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www.nzfisher.co.nz 1
ISSUE 17 July 2012
www.nzfisher.co.nz
Whangarei Juniors take out BOI Kingfish International
- The fishing Mecca of Feilding explored
2 www.nzfisher.co.nz
Pg 4
12
8
Pg 17
CONTENTS
SPORTFISHING4 The NZACA National Championships 2012
8 The Bay of Islands International Yellowtail Tournament
BOATFISHING11 From Heavy Metal to Tinfoil
GAMEFISHING12 The Three Kings, Finally
15 Reader Pics
16 The NZ Fishing Competition
17 Fishing Video of the Month BOATFISHING19 The NZFisher Boat unveiled
20 Recipe
22 Regional Reviews
www.nzfisher.co.nz 3
Pg 17
DAMN IT IS COLD! My memory gets
worse every year and maybe we’ve
had a few mild winters these last few
years; but damn it’s cold!
I took a trip out on the Kaipara
Harbour for a quick gurnard hunt
on a very cold morning. We learned
some things very quickly about centre
console boats – there is no-where to
hide from the biting, icy cold wind!
Thankfully the sun emerged from the
fog and warmed us up as the fish
came on the bite to further warm us.
Winter is a great time of year for fishing
the inshore waters of the North Island.
Its a time of year when I revert back to
traditional fishing (i.e. bait & burley).
After 5 years of not buying bait I was
finally cornered by Forsyth & opened
my wallet to buy a boat load for a Little
Barrier Mission. I’m so used to using
soft baits to catch everything, including
Kahawai I forgot the joy of frozen bait.
I soon remembered....frozen hands,
smelly clothes and big screaming runs!
We spent a few days out at Little Barrier
and revisited some spots we haven’t
been to for about 15 years. They still
produced the goods, but not quite the
monsters of the 90s. What was really
surprising was the lack of action on
soft baits in the shallows. Bait worked a
treat, but not the expected soft bait hits
– needs more research I think!
Some research results that have reached
us recently show that the stock rebuild
//From the EDITOR
editorial
ABOUT /Short and sharp, NZ Fisher is a free e-magazine delivering thought provoking and enlightening articles, and industry news and information to forward-thinking fisher people.
EDITOR / Derrick PaullART DIRECTOR / Jodi OlssonGROUP EDITOR / Trudi CaffellCONTENT ENQUIRIES / Phone Derrick on 021 629 327or email derrickp@NZ Fisher.co.nzADVERTISING ENQUIRIES /Phone Richard on 09 522 7257 or email [email protected] / NZ Fisher, C/- Espire Media, PO Box 137162, Parnell, Auckland 1151, NZWEBSITE / www.NZ Fisher.co.nz
Cover Image: Wayne Downer with 41kg Kingfish
This is a GREEN MAG, created and distrib-uted without the use of paper so it's envi-ronmentally friendly. Please think before
you print. Thank you!
of Snapper in areas SNA1 (North Cape
to East Cape) and SNA2 (New Plymouth
to North Cape) are not as effective as
it should be. Early results claim that
the stocks are at between only 6-8%
on the West Coast and under 15% (of
virgin bio-mass) [LINK: http://dictionary.
babylon.com/virgin_biomass/] on the
East Coast. These are just numbers but
they are worrying. While we may feel
the fisheries are in good shape and
they are better than ‘before’, there are
reasons why we need to pay heed to
the science. There is a real possibility
that bag limits may be cut or minimum
lengths increased. While these are not
necessarily bad things, we must be
mindful that one of the reasons this
fishery was researched was because the
commercial industry were thinking there
might be an increase in their quota’s if
the fishery had further rebuilt. If we take
a cut now – who gets the benefit in the
future? There are always consequences
to these actions and we would be
wise to keep an eye on the upcoming
changes. We’ll keep up in the loop.
I have donated to LegaSea recently
and encourage others to do the same.
They’re the ‘action’ department of the
NZ Sport Fishing Council and they’re
growing a strong base to build an
ongoing defence to provide abundance
of fish for our future generations.
Don’t forget the NZRFC AGM &
Conference this year either. It’s being
held at the Buckland’s Beach Yacht Club,
Halfmoon Bay on the 28th July. There
will be discussion on the Future Search
initiative and the RFC’s Strategic plan.
Keep warm, spring’s just around the
corner and with it comes the very best
fishing of the year!
Tight lines,
Derrick
4 www.nzfisher.co.nz
By Derrick Paul
sportFISHING
SINCE 2009 I’VE fished the NZACA
Nationals with passion. 2009 and 2010
were based at Coromandel, a very
fishy and local spot for us Auckland
fishos. 2011 was the year we hosted
the Nationals at Orewa, opening up
the boundaries and ensuring there
were plenty of fish available for
everyone. But this year they were
being held in Feilding. Yes, Feilding,
the hotbed of Red Cod and school
sharks – or so we thought! Feilding is
a town best known for sheep shearing
and fast cars at the world renowned
Manfeild Park raceway. Fishing is not
readily associated with Feilding.
I committed to Feilding Nationals
last year and as the time drew closer
I found myself very short on ideas
or really even a hope of coming out
on top against the Manuatu and
Wellington Coast anglers in their own
back yard. That’s when I looked to call
in local expertise to help the cause.
Reece Claxton, Kapiti Islands answer
to Carl Muir has been slaying the
Wellington coasts’ kingfish for six
years, ever since he moved away from
his native Auckland. His exploits are
well known to locals and those who
have come across Reece on Facebook
or the fishing website, he’s passionate
and very skilled. Some might even say
he’s a bit of a magnet, so I made it my
goal to twist Reece’s arm into taking
me out and more importantly getting
weather god Tawhirimatea on side!
I arrived late to Fielding on the
evening (or rather early morning of)
the distance casting. Not being a bit
caster, this discipline is more novelty
than sport for me but it’s a great
spectacle to watch the top casters do
their stuff. The best casters in New
Zealand sling their lead weights out
past 200 meters. Makes my best effort
of 135meters look pretty average
really. I want to say a big thanks to
Dick Lash of Fielding club for lending
me his casting rod and reel two years
in a row now. I just don’t think my
softbait rod was going to do it!
The best distance this year was set by
Neil Angus of Wellington Surfcasting
Club with a phenomenal distance of
200.3 meters!
With the AGM out of the way it was
time to make a plan for two days
full on fishing. Sadly my prayers to
Tawhirimatea had not proved entirely
The NZACA National Championships 2012
Overall Team Champions, Feilding Surfcasting Club
Feilding, by the sea
www.nzfisher.co.nz 5
sportFISHING
effective and the forecasts were
looking pretty shoddy. Reece is pretty
keen & despite the poor forecast
he reckoned we’d get out in the
afternoon so I had a sleep-in to look
forward to while the rest of the field
struck out early to get the best out of
the south’s dawn bite.
The wind was peaking at 20 knots but
there was a chance Reece’s spots at
Kapiti might be sheltered from the
southerly gusts. We headed out from
Waikanae Beach in relative calm &
headed across the southern stretch
of the South Taranaki Bight across to
Kapiti Island.
Reece has hooked and landed
hundreds of kingfish at Kapiti
including some 30kg++ models. He’s
honed his skills and begun working
with lighter and lighter gear. Reece’s
newest toy is a 75gram Synit acid
wrapped jig rod he’s paired with an
Accurate 400XN filled with 50lb line.
I had a chance to drop a few jigs with
this light set and managed a small
king to bend through it. It’s beautiful
combo, but I’m astounded that Reece
managed 15kg fish, let alone a 28kg
model earlier this year.
The fishing was a bit tough to start
& Reece took me further out to his
big fish spot. Due to the terrain &
generally larger fish Reece upgraded
me to the Synit 350gm combo loaded
with 50lb. He scanned the pins for a
few minutes before giving the thumbs
up to drop the jig “There’s two good
fish there” was the call. Right on cue I
hooked up to my first west coast King.
Reece’s boat is a 4.5m centre console
inflatable with plenty of room, but
you’ve got to be smart about how you
fight fish due to the low gunwales. The
drag on the little accurate was wound
up hard & there was very little room
for letting the fish run. Reece carefully
dragged us out to some deeper water
& the fight was slugged out over a
clear bottom.
After a few minutes the king
showed itself from under the boat. It
looked mid-teens to me but Reece
immediately called it for a 20kg fish.
That is what we were there for! The
fish was bought aboard & we could
admire its size. On reflection, Reece’s
call for 20kg was a good one – that
was one fat fish.
Due to the late start we only had three
The authors third placed Kingfish
North Shore Clubs’ Tareta Curruthers with the Ladies Shore section first place trophy
6 www.nzfisher.co.nz
hours on the water so we kept this fish
and thankfully too as it turned out to
be the only one of size we landed.
After helping Reece with the clean up
at his place I was back off up to Palmy
to store the fish on ice.
Fridays weather was worse than
Thursday so there was no opportunity
to fish at all so the day was spent with
the family waiting for the weigh-in
Friday arvo.
At the weigh in I was genuinely
astounded by the sheer number of
fish weighed. I’d heard the land-based
fishing had been hard, but the boaties
did themselves proud. There was a
wide range of species & sizes. My
ignorant northerners thinking was that
there would be Blue Cod & Kahawai
with the odd snapper thrown in but
snapper and terakihi were the most
common species followed by kahawai
and cod. There was even a Hapuka
thrown in for good measure.
I had been hopeful of placing with
my one and only fish, but by the end
of the weigh in I realised I wouldn’t
be getting a podium spot at all! The
locals had show us the way – with
Eddie Hawkins of the Wellington
Casting & Angling Club being be far
the most successful on 489points. To
put this in perspective, I came in third
with only 139 points!
The Nationals results have been
posted the NZACA website so please
take a minute to go there & see the
outcome of the weeks fishing.
The Feilding Surfcasting team
approached the running of
the Nationals with a level of
professionalism not recently seen at
NZACA Nationals Events. The various
fixtures and events were executed
with the depth of planning evident in
their smooth running. The prize giving
and final meal were not only smoothly
run but very entertaining.
We were privileged to be the first to
see the promotional video produced
by The Gisborne Surfcasters club for
the 2013 NZACA National Champs
(13-16th March 2013). There is no
doubt that Gisborne will pick up
where Feilding left off and produce
the best Nationals yet. NZFisher will
be there & we look forward to seeing
many of you there then too!
Thanks again to the Feilding
Surfcasting club and your volunteers.
I truly enjoyed the time with you –
even if my fishing experience only
lasted 3 hours!
sportFISHING
Eddie Hawkins reciving his pin for first place
Niel Angus, National Casting Champion with his trohies
www.nzfisher.co.nz 7
sportFISHING
Many Kiwis think we have a God given right to fish, but the reality is different!Our fishing resource should belong equally to ALL New Zealanders but, sadly, recreational fishers have been left scrambling for the scraps.
This has to change – recreational fishers need to unite – we need to have a say - we need a legitimate stake in the fishery and we need to chart a better fishing future - for us and our kids.
The time is NOW!
Future Search is an inspirational process that will achieve these aspirations and you can be part of this positive movement.
Future Search is bringing together, in Nelson during February 2013, 70 Kiwis from diverse factions of the fishing community to move forward and make a difference. Do you want to be one of those 70?
If you have a vision for a better fishing future and would like to put up your hand to be part of developing some solutions email the Future Search Project Manager, Miranda O’Connell. [email protected] or phone 021 345 056 by the 20th August 2012.
Charting a New Path for OUR Fishing Future
What if there were no fish ?
Photo credit: Wildcat Charters Golden Bay.
8 www.nzfisher.co.nz
sportFISHING
IT’S NOT HARD to understand why
Craig Smith has fished five years with
the Whangarei Deep Sea Angling
Club juniors in the Bay of Islands
International Yellowtail tournament.
There is little in the world of fishing
that beats seeing a young angler
hook their greatest fish, get taken to
the limit then after nearly giving up
manage against the odds to boat what
may be a fish of a lifetime. Once in a
while that can be replicated a number
of times in a day or over a couple of
days. And even less often it might
happen in a fishing tournament.
This very rare, incredibly rewarding
set of circumstances came together
like magic at this year’s Bay of Islands
International Yellowtail tournament
for the Whangarei Deep Sea Angling
Club juniors as they not only took out
the Juniors section but the main draw
against vastly more experienced and
resourced teams.
The BOI yellowtail tournament is fished
annually (not surprisingly) in the Bay of
Islands. The competition is fished for
on a points system where line weight
is relative to fish weight. The biggest
fish may not necessarily a winning fish,
but the lighter the line, the better the
rewards. Conversely – if you fish line
too light, it makes it impossible to stop
even an average kingfish!
The WDSAC Junior team comprised
of anglers; Zac Dixon, Bevan Johnson,
Shannon Kitchen and Oliver (Ollie)
Wakeman. Great fishing for Shannon
Kitchen and Zac Dixon saw them in 7th
and 9th place respectively in the overall
Junior Angler most points section.
Ollie Wakeman claimed runner up in
the Junior Male Angler Most Points
section with a total of 2,851 points.
Bevan Johnson not only won the
Heaviest Yellowtail caught by a Junior
Angler section with his whopping 23.4
kg yellowtail on 8 kg line (a pending
NZ record no less) but also received
the Tio Bay Lodge Trophy for the Most
Meritorious Catch by a Junior Angler.
Bevan then went on to win the Junior
Male Angler Most Points section with
a total of 3,099 points!! The WDSAC
team were clear winners of the junior
section with a massive points tally of
9,288 with “GPS” skipper Hayden
Wright receiving the trophy for
“Skipper Junior Team Most Points”.
To cap it all off Hayden Wright
took home the prize for the Overall
Winning Skipper and then Zac, Bevan,
The Bay of Islands International Yellowtail TournamentJuniors turn the Tournament on its head
By Craig Smith, Shannon Kitchen, Ollie Wakeman, Bevan Johnson
and Zac Dixon. Excerpts taken from the NZSFC’s ‘Current Lines’
June 2012 issue.
Zac waiting for a bite
www.nzfisher.co.nz 9
sportFISHING
Shannon and Ollie stepped up to take
the Medinova Trophy for the Winning
Overall Team Most Points (a huge
1,117 points ahead of the next team!!).
We are told that this is the first time in
twenty years that the Overall Trophy
has been won by a junior team - Well
done to the 2012 WDSAC Junior Team.
Special congratulations are due to
Skipper Hayden Wright, First Mate
Russ Briars, Chief Deckie Craig Smith,
Deckie and ‘Brenda Saul, assistant
Camp Leader Adrienne Foote and
Camp Mother Pauline Yearbury. It’s
only with the help, time and deduction
of volunteers like these guys that a
team can succeed.
Please have a read of the junior’s
reports below; they really embrace the
passion for the sport and enjoyment
of fishing we relish at NZFisher.
…
MY Favourite day with WDSAC
junior team:
“When I go to sleep, I wake up in the
morning to Craig telling us to get out
of bed. Knowing me I don’t normally
like to get up early but once I sit up
and look around, my head kicks in
to realise we are going Kingi fishing
I jump out bed get dressed, bag
packed, Go to the breakfast table
and Pauline and Adrienne serve up a
great breakfast to keep us going for
the day. Once we have finished we
leave for the boat with Pauline and
Adrianne wishing us good luck.
We hop on board, head to the start
line where we wait for the signal and
all roar off at once.
At our bait spot we stock up before
moving to our Kingi spot and wait
for the sweet sound of “start fishing,
start fishing, start fishing”.
We chuck our livies in and find the bait
schools; Hayden yells bait at 20-30
metres!! 9 out of 10 we get a bite,
that is when my heart starts racing
and the adrenalin kicks in!! We wait a
few seconds for it to swallow the bait,
strike it and then the FIGHT is on!!!!!!
Hayden does the most important job of
leading the fish out to sea so it doesn’t
bust us off, the FIGHT continues….
Once up to the boat we gaff it on
board then we all YAHOO (to say the
least)!!! And then back to our spot to
do it all over again until we hear the
dreaded words “stop fishing, stop
fishing, stop fishing. Then it is back
to Russell for weigh in and photo
opportunities all very, very happy!
Four days of this = four days of
fantastic fun! Thanks to everyone.”
Ollie Wakeman
Zac Dixon, 16.5 on 6 kilo line. This was also a very
important for team points, and Zac is a gifted angler,
very steady and gifted, very impressive for his first
year, he caught another good one on 8 kg line.
10 www.nzfisher.co.nz
These words are from Shannon, the
only girl on the WDSAC Junior team.
Shannon weighed two 15kg & one
16.5kg king, all on 8kg line.
“My overall experience of the
International Yellowtail tournament
was absolutely unbelievable. I had
the time of my life. I learnt so much
in the short 4 days we were on the
water. I’m so grateful for all the help
us juniors had getting up to Russell
and while we were fishing. This was
my first time fishing for yellowtails
and I have a new found love for
these fish. They are everything that
makes fishing enjoyable for me,
mostly the fight they’re just like a
mini marlin. I wish I started fishing
earlier but unfortunately was my first
and last year as a junior fishing this
tournament, but I will definitely be
coming back next year to kick some
more butt.” Thanks,
Shannon Kitchen
“Our week started on June 9th when
we travelled to the Bay of islands
for the 43rd International Yellowtail
Tournament. My best memory was
being able to fish in an International
tournament and win the junior
section while also taking out the
whole tournament.
This experience taught me how to
be a team member and especially
how to catch large fish on light
tackle. One amazing thing was
to watch Bevan play his 23.4kg
yellowtail, and then finding out it
was a New Zealand record fish. My
experience of catching a 16.5 kg
Yellowtail on 6kg was awesome.
Thanks to our amazing skipper
(Hayden Wright) deckies Ross Briars
& Brenda Saul. Not forgetting
our super coach Craig Smith.
If it was not for his experience
and knowledge we would not be
successfully fishing this tournament.
Thanks a million Craig!”
Zac Dixon
Ollie with his 17.7 kg on 6 Kilo line
Craig re-tying a line, waiting for the bite
Ollie Wakeman, 17.7 kilos on 6 kilo line on day two, very important fish because we got a lot of points for this one
Bevan Johnson, his second year with the WDSAC Junior Team, group photo with his National Record claim 23.4 kg on 8 kilo line
WDSAC Junior Team photo from day two.
sportFISHING
www.nzfisher.co.nz 11
AS MUCH AS I love catching kingfish,
they truly are a pain in the butt.
Getting amongst good sized kingfish
requires extensive finance to get out
to the deep water pins where they
hold. Even then, the only thing you
can be sure of is a decent petrol bill
on your return home. Alternatively,
you can always go back to the sure
thing of snapper fishing; there is
much less risk of getting skunked
and less money needs to be spent to
get amongst good sized fish. While
I shouldn’t take them for granted,
however, snapper fishing does get a
bit “been there done that” at times.
With these thoughts in mind, and a
real hunger to get in a tussle with a
good kingi, my buddy Steve and I
gambled on a day trip out to the Hen
and Chicks in the northern Hauraki
Gulf. Things were not looking great
initially when we couldn’t even catch
a livie. They didn’t improve much
either when we couldn’t even get
a hit after a few hours of sore arms
from mechanical jigging. We’d seen
a stretch of good sign in the channel
between some islands on the way
over so we headed back to check it
out. On our return the sign had gone
and jigging in 15 m didn’t seem that
productive. About then I reluctantly
started to think about that trusty old
back up the snapper. Fortunately, a
large school of fish popped up,
mouthing at the surface. Likely to be
trevally or kahawai I put on a tiny 15
gm hex wobbler. Kahawai will take
these and the trebles on the back
work well at foul hooking trevally. One
cast confirmed that it was indeed a
school of trevally. The second cast
confirmed that something larger
was also amongst the school. As
line whizzed from my soft bait reel
I wondered whether an extremely
large trevally could put up this much
fight. Steven chased down hard on
the fish, which had moved out of the
shallows and settled down in about
25 m of water. From there it was just
a long wait until the tiny treble hooks
straightened or the fish actually began
to tire. I couldn’t put any pressure on
him due to the light line, so it really
was a waiting game. After about 20
minutes we first sighted a decent
kingfish. It was another 10 minutes
before we managed to actually
boat it; a decent fish, no gaff, 30 lb
leader and fragile hooks make for a
prolonged dance around the back of
the boat. I couldn’t believe that the
tiny hooks had held or that this kingi
had thought that such a miniscule lure
would be worth the effort. Weighing
in at just over 15 kg it was just the
ticket, and more than a handful on 10
lb braid.
We went back to the trevally school
and this time the sight of fish
exploding from the school made
sense with the knowledge that there
might be more kingfish around. I got
busted off and Steven hooked up
straight away. Steven’s fish eventually
dropped the hook well over half an
hour into the fight. All in all we got
what we were after, even if it was
through unconventional methods.
Goes to show that you don’t need top
end gear to land decent fish and most
importantly, you can’t catch fish by
complaining about petrol prices.
From Heavy Metal to Tinfoil
boatFISHING
12 www.nzfisher.co.nz
By Wayne Downer
WAYNE (AKA ‘OF2FISH’ on www.
Fishing.net.nz) is a hardy fisher with
a history of big inshore fish – this trip
was his best shot at a Marlin, let’s see
how he got on!).
Many months ago we planned a
trip to the 3 kings on Rick Pollock’s
“Pursuit, [Link: http://www.fishing.net.
nz/fishing-charters-and-guides/pursuit-
fishing-charters/] The date was to be
mid -February and the plan was to
catch me a marlin (sounds easy!),out
of the 6 blokes I was the only marlin
virgin and the boys were keen on me
catching one.
As the day approached, (and we were
in the middle of our busiest season at
work for 10 years) it became apparent
that the weather was going to spoil
the trip. 60 knots and 8 meter seas
will do that I suppose... With bitter
disappointment we postponed the
trip till May, about then I knew that
the chance of a marlin was slipping
thru my fingers...
So at the beginning of May we
readied ourselves for 5 days of fishing
the kings, with dreams of huge fish,
sore arms and aching backs was soon
turning to frustration once again as
the forecast turned from 5 to 10 knots
to 55 to 60 knots again.
Damned again; we had no choice but
to shorten the trip a couple of days.
So on Wednesday morning the boys
assembled at my place; we loaded
up the trailer, with all the gear, food,
80 kilos of whole frozen bait fish and
tackle that we would need for a 3
week trip.
The drive to Mangonui was quick, a
stop or 2 on the way for refreshments
and before we knew it we were
standing on the wharf...Well standing
on the wharf in 40 knots of wind,
freezing cold rain, with a bunch of
tourists thinking we must be going on
a crab fishing in the Bering sea.
So on with the thermals and rain coats
and the boat loaded to the gunnels
with fishing crap. The next stop was
gameFISHING
The Three Kings, Finally
www.nzfisher.co.nz 13
dinner at the fish shop, a beer to wash
down 3 doses of Paihia bombs [Link:
http://www.tuugo.co.nz/Companies/
paihia-pharmacy/0210003062281]
(Sea sickness tablets) and we were on
our way to North Cape.
The trip was uneventful, the off shore
winds kicked up a fair bit of chop but
otherwise it was semi comfortable.
We hit the bunks at nth cape around
10pm...
Sleep was at a premium in a sloppy
anchorage and 6 restless guys
dreading the next part of the trip -
which was to be a 7 hour steam in
some very rough seas.
After what felt like 30 minutes sleep
the engines fired up, the anchor
was weighed and we were off. Strait
line from North Cape to the King
Bank .The first hour was mint; we
even stayed in bed waiting to hit the
rougher seas off the top of the nth
island. It wasn’t long before the good
ship Pursuit was rolling and pitching in
a large South West swell with 40 knots
of wind hammering us beam-on.
Its not very often I feel sea-sick; I’ve
been in some horrendous seas and
never really felt sick.
Today was very, very different. I
was feeling very average and it was
evident I needed to get up and
get some fresh air. After standing
for 6 hours out the back of pursuit
focussing on the ever fading Cape
Rienga we had made it to the bottom
of the King Bank.
Zane the deckie had rigged all our
gear, tied enough traces, PR knots,
bimini twists and leaders on to see us
thru the entire day. Deckies should
never ever be underestimated.
The plan was to fish the first day for bass and second for kingies.
All the boys were all looking a bit
under the weather. I reckon they were
feeling and thinking about the same
as me “what the hell are we doing out
here?!?!” Mountains of water were
coming from the Sth West, the wind
had ‘dropped’ to 25 to 30 but most
importantly.. the fish were biting!
The fishing went from good to
amazing, anything at all sent to the
bottom was swooped on by a bass or
puka from 30 to 45kgs...every time.
The fish were holding in 80 metres of
water, they fought like kingies, nearly
all the way to the boat. As it so often
happens, a larger model turns up to
test out the knots and drags - today’s
victim was Mike who got smashed.
For 20 minutes it was looking like the
bass was winning, then Mike got the
reel looking somewhat full again, then
the bass went on a long run with the line
crackling off the reel and found a hole to
hide in cutting off the line. Bugger.
We were soon topped up with enough
fillets to fill the freezer. Around 4
pm we headed into the Three Kings
Islands for dinner and a sleep. The sea
had eased to 4 meters from 6+ and
the wind was just under 20knts. This
did nothing for me though, the uneasy
feeling of nausea soon came flooding
back..damn, I was over this **** .
We hit the anchorage in 3 hours.
North West Bay was very average, so
we went around the corner to another
anchorage but it was worse. We
settled in back at NW Bay, dinner was
cooked and quickly eaten by a hungry
bunch. Desert was scoffed, a shower
taken and bed followed.
That night was very average, a sloppy
anchorage does nothing for me at all.
With about 2 hours sleep in 2 days I was
shot when the motor started at 5 am.
We moved 50 mtrs to the live bait
spot,6 weary anglers were soon
smiling as large kohies and trevally
entertained us for 2 hours..
Tank filled with bait we headed out a
bit further to throw some stick baits...
gameFISHING
14 www.nzfisher.co.nz
my stick bait was a live kohi on 37kg
braid. Something about a fish like this
that soon had the queasiness gone
and the adrenaline pumping...
We steamed back to the king bank
with the wind, swell and current all
helping get us there in 1 hour 30..
he boys were split, 3 livies and 3 on
jigs... the 1st drop was just outstanding,
looking down the rail to see rods
bending over the rail with braid pouring
from the reels is just superb..
The fish were all over 25kgs with the best going 35kgs..wow
The live baits were working way better
than the jigs, with only 30 livies we
dug out some frozen skippies and
swapped the jigs for dead baits..Dead
baits worked as well as live koheru
So with the amount of fish coming
onboard over 30kgs and amidst all
the fun it was going to be a magic
day for me..
Waiting at the livie tank while Zane set
the marlin bait out under a balloon,
I was getting antsy as the boys were
all hooked up ...Zane dug deep and
popped out a massive koheru, too big
for your hook he said..”No way” I said,
just hook it up I’m missing out...
Over the edge with 14 ounces of lead,
down 100 meters , 3 winds up, reel
in neutral ,thumb on spool, waiting,
waiting.... waiting...come on eat it !!!
Braid started to leave the reel very
fast, lever to strike, wait for the line to
go tight, strike Hard and...Boom ‘Fish
on’! Rod hard on rail drag to sunset
thumb on spool, thumb burning ,braid
still peeling... **** this looks bad. A
few nervous minutes later Rick saw the
drag and said to ease it back to strike,
as soon as I moved it the fish took
off again. Rick said “leave the drag
- that’s a big fish you don’t want to
pull the hook” It is a hard thing to do
when you’re still losing line, but Rick’s
the man. And35 minutes later I had a
new PB - 41 kgs; A new PB for me and
a best for the boat so far this year!
The fish was tagged and released, but
unfortunately it didn’t make it coming
back to the surface.
We had no choice but to put him
in the ice box. The afternoon was a
blur ,the fish were still coming over
the side for a new shinny tag at an
astonishing rate. The jigs really started
to fire late in the day. The current had
eased and it was the 300 gram jigs
doing the damage...Olly had a run of
fish that was spectacular to watch,
His benthos jig never hit the bottom.
The jig caught fish were the smallest, we got more fish on
dead baits but the biggest were on livies.
Then the call was made - “last drop
“ - words you never want to hear, but
quietly you might be relieved.
Our trip was drawing to an end. We
packed up, Rick turned the boat south
and we headed for tom bowling bay...
7 hours later we weighed anchor in
the dead calm water of Tom Bowling
Bay, the warriors were getting a
hiding on the radio, dinner was
cooked and consumed. Desert was
hammered to the point of licking the
bowls and it was off to bed with sore
arms and backs.
Saturday morning dawned to dead flat
seas, we anchored off nth cape and
floated the last of the skippies down a
berley trail for some monster snapper..
What followed was icing on the
cake...Snapper to just under 20lbs,
kingies to just over 20 kgs and sharks,
couta, Trevally, eels and an unlucky
mollymawk! It’s a pretty decent way to
finish off a wicked trip!
At 10 am we headed for the wharf.
Zane cooked our last feed; the boys
settled in for the 5 hour steam home
and Zane set about cleaning the boat.
A big thanks To Rick and Zane for a memorable trip.
gameFISHING
www.nzfisher.co.nz 15
Click here to
email your
photos and go in
the draw for an
NZFisher goodies
Prize Pack
Terry Williams
Terry Williams-King getting kicked by a monster Three Kings King
Johnathan Hill
Johnathan Hill with his best from the 2012 Bounty Hunter
Gregor Kregar
Gregor Kregar with a solid Little Barrier Snap taken on smelly old bait!
THIS MONTH’S WINNER
Alan & Mike MacKinven
Alan MacKinven & his brother Mike with a couple of nice winter snaps formt he back paddock
Andrew Evans
Andrew Evans with a 7.66kg from the 2012 Bounty Hunter - 6th place at the end of day one...
READERpics
Shane Cameron
Shane Cameron (not the Boxer!) and his teams best from the 2012 Bounty Hunter
Ted Audain & Neil Brown
Ted Audain & Neil Brown from the North Shore Surfcasting Club with a couple of winter moochers taken from Doubtless Bay 2012
16 www.nzfisher.co.nz
MORE THAN JUST a fishing Contest -
it’s time to measure up!
The NZ Fishing Competition is a
totally new concept that allows
anglers from anywhere in New
Zealand to enter their catches on-line
and compare them with others from
around the country.
With this unique contest, fish to
be entered are photographed
lying on a purpose-made official
measure with a digital camera, The
photos are uploaded to The NZ
Fishing Competition website (www.
fishingcomp.co.nz) and fish length,
rather than weight, is the criteria for
“who has the biggest.”
A series of leader boards displays the
names of the most successful anglers,
with the very best catches making it into
a permanent ‘Fishing Hall of Fame’.
The contest includes the following
species caught using a rod and reel;
snapper, kingfish, kahawai, trevally,
gurnard, tarakihi, john dory, blue cod,
blue moki, hapuku/bass and trout.
“There is a strong environmental
aspect to the competition, and if the
angler wishes to release a trophy fish
it can be quickly photographed on the
measure and returned to the water”
says the organiser, Grant Blair.
The type of fishing activity (such
as boat, beach, rocks, kayaks and
jetskis) as well as the technique used
is recorded at the time of uploading
to Fishingcomp.co.nz, and these
are destined to become separate
leaderboards over time. Freshwater
fishing for trout will have leaderboards
for fly or lures.
Entry to The NZ Fishing Competition
costs $29.95 + $4.95 freight (if bought
on-line) which includes the price of the
official measure. If you’re fishing with a
mate who already has a measure, then
a registration only option is available for
just $19.95. Measures will also be made
available from selected retailers – check
www.fishingcomp.co.nz for details.
“While there will be a significant
drawn prize for each of the eligible
species, the main aim of the
competition is to recognise some
great fishing achievements right
throughout the year while having
some friendly competition with your
fishing buddies”, adds Blair
The main prizes include 2 Bradley
six-rack smokers to be drawn from the
top 30% of entries for the snapper
and kingfish sections and a range of
Fin-Nor rod and reel combo sets for
both drawn and longest fish in each of
the other species categories.
Fishing is often about some good-
hearted, friendly rivalry between
mates and the NZ Fishing Competition
captures that aspect of what many New
Zealanders enjoy about fishing. The
inaugural year finishes 31st March 2013.
More at www.fishingcomp.co.nz
competition
The NZ Fishing Competition – by the Fishing Website
www.nzfisher.co.nz 17
Fishing Video of the Month
VIDEO
IT’S DEFINITELY WINTER and that
means we’re into some hard-core
fishing – including night fishing
for Squid. Check out this video of
Taiki Natsume demonstrating and
explaining the best Squiding (Egi)
techniques with quality squid lures.
This is a very in-depth look at the
techniques, designs, sizes and tackle
that will work best. This video is a
little less intense and is made here in
NZ – many of you will recognise the
‘experts’ in this one!
And here’s something much more
lightweight to get that cold blood
boiling! This video is too awesome
for words. If there was ever a good
reason to have a Lottery win, this is
it! It’s a bit jumpy, but there’s plenty
of reasons to forgive them very
quickly! The trevs from 3.11 onwards
are out of this world.
18 www.nzfisher.co.nz
BOATfishing
The NZFisher Boat unveiledStory by Derrick Paull
EVERY MAGAZINE NEEDS a boat
and we decided it was about time
NZFisher out grew our Kayaks and
joined the ranks of ‘real’ magazines
and found a boat to best suit us and
our readers.
First of all, we don’t charge for
NZFisher so there was always going to
be a tight budget. We started looking
around $15,000 but soon realised
that the extremes we were going to
subject our boat to wouldn’t be well
served by the conventional, open hull
and tiller steer options $15k buys. We
decided to make a line in the sand at
$25,000 and began the search for the
best boat for the money.
Our prerequisites were fairly generous
and the scope in the under five meter
category getting wider by the week.
As we’re fishing predominantly in
Auckland, the East coast of Northland
and Coromandel using soft-baits,
jigging, cut baits and occasionally
we get out game-fishing. This led
us to chose a walk-around or centre
console design and for added safety a
pontoon style hull. The centre console
adds a lot of fishing flexibility but
reduces onboard storage – something
that can be a two edged sword.
After asking around, following
discussion threads in online forums
and checking a few hulls out
personally we narrowed the search
down to three brands. Sportcraft
Boats in Morrinsville have recently
released their new hull the ‘APB’
(Aluminium Pontoon Boat – original
huh!) under their Scorpion brand,
that ticked the most boxes and just
squeaked inside the budget.
Due to the aggressive hull designs
www.nzfisher.co.nz 19
BOATfishing
most 4.5 – 5.0meter boats are being
designed with they’re being fitted
with 50hp or bigger outboards. The
Scorpion APB, (designed by Spencer
Black former offshore racer and vastly
experienced boat designer) comes
with a much shallower hull ‘vee’
at under 10 degrees. This shallow
dead-rise is countered front end by
an aggressive, scything bow that cuts
through the chop and rises the hull
gently and consistently above the
worse we’ve put her through. I admit
I was sceptical that such a shallow
rise would handle the conditions
but during the Leigh Family fishing
comp in March we pushed the
boat into and across heavy seas in
30knots of Easterly to get to some
(unproductive!) spots on the outside
of Kawau Island. I’m not going to
suggest this boat be exposed to the
rigours of the West Coast, but I find it
hard to believe there’s much the East
Coast fisher will encounter that this
boat won’t handle with aplomb.
We did arrange a few modifications
to the standard package including the
upgrade from ply to tread-plate floor,
the design and fitting of a transom
mounted live-bait tank and the
extension of the foredeck anchor well
cover/deck to allow stable and sizable
casting platform up forward. These
modifications add a lot to the fish
ability and practicality of the APB and
we’d recommend all of them.
The APB comes standard with a 30hp
Mercury ELPTO outboard and again
we went with an upgrade to the 40hp
version with Hydraulic trim and tilt - a
must have in our eyes.
Sportcraft manufacture their own
trailers under the ‘Sport????’ brand.
They’re strong, capable and well
made but we have sadly struck a
few issues with the axle and hub
componentry. We trust Sportcraft are
taking care of this issue. The boat is
extremely easy to launch and retrieve
due to both the trailer design / layout
and a well chosen which. At under
600kgs the hull is not difficult to tow
or handle singlehandedly.
For electronics I had no hesitation
in fitting the latest Lowrance HDS-
5 Fishfinder/GPS combo. While I
would have loved to have upgraded
the standard 600W transducer to
the extraordinary AIRMAR 1kW
model, sensibilities led us to shelve
that idea....for now! The HDS-5 has
been out for a few years and is still
the leader in consumer 5inch GPS
combos. I would have loved to find
great advancements in GPS/combos
but the HDS-5 still leads the field.
I tried to kill my previous unit on
my kayak for 3 years but despite
numerous drownings, knocks and
drained batteries it still goes strong.
The rear ‘cockpit’ of the APB is
spacious, even for a centre console.
SCORPION 480APB
As Tested: $22,000.00
Length: 480cm
Power: Max. 40hp
Trailer: Sportline Single
axle
Tow weight: <450kg
Beam: 1760mm
Bottoms: 4mm
Sides: 2.5mm
Transom: 4mm
Deadrise: 10°
We chose to forego any seating (a
swivel skippers seat comes standard)
to provide more fishing and ice-box
space. The 90litre ‘long’ Icey-tek
sits neatly in front of the outboard
providing a bench seat and bait board
when required.
There is no such thing as a perfect
boat and we wouldn’t try and pass
this off as one, but the 480APB ticks
so many of the most important boxes
it’s getting close. Off the shelf the
480APB borders on cheap but the
upgraded outboard, hull and fore-
deck improve its solidity, power and
practicality immeasurably.
20 www.nzfisher.co.nz
BOATfishing
Tasty Treats with Derek the Chef PAELLA IS A TYPICAL Spanish
dish and is traditionally cooked in
a “paellera” - a round flat pan with
two handles - which is then put on
the table. It is normally made using
shellfish but can also be made with
chicken. In many Spanish villages,
especially in coastal areas, they use
a giant paellera to cook paella on
festival days which is big enough to
feed everybody.
A paella is very flexible so if you don’t
have the exact ingredients or if you
find some of them hard to get hold
of, substitute them for something
similar. Getting fresh shellfish can be
a problem, but you can always use
frozen fish and use fish or chicken stock
instead of water to increase the flavour.
There are literally hundreds of ways
to cook a paella and every cook
has their own favourite recipe.
Here’s mine (it will serve 6 people
depending on how hungry you are),
and is loosely based on a Filipino
recipe style that my wife enjoys.
Ingredients:
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 cup green peas
1 red capsicum
1 can chopped tomato
200g prawns (if using cooked prawns substitute fish stock for the water)
300g cockles in shell
24 mussels (5 or 7 left in shell for presentation)
1 Spanish chorizo sliced thinly
500g rice (traditionally short grain rice is used but I prefer to use medium grain)
2 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
a pinch of saffron strands (if you can’t get saffron, use yellow food colouring
instead and add it once you have added the liquid)
a sprig of parsley, finely chopped
olive oil
1-2 litre chicken / fish stock
1x cup white wine
www.nzfisher.co.nz 21
RECIPE
Method
Mussels: Wash the mussels, removing
the beards. Throw away any that
don’t shut on contact with water.
Steam open reserving 5 or so for
presentation.
Cockles: Wash in water and then put
in a bowl with some salt so that the
grit comes out. Throw away any that
are open.
Prawns: Whether you peel them or not
is up to you. If you decide to peel them,
save the shells and boil in water for
about ten minutes. Save the liquid and
add later instead of water.
Garlic: In a pestle and mortar, grind
the garlic, saffron (if using), parsley
and a pinch of salt.
Here’s how: Heat some olive oil in a
large frying pan. Add the onion, garlic
& red capsicum and fry gently for
about five minutes or until onion is soft.
Add the chopped tomato and fry on a
low heat for another ten minutes. Pour
in the white wine and reduce right
down until very little liquid is left.
Mean while bring the stock to the
boil and add in saffron threads, return
to a low simmer season with salt.
Add the rice and stir well to make sure
that it is thoroughly coated then slowly
pour in a little at a time the stock.
Turn the heat right down and cook
very slowly. Stirring occasionally.
Add the pre cooked prawns, mussel
meat, chorizo sausage and cockles
along with the peas and give it a stir.
Checking that it has enough stock and
add more as required.
Once the rice is cooked, and al dente
it is ready to eat.
Arrange the mussels in the shells on
top then place into a warm oven for 20
-30 minutes to rest and allow to settle.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve with a
crusty bread and Anchorage Rose or
Pinot Noir.
Chefs tip:- I will sometimes use
squid and place diagonal cuts
through it for effect. Add at the
same time as the cockles and mussel
meat. Another good option is Monk
fish, hapuka or any thick fleshed fish
fillets, tua tua may also be added as
would pipi instead of cockles.
For more recipes check out Derek
the chef On Line @
www.derekthechef.co.nz
22 www.nzfisher.co.nz
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WEATHER STILL DOMINATES
angler’s movements, often
hampering effort and consistency
areas to be accessed. While the
westerly’s whistled during the early
and mid week period meaning no
one was out amongst it, later on
the winds lightened up and swung
around to the south meaning
inshore areas became reachable if
not downright pleasant.
With most boat crews mainly, if
not only, interested in the inshore
arena this suited the majority.
While this near-shore area
experienced light winds or was
even glassy, further offshore the
cold southerlies persisted to make
things uncomfortable and difficult.
Looking from the shore northward,
no one would be wiser that things
weren’t the same at White Island as
they were inshore – and they were
far from it. Deception prevails!
Inshore
As per expected, seems like the
vast majority of snapper have
departed the inshore scene.
Obviously there will still be a few
inhabiting the shallows and there
will be a few lunkers among them
but the large population base
has departed in favour of deeper
environs. If the crimson ones are
in shallow water it seems east
(Te Kaha to Opotiki) is better
than west. To counter the lack of
snapper has been a welcome influx
of terakihi.
Limit, or near limit, fishing for the
silversides has come into vogue in
many areas between the Rurima
Rocks and the reef system off
Matata. 25-35 metres has been
quite a productive depth with
some very respectable blue cod
and the odd just legal snapper
as by catch. Reportedly snapper
more plentiful further out and even
some landed in 60-70 metres over
the next 2-3 months. Along sandy
beaches the carrots have been
cooperative as have been the
plump kahawai.
Offshore
Steady as she goes with
reasonable fishing right across the
board. Nothing electric, just steady
and enough to keep interest levels
keen. Without doubt, the best
and most consistent is the shallow
water reef fishing around White
Island. Nice terakihi, at times in
double header proportion, led
the way. Well supported by near
maximum sized pink mao mao,
healthy porae and smallish trevally.
Out deeper is a mixed bag with
tough times in the deep (300m
plus) but reasonable in the 220-
260 metre possies.
A pleasing cross section with
everything on the small side.
Bass, bluenose, puka and gemfish
seldom exceeded 10 kilos but all
great eating to be sure. Kingis
biting fairly well too with most
in predictable winter condition.
Despite being lean, they still want
to punish their would be captors.
Jigging spectacularly unproductive
with livies doing the business.
The predominantly 12-17 kilo fish
provided enough action to put
adrenalin levels on notice. Water
nice colour and hovering just over
15 degrees C. A couple broadbill
hooked but unfortunately lost.
Ranfurly Bank
No recent reports, should be
something to report next time.
Summary
As you will deduce through the
above writing, it’s still well worth
being out there. Sure, you’ll need
to time your outings with the highs
as they come across the country
but this shouldn’t be too much
of a chore. Rug up, avoid black
ice, plenty of hot drinks, thermal
underwear, gloves, thaw the bait
the day before – it’s simple! See
you out there!
Bay of Plenty - OffshoreSource: Rick Pollock – www.Pursuit.co.nz
regionalREVIEWS
www.nzfisher.co.nz 23
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w
WITH THE BAD weather of May and
June now behind us and it’s time to
think about fishing again. Yes the
water may be a little colder, the days
a little shorter, and those early starts a
bit less appealing but the fish are still
out there in good numbers. Personally,
I find this time of year to be just as
good as summer. Fishing the change
of light is far easier and there’s a huge
reduction in other anglers who would
otherwise be trying to steal your
favourite pozzie.
With the water temperature hovering
around 14°C, cold water species like
gurnard and terakihi have now moved
in close and are a great alternative
to snapper. Gurnard can be caught
almost anywhere there’s sand while
terakihi are a bit more difficult and are
typically found holding over the reefs
a bit further out.
Gurnard
As gurnard are an opportunistic
feeder, the standard method to
target them is using a ledger rig
and medium sized, smelly baits like
a cube of pilchard or bonito. If you
want to be serious, you can’t really
go past a Black Magic ‘Gurnard
Grabber’, finished off with a 4oz
teardrop sinker. Softbaits are rapidly
becoming another favourite method
to target the old carrot. All you have
to do is employ the old heave and
leave technique; use any old softie,
flick it out the back and then let Mr.
Rod Holder do all the work. This is
a technique that is gaining quite a
following and you will quickly discover
that it is effective for catching a variety
of species.
Terakihi
To target terakihi you first need to
find a reef. There are a variety of
publications that list GPS way points
for this purpose so it shouldn’t be
too hard to build up a good selection
of possible candidates. Use a ledger
rig with 2/0 octopus hooks a 6oz
sinker. Almost any bait will work, but
they have been known to be picky
so it always pays to have a good
selection. A firm favourite amongst
serious anglers is tuatuas. Be warned
however as tuatuas don’t stay on the
hook for long, so a spool of cotton is
a mandatory accessory – a few wraps
around the hook keeps them in place.
To get these tasty little shellfish you’ll
have to go for a swim in the surf,
so while there is still 1 week left of
schools holidays, I suggest you take
the kids to the beach at low tide and
let them go nuts...you will get both
bait and ‘man points’ for doing this!!
Snapper
My update wouldn’t be complete
without mentioning snapper. At this
time of year snapper are in a lazy
mode because they are fat! There are
plenty of them around but they just
take a bit of encouragement to hook
up. Soft-baiting is still my favourite
method to target them but you
will have to change your technique
slightly as they aren’t as enthusiastic
about smashing baits. Use very small
jerks during your retrieve and even
let it drag behind you for awhile.
As for colours, I can’t go past my
favourite, Lime Tiger, but Pink Shine
is rapidly taking over as the no.1
producer. Lately I have found that
both 4” grubs and 5” jerk shads are
working equally well.
LegaSea
As a final word, I just want to quickly
mention LegaSea. Hopefully you will
have seen or heard about LegaSea
over the last few months but if you
haven’t you might remember its
predecessor Option 4 or the Kahawai
Legal Challenge. Check out www.
legasea.co.nz for more details and
to contribute. There is an extremely
hard working team behind this brand,
all working on your behalf, and we
require your support to ensure the
future of our fisheries.
Winter’s a great time to get out there
and get amongst it.
Paddle Hard,
Tim
Tim Taylor, avid kayaker and fisherman, will be bringing us a regular Tauranga fishing update. Having paddled right round New Zealand in recent times, Tim’s well qualified to be in places you might not expect to see a ‘yakker... if you see him out there, give him a wave!
Bay of Plenty - InshoreSource: Rick Pollock – www.Pursuit.co.nz
regionalREVIEWS
24 www.nzfisher.co.nz
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The Hauraki ReportSource: Espresso – www.catch.org.nz
regionalREVIEWS
King of Bling
Toothy grin, bad breath ‘n all, they’re
back!Not many yet but inwards to our
recreational fishing areas they swarm,
scything their way through terminal
tackle like a sharp knife through a
fillet. Obviously ‘couda are into facial
piercings with all the hooks, jigs and
sparkly things they get into while
providing us a look of disbelief at the
inevitable slack line.
Writhing and squirming on hook-up,
quite similar to a snapper take initially,
but their swimming motion gives a tell
tale momentary slackness to the line
rather than a straight thump thump...not
my cup of tea. And they smell funny.
King Kahawai
Acres and acres of kahawai are in the
gulf, a fantastic sight sound and feel
when they strip the braid off the line
in their explosive runs, making that
whipping sound on braid is music to my
ears, and they’re biggies! When they’re
surface feeding like this it’s as if they
are giving you the cold shoulder – only
sometimes there’re snapper underneath
but not often and rarely have I caught a
kingfish when they’re doing this.
In the water the other day were millions
of little pink crablike creatures floating
around, perhaps this is what they were
getting stuck into.
Aren’t we so lucky to have to ‘put up’
with so many Kahawai at the moment.
They’re feeding up big time on the
pilchard schools in the gulf so there’s a
lot of fast and furious smash and grab
feeding sessions on otherwise slow
snapper fishing days.
Micro Workups
The small baitfish balls like these
pilchards I had literally all around me the
other day (couldn’t resist getting right
in amongst it) are getting hammered by
the whales, gannets, dolphins, kahawai,
kingfish, ‘couda and humans, here’s
what it looks like from a dolphins point
of view.
With lots of small bait schools all spread
about, there is a lot of seemingly
snapper-free areas in the gulf, and also
a lot of times when all the predators are
on a knifes edge, hunting, positioning
for a brief hell for leather race to eat or
be eaten, it’s gets very tense.
It is these times that bring the
goosebumps, with sudden tornadoes of
gannets funnelling down from the sky
in an endless bombing run, thumping
the water into a froth of white water
alongside the gasping dolphins as they
round up and feed on the pilchards,
whales can crash the party and engulf
great volumes of fish rising with their
head well clear of the water often with
the pilchards spewing out the sides of
their mouths. An impressive sight in our
own watery backyard. Long may it last.
So the workups have been extremely
fast and furious this month, small flurries
with only a few dolphins and a handful
of gannets in attendance, fast starting
and even faster stopping being the
norm lately.
If you’re not right with them when
they strike, they’re gone in 60 seconds
literally providing action packed fishing
days but with very short bite times.
With the workups so fast and small not
many remnants sink down the depths
below for snapper to feed on, so there
are a few skinny snapper in attendance,
but this makes them all the keener to
bite when they do i.e. very aggressive
takes when the feeding switch is finally
flicked on.
www.nzfisher.co.nz 25
w
regionalREVIEWS
Metal jigs like the Jitterbug and soft
plastics like the Catch Pilchards or
Anchovies on a heavy sinker are the
go-to right now, keeping the lure hard
on the bottom, lift/wind about 5metres
and drop, lift/wind and drop, motion is
critical to success.
Like this 50+cm fish who liked the look
of the Catch Sparkling Anchovy on the
3oz Jolly Roger dragging along the sea
floor behind the boat – a typical way
to pick up one or two good fish while
‘resting’ between workups, the boats
motion does a great job of fluttering
jigs too.
Find the pilchards if you can and stay
in that area – keeping eyes open for
any surface action and be there fast.
The rewards are instant exciting hook-
ups and some big line peeling runs
from hungry 60-70cm snapper like
this one displayed on the NZ Fishing
Competition measurer, more about
this here.
Slow jig style out in the depths and bait
‘n burley time for the stationary hunters
in close seems to be working well.
No matter what soft bait you prefer a
special website only offer is now on so
you can experience the Catch Harpoon
hooks – the ones with the cork-screw
to hold your SB on without wrecking
it – less soft baits used per day has got
to be good, To find out more about
how to get a Catch Snapper DVD plus
2 packets of 8 Harpoon Hooks and
FREE delivery at a SUPER-SPECIAL
price, click here.
Fewer fine fishing days now winter
Hey All!
Well, we are in the middle of
NZ’s winter right now. That
means chucking on the thermals,
the beanie and some warm
clothes and getting out amongst
it because the fishing this time
of year is superb! The kingfish,
hapuku and snapper are all there
for the catching, and are usually
big brutes this time of year - as
you will see from some of the
pics in this newsletter! April
was real fun especially as we
prospected for some Bluenose
to add to the kingi carnage, May
was especially choice on the
kingis but June was a revelation
with an awesome run of kingfish
and some monster Puka. It would
have to be right up there in terms
of months to book for a week trip
next year.
We’re putting out a big thanks
to all those who have been out
since the last edition and helped
us have some fun times on the
water. It has been a real blast and
thanks for being a part of it!
Click here to see the full report
online.
All the best
from the Epic crew!
Carl, Tony, Tobes, Belinda, Lee
and Owen
has cloaked us but the fine ones that
fire are worth every screaming reel
moment!
Cheers,
Espresso.
And from Damo from the Charter
Connection (Diversity) has these words
of advice on the Hauraki at present
too – Cheers Damo!
CoromandelSource: Carl Muir –
www.EpicAdventures.co.nz
www.nzfisher.co.nz 26
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IN NEXT MONTH’S NZ FISHER
Top of the South – A dream trip to the French Pass• Finally – Building your own Jig rod• Getting grubby with bloody baits – • the very best cut baits for Snapper