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ENJOY FISHING? SUBSCRIBE TO NZ FISHER E-MAGAZINE! If you love fishing you'll love NZ Fisher e-Magazine, the fresh new digital mag for Kiwi fishing enthusiasts... and it's free! Packed full of tips, ideas and stories to see you through to your next fishing outing, you'll land a shiny new issue direct in your email inbox every four weeks!
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www.nzfisher.co.nz 1
ISSUE 6 March 2011
// Northern adventure scores large for newby crew
Landbased – from the boat?//
Goin’ deep for the
big Ones!//
www.nzfisher.co.nz
2 www.nzfisher.co.nz
THE RUM THAT INVENTED RUM
www.mountgayrum.com Enjoy the adventure, drink responsibly
www.nzfisher.co.nz 3
Pg 6
12 14
6 Land Based Fishing out of a Boat
Coromandel – last weekend
ofofficialsummer2011
12 Boat Fishing
Newbietakesashinetosoftplastics
14 The King & I
OnKingfishintheHaurakiGulf
18 Underwater
Momentsthatgetyouamped
22 The Clubhouse
NgawiSportsFishingClub
24 Regional Reviews
27 New Products
Killerseriesstickbaits
28 The NZACA National
Pg 22
27
4 www.nzfisher.co.nz
Find your local
dealer at:
* Applies to non-commercial use only. Conditional on annual service by authorised Honda Marine dealers.
‡Honda test boat did 73km on a 25 litre tote tank at 40km/hr cruising speed.
www.hondamarine.co.nz0800 4 STROKE (0800 478 765)
Take your mates fishing for less than $4 each‡!
ECONOMY
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The all new Honda fuel-injected
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• Most powerful 115hp outboard on the market – actually produces 121hp
• ECOmo lean burn control gives truly amazing fuel economy
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• NMEA 2000 compliant so all engine and fuel data can be displayed on GPS screen
ALL NEW
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local dealer
www.nzfisher.co.nz 5
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!
Happy Fishing!
Derrick
would like to extend our sincer-
est condolences to both our fellow
fishers, their families and friends in
Christchurch and more recently, more terri-
fyingly, the people of Japan. Kia kaha. We
mourn with you and wish you the speedi-
est, safest path out of your troubles.
I was pleasantly surprised by the
positive, albeit it reserved feedback I
received on my editorial last month.
Licensing is going to be the elephant in
the room for a long time to come and I
have enjoyed the opportunity to discuss
the subject with a wide and varied
kaleidoscope of fishing enthusiasts and
a fair few intellectuals. So, while plenty
of you would like to see me hang myself
and put my stake in the ground, I’ll ask
that you take the opportunity to talk
about the future of our fisheries with
your fishing buddies and decide for
yourselves – for all of us, what is the
best way forward. It’s your fishery.
So, on to the important stuff. Fishing
is cool! This month we have a number
of great readers stories – good ones,
with great results as some real newbies
getting into some serious fish. Chris
Hadlee is an old mate of mine who I’ve
had the pleasure of putting on to a
few personal bests in the past, but this
summer Chris set out on his own and
the results were fantastic.
We’ve bought a new underwater writer,
James Gordon (creater of the Flikee Moi
– watch this space), who shares the story
of his first big king. James has a few
years experience under his weight belt
but we look forward to more firsts and
big fish tales from James.
The NZ Angling and casting
championships are being held from
Orewa from April 20-23rd. The champs
include both fishing and casting and are
well attended. The difference between
the champs and most competitions
(aside from the fact that there’s no
monetary prizes) is that anglers fish
for the heaviest combined weight of a
multi-species bag over two days. Shore
compete against shore, Boat against
boat and now, kayak against kayak.
NZFisher is looking to enter a team this
year and welcome readers to join us.
For more info, please email the editor
on derrick@nzfisher.co.nz
Most importantly though – go fishing!
The time is always right to fish!
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
derrickp@NZ Fisher.co.nz
ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES /
Phone Alastair on 021 866 036
or email
alastairn@espiremedia.com
ADDRESS / NZ Fisher,
C/- Espire Media, PO Box 137162,
Parnell,Auckland 1151, NZ
WEBSITE / www.NZ Fisher.co.nz
EDITOR
6 www.nzfisher.co.nz
ell it’s been a great sum-
mer for fishing so far, hav-
ing been able to fit in 2-3
trips a week around Rangi soft baiting
out of the baby Stabi I’ve been well
served. But as always happens at this
time of year, I really start to miss land
based fishing. So I headed down to
Coro with a keen young mate of mine
for 2 ½ days to have a go at some land
based kings.
I’ve taken Andrew on a couple of land
based trips previously and we’d got
him his PB snapper at all of about three
kilos but he’d never caught anything
bigger, so I was confident we’d smash
that for him with some land based
kingy action. As it turned out, was a
bloody good thing we had a Plan B!
Both my best land based fish have
come from that area – a 21lb snapper
and a 21kg kingy so I always get a
bit of hyped up form anticipation
any time I’m heading up that way.
Thursday saw the remnants of yet
another tropical cyclone hit the north,
meaning that the swell at the top of
the Coro was going to be really big,
coming in from the NE – far too much
for safely getting on and off a small boat
on the rocks. So we headed up the w
coast thinking we’d fish Blair’s ledge
up near Port Jackson. By the time we
got to Fantail Bay though the wind was
a good 20k SW and building, making
fishing that western side no fun at all.
Back down, round to Colville and up to
Sandy Bay added even more time to
the journey and we were itching for a
fish. In went the boat, I drove round to
Stony Bay to set up camp and we loaded
the boat and set off round towards the
Pinnacles – a part of the country lots
of readers have probably fished and a
place those who haven’t realy should,
it’s some amazing country up there.
landBASEDfeature
Land Based FishingOutof a Boat!//Coromandel–lastweekendofofficialsummer2011
www.nzfisher.co.nz 7
By Derrick Paull
Excited
Andrew with
Personal Best
‘LBG’ Snapper
www.nzfisher.co.nz 9
Well, Plan A fell through really quickly:
as soon as we got out of the bay we
could see just how much swell was
hitting the ledges and there was just
no way we were going to landbase.
So we switched to Plan B which
involved land based fishing out of a
Stabi 349! Anchored up just off some
great looking rocks, we got the berley
going, cubed some pillies in and got
set up. Of course we had no boat
fishing gear with us at all just our LBG
gear which was interesting in such a
small boat. But with a good sense of
humour, a couple of cold drinks and a
steady supply of snapper around the
40-50cm mark, it turned into a really
fun afternoon – just two bloke bobbing
around the top of Coro in a tiny tinny
with rods longer than the boat!
We didn’t look like being in any
danger of breaking Andrew’s PB
but at least the weather had come
right. Or so we thought….
Being such a nice calm night we didn’t
bother getting the boat out of the water
and just anchored in the bay and swam
in to shore, leaving all the gear on the
boat. Nor did we bother putting the
second anchor out. And that is the first
and last time I’ll ever make that mistake.
In the night the wind got up and just
kept rising, howling down the hill and
making the tent feel like it was going to
take off. You can imagine how worried
about the boat I was but at 3 in the
morning in the pitch black there wasn’t
a lot that I was going to be able to do.
As soon as there was any light I raced
straight out only to be confronted with
a perfect view of flat seas all the way
to Great Barrier. But no boat anywhere
to be seen. Raced down to the beach
and all the way over to the eastern side
of the bay, just near the point, was a
very small shape that just might be the
boat, floating nicely off the rocks but it
seemed too much to hope for. Thankfully
it wasn’t and she’d dragged all the
way across and out of the bay, but had
caught the anchor on a submerged rock
not far from the point but far enough
off to be completely undamaged in
any way, and not lost. The day turned
from disaster to relief in seconds!
Once the skipper had composed
himself we loaded up with as much bait
and berley as we could and headed
off for my Spot X thinking the swell
had dropped off. Which it had - but
nowhere near enough to fish where
we wanted. So on to Plan C we went,
picking our gap in some big sets to
get off at the Pinnacles and get set
up. We’d got the berley in, the livie
rigs set up and were getting towards
mid-tide when the sets started getting
bigger and bigger and washing right
over the ledge. Never seen it that big
at that stage of the tide so we had to
do the only sensible thing and get off.
It’s rare that I find myself in a lifejacket
on the rocks but this was certainly one
of those days. By now it was fair to say
things weren’t going according to plan.
But after the previous afternoon we felt
like we were land based boat fishing
experts (!) so figured some LBG out
of the boat was the best option. Turns
out Plan D was my best one so far – I
guess in fairness the others hadn’t been
that great so I was probably due one!
We fished just off our chosen ledge
in about 20m of water which had gone
from green on Friday to brilliant clear
bright blue by Sat. We could see the
burley a good 10+m below the boat
and before we even had a line in the
water, a reasonable snapper sniffing
at the bag. The horror morning was
quickly being forgotten as baits went
in the water and livey rigs got set up in
anticipation. 5 rods in a 349 is something
the manufacturers probably never had in
mind. Fair to say it was a bit cramped!
Within minutes the snapper were on
10 www.nzfisher.co.nz
the bite, going to 55cm and feeding
hard like I find they so often do after
a big swell, both of us fishing an 8kg
set and a 15kg. Before long my Stradic
started making that high pitched noise
when line is really being peeled off
under pressure, and just didn’t stop.
Andrew was clearly onto a PB but as
the braid ran out and he got onto the
mono backing I started to wonder if it
might just be a ray. But then he started
getting some line back, a few meters
at a time, only to lose it all again in
another long run. 10 minutes later we
still had no colour even with the water
being so clear and the fish was keeping
its head down but thankfully out of the
foul. Andrew kept working it with a
lot more composure than you’d think
from a man who’d never even caught
a 3.5kg fish. Eventually (Well, it felt like
for ever!) it came into site under the
boat but as she came to the surface the
keeper hook caught the berley line…
With trace in hand and net in the other
we just couldn’t net her (the berley was
tied on the other side of the boat), but
we got a great look at her for a couple
of minutes and had decided to let her
go when the hook rolled out before we
could get the camera. She was too big
to go in the net and would have pushed
7kg. Andrew was one happy man but
gutted that he’d not for the photo (His
brother Nick Evans, former All Black is
a mad keen fisherman working in the
UK now and there’s more than a streak
of competitiveness between them!).
Thankfully the snapper weren’t done yet.
Again the 8kg set went off and Andrew
set the hook. If the last one went off
hard, this one was something else. 50m
of braid later he was on the backing and
this wasn’t slowing down while I cleared
the other 3 rods. Then the mono started
to run out until I could see the spool
so there was nothing to do but put the
hand on the spool and hope like hell we
got lucky. The rod bent round further
and further till I could just about hear
the bust off then miraculously it slowly
came round as the fish’s head turned.
Forsyth
with his
first ‘LBG-Bo
at
Snapper’
www.nzfisher.co.nz 11
But with an empty spool it was going
to need a bit more luck. Andrew worked
the fish slowly back but every time he
got 10m back it’d peel off another 9 ½
so things were pretty tense. Surely it had
to be a king with these huge runs and no
head nods? Somehow it stayed out of
the foul and 20 minutes later we could
see some colour and it was another big
snapper. Quickly got the berley line out
of the way and got the fish in the net
and into the boat. Another great fish
for Andrew, a little bit smaller than the
previous one but the best fight I’ve seen
out of a snapper of any size. It just never
gave up and those little Stradics put
out plenty of drag. You can see in the
pics how happy he was far better than
I can describe. 2 PBs in 20 minutes!
Finally everything had come good
and we’d got a great fish for Andrew,
smashed his PB and really got the hang
of LBG in the boat! Meanwhile I’d put
a 4.5kg in the bin and we’d got a few
more around the 2.5 – 3kg mark.
Then the kahawai turned up. None
smaller than about 50-60cm and
smashing baits as they do. First one
got turned straight round as a livie
and out the back under the 24kg set
while we continued snapper fishing.
This was just like an LBG day but
without the L! Minutes later the kings
arrived, chasing everything they could
see – berley, cubes, baits, livies the
whole lot. Unfortunately they were all
on the small side, legal or just under
but when they’re around like that,
they’re just so much fun it’s rude not to
catch a few. So I hooked a jig onto my
Rocky 2 (another first for the day!) and
proceeded to jig up 6 of them in about
40 minutes. Jigging to fish you can see
under the boat was another first, a lot
of fun, and something I don’t expect to
replicate off the rocks any time soon!
The kings moved away, the kahawai too
and we were back to snapper for a while,
nothing big but steady 2-3kg fish until
we saw the blue water being replaced
by murky green and sure enough the
small fish came out of hiding. By this
point we’d had a few hours of constantly
special fishing and really just didn’t care!
About when we were calling it quits we
saw a couple of better kings chasing a
small snapper to the boat. They were
both legal sized but not big enough for
the 3kg kahawai livebait but a whole
pilly ‘skipbait’ later and I was hooked
up, the second fish following the first
to the boat where Andrew hooked it!
Unfortunately the fish was too big
for the net and with both of us on
fish I lost mine at the boat trying to
trace it. The second one wasn’t so
lucky and ended up in the very full
bin. By this point we were more than
happy to call it a day and head back
to camp. But not before unloading the
boat and getting it out of the water.
Lesson well and truly learned there!
The next morning the wind turned to
a cooler SE and the fishing died with
it so we packed up and headed home.
It might not have been LBG in the
strictest (ok, in any) sense of the word
but it was a great weekend of fishing
and adventures in a really magic part of
the country. And the best bit? We know
the fishing up there is just going to get
better and better of the coming months.
Time to put away the softbait gear
and get back to the LBG. I can’t wait.
Itwasagreatweekendoffishingandadventuresinareallymagicpartofthecountry.Andthebestbit?Weknowthefishingupthereisjustgoingtogetbetterandbetterofthecomingmonths.
12 www.nzfisher.co.nz
ust before Christmas I was lucky
enough to receive an early gift
in the form of a 7ft Penn soft
plastic rod and reel set, thanks to a
very special lady. As is understandable
I was gagging to get some new jig
heads and baits and get a line in the
water. After enduring a rather shaky
Christmas holiday in Christchurch I was
even more enthusiastic about getting
away from that fault line and up to the
Far North to try out the new gear.
Our friends were back from overseas and
had a parent’s batch in Rangiputa with a
nice new Surtees 4.7 available for us to
use once the olds had had a morning fish.
Perfect for us- sleep off the hang-over then
smash some nice late-arvo snapper. Our
first trip out was in the afternoon of New
Years Eve. I was all excited about having
my first turn at soft plastics and couldn’t
wait to get out there. One wise piece of
advice was handed to me on launching the
boat from my mates Mum; “You know you
have to throw you first fish back on that
new rod for good luck?”to which “yeah for
sure” I replied. And off we went.
We decided to take a tip of drifting over
the 14m mark of some of the beaches
around the Karikari Peninsula. For the first
bait I ‘had’ to go with the Nuke Chook that
I had heard so much about their fishiness.
One cast and “Bang” - I had my first hook
up straight away! Wow - so much fight and
kick on this light gear- I could feel every
head nod and my reel was making those
funny pinging noises that I usually only
hear on fishing TV shows- Awesome.
Once I got first fish on board the call
boatFISHING
By Chris Hadlee Newbietakesashinetosoftplastics
Doubtless bay pannie
By Chris Hadlee
www.nzfisher.co.nz 13
went out that beauty was not going back
and in fact had dinner written all over it.
Not ever being one for superstitions I
‘thought yeah keep it, get one in the bag’.
Well minutes later when my reel screamed
off again I thought this is easy! This one
was much bigger than the first and a call
for the net went around the boat and a
foldable net was deployed. When a mate
went to scoop the fish the net collapsed
and the fish kicked about and I watched in
horror as my biggest snapper to date dove
for the bottom, with a nice new bit of nuke
chook bling to show his mates.....then
nothing. Dam superstitions.
After the haze of new years we gave it
another shot; I had to get this monkey off
my back, this time we headed further out
to the Moturoa Islands. After running into
a feeding school of Skipjack on the way
out and getting one on the tuna lure and
a hook up on the soft baits then a kingie
amongst the tuna – life is good.
We decided to give the soft baits a flick
around some wash. Again not being one
to muck around I was the first to get a bait
in the water. Bang, big snapper right on
the surface. Well that monkey didn’t last
long. That great snapper (a new PB) was
soon followed by a large rat kingie which
gave my gear a good test. We shifted and
found some good sign on the sounder,
so decided to throw the drogue chute
out and drift in from 40 metre mark over
the good looking bottom. What followed
was one of the most amazing afternoons
fishing ever. We filled up the chiller bag
with nice pannies, also added two nice
blue cod on soft baits. I threw back fish
that would have been catch of the day in
the Gulf – too easy!
After a long battle with a Barracuda, my
good friend Charlotte (fresh back from the
U.K) had another fight on her hands and
it wasn’t until we saw that reddish colour
coming up from the deep that the boys
realised they had lost the ‘best fish of the
day prize’. A quick weigh in revealed an
18lb snapper followed few minutes later
by Callum with a nice 15lber - both were
successfully released. What a spot.
I had so much fun fishing around the
Peninsula on my soft plastics and was
amazed at the variety of fish I caught
on them, Snapper, Kingies, Skip jack,
Trevally, Dory, Kahawai, and a few less
desirable species too. Now I can’t wait
to get back up there later in the season
and through winter and see what we can
get our hooks into.
Chris’s PB
14 www.nzfisher.co.nz
SnapperFreeZoneHeading in after a day out in the sunny
Hauraki Gulf with not a single solitary
snapper to show for the days fishing,
and being happy about it? Absolutely!
I know - it just doesn’t sound quite
right does it. And no it isn’t the sign
of being skunked and in denial, of
shedding ones right to claims of being
a fisherman, far from it. In fact some
of the best fishing days are where
everything but snapper is targeted,
and to catch a snapper is a ‘fail’ can
be a fantastic days fishing. Right now
in the Gulf we have a real opportunity,
one of broadening horizons of the
given norms of (snapper) fishing and
boosting the fun factor.
“Catch any fish”? One of the most
common questions asked on return to
the local neighbourhood. What they
mean is, were any snapper caught…
no… What? “Whaddaya mean,
skunked” (often with a devilishly
inquisitive gleam)?!
“No, had a fast action packed day of
catching fish and filled the bin mate,
arms are stuffed, legs wobbly, great
day…”
”Say what”?
“Yeah kingfish, and the biggest
kahawai you’ve ever seen, and a whole
bunch of skipjack tuna – let the good
times roll”.
TheKingandIThe outstanding fish, the King of fish
are almost everywhere in the Hauraki
gulf (and many other areas) this season
providing some of the most entertaining,
powerful running, hoodlum of the sea
attitude ever. Their speed and agility,
tenaciously dogged fight right to the
boat, and the inevitably the several
encore runs that threaten knots, rod tips,
lines, arm strength and all are thoroughly
rewarding. Many are ‘small’ or rats to
what they can become, but this is no
matter. Kingfish without a doubt are
some of the most sporting, dirty tricked
filled, hard out barrels of muscle in the
ocean. Excellent.
boatFISHING
TheKing&IStory and photos by Espresso
www.nzfisher.co.nz 15
And this year is our chance to make the
most of them, to go and experience that
nitrous like burst of power on the strike,
the sheer low down grunt of these fine
looking fish with their beautiful racing
stripe sheen, and a welcome lack of
finger piercing teeth ticking an optional
extra box. In most places while many
are under size, but many aren’t and the
surface takes and very visual aspect of
catching them takes your breath away,
every time. Watching a gang of Kingfish
hone in on a fast retrieved soft plastic or
surface popper is always an eye grabber.
As they hunt down the fleeing prey and
work themselves into the strike frenzy.
Bow wakes as they tail and harass the
lure, perhaps many times before one
take the bait so to speak. Then it’s all on!
Whether you’re land based, spear-fishing,
in a dinghy, a Kayak, a trailer boat or
bigger – the kingfish really don’t mind.
Or maybe you like the livie approach,
perhaps a slow troll around your favourite
headland or reef, or drop a livie down
the sides of a baitschool on the sounder
(whether being worked over by other
predators or not)…feeling the change in
twitch of the livie as you let the line get
taken out by the king and after the turn
securing the hook in the jaw...their runs
heating the reel’s drag to ouch point. Ah
it’s a wonderful thing, king fishing.
The number of ways to get your
kicks on route 66 – the kings highway
so to speak, is always increasing,
being rediscovered or improved…live
baits, stick baits, poppers, jigs, soft
plastics, dead baits…all good. And
right now the kingfish are here, there,
and everywhere ready and waiting for
the game to begin. Just a quick word
– cradle them well when handling as
picking up by the tail can apparently
dislocate their spine, not good.
Skipjack tuna have managed to get
past trawlers along with other big
predators and find their way into the
Gulf, north and east of Flat Rock has
a few nice specimens at the moment,
and trolling a little lure or SP at about
Thisyearisourchancetomakethemostofthem,togoandexperiencethatnitrouslikeburstofpoweronthestrike,thesheerlowdowngruntofthesefinelookingfishwiththeirbeautifulracingstripesheen
Smoked king and big snapper
16 www.nzfisher.co.nz
5kts behind the boat (just out of the
bubbles) can be just like big game
fishing, just downsize your reels (to
whatever you have), look for any surface
blips, flips or activity (often mistaken
for surface kahawai), current lines
and a new summer thrill awaits. On
light tackle the skippies just explode
on their own nitro-circus act runs and
look incredible with their chrome and
iridescent blue all lit up. They make
great catching and when prepped well
immediately, they can be darn good
eating smoked – by bleeding, icing
down and removal of blood lines when
filleting, then their taste is fantastic
straight out of the smoker.
Skippies are a fish not often found
in the gulf so while they are here,
certainly worth specifically targeting
and such a ton of fun (especially that
light tackle approach!). And they do
make some of the best big snapper
winter baits around.
Between the marauding Kingfish and
the flash-harry Skippies, the Kahawai
have been in all shapes and sizes
too. Some stunningly coloured and
patterned ones of the small to mid size
have been schooling in an around the
Noises and David rock areas, along with
the big-as ocean goers all hassling the
anchovy schools that are right in the
shallows all around the edges of gulf
right now. While I love snapper, change
is a good thing and it keeps the thrills
and enjoyment factor way up. When
heading out for a fast paced fishing day
is first on the agenda….head over to a
shoreline, or an inner harbor channel
pretty much anywhere, and you’ll find
all the fish you can poke your rod at.
The kahawai and kingfish are hunting
in big packs and so either trolling or
casting into them with a fast retrieve on
your favorite spinning reel has to be the
go at the mo’. Without having to spend
a small fortune and many hours/days
www.nzfisher.co.nz 17
trolling for big game fish – get into the
smaller game fish approach and plenty of
excitement is still to be had, without the
time, huge expense and long hours of not
much. Troll for some skippies watch out
for a king strike or a monster kahawai that
you’ll swear is a kingie with their dogged
determination and hard-out explosions of
line peeling speed.
So whether it’s fresh kingfish steaks,
smoked kingfish, crumbed kingfish,
curried kingfish, battered kingfish…all
absolutely divine especially when fresh.
Similarly with the Kahawai when treated
correctly from moment of capture,
smoked kahawai flavor will often surpass
that of Snapper and many others, it’s
all in the technique of bleeding (I cut the
jugular) then into ice slurry within a minute
or two, then a simple boneless fillet at days’
end, cured in various flavour concoctions
for 3 days, followed by a whole days cold
smoke (hey use a hot smoker if that’s
what you have). The flavor is totally mouth
watering, and once smoked they can be
frozen and keep well for months, especially
when vacuum packed (for smoked fish
cakes second to none).
Oh yeah and of course, the golden
rule, where the food is, the fish arew,
so the snapper are right in close too,
have been for several weeks, and
should remain there for a few more.
In some of the busiest water highways
there are excellent snapper schools,
the harbor bridge area for instance –
excellent fishing at the moment. The
inner harbor channels, all around the
big volcano, the Kawau islands, and
over the eastern side of Waiheke,
great results are being achieved on
a daily basis. I hear so often, and fair
enough lately that many times the fish
just aren’t interested…well yes the
SNAPPER may go off the bite, but
think a little more than just one fish…
the kingfish, kahawai, tuna (some
bigger tuna and other predatory
game fish are in the northern areas
of the gulf!!) are all around, so take
off the snapper blinkers and go for a
new experience if you haven’t already
and enjoy a new way to spend the
day, bring home some exciting tales
of triumph and woe, as well as some
different tasting fish for a treat. Most
excellent adventures are to be had and
yet return snapper-less.
What an encounter!
18 www.nzfisher.co.nz
Momentsthatyougetamped
underWATERfeature
here are some moments during
winter when you’re reading a
good fishing story that gets
you very amped for summer missions.
After an infamously poor New Zealand
ski season, i.e. no snow, I had whittled
it down to two activities: running and
pondering the next spearo mission in
my 4.3 metre RIB.
My favourite thing about my little boat
is the looks I get when I am 20-30 miles
off shore and whipping along the coast
of an island. I get sideways looks from
drivers in 6 metre plus boats who are
thinking, “now where’s mummy and
daddy’s big launch?” This little boat has
had some modifications, the obvious one
being a substantially larger gas tank to
fuel the 30 mighty horses attached to
the transom.
Warmish weather is the key to surviving
in such an exposed little boat, so our first
mission was saved for the beginning of
December. Finding enthusiastic, marine-
minded and endurance savvy boating
mates can be a challenge when half of
them are overseas and the remaining
few are ‘whipped’. Luckily, Nick, a
Scottish fella from work, cut the mustard
and we had locked in a date: a date that
neither of us would ever forget.
Preparation for the day involved
endless refreshing of the marine met
service page and metvuw.com. Never
mind the gear, it was all streamlined to
only the essentials and already packed
into a pre-fuelled boat.
The day finally came and we were up
at the crack of dawn and on the road
Story and photos by James Gordon
www.nzfisher.co.nz 19
to Mangawhai. Nick was in good shape
this time - his last trip involved multiple
burley bombs over the pontoons after
trying to keep up with his kiwi in-laws
the night before. A quick launch and
two yanks on the pull-start had the tiller
yearning to be opened up.
Mangawhai bar is always full of
surprises. Good strong currents and
peeling waves makes dodging surfers
fun. Not this time -we hit the point to
find it a millpond: brilliant! We wound
up the 30 horses and hit the weed line
inside from the copper mine reef in a
good half hour. The water was alive with
baitfish, blue maomao, trevs and the like
-we could smell the kingis. We spent the
next few hours warming up and chasing
baitfish, butters and a few porae - next
stop the copper mine.
Limited to a depth finder, we spent
a bit of time trolling round doing the
typical search pattern, trying to locate
the copper mine. With the help of
a growing sun, a large white patch
emerged in about 7-8 metres: bingo,
anchor down. An hour of pushing into
the current with our guns, and one up/
one down diving the reef, we came up
with nothing but a few rat kingies and a
heap of koheru - time to move on.
We were a little beaten up from the
workout and had nothing to show for it,
but we still felt the vibe that our prized
kingi would show up. Two more dive
spots, lunch and a few more fish for the
bin saw us well into the afternoon.
Our final stop was the reefs off
Lady Alice. Still dead calm seas, the
conditions were idyllic. The run in
saw us pushing out wide to allow for
two boats who were being swarmed
by large ocean-going kahawai. We
anchored in two metres of water (the
beauty of having such a light boat) as
it pushed over the semi exposed reef
in the mid-tide. The game plan was to
be sucked out over the back of the reef
Nick hunting
20 www.nzfisher.co.nz
and work our way round. The incredibly
oversized dive flag went up and we
were out off the back of the boat in no
time, in amongst the baitfish.
A few yellow-fins appeared, had a quick
look at us and moved on before we
could point our muzzles behind their gill
plates. We pushed on around the side of
the reef, remembering kingfish generally
do the rounds every 20 minutes. Nick
was in front of me. I was getting tired
and trying to conserve my energy. To the
left I saw a large figure swimming into
the current with me. I made the mistake
of trying to approach it and got a flick
of a yellow tail - a 20kg plus kingfish.
From the surface I yelled at Nick to keep
his eyes peeled and we pressed on.
The front of the reef was dead and we
moved on to the next side. I was starting
to feel it now and didn’t want to cramp
up so I told Nick I was heading back to
the boat. He was a good ten metres in
front of me. I put my head back in the
water and swung my body around to
swim in the other direction. There on
my tail, cruising in for a look was the
distinctive white jaw and green head.
With no buddies around him, I knew he
would spook easily. My heart was racing,
but I did what I’ve read in many spearing
stories: turned again to face away, took a
sharp breath and dove down. I kept him
in view out of the corner of my eye as we
both swam into the current, but he was
steadily moving away.
Back to the surface, I yelled at Nick
where the fish was heading down. “GO
DOWN!” My excitement must have said
it all. I knew we only had once chance at
getting this fish, as he would check us
out once and move on. I swam towards
were Nick had dived down. It was then I
saw the flash of the white belly and Nick
swimming wide eyed. He knew he’d
hit the beast. I took a breath and swam
down to plug it with a second shot. The
fish was going nuts, luckily, it was only six
to eight metres, but the fish was quickly
heading for deeper water. Nick had
taken the shot from a good distance but
landed it in the softest part of the gut.
Unfortunately the flopper didn’t hold
and was lost, pulling through the fish’s
gut as it fought frantically along the rock.
I dove deeper and chased the fish until
I had it broadside. I fully extended my
arm with tip pointed for the money-shot,
right behind the gill plate. Safety off,
two 16 millimetre rubbers fully tensioned
and finger squeezing the trigger, and the
spear ripped right through the fish as it
thrashed to get the first shaft out. I came
screaming to the surface claiming we’d
got him! Nick obviously wasn’t convinced
as he wasn’t in the boat.
We spent the next ten minutes battling
the fish, fighting to not get tangled and
keep the buoys above the surface. After
several grabs, we finally caught him by
the gills and put him to rest with a quick
icky to the head. We put him through
the fish stringer attached to the float and
bear-hugged him as we swam through
the current and back onto the reef where
the boat was. It was pushing 5pm and
we’d been on the water for ten hours,
but we had a second wind and it got us
back the 22 miles we had travelled.
Back home and filleting the beast is
always fun; it’s just a dilemma as to how
big you cut the steaks, with the result
a reflection of how much you were
salivating at the time. Cooked simply,
and if anything undercooked, kingfish
is my favourite. Sharing the story and
eating good food with many friends
and family is more than half the fun. Its
moments like these that get you already
amped for your next mission!
Itwasagreatweekendoffishingand
adventuresinareallymagicpartofthe
country.Andthebestbit?Weknowthe
fishingupthereisjustgoingtogetbetter
andbetterofthecomingmonths.
www.nzfisher.co.nz 21
“If it works for the NZ Army, it’ll work for you!”
As used by the NZ Defence Force!
Ask for the Active Duty sun and bug skin defence range at selected pharmacies and retailers throughout New Zealand or order online at www.skinshield.co.nz
22 www.nzfisher.co.nz
THEclubhouse
By Shona Zander
he Ngawi Sports Fishing
Club was formed on 1st July
1991with a financial member-
ship of twenty. This was quite an effort
for a small fishing village, but what bet-
ter place to start up a fishing club than
on the southern-most (and fishiest!)
coast of the North Island.
Less than 3 kilometres out from the
coast, you can be in 100 fathoms (Thats
180m to the rets of us – Ed.) of water
so the prospect of being able to catch
large sharks, both Mako and Blues, and
broadbill being sighted and caught the
odd occasion around the area, the newly
formed club decided to hold its first
fishing competition.
A large variety of fish can be caught in
the area, with the club having trophies
for blue cod, groper (hapuka), tarakihi,
trumpeter, kingfish, tuna, kahawai,
snapper, shark and billfish.
Although the club has not (yet)
weighed in a billfish, a broadbill of
300kg was netted by a trawler off
the Ngawi Coast and it was taken to
Wellington for weighing.
Our annual Ngawi Big 3 Fishing
Competition which is held on the third
weekend in February had its 20th
anniversary this year with 487 anglers
and 141 boats - no small feat for the
small village with approximately 30
fulltime residents! The small fishing
village swells to capacity with bachs
chocker and all the free camping area
packed with campervans and tents.
The Ngawi Sports Fishing Club runs a
full calendar for all it’s members. Club
days aimed at Children and small fry,
and Woman anglers, with the Interclub
contests with Wairarapa, Pukemanu,
Plimmerton and Kapiti Fishing Clubs,
for the more serious anglers. These
Club days are fantastic fun, everyone
NgawiSportsFishingClub
Prime Ngawai Snapper Ngawi Junior, Sam with a sizable Groper
Ngawi Local, Craig with a good southern Kingfish
www.nzfisher.co.nz 23
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gets to know someone new, and a lot of
laughter, threats, bribes and big white
lies, in true fisherperson fashion, become
the order of the day.
The Ngawi Sports Fishing Club, along
with the Ngawi Hit Around Golf Club,
use the local community hall as their
Clubrooms. It is in this hall that the
tournament office is run from with an
18mx18m marquee, purchased by the
club this year, being the competitors
base for prize giving’s and the necessary
bar facilities!
I believe Ngawi is one of the most
photographed places in New Zealand
with not a day going by without
someone taking photos. The small
Ngawi Bay is lined with commercial and
recreational boats, the former mostly
for crayfish harvesting with a couple of
wet fish quota holders, on large beach
trailers with 6m plus drawbars. Every
trailer is hooked up to a bulldozer and
every breed of bulldozer imaginable can
be found there! Some have had a little
spruce up, new paint jobs - pink, purple,
green!! - and some are in dire need of
one! To the bulldozer enthusiast, it is
definitely a must see.
The Club has a large number of
sponsors and it is the continued support
of these wonderful sponsors that make
the Ngawi Big 3 Fishing Competition
the biggest in the Lower North Island –
check out the photos along side.
On top of the Big Three, the Club also
has ten monthly ‘Club Days’ for members
with prize money jackpotting for any
species not caught or a cancelled club day.
Many a yarn is told after a day on the
water over a beer with food and prize
giving at the end of the day.
The Club has purchased two 3140 John
Deere tractors for its members to use
when launching and retrieving their boats.
With no ramps, launching can be a
challenge as the beach is of small shingle
which can change with each tide and
rough seas.
The Ngawi Sports Fishing Club is
proud of its history of participation in
the fishery management, with delegates
attending meetings around the country
and submitting submissions on species
pertaining to our club, trying to ensure
that there will always be fish in the sea for
its members and their future generations.
Ngawi is truly a great club to belong to,
with a fantastic group of people willing
to ensure that all fisher people have a
great time, this is more than evident in
the number of financial members the
club currently has.
24 www.nzfisher.co.nz
regionalREVIEWS
HaurakiGulfSource: Grant Bittle ‘Espresso’ www.catch.org.nz
ell there are still plenty of
marlin around and some
big kingfish to boot. We
had some good fun over the weekend
fishing the Tairua Ladies comp, and the
crew we assembled took out 1st, 2nd
and 3rd kingfish regular fisho Hayley
Bonnici taking out biggest fish overall
with this 23.5kg kingfish, caught in
front of a big audience of other boats
fishing the comp, and awesome effort!
Well done Hayley!
It was an awesome week building
up to the comp and we managed to
bag another striped marlin on the
new Senator from an hours worth of
trolling, once again a striped marlin
choosing to devour the Bonze Apache,
in black over orange skirt. The angler
Darren Cade who has been watching
our website for the last two years and
in the end he just had to come and
get into some kingfish action! The
stripey came from some very good bait
sign in on the 100m line close to the
Aldermen Islands very close to Tairua.
The stripey was an added bonus
and Darren managed to get his arms
well and truly stretched on some solid
kingfish in his three days of fishing.
For more from the last week check our
report and photos here.
Coromandel/TairuaSource: Carl Muirwww.EpicAdventures.co.nz
ow what a wonderful fish-
ing season this has been,
and it continues. Good
healthy snapper are still in the 10-20m
depths all around the edges of the gulf
and the big sleepy volcano, with every
type size shape and species of fish too
– like kingfish, kahawai, mako, thresher,
even orcas in so shallow they must be
scratching their bellies!
The moons influence has been strong
and around that full moon the fishing
generally slows, but when the moon
calms down along with the wind, the
inner channels have been the place to
be rather than ‘out wide’ in the gulf
burning lots of gas leaving the best
fishing behind.
Workups have been few and far
between over the past month or so
further rout, but nothing lasts forever
good or bad and the sea ‘n sky vortex
of gannets is a happening thing again –
much to the pleasure of storm chasing
fishermen. Mostly though I’d keep
the gas budget for multiple close-in
evening or morning fishing sessions
rather than the gas burner of heading
out to 50m depths.
Skippies have returned and are out
east of Flat rock which are great fun to
catch surface trolling a tiny lure as you
would for kahawai. Kingfish, well they
seem to be popping up pretty much
everywhere, and near every marker
pole or buoy in the entire harbor and
gulf. Excellent fun even if lots of smaller
models are around, using lighter gear
and watching a youngster catch a king
is thoroughly rewarding even if the fish
is undersize and released, the thrill just
lasts and lasts.
My pick – a morning drift with softies
on lightweight jigheads (1/2oz say)
anywhere around islands and channels
between islands, a flick of a popper at
marker buoys or over surface schools of
various fish – again all in close, and keep
your eyes peeled, you’ll see the anchovy
schools in numbers (and some prawns!)
right into very shallow water – no
wonder all the big fish are there! That’ll
tell you what’s working bait or imitation
bait wise ay.
www.nzfisher.co.nz 25
ishing over the past few weeks
has been a bit up and down, the
good run of kingfish that were
greedily taking down any jig on offer
seem to have moved on. But the good
news is the snapper have moved in close
in big numbers and there are some
pretty big models in amongst them. We
have been landing some good fish but
we have also been humbled by some of
these monsters as well with some big
bust offs occurring.
Big news for the past week was the
capture of a giant snapper on a stick
bait, snapper on stick baits are a pretty
rare capture but this one was even more
special because it cracked the 20 pound
mark. This big snapper took an Angel
Tackle lure which are now available form
us for under the $100 mark, pretty good
value for top quality stick bait. The fish
was duly released and swam away well.
Only two days later we hooked another
big snapper on a stick bait but pulled the
hooks before we could land it.
Even with the patchy fishing we have
just enjoyed one of the
most memorable days
fishing I have ever had,
with a couple of Aussies
on board we ventured
out to a secret location
and hauled in fish after
fish right from the start.
We landed a few good
fish but the really big
ones just kept eluding
us, one pulled the
hook and another
monster got mauled
by a shark. Then finally
at the end of the day we hooked up to a
freight train, this fish fought well above
its weight class and it was a pretty tense
battle in shallow water. Eventually up
popped a beautifully conditioned kingfish
in the mid to high 20kg bracket. But
the most interesting thing we witnessed
during the day was when a monster
kingfish come up and tried to eat a
smaller kingfish we had hooked up, it was
absolutely huge.
BayofPlenty Source: Mark Armisteadwww.extremesportfishing.co.nz
Marquesa
Ask instore for details. www.fin-norfishing.com
™
Biscayne
AHAB
Free casio watch with every Fin-Nor rod & reel combo
valued at
$15000
A Snapper on a stick bait – and a 20lber at that!!
26 www.nzfisher.co.nz
he marlin have finally arrived
off the Naki and boy are they
hungry. Just days before going
to print (the week before the AMF
boats 2011 Gamefishing Competition)
ten marlin were landed in just one day
including a 110kg beauty by Kevin
Moratti, New Plymouth Sportsfishing
and Underwater club stalwart and local
fishing personality, caught on board
Duncan McIver’s AMF 660, Narcosis.
Shot boys!
The best fishing has been just north of
the port in anything from 60 meters or
greater. With water sitting at above 21
degrees almost everyday and blue water
everywhere, it might b hard to miss
out. There are plenty of Albacore and
Skippies too, but size hasn’t been great.
For those hitting inshore species,
there’s still snapper about but in
reduced numbers than January. If you
like kingfish, now is the time. Some of
the best kingfish in the last decade have
been coming in and special mention has
to be made of Kane Wrigglesworth’s
36kg (ish?) Landbased king landed
‘south of Whanganui’ last month. Kane’s
fish beat the club record of 21kg by a
huge margin! Well done Kane – that’ll
take some beating!
TheNZSportFishingNationalsThe 2011 NZSFC Nationals were held in February and there were some
outstanding results. In total 1,492 Anglers fished from 422 teams and 39 Clubs
took part retuning 738 fish to be weighed and 642 were tagged and released.
TOTAL FISH WEIGHED & TAGGED DURING THE 2011 NATIONALS
The total number of fish weighed during the contest 738
Total number of Billfish weighed 40
Blue Marlin 40
Total number of Striped Marlin weighed 32
Total number of Shortbill Spearfish weighed 12
Total number of Shark weighed 21
Blue Shark 8
Bronze Whaler 3
Mako 10
Total number of Tuna weighed 2
Yellowfin 0
Bigeye 2
Total number of Slender Tuna
Total number of Skipjack 273
Total number of Albacore 106
Total number of Yellowtail 20
Total number of Kahawai 110
Total number of Snapper 70
Total Number of Trevally 32
Total number of Mahimahi 20
Total number of Fish tagged and released 642
Total number of Billfish tagged and released 39
Black Marlin 0
Blue Marlin 39
Total number of Striped Marlin tagged and released 217
Total number of Shortbill Spearfish tagged and released 7
Total number of Shark tagged and released 233
Blue shark 52
Bronze Whaler 11
Hammerhead 3
Mako 167
Total number of Yellowtail tagged and released 146
Total number of tuna tagged and released 0
Taranaki/WestCoastSource: Bought to you by The Taranaki
AMF Team – www.amfboats.co.nz
Congratulations to all who took part whether you landed fish or not,
this was an exceptional competition.
Kev’s 110kg Marlin
regionalREVIEWS
www.nzfisher.co.nz 27
By Derrick Paull
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TOTAL FISH WEIGHED & TAGGED DURING THE 2011 NATIONALS
nzFISHERvideo - NEWproduct
ast month we presented a brief
on what stick baits are and
this month I’m keen to expand
on that somewhat with a short video
showing how stickbaits (should) act
when they’re worked correctly and
they’re a well balanced product.
The lure in the video is a Killer Series
handmade and sourced from Japan.
The new Killer series stickbaits are
available from Yeehaa in Panmure.
[Image: Killer; and kilfish; Caption: N/A]
Click here to see this very clear video
on the action of a Killer stickbait -how
could fish possibly resist?!?!?!? (Scroll
down to see video).
Killer stickbaits - they’re
lethal on kingfish
KillerSeriesStick-baits
28 www.nzfisher.co.nz
nationalbody REPORT
he North Shore Surfcasting
Club and Hibiscus Kayak Fish-
ing Club in association with
the NZACA are excited to invite you
compete at the 2011 New Zealand An-
gling and Casting Association National
Championships to be based at Orewa
on the beautiful Hibiscus Coast north
of Auckland. The 2011 nationals are to
be held 20-23rd April 2011.
The Nationals are the highlight of the
NZACA’s annual fishing calendar and
an awesome event for all keen anglers
and casters.
Orewa in Rodney District is the
gateway to the amazing Hauraki Gulf
and stunning wild West Coast beaches.
The 2011 Nationals will have extremely
generous boundaries extending from
Bream Tail and North Head of the
Kaipara in the North to Orere Point and
the Waikato River to the south.
Specific boundaries may be set within
these limits. These waters are extremely
fishy waters and produce fantastic fishing
every year for those luckily enough to
enjoy them.
These boundaries include many easy
walking and productive spots as well as
innumerable boatfishing locations that can
be accessed from over 20 boat ramps.
The new Kayak section will bring
plenty of interest to the Nationals and
the upper Hauraki Gulf is recognised as
the best kayak fishing location in New
Zealand with many 20lb plus Snapper
caught here by kayakers in 2009 and
2010. Early captures in 2011 have
included 20.
For those chasing Kingfish they are
abundant throughout the gulf until
May and can be found chasing live
baits and jigs all day - if you can them
is the question!!!???
Accommodation:Rodney is a tourist focussed region
with many options for accommodation
from DoC Camping grounds in
Mahurangi, Motels on the Hibiscus
Coast to rustic beach bachs at Snells
Beach. Finding a place to lay your head
will never be a problem.
FamilyThe event is being held to coincide with
the school Holidays and the Hibiscus
Coast offers a great base for family
holidays. Plan to bring the whole family
along and involve fishing in your activities.
EntertainmentIf you’re bringing the family (and
perhaps they don’t want to fish –
Horror!) the massive Albany Mall and
new Whangaparaoa Shopping Malls
are just minutes away. The Hibiscus
Coast is lined with stunning white
sand beaches perfect for picnics and
summer swims with few waves to
burden the little ones. When the fishing
is done you’re in the country’s biggest
neighbourhood with 100’s of bars and
restaurants within 30 minutes.
CharterBoats:Gulf Harbour, on the Whangaparaoa
modern and very competent Charter
fleet happy to take you to where the fish
are. The Kaipara Harbour on the west
coast also has a strong charter fleet, but
be quick they’re in hot demand.
Casting:The casting will be held at a very new
venue (almost) tailor made for casting.
The interest in this Nationals Casting
event is already strong with many new
casters testing themselves in preparation
for the 2011 Championships.
The Casting will be run on the same
day for both Distance and Accuracy,
thereby reducing the time commitments
to compete in all sections.
For any information or if you
wish to enter, please email
2011Nats@koruworld.co.nz and go to
www.nzaca.co.nz
TheNZACANationalChampionships2011
NEW ZEALAND ANGLING & CASTING ASSOCIATION 2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
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The all new Ocean Kayak Prowler 4.1 – Tested•
The NZACA Nationals – NZFisher’s efforts – Are we victorious?•
A week at the Three Kings – A fisher’s El Dorado•
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Next edition out 2011
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