Upload
espire-media
View
223
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
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!
Citation preview
www.nzfisher.co.nz 1
f sherISSUE 11 August 2011
// Martin Salter’s Lord Howe adventure continues
Rawhiti: Kiwi El Dorado
www.nzfisher.co.nz
2 www.nzfisher.co.nz
THE RUM THAT INVENTED RUM
www.mountgayrum.com Enjoy the adventure, drink responsibly
www.nzfisher.co.nz 3
Pg 6
12
8
SPORTFISHING
6 The Last Paradise - Part 2
We catch up with Martin Salter
for the second part of his trip
FISHINGSPOTS
8 Rawhiti: Kiwi El Dorado
Derrick Paull starts his countdown
ofhistopfiveinshorelocations.
KAYAKFISHING
12 What a Difference a
Month Makes
A tale of two trips to the Bay of Islands
15 Fishing Video of the Month
16 Regional Reports
18 Interesting Facts:
A not neat knot is a knot not needed!
18 Competition Pg 18
CONTENTS
4 www.nzfisher.co.nz
Hell Hasn’t quite frozen over,
but by gods it’s got to be close! Snow
in Auckland. Who would have ever
thought it would happen? Next thing
you know we might win a world cup...
In some areas this cold snap has set
the fishing on fire, but largely it seems
there’s a real slow down – if you can get
past the wild southerly fronts and spend
some worthwhile time on the water!
I do enjoy winter, but this year fishing
has taken a back seat to some family
focus – something I seem to be saying
more often these days. What it does
mean is that I’m becoming much more
selective about how I spend the limited
time have and make sure the investment
is worthwhile. It’s easy to say now, after
25 years of practice that I have a pretty
good idea of the best places, times &
techniques to narrow down options
and improve the odds. In general this
confidence leads to a bin full of fish,
some great photos & the odd story.
Problem is, Murphy sometimes has his
way and the wheels fall off.
Last week while planning NZ Fishers’
next issue I realised we were a bit light
on stories of the winter fishery. So,
as we are a professional outfit with
plenty of experienced, skilled fishers
I set up a winter mission to nab some
table fish & get some photos. And
boy did Murphy put us in our place! If
I get over the scarring psychological
damage inflicted by a severe zilching –
I might run a story on the trip. Another
lesson well learned though – there is
value in prudence when planning a
trip and definitely don’t say “I’m so
happy to be on the water I don’t care
if I don’t catch a fish...” as this Murphy
has his say and makes sure you learn
the lessons of your ways!
I learned something else completely
unrelated last week; The Hauraki
Gulf is becoming a ‘toxic wasteland’.
I agree that there are some serious
flaws in the practices of our agriculture
sector that continue to impact on the
Gulf (and the while marine ecosystem
around NZ), but there are many
areas where the gulf ecosystems are
improving.
One statistic noted was that fish stocks
were at 23% of their virgin state. This
is indeed a very low number, but when
it is considered that in 1985 snapper
numbers were estimated at closer
to 10% and current best estimates
put them at around 20%, we see
that there has already been a great
improvement in the Hauraki Gulf. The
QMS and greater education of rec-
fishers have seen fish stock improve
steadily, now we need the terrestrial
users to start cleaning up their game
& we might make some real changes.
//From the
EDITOR
Happy Fishing! Derrick
editorial
This is a GREEN MAG, created and distrib-uted without the use of paper so it's envi-ronmentally friendly. Please think before
you print. Thank you!
Cover Image: Darren Parsons with 8kg+ Rawhiti Snapper, released shortly after image taken. Credit: Aileen Michael
ABOUT /
Short and sharp, NZ Fisher is
a free e-magazine delivering
thought provoking and en-
lightening articles, and indus-
try news and information to
forward-thinking fisher people.
EDITOR / Derrick Paull
ART DIRECTOR / Jodi Olsson
GROUP EDITOR / Trudi Caffell
CONTENT ENQUIRIES /
Phone Derrick on 021 629 327
or email
derrickp@NZ Fisher.co.nz
ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES /
Phone Richard on 09 522 7257
or email
ADDRESS / NZ Fisher,
C/- Espire Media, PO Box 137162,
Parnell, Auckland 1151, NZ
WEBSITE / www.NZ Fisher.co.nz
®
Catch Soft Baits – the Next LevelBigger fish guarantees
Maximizing the action guarantees bigger fish.Specialised NZ designed Snapper soft baits and catching hooks.
Available at good fishing stores. Check out our entire range online www.catch.org.nz
Available at good fishing stores
Specialized, maximum actionguarantees more fish and bigger fish
NZ designed soft bait hooks to catch Snapper
THE ULTIMATE SOFT BAIT
Check out our entire range online www.catch.org.nzAvailable at the best fishing stores
Reproduced courtesy of FishingWorld australia
sportFISHING
We catch up with MARTIN SALTER on his mission to land four of the Islands trickier target species...
Ben’s hooked up!
We catch part two of Martin’s
Lord Howe adventure, with thanks
to Fishing World Australia for
allowing us to re-print the story.
We catch up with Martin on his
mission to land four of the Islands
trickier target species...
skipping acRoss tHe lagoon in
Crom’s wonderfully nippy Bonefish our
first task was to find a school of silver
drummer. This took all of 10 minutes.
A few scoops of mashed bread soaked
in tuna oil and water as berley soon had
them swirling on the surface like hungry
trout and it was time to put out a bait.
The rig was simplicity itself. A No.4
hook with a piece of crust impaled on it
and a 12lb fluorocarbon leader, greased
to make it float in the surface film,
beneath 15lb floating braid.
On Crom’s instructions I cast to the
point of the feeding shoal farthest
from the boat where the fish would
be less nervous. In no time at all my
crust was engulfed and an angry
silver drummer was tearing line off
my lightly set drag. The tackle held
firm and after a spirited scrap my best
drummer of any colour was hoisted
aboard, quickly photographed and
returned. Just as it was all seeming
too easy, things began to go wrong.
The school continued to feed
The Last Paradise -Part 2
www.nzfisher.co.nz 7
sportFISHING
confidently on the berley and I was
hooking up reasonably well. But the
next three fish sawed through the line
using their typical head shaking lunges
to rub the leader against the teeth in
the top of their jaws.
Eventually I mastered playing them with
the rod held low and using a little more
finesse to avoid being bitten off but
by now the fish had become wary and
were drifting away. Time for our third
target, the stunning looking bluefish,
in a different area a little closer to the
reef but using the same tactics as these
beauties like to swim and feed with the
drummer. With bright turquoise blue
colours and orange spots the bluefish
weren’t hard to find.
Our biggest problem came in the
shape of three reef sharks which were
simply smashing into any hooked fish
within a few seconds. Feeding beautiful
fish to sharks is not my idea of fun and
I was about to give up when Crom
handed me a stronger rod and line
with the instruction to “hook up then
wind like hell”. Some two minutes
later an extremely fortunate bluey was
smiling for the cameras having escaped
a munching by about a nano-second.
We had fished for less than two hours
with constant action in crystal clear
water and watched every bite from
every fish in stunning surroundings
with Mount Lidgbird as a dramatic
backdrop. This really was pretty
special and I didn’t want the morning
to end. Fish number four favoured
crabs rather than bread so we
paddled ashore at Rabbit Island (real
name Blackburn) in search of bait.
Like everything else in the wonderful
marine environment of Lord Howe the
crabs were plentiful and soon we were
scanning the water for coral outcrops
likely to be hiding places for the big,
slate blue double-headers.
It was here that I was most surprised
when Crom produced an outfit more
suitable to my mind for monster kingies
than anything else. A large Hoodlum
hook and running ball sinker completed
the rig and soon a crab was lowered
into position on a patch of sand
adjacent to a promising spot. I was
under orders to let the fish run no more
than a metre before setting the hook
and then to hang on like grim death.
Within seconds the line twitched and
soon my rod was creaking alarmingly
as the double-header powered back
to his rocky home. The tackle held
firm and after a brutal scrap four kilos
of doubleheader completed the Lord
Howe Lagoon Grand Slam.
The lagoon fishing continued to
impress and by getting a bait in the
water at first light and at the top of
the tide I even managed to snare
three of the big “uncatchable” silver
drummer from the island jetty.
Obviously, it would have been rude
and impertinent to completely ignore
the island kings and pretty quickly a
personal best 12kg beauty was added
to the list on a lure trolled in the
shadow of Mount Gower, the tallest of
the Lord Howe peaks.
Natalie loved the beaches, the cliffs,
the forests, the spas, the walks, the
snorkelling…in fact every waking
moment of our trip. She can’t wait to
return and, not surprisingly, neither
can I. With some justification they
call Lord Howe “the last paradise”.
As none of us can be absolutely sure
about either the existence or the
nature of any afterlife, my advice is to
experience it while you can.
Martin Salter visited Lord Howe
Island courtesy of Lord Howe Island
Tourism Association, Arajilla Retreat
and QantasLink.
8 www.nzfisher.co.nz
story by Derrick paull & images by James Halatoa, nssc
i Have FisHeD many, many spots
around the northern coasts of New
Zealand. I’ve seen thousands of reefs,
rocky points & gutters. Amongst all
those deeps guts & weedy reefs there
are some that stick in my head more
vividly than others, some because of
the fish we landed and some for those
we didn’t.
When the idea of rating our
favourites came about I threw
out the idea to some of the other
writers – hoping for a few ideas and
confirmation that the locations I rate
featured with others too. One of the
most consistent suggestions was the
Bay of Islands and more specifically
Rawhiti. Rawhiti is located on the
south eastern edge of the bay,
generally recognised as the area from
Omakiwi Bay, the south & Eastern
sides of Urapukapuka Island and the
area in front of Oke Bay, the base of
Cape Brett.
This area covers many different
fishing environments, from the sandy
channels & flats of the inner harbour
out through the high current, coarse
sandy & shallow reefs of the Albert
passage to rugged, gnarly rock
formations absorbing the brunt of the
constant easterly swells. There are also
patches of deep foul reef, home to
Terakihi, Golden Snapper & Kingfish
– all within comfortable walking or
paddling distance.
Rawhiti has always appealed, not only
due to its almost endless options but
also for its accessibility to relatively
novice anglers. In just about any
weather & for anglers of almost any
experience can find spots equal to their
skills. Urapukapuka was the base for
Zane Grey on his New Zealand game
fishing missions, sensibly as just 4 miles
from shore you can be tangling with
some of the worlds biggest Striped
Marlin and Kingfish.
FISHINGspots
Rawhiti: Gateway to World Class Fisheries
The count-down of my top five inshore locations: Number five
www.nzfisher.co.nz 9
FISHINGspots
I have fished Rawhiti from the boat,
shore and kayak. I rate access to very
good fishing all three very highly.
There’s even a little surf-like beach
on the Oke Bay side for die hard
surfcasters!
Due to the very low commercial
fishing pressure in the Bay of Islands
fish stocks are high (compared to
the rest of the Northland fishery)
and leads to greater numbers of
trophy fish. These larger fish like to
settle on the reefs & feed up on the
abundant shellfish & passing baitfish.
The exposed shoreline of Rawhiti,
especially the Urapukupuka Island side
has a very high abundance of these
weedy, kina covered reefs.
We have had days fishing Rawhiti where
the snapper can be landed in numbers
that defy belief. It’s not the numbers
of fish that attract us though, it’s the
promise or rather lure of the big ones.
As Rawhiti is predominantly north
facing it is not as affected by our
dominant south westerly winds but
receives a fair pounding from the
easterly swells. This combination
allows fishers to get in close, burleying
or flicking plastics amongst the broken
reefs where the biggest snapper feed.
If you’re heading there for the first
time, try the adage, ‘Fish your feet
first’. There is a temptation to head
out to the horizon, while the best
snapper fishing is no more than
a kilometre off shore 90% of the
year. Try in amongst the reefs at the
northern extremity of the Albert
channel, most fishers head straight
past them, but due to the currents
bringing a constant food supply
and plenty of cover for mooching
snapper. If you’re organised, drop a
live yellowtail down here too, they’ll
be wolfed by snapper but also bring a
chance for Kingfish and John Dory.
If the wind is up and you need stay
close to shore in the bay try flicking
plastics around channel edges
between Urapukapuka and Rawhiti
10 www.nzfisher.co.nz
FISHINGspots
bay. These channels are teeming
with pannie snapper for most of the
year. We have caught snapper here
in commercial quantities (almost
all of which are returned) and have
been pleasantly surprised by the odd
bigger fish over 5kg. Best of all there
are some freight train trevally to be
had here that will give you sensational
fights on light plastics gear.
Rawhiti is a long way from civilisation
as we know it, so be sure to pack all
you’ll need as it’s at least 45 minutes
to the shops and longer if you need
something afterhours.
The bays at Rawhiti provide
endless fun for kids and the area is
extremely family friendly with a lot
of not fishing activities to be had
including some sensational walks
ranging from a 10 minutes gut
buster to Oke Bay through to an 8
hour return trip out to the end of
Cape Brett. Only 45 minutes from
historic Russell you can mix in some
culture when planning a longer stay.
There are shellfish to be collected
in the sand at low tide, scallops (in
season) shallow enough to snorkel
for, crayfish on the outer reefs for
divers & potting and of course
plenty of fishing.
Rawhiti is approximately 4 hours
form Auckland over sealed
roads for all but the last 10km.
Accommodation can be found
throughout the bay, ranging from
camping at the Rawhiti Marae
in summer, a bunk bed cabin at
‘Della’s’ at the end of Rawhiti road
to a number of well appointed
holiday homes that can be easily
found on holidayhomes.co.nz
Peter Michael with 9.18kg Snapper
www.nzfisher.co.nz 11
BIG FISH SMALL REELSThe new Accurate BX/BX2 Range
The Boss Extreme BX & BX2 range of Accurate reels are now in stock at all serious tackle
stores nationwide. Made from 6061T6 aircraft aluminium these reels are in a league
of there own, a must for all serious fisherman.
Availiable in wide or narrow spool.•Patented Twin Drag System
pushing out 15kg of drag.•Seven Class 5 ABEC stainless steel
bearings.•Greased AccuDrag system•Titanium friction washers.•Stainless steel gears•Boss reel bag•One year free service•Life time manufactures warranty.
Freephone: 0508 545 545Tel: 07 575 5130Fax: 07 575 5914
Email: [email protected] Totara St
PO Box 4138, Mt MaunganuiCheck out our new website www.decoro.co.nz Become a member now!
For more info check out the Accurate website www.accuratefishing.com
“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
12 www.nzfisher.co.nz
kayakFISHING
What a Difference a Month Makes
i WoulDn’t usually settle on
such a cheesy title, but it is entirely
appropriate. The first of these two
trips was in mid June; a Hibiscus Kayak
Fishing Club expedition to Rawhiti.
Derrick and myself left Auckland
with the kayaks strapped to the roof
at 730 pm and woke the rest of the
club up when we arrived at midnight.
After a pleasant 4 hours sleep, rainy
and blustery conditions with a 3 m
swell greeted us. But perhaps in our
advantage was the unseasonal 17.5°C
water temperature!
Our previous experiences at Rawhiti
had also been during winter and
had been exceptional. So it was with
high hopes that we paddled off the
beach in search of the shallow reefs
and island channels that had been so
productive for us in the past. To be
honest though, the fishing was rather
underwhelming for large periods. I
story by Darren parsons
A tale of two trips to the Bay of Islands
www.nzfisher.co.nz 13
kayakFISHING
guess it’s all relative, as we were still
able to extract fat pan sized snapper
from water as shallow as a metre. As
always though, we were wanting the
impossible (a 20 lber on every cast).
Various reports were coming across
the radio from the rest of the club that
ranged from not much, to patches
of hot fishing. So it was in search of
greener pastures we paddled through
to the exposed coast and set up a drift
over a series of deeper reefs. After 20
minutes of watching Derrick catch a
handful of pannies I was fairly tired of
maintaining my balance in a large swell
at an awkward angle to the wind.
The last thing I wanted was a scrappy
fish that might pull me out of the
kayak. Well at least I caught a panny
as a warm up before that happened.
The ensuing hook up still took me by
surprise as I had the reel in free-spool
when it took off. It was with such pace
that the fish was departing that when
I flicked the bail arm over it bounced
off the braid a couple of times before
setting in place and applying tension
to the fish as well as myself. I guess
it had been a while since I’d had a
decent fish on, but I can’t remember
feeling such leverage from a snapper
before. Maybe it was just the awkward
swell, which became a serious threat of
removing me from my kayak as I drifted
over the fish and the kayak began to
turn around. After a period of blistering
runs, sore forearms and poor balance a
fat 6 kg specimen came to the side of
the boat. I had never been so relieved
to see a snapper.
The next drop was a virtual action
replay. The same blistering runs and
leverage again turned my kayak around
into the swell. After a couple of minutes
a similar sized fish surfaced, but this
time dropped the hook. Drop three
resulted in another scrappy fish around
3 kg, and this pattern continued for
another 20 minutes until the sun forced
us to leave what was a sizzling but short
fishing session. Back at the beach it was
evident that others had also done well,
with fish to 8 kg being landed.
The next morning we paddled strait
to the same deep water reefs, but
the fish didn’t seem to be hungry.
After a couple of unsuccessful drifts
the swell was making me queasy, so
I packed it in and paddled for home.
When I got close to the coast I was
out of the swell and the sun had come
out so I had a cast and lay back. On
about my third cast I noticed the line
change direction and stay slack as it
was sinking.
For me this has often been a signal
of a larger fish, so I raised my rod and
quickly wound in the slack line. By this
time the fish had swum off to the side
of where I had cast, another good
sign that the fish was sizable, but as
I continued to wind very little weight
came on. Eventually I caught up with
the fish and it did take off, slowly at
first, but the runs grew in frequency
and speed as the fight went on. I
applied more tension to keep the fish
off the reef, which eventually worked
and it floated up beside me just as
Aileen Michael conveniently paddled
up with her camera. After a couple of
quick pictures I released a snapper of
about 8 kg.
I had been more than fortunate to
turn my only bite of a very average
day into a very nice fish. Some of the
others that had stayed in the swell on
the deeper reefs had also got onto
“AFTeR A PeRIoD oF BLISTeRInG RunS, SoRe FoReARMS AnD PooR BALAnCe A FAT 6 kG SPeCIMen CAMe To The sideoftheboat.ihadneverbeensorelievedtoseeasnapper.”
14 www.nzfisher.co.nz
kayakFISHING fish after my departure. Aside from a
range of respectable fish a rather large
snapper had been netted and boated only
to de-hook itself and flip back over the
side in one motion.
On my return to Auckland I was talking
up the reliability of winter fishing in Bay
of Islands. After all, on what was a patchy
weekends fishing I had managed to luck
an 8 kg snapper. A plan was developed
to return with a boat and an arsenal of
tackle and try and catch some hapuku in
100 m off the end of Cape Brett. Inshore
snapper fishing was to be our guaranteed
back up option. In mid July a large high
planted itself on the North Island, so my
buddy Oliver and I drove north and even
managed to arrive in time for a decent
night’s sleep.
The next morning we filled the tank
with livies and took off to the end of
the peninsula. We were able to fish
for an hour and a half before the wind
increased too much to keep our baits on
the bottom. We were not too bothered,
as after all we had our money in the bank
to return to on the coast. Wrong. To cut
a long story short we spent the next day
and half drifting around the inshore reefs
and channels donating our soft baits to
leatherjacket and wrasses. Stray lining and
live baiting was as equally unproductive.
Our total weekends take amounted to a
john dory and a blue cod.
How could the fishing change so much
in the space of a month? I guess the 3°C
fall in water temperature has to have an
impact on how much a snapper needs to
eat, but we had done well there in the
depths of winter previously. The different
sea conditions may have also had an
impact, but again, you shouldn’t need a
large swell to catch fish. I guess it’s just
one of the frustrations of fishing that keeps
you coming back. I’ll be sure not to put a
guarantee on anything that involves a fish
in the future.
Bar and Restaurant
Check out our fantastic menu at www.swashbucklers.co.nz
Open 7 Days!
23 Westhaven Drive
Westhaven Marina
Auckland NZ
Serving New Zealand’s Best Seafood For Over 13 years!
If you love seafood you’ll love Swashbucklers
Bar and Restaurant!
Located at Westhaven Marina on the edge of the
shores of the magnificent ‘City of Sails’, pop in
for lunch or dinner seven days a week or enjoy a
cold ale in our Boatshed Bar.
Phone 09 307 5979 for bookings or just come on down. Open ‘til late!
Proud to support the launch of NZ Fisher e-Magazine!
www.nzfisher.co.nz 15
VIDEO
gRant ‘espResso’ Bittle of Catch
Softbaits shows us how it’s done with a
fresh snapper while our friends at Fishing
World Magazine in Aus prepare a Kingfish
here (I wonder if they ever have to fillet NZ
legal size ones?).
In this video Crimpy of The Fishing
Paper [Link; www.thefishignpaper.co.nz]
catches a few South Island Kings before
showing us how to fillet some bigger
models towards the end – it’s definitely
worth the wait!
And if you’re ever in need of info on how
to fillet a great white Shark – check this
out! Not for the sqeemish!
Here’s a huge snapper.
Fishing videoof the MonthFilleting – The Experts Share Their Secrets
16 www.nzfisher.co.nz
Finally, sometHing to write
about!! After nearly a full fortnight of
very inclement weather, anglers were
again able to get out and chase their
chosen sport in comfort. One good
thing about this past fortnight was the
complete certainty in the forecasts and,
accordingly, the decision to not go to
sea was easily made!
Nothing worse than the 20-25
knot forecasts as we’re constantly
second guessing ourselves. When it’s
consistently 35-50 knots there’s only
one place to be! Great to see so many
getting out over the weekend and
early in the week in what can only be
described as pristine weather. Aside
from being high in the enjoyment stakes
the fishing was quite productive as well.
inshore
A huge exodus of trailer boats of all
descriptions could be seen on the
water recently – great stuff. Launching
ramps, and even beaches in a total
lack of swell, were busy with boaties
getting out in droves – literally starved
for time on the water. Most were not
disappointed with the efforts with
catches ranging from excellent to “just
a feed”. As fishing was quite buoyant
prior to the stretch of poor weather,
no one was quite sure what to expect
after the break.
Snapper were still available in good
numbers in many locales while others
struggled. Interesting to note that
depth was hugely important, for more
than bottom terrain. As it turned
out the best places to be were the
extremes – both shallow and deeper.
The usual depths that most anglers
turned to for snapper, 15-35 metres,
turned out to be the least productive
with the stretch between Thornton
and the radio mast best.
Anglers revelled with their good
fortune here with near limits of
snapper, plenty of gurnard and
waves of fat kahawai coming through
sporadically to spice up proceedings.
Some of the snapper were very
pleasing fish over four kilos with
few undersized. Again, out deeper,
snapper in stronger currents and
terakihi as the tidal runs lessened.
Merely trying off to the buoys mean
you don’t even have to anchor up to
achieve the action. Expect snapper
to move out even deeper as winter
grips us further with terakihi becoming
important in overall catches.
offshore
Despite some pristine weather, few
bothered venturing further afield.
Those that did struggled on most
accounts for their troubles and
increased fuel usage. Deepwater
fishing was generally a waste of time
for the little effort it received with only
a handful of small gemfish the reward.
Shallower water around White Island
proved far more productive with terakihi
biting well supported by pink mao mao
and porae. Some of the pinkies are
absolute monsters of over 50cm!
While the shallows kicked out the
reef fish the kingis were far less
cooperative. Jigs are again out of
favour with bait enticing the few fish
about. The vast majority were rat to
10 kilo size although a couple anglers
were taught lessons by larger, wily fish.
Water remains relatively warm at 15.5
degrees C and ever so clear. Bound to
be albacore, if not something better
about, if trolling lures were deployed.
Blue water extends well inshore, a
pleasant surprise after all the strong
cold south and west winds we’ve had
to endure.
Ranfurly Bank
No recent visits and for all the right
reasons. Undoubtedly during the
last fortnight it would have been a
dangerous place to visit.
summary
As mentioned, great to see anglers
able to get out on the water after such
extended periods of forced dormancy.
Hopefully we’ll have many more of
these windows over the remainder
of winter. We long for frosty starts
followed by beautiful fine days – the
kind we’ve had just lately but been
short of this month thus far.
We’ve hauled “PURSUIT” out for
her annual survey and maintenance
period. Will be out of action until
September when visiting World
Cup viewers want to also sample
our pictorial wares! After some
improvements and sometime in the
tropics we’ll be back on the water and
relishing the prospects of the new
season ahead. Will start up reports
again in late September. Until then all
the best for what’s left of winter
From Pursuit
Bay of Plentysource: Rick pollock www.pursuit.co.nz
regionalREVIEWS
www.nzfisher.co.nz 17
FoR tHe HauRaki gulF this month,
check out Paul Senior of Wavedancers’
report on fishing.net
hauraki
regionalREVIEWS
Coromandel source: carl muir www.epicadventures.co.nz
Hi eveRyone! Winter is in full effect!
We’ve got horse hoodlums hammering
livies and jigs, solid snapper scoffing
softbaits and the odd pudgy puka
to boot. The weather has stuffed us
around a bit lately but on those still
winter days we’ve seen some carnage
unfold........there’s been no shortage
of railings, dunkings(!), broken rods,
reefings and plenty of big fat kings
popping up for a photo!
This season the kingfish really have
been in great numbers with May and
June seeing some of the best bites
ever. It does make you sit back and
think about what a great fishery we
have on our back doorstep. It just
goes to show that releasing the line
share of fish we catch is the best way
to make sure the trips next year and
in ten years time will be just as good.
Unlike the fisheries ministers recent
talk of increasing snapper quota for
the commercial sector, we feel when a
fishery bounces back it is not time to
take more.....it’s a time to look after it
and carry on good sustainable fishing
practices. So well done to all of you
over the last five years who have been
happy getting a photo of your prize
catch, and then putting it back.
By coming out fishing you are
supporting our local community
and economy in a sustainable way.
As you will see in this newsletter
those benefits not only flow on to
others businesses in our community
like retail, petrol, accommodation,
trades etc but we have also just
donated $2,750 to local coastguard.
So a big CHEERS to everyone who
has been out!
We’ve got a whole lot to look forward
to with big spring kings and surface
stickbait action just round the corner,
then game season and some more
marlin madness. Bring it on!
Cheers from the Epic team
Carl, Belinda, Toby, Lee and Tony
WeatHeR is tHe biggest factor
in the Taranaki & this month has
shown us the worst of what she can
offer. Huge seas & strong winds
coupled with polar blasts – the fire
at home has been very appealing!
For those who have made it out in
the short weather windows have
recorded good catches of both
gurnard & ‘couta in equal numbers –
so it’s been hit & miss at best.
September is normally the
swing month in the Naki.
Wind will still probably be a
problem, but the fishing should
be on the improve soon!
Taranaki – West Coast the amF team
18 www.nzfisher.co.nz
A not neat knot is a knot not needed!
tHe tRutH aBout winter is that we
tend to spend more time thinking about
fishing than actually getting out there &
doing it, so there’s good reason to use
the windy months to brush up on skills
& add a few tricks to the repertoire in
preparation for the catching season!
One of the areas I always chide myself
on not up-skilling in is knot tying. I rely
too heavily on the Uni knot for attach-
ing and the Albright for joining lines.
They’re both great knots, but don’t cut
it in the high pressure fields of stick bait-
ing & game fishing.
So, here’s a beginners guide to some
very useful knots with excellent visuals
on how to tie them. There are a lot of
knot tying sites out there but net knots
is the one I’ve come to use the most.
Knots like the Slim Beauty have already
made it into my knowledge bank and is
proving very useful for joining braid to
mono leader when tying long leaders
due to its low profile and the fact the
tails all face the right way.
Have a look & try some of these knots
for yourself.
interestingFACTS
cHeck out BRenDan Wing and the
youFishtv team landing three ‘once in
a life-time’ 30lb snapper at Arno Bay,
South Australia.
To win this month’s awesome prize of
goodies from go Fish & marine Deals,
watch the video & tell us what size reel
the 14.5kg Snapper was caught on. It’s
worth watching just to see the size of
these monsters!
Post your answer here to go in the draw.
The winner of last month’s draw is Shane
Cameron of Off Road NZ – well done
Shane! The actual weight was 10lbs on
the dot. We’ll get your price out shortly.
Triple hook-up on Aussie 30lbersWhere the hell is Arno bay?
Competition
www.nzfisher.co.nz 19
In the next issue of nZ Fisher…Our One Year Anniversary issue – Expect big things!
Coromandel – Landbased Fishers heaven •
Bringing home the carrots – Getting technical•
Squid: Glorious Squid•
NEXTmonth
haveyousubscribedtonZfisher?it’sfree!simplyvisitwww.nzfisher.co.nz to get a copy of nZ Fisher
deliveredstraighttoyourinboxeverymonth!
Marquesa
Ask instore for details. www.fin-norfishing.com
™
Biscayne
AHAB
Free casio watch with every Fin-Nor rod & reel combo
valued at
$15000