Mick, Daryl and the big King, It’s number was up and Mick
landed the fish of a lifetime. Needless to say, there would be a heap of smoked fish for friends and family, especially Daryl’s wife who was promised something for the table.
The giant king tipped the scales at 41.6kg at the Mana dive shop. We were lucky here at Hunting and Fishing to see the fish, as Mick and Daryl kindly stopped off to show us on the way home.
What a bruiser of a fish; I noticed a hole behind the head, which I first thought was a gaff mark but, on closer inspection, realised it was a healed over spear gun shaft wound that you could push your index finger into, There was also a scar half way down the fish on the opposite side, indicating the a spear shaft had gone right through the fish on an angle but missing the spine, despite this, the fish had healed and was in bumper condition - what a battleship to have ripped off a spearo’s shaft, recover and put on weight to fight like it did.
An awesome catch by a couple of good fishing mates in what has been, a brilliant fishing season.
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“Come along and brush up on your shing skills with Henderson’s. If you have ever wanted to perfect the di� erent techniques of jig and so� bait shing join us for a night with special guests, Chris Wong from BCS Enterprises and New
Zealand’s leading expert in jig shing. Joining him are others, including fishing guru and owner of � e Fishing Paper and New Zealand Hunting News, Daryl Crimp!”
Jigging / Slow Jigging & Winter Sofbait Evening
Thursday 18 July - 7pmMarlborough Club
6 russell Terrace, Blenheimregister @ www.facebook.com/hendersonsLtd
ThE fishiNg PAPEr 23www.thefishingpaper.co.nz
TFPTRAVeLS
The staff here at The Fishing Paper & New Zealand Hunting News got quite a shock when this photo appeared over the editor’s desk last month, because it proved that some Aussies could read.Pictured is legendary Australian
fox hunter, Cobber Costin, taking a break and reading his favourite outdoor publication, The Fishing Paper & New Zealand Hunting News. He reckons there is nothing like it in Australia, although he does struggle a bit with it being written in English.Cobber is well known throughout
the Outback because he was the real-life bloke Crocodile Dundee was originally modelled on, but of course Cobber is humble about the exposure and doesn’t like to talk about it.“Typical bloody Hollywood
exaggerated me out of all proportion – I was actually a goanna hunter in those days and, yes, I did have the power to hypnotise the big evil lizards and stop them in their tracks –
like Dundee did with that water buffalo.”But when pressed, he admits it
was actually achieved by simple trickery.“I’d throw salt in their eyes and
they’d freeze on the spot and glare at you as though you’d caught them pinching the Crown jewels!”He reckoned that ‘Paul Hogan
fella’ did all right with that Linda Kozlowski. Cobber later became a professional fox hunter himself and has the odd story to tell about a few snarly vixens from his early days. He made good money spotlighting, but these days he’s now a bit past the nightlife and mainly whistles at foxes.“If you sit real still, you can almost
whistle them up to your feet,” he reckons. “Strangely I have my most success when whistling the theme tune to that Pommie TV series Only Fools and Horses!”Could it be that Cobber Costin
is also Australia’s answer to ‘Del Boy’?When The Fishing Paper &
New Zealand Hunting News put the question to him, he deftly sidestepped the issue and posed a question of his own.“Trust me cobber, have I got a
deal for you … ever tasted salted goanna?”
Fishing Paper a Good Aussie Deal
At Mondo we’re passionate about travel and are avid
travellers ourselves. If there’s somewhere in the
world you’d like to go, chances are one of our
team has been there and can share their knowledge and personal experience
with you - making the world of di� erence when it comes to booking your
From Nelson: Picton is -47 minutes on the high tides and -1 hour 19 minutes on the low tide Elaine Bay -35 minutes Stephens island -30 minutes collingwood -25 minutes croisilles Harbour -18 minutes on the high tides and -02 minutes on the low tides
From akaroa: Kaikoura +1 hour 08 minutes on the high tides and +1 hour on the low tides lyttelton +43 minutes on the high tides and +42 minutes on the low tides Moeraki -1 hour 08 minutes on the high tides and -35 minutes on the low tides
FiSHing WitH criMPY
SatUrdaY MorningS | 7 - 7.30
NELSON • 1341 AMMARLBOROUGH • 92.1 FM
WEST COAST • 98.7 FM
NELSON • 1341 AMMARLBOROUGH • 92.1 FM WEST COAST • 98.7 FMJUNE 2013
Westport Nelson Havelock
Waimakariri Mouth Akaroa Rakaia Mouth
Tidal data supplied by OceanFun Publishing Ltd www.ofu.co.nz
To find out what’s hot and what’s not and whose rod has a in it.
Join Crimpy and Reagan for fishing mayhem, madness and much more!
Tidal data supplied by OceanFun Publishing Ltd www.ofu.co.nz Note: Tides in chronological order. Lower daily depth = low tides. Higher daily depth = high tides.
Ian Robertson, artist, with a gallery and studio Wharehapuku at Birdlings Flat, Canterbury, has a wealth of fishing knowledge and makes the most of his proximity to the beach and its surfcasting possibilities.
The Fishing Paper: What is your first memory of fishing?Ian: Catching blue mao mao off the wharf at Tauranga. I spent the first years of my life at Waihi Beach.
TFP: What stages have you passed through on your fishing journey?Ian: I wouldn’t call it stages - more like a pretty wart that can’t be removed!
TFP: What has been your most successful day surfcasting?Ian: Hauling in a large crayfish at Baileys Beach, followed by the great thresher tussle that I won more by prayer than strength. I’m no ‘god walloper’ either! And of course, watching my son Marlin, who is now 10-years-old, bring in a tope bigger than himself
TFP: What is your favoured rig for surfcasting?Ian: One hook, one rod, one man!
TFP: What baits do you mainly use for surfcasting?Ian: Same bait and hook for rig, moki andelles: N.W.P (New World cooked prawn)
TFP: What special equipment have you developed for surfcasting in your area?Ian: A roof on top of my quad bike ... frick it gets hot down there!
TFP: What are your top tips for surfcasting success?Ian: Never ever let a chance go by.
TFP: Do you have a favourite surfcasting spot and how do you fish this place?Ian: Somewhere along the 40ks of beach we have ... the spot seems to change as I look for the X mark on my Quadbike! I look for dolphins because they know where the fish are - then chuck a fresh N.W.P out.
TFP: Besides fishing what else do
you like to do in the outdoors?Ian: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-_rrss4nXo
TFP: Where can people find photographs and videos of your activities online?Ian: YouTube or Google me.
TFP: What do you think of the present state of the Canterbury inshore fishery, accessible to surfcasters?Ian: It’s buggered; we need to adhere to the only kill what you need rule.
From Sinker to Smoker By Ron Prestage
Successful Surfcaster Ian RobertsonwHen CAn I PUT THe
HAMMeR DOwn?
www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz
Entering the marina, slow down from the safe water mark (red
and white striped pole) and be at walking speed by the next beacon.
No vessels may exceed 5 knots (walking speed)within 50m of another vessel or person in the water any time.Not within 200 metres of the shore, any structure and vessel displaying a dive fl ag.(subject to the above)The Harbour Master allows any vessel to travel at a safe speed greater than 5 knots within 100m of the red beacons.
The Region’s Gateway to the World
Ian and son Marlin with some fat Birdlings Flat bounty.
25www.thefishingpaper.co.nz ThE fishiNg PAPEr
Tidal data supplied by OceanFun Publishing Ltd www.ofu.co.nz Note: Tides in chronological order. Lower daily depth = low tides. Higher daily depth = high tides.
Sprig & Fern Milton St
134 Milton Street
Nelson
Phone: 03 545 7117
Sprig & Fern Hardy St
280 Hardy Street
Nelson
Phone: 03 548 1154
Sprig & Fern Queen St
126 Queen Street
Richmond
Phone: 03 544 4900
Sprig & Fern Tavern
54 Ellis Street
Brightwater
Ph: 03 542 2323
Sprig & Fern Tahuna
13 Beach Road
Tahuna
Phone: 03 548 5066
Sprig & Fern Motueka
Wallace Street
Motueka
Phone: 03 528 4684
Sprig and Fern Tinakori Rd
342 Tinakori Road
Thorndon Wellington
Tel: 04 499 1390
Nelson’s Craft Beer www.sprigandfern.co.nzWHA
T, S ON
AT
THE
SPRI
G?
This beautiful dish was created with fresh Hokitika salmon courtesy of Huck Hurren. River salmon can be a bit earthy so I served this dish with fried cabbage seasoned with Worchestershire sauce. It‛s delicious. Roast Wild Salmon with Poached Tomato Puree
1 salmon fi llet cut into portionsSaltCanola oil
Remove any pin bones with tweezers.Season top of each fi llet and baste both sides liberally with oil. Heat a dry heavy bottom saucepan until searing hot. Sear top of each fi llet for a minute, until it takes on some colour, and then repeat for the skin side.Place in an oven dish and bake in an oven preheated to 200° for 6-8 minutes depending on thickness. If white protein beads start appearing, remove from oven immediately. Stand and rest for 10 minutes.
Poached Tomato Puree
6 – 8 medium tomatoes4 cloves of garlic crushed½ red onion fi nely diced½ tsp salt1 tsp malt vinegarOil
Poach tomatoes in simmering water until cooked. Place in cold water and carefully remove skins. Add to food processor and season with salt and vinegar.
Heat a couple of tbsp oil in a pan and gently sweat onion and garlic until soft. Add to processor.Blend all ingredients together to form a runny sauce and transfer to a jug.My serving suggestion: Shred half a cabbage thinly and fry in hot oil for about three minutes, turning occasionally. Just before it is cooked crisp, add a good sprinkle of worcester sauce and cook a further minute.
Salmon is my all time favourite fi sh so I wouldn‛t want to spoil its rich yet delicate fl avours with anything too heavy. A crisp clean Pilsner or Fern Lager is just the ticket. Better still try with our current Limited Release, Motueka Pilsner - Salut!Dave
BEER MATCH
&
“The Harvest Pilsner is finished and the current Limited Release is a fresh hopped Motueka Pilsner. It’s stunning.”
Sudoku answers on page 6
www.thefishingpaper.co.nz26 ThE fishiNg PAPEr
The Pink Page
My ‘Fishy’ Family By Margaret Mitchell
Last school holidays my daughter Sue, son-in-law Ivan, and four grandchildren came to stay from Christchurch.
We have a house in Willow Bay, Mahau Sound and the family love coming for a visit. Ivan, a keen fisherman, put out a flounder net not long after they arrived. Next morning he checked the net and it had caught five flounder, which we ate for lunch. Next day Ben (10yrs) and Christy (7yrs) went out and they got four flounder.
Ivan and Ben 10 (I always call him this although he tells me after his next birthday he will be eleven
and won’t be Ben 10 anymore) went fishing in the Kenepuru Sound. After a few hours they returned and when Ben 10 came in
I asked him if he’d caught anything. With a big smile on his face he said, “I got two.”
I replied, “Well done, what fish did you get?”With a big grin on his face he said, “Nana, I got the
two fish on one line with two hooks on it.”He wasn’t worried what fish he had on his line but
that he got two at once. His dad Ivan caught three nice snapper for tea.
As you can see from the photo they had a good time.
The Fishing Paper & NZ Hunting News is published by Coastal Media
Ltd. All editorial copy and photographs are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written
permission of the publisher. Opinions or comments expressed within this
publication are not necessarily those of the staff, management or directors of
Coastal Media Ltd. Unsolicited editorial, letters, photographs will only be returned if you include a stamped self addressed envelope.The Fishing Paper & New Zealand Hunting News encorporates the Top of the South Edition and The Canterbury Edition.
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All types of ENGINEERING SUPPLIES• RFD Jackets• Flares• Kentiki longline hauler
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WESTLaND ENGINEERING SUPPliES
I was never a big fisherman until a few years back when I stopped flying model planes. I became addicted to the ‘Big Angry Fish’ show and as I had no boat and few opportunities, I used to fish off the shore by myself – until I met a long bearded gent whom to all intents and purposes looked like a Hells Angel biker and a bit rough around the edges.
I took a chance and asked if I could join him, to find out he was targeting kingfish in 2m of water off the side of Half Moon Bay!
He was a bit of a fishing nutter and like a true to form child of the Star Wars Jedi Knight generation, he taught me the ways of the ‘Force’. Now to be honest, it appealed to me as I don’t eat fish (Yes – another
nutter) so I was super keen to learn how to fight big hard fighting fish and have a good scrap and some fun!
A few months later and a few trips to see the Top Catch “Big Angry Fish” evenings I was smartly $1000.00 poorer with a melting credit card in the pocket … yet a happy chap with some good quality bling. Due to Dave at the TOP CATCH HALF MOON BAY continually commenting about the VIP rods I spent two years moaning at the Daiwa rep - begging to get a VIP 80 overhead rod - they decided to bring out the SPIN VERSION! Tania at TOP CATCH called the same day they landed and said, “You can have the first one!”
Well, as you can see by the pic – I have it and it works well.
This particular day I took
my mates Ryan and Warren to show them the potential of LBG shallow water fishing and ended up hooking the kingi in two-feet of water, at my feet while standing next to Ryan, whose lure must have only just passed by the fish by a second and it did a u-turn and pounced on my Rapala like a wild tiger onto a helpless deer, as the lure passed about 30cm past its head. We have since had up to four kingies chasing at a time, trying to get our lures but they spend so much time hitting each other out the way to be first, they never take it in time!
If anyone cares to try this exciting side of the sport, the chartreuse mid-sized waxwing lures are the best (thanks to Chad at “THE BIG FISH” for that tip).
From Flying Planes to Flying Kingies
The Mark of a Champion(front cover story) By Brett Bensemann
Mark Fraser is a South Island spearfishing champ and has always fished ‘by the spear’, but there is always a first time for everything. Trouble is, being a champion, Mark goes for not one first in a day but THREE!
It was Mark’s first experience of crossing the Taieri Mouth Bar, which is so treacherous – extreme care and experience is the norm. He then proceeded to catch his first groper and first time monster couta catch, which saw him leading the Tautuku Fishing Club Dunedin and
Haast Couta Trophy at
5.225kg!
Just for good measure he
also caught a blue cod – all
within fifteen minutes of each
other off the Taieri Mouth,
south of Brighton; Dunedin.
Champion stuff that!
tautuku
Club Story
By Wayne Thompson
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My new Daiwa VIP80S rod and Sealine Bull reel with 15kg mono and a Rapala lure captured this kingi off Eastern Beach Auckland.
This book by Wairarapa conservationist Bill Benfield is amazing for its meticulous research and strong and startling conclusions. Bill Benfield documents the first wave of colonisation by Maori migrants that resulted in mass extinction of browsing birds like the moa.
The second wave was the European migrants with their introductions of animals, birds and insects that further impacted on and altered New Zealand’s ecosystem.
One man, botanist Leonard Cockayne, who wanted to re-create a pristine New Zealand that had, in fact, never existed, initiated the third wave. He wanted a land without browsing animals such as deer - despite the fact nine million moas had browsed New Zealand’s vegetation for some 50 million years before.
The author claims was departmental bureaucrats seized the third wave to mount costly, futile extermination policies on deer and other animals by methods that included indiscriminate poisons such as 1080.
Bill Benfield analyses 1080’s lack of justification on ecological and bovine Tb grounds. The 70 million possum population figure bandied around by DoC and the Animal Health Board was wildly exaggerated guesswork and the author argues very convincingly that possums are not the pests as painted by bureaucrats. And he points to 1080 as part of “the third wave of official exterminators as killing the land.”
Undoubtedly the book will provoke spirited reaction especially from DoC, the AHB and zealous groups like Forest and Bird. There’s no doubting the author’s research and his ability to bring a ‘heavy’ subject alive with candour and concise prose. Anyone who cares about NZ’s natural world should read this.
THE THIRD WAvE Poisoning the Land
By Bill BenfieldPublished by Tross Publishing WellingtonRrp $60Reviewed By Tony Orman
