NZ Fisher e-Magazine Issue 17

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

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2 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Pg 4

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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

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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

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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

http://bit.ly/mSaEXt

http://bit.ly/N3OCJL


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


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

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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.


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


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.


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


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


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

http://bit.ly/bXVpP7

http://bit.ly/LPrCOC


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

http://bit.ly/QHzo3I


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


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

mailto:[email protected]


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

http://bit.ly/MmXf3y






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.

http://bit.ly/MHBcJH

http://bit.ly/OaWI98

http://bit.ly/Qk7eNf




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


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.


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


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

http://bit.ly/OnTGuW

http://bit.ly/OnTGuW


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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

http://bit.ly/jd9ien


w

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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

http://bit.ly/jd9ien

http://bit.ly/zsmyGg


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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.

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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


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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



NZ Fisher e-Magazine Issue 17

Documents

Transcript of NZ Fisher e-Magazine Issue 17