www.nzfisher.co.nz 1

f sherISSUE 11 August 2011

// Martin Salter’s Lord Howe adventure continues

Rawhiti: Kiwi El Dorado

www.nzfisher.co.nz

2 www.nzfisher.co.nz

THE RUM THAT INVENTED RUM

www.mountgayrum.com Enjoy the adventure, drink responsibly

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Pg 6

12

8

SPORTFISHING

6 The Last Paradise - Part 2

We catch up with Martin Salter

for the second part of his trip

FISHINGSPOTS

8 Rawhiti: Kiwi El Dorado

Derrick Paull starts his countdown

ofhistopfiveinshorelocations.

KAYAKFISHING

12 What a Difference a

Month Makes

A tale of two trips to the Bay of Islands

15 Fishing Video of the Month

16 Regional Reports

18 Interesting Facts:

A not neat knot is a knot not needed!

18 Competition Pg 18

CONTENTS

4 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Hell Hasn’t quite frozen over,

but by gods it’s got to be close! Snow

in Auckland. Who would have ever

thought it would happen? Next thing

you know we might win a world cup...

In some areas this cold snap has set

the fishing on fire, but largely it seems

there’s a real slow down – if you can get

past the wild southerly fronts and spend

some worthwhile time on the water!

I do enjoy winter, but this year fishing

has taken a back seat to some family

focus – something I seem to be saying

more often these days. What it does

mean is that I’m becoming much more

selective about how I spend the limited

time have and make sure the investment

is worthwhile. It’s easy to say now, after

25 years of practice that I have a pretty

good idea of the best places, times &

techniques to narrow down options

and improve the odds. In general this

confidence leads to a bin full of fish,

some great photos & the odd story.

Problem is, Murphy sometimes has his

way and the wheels fall off.

Last week while planning NZ Fishers’

next issue I realised we were a bit light

on stories of the winter fishery. So,

as we are a professional outfit with

plenty of experienced, skilled fishers

I set up a winter mission to nab some

table fish & get some photos. And

boy did Murphy put us in our place! If

I get over the scarring psychological

damage inflicted by a severe zilching –

I might run a story on the trip. Another

lesson well learned though – there is

value in prudence when planning a

trip and definitely don’t say “I’m so

happy to be on the water I don’t care

if I don’t catch a fish...” as this Murphy

has his say and makes sure you learn

the lessons of your ways!

I learned something else completely

unrelated last week; The Hauraki

Gulf is becoming a ‘toxic wasteland’.

I agree that there are some serious

flaws in the practices of our agriculture

sector that continue to impact on the

Gulf (and the while marine ecosystem

around NZ), but there are many

areas where the gulf ecosystems are

improving.

One statistic noted was that fish stocks

were at 23% of their virgin state. This

is indeed a very low number, but when

it is considered that in 1985 snapper

numbers were estimated at closer

to 10% and current best estimates

put them at around 20%, we see

that there has already been a great

improvement in the Hauraki Gulf. The

QMS and greater education of rec-

fishers have seen fish stock improve

steadily, now we need the terrestrial

users to start cleaning up their game

& we might make some real changes.

//From the

EDITOR

Happy Fishing! Derrick

editorial

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!

Cover Image: Darren Parsons with 8kg+ Rawhiti Snapper, released shortly after image taken. Credit: Aileen Michael

ABOUT /

Short and sharp, NZ Fisher is

a free e-magazine delivering

thought provoking and en-

lightening articles, and indus-

try news and information to

forward-thinking fisher people.

EDITOR / Derrick Paull

ART DIRECTOR / Jodi Olsson

GROUP EDITOR / Trudi Caffell

CONTENT ENQUIRIES /

Phone Derrick on 021 629 327

or email

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sportFISHING

We catch up with MARTIN SALTER on his mission to land four of the Islands trickier target species...

Ben’s hooked up!

We catch part two of Martin’s

Lord Howe adventure, with thanks

to Fishing World Australia for

allowing us to re-print the story.

We catch up with Martin on his

mission to land four of the Islands

trickier target species...

skipping acRoss tHe lagoon in

Crom’s wonderfully nippy Bonefish our

first task was to find a school of silver

drummer. This took all of 10 minutes.

A few scoops of mashed bread soaked

in tuna oil and water as berley soon had

them swirling on the surface like hungry

trout and it was time to put out a bait.

The rig was simplicity itself. A No.4

hook with a piece of crust impaled on it

and a 12lb fluorocarbon leader, greased

to make it float in the surface film,

beneath 15lb floating braid.

On Crom’s instructions I cast to the

point of the feeding shoal farthest

from the boat where the fish would

be less nervous. In no time at all my

crust was engulfed and an angry

silver drummer was tearing line off

my lightly set drag. The tackle held

firm and after a spirited scrap my best

drummer of any colour was hoisted

aboard, quickly photographed and

returned. Just as it was all seeming

too easy, things began to go wrong.

The school continued to feed

The Last Paradise -Part 2

www.nzfisher.co.nz 7

sportFISHING

confidently on the berley and I was

hooking up reasonably well. But the

next three fish sawed through the line

using their typical head shaking lunges

to rub the leader against the teeth in

the top of their jaws.

Eventually I mastered playing them with

the rod held low and using a little more

finesse to avoid being bitten off but

by now the fish had become wary and

were drifting away. Time for our third

target, the stunning looking bluefish,

in a different area a little closer to the

reef but using the same tactics as these

beauties like to swim and feed with the

drummer. With bright turquoise blue

colours and orange spots the bluefish

weren’t hard to find.

Our biggest problem came in the

shape of three reef sharks which were

simply smashing into any hooked fish

within a few seconds. Feeding beautiful

fish to sharks is not my idea of fun and

I was about to give up when Crom

handed me a stronger rod and line

with the instruction to “hook up then

wind like hell”. Some two minutes

later an extremely fortunate bluey was

smiling for the cameras having escaped

a munching by about a nano-second.

We had fished for less than two hours

with constant action in crystal clear

water and watched every bite from

every fish in stunning surroundings

with Mount Lidgbird as a dramatic

backdrop. This really was pretty

special and I didn’t want the morning

to end. Fish number four favoured

crabs rather than bread so we

paddled ashore at Rabbit Island (real

name Blackburn) in search of bait.

Like everything else in the wonderful

marine environment of Lord Howe the

crabs were plentiful and soon we were

scanning the water for coral outcrops

likely to be hiding places for the big,

slate blue double-headers.

It was here that I was most surprised

when Crom produced an outfit more

suitable to my mind for monster kingies

than anything else. A large Hoodlum

hook and running ball sinker completed

the rig and soon a crab was lowered

into position on a patch of sand

adjacent to a promising spot. I was

under orders to let the fish run no more

than a metre before setting the hook

and then to hang on like grim death.

Within seconds the line twitched and

soon my rod was creaking alarmingly

as the double-header powered back

to his rocky home. The tackle held

firm and after a brutal scrap four kilos

of doubleheader completed the Lord

Howe Lagoon Grand Slam.

The lagoon fishing continued to

impress and by getting a bait in the

water at first light and at the top of

the tide I even managed to snare

three of the big “uncatchable” silver

drummer from the island jetty.

Obviously, it would have been rude

and impertinent to completely ignore

the island kings and pretty quickly a

personal best 12kg beauty was added

to the list on a lure trolled in the

shadow of Mount Gower, the tallest of

the Lord Howe peaks.

Natalie loved the beaches, the cliffs,

the forests, the spas, the walks, the

snorkelling…in fact every waking

moment of our trip. She can’t wait to

return and, not surprisingly, neither

can I. With some justification they

call Lord Howe “the last paradise”.

As none of us can be absolutely sure

about either the existence or the

nature of any afterlife, my advice is to

experience it while you can.

Martin Salter visited Lord Howe

Island courtesy of Lord Howe Island

Tourism Association, Arajilla Retreat

and QantasLink.

8 www.nzfisher.co.nz

story by Derrick paull & images by James Halatoa, nssc

i Have FisHeD many, many spots

around the northern coasts of New

Zealand. I’ve seen thousands of reefs,

rocky points & gutters. Amongst all

those deeps guts & weedy reefs there

are some that stick in my head more

vividly than others, some because of

the fish we landed and some for those

we didn’t.

When the idea of rating our

favourites came about I threw

out the idea to some of the other

writers – hoping for a few ideas and

confirmation that the locations I rate

featured with others too. One of the

most consistent suggestions was the

Bay of Islands and more specifically

Rawhiti. Rawhiti is located on the

south eastern edge of the bay,

generally recognised as the area from

Omakiwi Bay, the south & Eastern

sides of Urapukapuka Island and the

area in front of Oke Bay, the base of

Cape Brett.

This area covers many different

fishing environments, from the sandy

channels & flats of the inner harbour

out through the high current, coarse

sandy & shallow reefs of the Albert

passage to rugged, gnarly rock

formations absorbing the brunt of the

constant easterly swells. There are also

patches of deep foul reef, home to

Terakihi, Golden Snapper & Kingfish

– all within comfortable walking or

paddling distance.

Rawhiti has always appealed, not only

due to its almost endless options but

also for its accessibility to relatively

novice anglers. In just about any

weather & for anglers of almost any

experience can find spots equal to their

skills. Urapukapuka was the base for

Zane Grey on his New Zealand game

fishing missions, sensibly as just 4 miles

from shore you can be tangling with

some of the worlds biggest Striped

Marlin and Kingfish.

FISHINGspots

Rawhiti: Gateway to World Class Fisheries

The count-down of my top five inshore locations: Number five

www.nzfisher.co.nz 9

FISHINGspots

I have fished Rawhiti from the boat,

shore and kayak. I rate access to very

good fishing all three very highly.

There’s even a little surf-like beach

on the Oke Bay side for die hard

surfcasters!

Due to the very low commercial

fishing pressure in the Bay of Islands

fish stocks are high (compared to

the rest of the Northland fishery)

and leads to greater numbers of

trophy fish. These larger fish like to

settle on the reefs & feed up on the

abundant shellfish & passing baitfish.

The exposed shoreline of Rawhiti,

especially the Urapukupuka Island side

has a very high abundance of these

weedy, kina covered reefs.

We have had days fishing Rawhiti where

the snapper can be landed in numbers

that defy belief. It’s not the numbers

of fish that attract us though, it’s the

promise or rather lure of the big ones.

As Rawhiti is predominantly north

facing it is not as affected by our

dominant south westerly winds but

receives a fair pounding from the

easterly swells. This combination

allows fishers to get in close, burleying

or flicking plastics amongst the broken

reefs where the biggest snapper feed.

If you’re heading there for the first

time, try the adage, ‘Fish your feet

first’. There is a temptation to head

out to the horizon, while the best

snapper fishing is no more than

a kilometre off shore 90% of the

year. Try in amongst the reefs at the

northern extremity of the Albert

channel, most fishers head straight

past them, but due to the currents

bringing a constant food supply

and plenty of cover for mooching

snapper. If you’re organised, drop a

live yellowtail down here too, they’ll

be wolfed by snapper but also bring a

chance for Kingfish and John Dory.

If the wind is up and you need stay

close to shore in the bay try flicking

plastics around channel edges

between Urapukapuka and Rawhiti

10 www.nzfisher.co.nz

FISHINGspots

bay. These channels are teeming

with pannie snapper for most of the

year. We have caught snapper here

in commercial quantities (almost

all of which are returned) and have

been pleasantly surprised by the odd

bigger fish over 5kg. Best of all there

are some freight train trevally to be

had here that will give you sensational

fights on light plastics gear.

Rawhiti is a long way from civilisation

as we know it, so be sure to pack all

you’ll need as it’s at least 45 minutes

to the shops and longer if you need

something afterhours.

The bays at Rawhiti provide

endless fun for kids and the area is

extremely family friendly with a lot

of not fishing activities to be had

including some sensational walks

ranging from a 10 minutes gut

buster to Oke Bay through to an 8

hour return trip out to the end of

Cape Brett. Only 45 minutes from

historic Russell you can mix in some

culture when planning a longer stay.

There are shellfish to be collected

in the sand at low tide, scallops (in

season) shallow enough to snorkel

for, crayfish on the outer reefs for

divers & potting and of course

plenty of fishing.

Rawhiti is approximately 4 hours

form Auckland over sealed

roads for all but the last 10km.

Accommodation can be found

throughout the bay, ranging from

camping at the Rawhiti Marae

in summer, a bunk bed cabin at

‘Della’s’ at the end of Rawhiti road

to a number of well appointed

holiday homes that can be easily

found on holidayhomes.co.nz

Peter Michael with 9.18kg Snapper

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kayakFISHING

What a Difference a Month Makes

i WoulDn’t usually settle on

such a cheesy title, but it is entirely

appropriate. The first of these two

trips was in mid June; a Hibiscus Kayak

Fishing Club expedition to Rawhiti.

Derrick and myself left Auckland

with the kayaks strapped to the roof

at 730 pm and woke the rest of the

club up when we arrived at midnight.

After a pleasant 4 hours sleep, rainy

and blustery conditions with a 3 m

swell greeted us. But perhaps in our

advantage was the unseasonal 17.5°C

water temperature!

Our previous experiences at Rawhiti

had also been during winter and

had been exceptional. So it was with

high hopes that we paddled off the

beach in search of the shallow reefs

and island channels that had been so

productive for us in the past. To be

honest though, the fishing was rather

underwhelming for large periods. I

story by Darren parsons

A tale of two trips to the Bay of Islands

www.nzfisher.co.nz 13

kayakFISHING

guess it’s all relative, as we were still

able to extract fat pan sized snapper

from water as shallow as a metre. As

always though, we were wanting the

impossible (a 20 lber on every cast).

Various reports were coming across

the radio from the rest of the club that

ranged from not much, to patches

of hot fishing. So it was in search of

greener pastures we paddled through

to the exposed coast and set up a drift

over a series of deeper reefs. After 20

minutes of watching Derrick catch a

handful of pannies I was fairly tired of

maintaining my balance in a large swell

at an awkward angle to the wind.

The last thing I wanted was a scrappy

fish that might pull me out of the

kayak. Well at least I caught a panny

as a warm up before that happened.

The ensuing hook up still took me by

surprise as I had the reel in free-spool

when it took off. It was with such pace

that the fish was departing that when

I flicked the bail arm over it bounced

off the braid a couple of times before

setting in place and applying tension

to the fish as well as myself. I guess

it had been a while since I’d had a

decent fish on, but I can’t remember

feeling such leverage from a snapper

before. Maybe it was just the awkward

swell, which became a serious threat of

removing me from my kayak as I drifted

over the fish and the kayak began to

turn around. After a period of blistering

runs, sore forearms and poor balance a

fat 6 kg specimen came to the side of

the boat. I had never been so relieved

to see a snapper.

The next drop was a virtual action

replay. The same blistering runs and

leverage again turned my kayak around

into the swell. After a couple of minutes

a similar sized fish surfaced, but this

time dropped the hook. Drop three

resulted in another scrappy fish around

3 kg, and this pattern continued for

another 20 minutes until the sun forced

us to leave what was a sizzling but short

fishing session. Back at the beach it was

evident that others had also done well,

with fish to 8 kg being landed.

The next morning we paddled strait

to the same deep water reefs, but

the fish didn’t seem to be hungry.

After a couple of unsuccessful drifts

the swell was making me queasy, so

I packed it in and paddled for home.

When I got close to the coast I was

out of the swell and the sun had come

out so I had a cast and lay back. On

about my third cast I noticed the line

change direction and stay slack as it

was sinking.

For me this has often been a signal

of a larger fish, so I raised my rod and

quickly wound in the slack line. By this

time the fish had swum off to the side

of where I had cast, another good

sign that the fish was sizable, but as

I continued to wind very little weight

came on. Eventually I caught up with

the fish and it did take off, slowly at

first, but the runs grew in frequency

and speed as the fight went on. I

applied more tension to keep the fish

off the reef, which eventually worked

and it floated up beside me just as

Aileen Michael conveniently paddled

up with her camera. After a couple of

quick pictures I released a snapper of

about 8 kg.

I had been more than fortunate to

turn my only bite of a very average

day into a very nice fish. Some of the

others that had stayed in the swell on

the deeper reefs had also got onto

“AFTeR A PeRIoD oF BLISTeRInG RunS, SoRe FoReARMS AnD PooR BALAnCe A FAT 6 kG SPeCIMen CAMe To The sideoftheboat.ihadneverbeensorelievedtoseeasnapper.”

14 www.nzfisher.co.nz

kayakFISHING fish after my departure. Aside from a

range of respectable fish a rather large

snapper had been netted and boated only

to de-hook itself and flip back over the

side in one motion.

On my return to Auckland I was talking

up the reliability of winter fishing in Bay

of Islands. After all, on what was a patchy

weekends fishing I had managed to luck

an 8 kg snapper. A plan was developed

to return with a boat and an arsenal of

tackle and try and catch some hapuku in

100 m off the end of Cape Brett. Inshore

snapper fishing was to be our guaranteed

back up option. In mid July a large high

planted itself on the North Island, so my

buddy Oliver and I drove north and even

managed to arrive in time for a decent

night’s sleep.

The next morning we filled the tank

with livies and took off to the end of

the peninsula. We were able to fish

for an hour and a half before the wind

increased too much to keep our baits on

the bottom. We were not too bothered,

as after all we had our money in the bank

to return to on the coast. Wrong. To cut

a long story short we spent the next day

and half drifting around the inshore reefs

and channels donating our soft baits to

leatherjacket and wrasses. Stray lining and

live baiting was as equally unproductive.

Our total weekends take amounted to a

john dory and a blue cod.

How could the fishing change so much

in the space of a month? I guess the 3°C

fall in water temperature has to have an

impact on how much a snapper needs to

eat, but we had done well there in the

depths of winter previously. The different

sea conditions may have also had an

impact, but again, you shouldn’t need a

large swell to catch fish. I guess it’s just

one of the frustrations of fishing that keeps

you coming back. I’ll be sure not to put a

guarantee on anything that involves a fish

in the future.

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VIDEO

gRant ‘espResso’ Bittle of Catch

Softbaits shows us how it’s done with a

fresh snapper while our friends at Fishing

World Magazine in Aus prepare a Kingfish

here (I wonder if they ever have to fillet NZ

legal size ones?).

In this video Crimpy of The Fishing

Paper [Link; www.thefishignpaper.co.nz]

catches a few South Island Kings before

showing us how to fillet some bigger

models towards the end – it’s definitely

worth the wait!

And if you’re ever in need of info on how

to fillet a great white Shark – check this

out! Not for the sqeemish!

Here’s a huge snapper.

Fishing videoof the MonthFilleting – The Experts Share Their Secrets

16 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Finally, sometHing to write

about!! After nearly a full fortnight of

very inclement weather, anglers were

again able to get out and chase their

chosen sport in comfort. One good

thing about this past fortnight was the

complete certainty in the forecasts and,

accordingly, the decision to not go to

sea was easily made!

Nothing worse than the 20-25

knot forecasts as we’re constantly

second guessing ourselves. When it’s

consistently 35-50 knots there’s only

one place to be! Great to see so many

getting out over the weekend and

early in the week in what can only be

described as pristine weather. Aside

from being high in the enjoyment stakes

the fishing was quite productive as well.

inshore

A huge exodus of trailer boats of all

descriptions could be seen on the

water recently – great stuff. Launching

ramps, and even beaches in a total

lack of swell, were busy with boaties

getting out in droves – literally starved

for time on the water. Most were not

disappointed with the efforts with

catches ranging from excellent to “just

a feed”. As fishing was quite buoyant

prior to the stretch of poor weather,

no one was quite sure what to expect

after the break.

Snapper were still available in good

numbers in many locales while others

struggled. Interesting to note that

depth was hugely important, for more

than bottom terrain. As it turned

out the best places to be were the

extremes – both shallow and deeper.

The usual depths that most anglers

turned to for snapper, 15-35 metres,

turned out to be the least productive

with the stretch between Thornton

and the radio mast best.

Anglers revelled with their good

fortune here with near limits of

snapper, plenty of gurnard and

waves of fat kahawai coming through

sporadically to spice up proceedings.

Some of the snapper were very

pleasing fish over four kilos with

few undersized. Again, out deeper,

snapper in stronger currents and

terakihi as the tidal runs lessened.

Merely trying off to the buoys mean

you don’t even have to anchor up to

achieve the action. Expect snapper

to move out even deeper as winter

grips us further with terakihi becoming

important in overall catches.

offshore

Despite some pristine weather, few

bothered venturing further afield.

Those that did struggled on most

accounts for their troubles and

increased fuel usage. Deepwater

fishing was generally a waste of time

for the little effort it received with only

a handful of small gemfish the reward.

Shallower water around White Island

proved far more productive with terakihi

biting well supported by pink mao mao

and porae. Some of the pinkies are

absolute monsters of over 50cm!

While the shallows kicked out the

reef fish the kingis were far less

cooperative. Jigs are again out of

favour with bait enticing the few fish

about. The vast majority were rat to

10 kilo size although a couple anglers

were taught lessons by larger, wily fish.

Water remains relatively warm at 15.5

degrees C and ever so clear. Bound to

be albacore, if not something better

about, if trolling lures were deployed.

Blue water extends well inshore, a

pleasant surprise after all the strong

cold south and west winds we’ve had

to endure.

Ranfurly Bank

No recent visits and for all the right

reasons. Undoubtedly during the

last fortnight it would have been a

dangerous place to visit.

summary

As mentioned, great to see anglers

able to get out on the water after such

extended periods of forced dormancy.

Hopefully we’ll have many more of

these windows over the remainder

of winter. We long for frosty starts

followed by beautiful fine days – the

kind we’ve had just lately but been

short of this month thus far.

We’ve hauled “PURSUIT” out for

her annual survey and maintenance

period. Will be out of action until

September when visiting World

Cup viewers want to also sample

our pictorial wares! After some

improvements and sometime in the

tropics we’ll be back on the water and

relishing the prospects of the new

season ahead. Will start up reports

again in late September. Until then all

the best for what’s left of winter

From Pursuit

Bay of Plentysource: Rick pollock www.pursuit.co.nz

regionalREVIEWS

www.nzfisher.co.nz 17

FoR tHe HauRaki gulF this month,

check out Paul Senior of Wavedancers’

report on fishing.net

hauraki

regionalREVIEWS

Coromandel source: carl muir www.epicadventures.co.nz

Hi eveRyone! Winter is in full effect!

We’ve got horse hoodlums hammering

livies and jigs, solid snapper scoffing

softbaits and the odd pudgy puka

to boot. The weather has stuffed us

around a bit lately but on those still

winter days we’ve seen some carnage

unfold........there’s been no shortage

of railings, dunkings(!), broken rods,

reefings and plenty of big fat kings

popping up for a photo!

This season the kingfish really have

been in great numbers with May and

June seeing some of the best bites

ever. It does make you sit back and

think about what a great fishery we

have on our back doorstep. It just

goes to show that releasing the line

share of fish we catch is the best way

to make sure the trips next year and

in ten years time will be just as good.

Unlike the fisheries ministers recent

talk of increasing snapper quota for

the commercial sector, we feel when a

fishery bounces back it is not time to

take more.....it’s a time to look after it

and carry on good sustainable fishing

practices. So well done to all of you

over the last five years who have been

happy getting a photo of your prize

catch, and then putting it back.

By coming out fishing you are

supporting our local community

and economy in a sustainable way.

As you will see in this newsletter

those benefits not only flow on to

others businesses in our community

like retail, petrol, accommodation,

trades etc but we have also just

donated $2,750 to local coastguard.

So a big CHEERS to everyone who

has been out!

We’ve got a whole lot to look forward

to with big spring kings and surface

stickbait action just round the corner,

then game season and some more

marlin madness. Bring it on!

Cheers from the Epic team

Carl, Belinda, Toby, Lee and Tony

WeatHeR is tHe biggest factor

in the Taranaki & this month has

shown us the worst of what she can

offer. Huge seas & strong winds

coupled with polar blasts – the fire

at home has been very appealing!

For those who have made it out in

the short weather windows have

recorded good catches of both

gurnard & ‘couta in equal numbers –

so it’s been hit & miss at best.

September is normally the

swing month in the Naki.

Wind will still probably be a

problem, but the fishing should

be on the improve soon!

Taranaki – West Coast the amF team

18 www.nzfisher.co.nz

A not neat knot is a knot not needed!

tHe tRutH aBout winter is that we

tend to spend more time thinking about

fishing than actually getting out there &

doing it, so there’s good reason to use

the windy months to brush up on skills

& add a few tricks to the repertoire in

preparation for the catching season!

One of the areas I always chide myself

on not up-skilling in is knot tying. I rely

too heavily on the Uni knot for attach-

ing and the Albright for joining lines.

They’re both great knots, but don’t cut

it in the high pressure fields of stick bait-

ing & game fishing.

So, here’s a beginners guide to some

very useful knots with excellent visuals

on how to tie them. There are a lot of

knot tying sites out there but net knots

is the one I’ve come to use the most.

Knots like the Slim Beauty have already

made it into my knowledge bank and is

proving very useful for joining braid to

mono leader when tying long leaders

due to its low profile and the fact the

tails all face the right way.

Have a look & try some of these knots

for yourself.

interestingFACTS

cHeck out BRenDan Wing and the

youFishtv team landing three ‘once in

a life-time’ 30lb snapper at Arno Bay,

South Australia.

To win this month’s awesome prize of

goodies from go Fish & marine Deals,

watch the video & tell us what size reel

the 14.5kg Snapper was caught on. It’s

worth watching just to see the size of

these monsters!

Post your answer here to go in the draw.

The winner of last month’s draw is Shane

Cameron of Off Road NZ – well done

Shane! The actual weight was 10lbs on

the dot. We’ll get your price out shortly.

Triple hook-up on Aussie 30lbersWhere the hell is Arno bay?

Competition

www.nzfisher.co.nz 19

In the next issue of nZ Fisher…Our One Year Anniversary issue – Expect big things!

Coromandel – Landbased Fishers heaven •

Bringing home the carrots – Getting technical•

Squid: Glorious Squid•

NEXTmonth

haveyousubscribedtonZfisher?it’sfree!simplyvisitwww.nzfisher.co.nz to get a copy of nZ Fisher

deliveredstraighttoyourinboxeverymonth!

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