www.nzfisher.co.nz 1

ISSUE 26 August 2013

www.nzfisher.co.nz

Winter Moochers from Cape to CapeSnapper on dry-fly?

Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winner for Issue #26!

2 www.nzfisher.co.nz

www.nzfisher.co.nz 3

Pg 18

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CONTENTS

editorial

OUR LEGASEA6 Fishing for the future

LANDBASEDFISHING

8 Bucket List Time in the Far

North May 2013

FISHYHISTORY

14 Old School Fishing in

the Bay of Plenty

LOCALFISHING16 Fish your feet first

SPORTFISHING18 2013 Bounty Hunter

20 Reader Pics

24 Competition

KAYAKFISHING 26 Elite Kayak Fishing

28 Hooked Up

4 www.nzfisher.co.nz

The day you caught your first fish. The first time you climbed into a boat. These moments make up the beginning of the future.

Today, Honda’s forward thinking comes together to bring you a reliable, fuel efficient range of outboards.

The Beginning of the Future

Contact your local Honda Marine Dealer todayFreephone 0800 478 765 www.hondamarine.co.nz

From 2.3hp to 250hp.

Scan me for a free cap!

BeginningFuture190x225 Traderboat.indd 1 15/11/2012 8:59:10 a.m.

The day you caught your first fish. The first time you climbed into a boat. These moments make up the beginning of the future.

Today, Honda’s forward thinking comes together to bring you a reliable, fuel efficient range of outboards.

The Beginning of the Future

Contact your local Honda Marine Dealer todayFreephone 0800 478 765 www.hondamarine.co.nz

From 2.3hp to 250hp.

Scan me for a free cap!

BeginningFuture190x225 Traderboat.indd 1 15/11/2012 8:59:10 a.m.

www.nzfisher.co.nz 5

WINTER IS NOT A fishing friendly

time of year – cold hands, wet feet

and too many layers to be that

comfortable on the water – but as a

number of the articles this month will

testify, the fishing has been as hot as

the weather cold.

The landbased guys are still doing

extremely well, but persistence has

been the key. There’s no point giving

up after an hour or moving on every

few minutes – the fish that are around

are slow on the take and bite times are

brief. If your line isn’t in the water, you

won’t be catching fish though!

The Ministry of Primary Industries

have released the IPP (Initial Position

Paper) on the Snapper 1 fishery – it

can be found here. There’s been

huge public interest in what the

ministry is proposing and a fair chunk

or vitriol in the comments, primarily

directed at the ministries apparent

unwillingness to make changes to

the commercial fisher’s allowances as

reported in the NZ Herald and other

sources last month.

There’s a wealth of numbers available

to support and destroy both side’s

cases for why it is not their sector

who are restricting the growth of the

North and Eastern snapper fishery.

Again, until the IPP is released, its

all conjecture – what is fact however

is that we fishers want a healthy,

sustainable fishery and the only way to

achieve that is to leave some more fish

in the water!

NZFisher is holding the Roctoberfish

landbased tournament again this

year at Whatuwhiwhi in the far north.

Tickets are on sale now, and the

best way to stay informed is to log

on to the Roctoberfish Facebook

page – like us if you want to join us

and the info will be posted soon. As

it’s a ‘length’ based comp, you can

photograph and release your fish and

still be in to win. You can keep you fish

too, but it’s nice to have the choice!

Till next month, enjoy the mag, get cold

hands, wet feet and catch some fish!

Tight lines,

Derrick

//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 OlssonCONTENT ENQUIRIES / Phone Derrick on 021 629 327or email derrickp@NZ Fisher.co.nzADVERTISING ENQUIRIES /Phone Richard on 09 522 7257 or email richardl@espiremedia.comADDRESS / NZ Fisher, C/- Espire Media, PO Box 137162, Parnell, Auckland 1151, NZWEBSITE / www.NZFisher.co.nz

This is a GREEN MAG, created and distributed without the use of paper so it's environmentally friendly. Please think before you

print. Thank you!

6 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Fishing for the Future

OURLegasea

By Legasea

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5 simple rulesto help you stay safe:

Life jacketsTake them – Wear them.

Boats, especially ones under 6m in length, can sink very quickly. Wearing a life jacket increases your survival time in the water.

Skipper responsibilityThe skipper is responsible for the safety of everyone on board and for the safe operation of the boat. Stay within the limits of your vessel and your experience.

CommunicationsTake two separate waterproof ways of communicating so we can help you if you get into difficulties.

Marine weather New Zealand’s weather can be highly unpredictable. Check the local marine weather forecast before you go and expect both weather and sea state changes.

Avoid alcohol Safe boating and alcohol do not mix. Things can change quickly on the water. You need to stay alert and aware.

For more information about safe boating education and how to prepare for your boating activity, visit www.adventuresmart.org.nz

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

The Boating Safety

Before you go boating on our seas, lakes and rivers, get familiar with New Zealand’s Boating Safety Code, no matter what kind of boat you use.

CODE

www.adventuresmart.org.nz

The Water Safety The Outdoor Safety

CODE CODE

Also available:

OVER 1 MILLION KIWIS enjoy

fishing every year. We love it, we get

out there and do it, and we want to

protect this for our kids.

These days however our Government

has been choosing economic gains

over social and environmental

responsibility. Economy without

conscience we call it. We need to

rebalance the state of play here, and

with your support we can.

LegaSea – Fish for the People

LegaSea provides an opportunity for

you and I to unite in action, to stand

up for and protect our rights to better

fisheries management. We aim to

leave a legacy of abundance for future

generations of Kiwis.

Snapper on the Line

The time has come to save our

Snapper from a dismal future of

excess commercial exploitation. The

people managing our fisheries are the

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)

and Minister Nathan Guy.

Recreational anglers need to be more

united than ever, following the Ministry’s

announcement that a review of catches

in the snapper 1 management area

(North Cape to East Cape) is essential

to rebuild stock levels.

The risk to recreational fishers is

that the Ministry proposes bag limit

reductions and size-limit increases

(or a combination of both), while

failing to address the major issue of

commercial fishing waste. Hundreds of

thousands of undersized snapper are

killed and dumped every year through

destructive trawling and this simply

needs to stop!

A more abundant fishery and vastly

improved management practices by

the Ministry for Primary Industries is at

the heart of what we seek.

Recreational fishers are already

conserving fish, but in isolation of

specific change in the commercial

sector, the goal of rebuilding the

snapper 1 fishery will not be achieved.

Success means there will be more and

bigger fish in the sea. Our success

relies on your support.

When you make a small monthly

contribution of $5 or more (that’s

one coffee or bag of bait) you will

be adding your voice to the shout

that is being required to defend your

rights. If your business is interested in

a sponsorship partnership we have a

range of options available too.

Please visit www.legasea.co.nz/

contribute/index.php to make

your contribution.

Stand by for action, when the Ministry

release their proposal for changes to

snapper, in July, we will need you to

act. Check in to our face book site

www.facebook.com/LegaSea

www.nzfisher.co.nz 7And then it was gone...

LANDBASEDfishing

1

2

3

4

5

5 simple rulesto help you stay safe:

Life jacketsTake them – Wear them.

Boats, especially ones under 6m in length, can sink very quickly. Wearing a life jacket increases your survival time in the water.

Skipper responsibilityThe skipper is responsible for the safety of everyone on board and for the safe operation of the boat. Stay within the limits of your vessel and your experience.

CommunicationsTake two separate waterproof ways of communicating so we can help you if you get into difficulties.

Marine weather New Zealand’s weather can be highly unpredictable. Check the local marine weather forecast before you go and expect both weather and sea state changes.

Avoid alcohol Safe boating and alcohol do not mix. Things can change quickly on the water. You need to stay alert and aware.

For more information about safe boating education and how to prepare for your boating activity, visit www.adventuresmart.org.nz

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

The Boating Safety

Before you go boating on our seas, lakes and rivers, get familiar with New Zealand’s Boating Safety Code, no matter what kind of boat you use.

CODE

www.adventuresmart.org.nz

The Water Safety The Outdoor Safety

CODE CODE

Also available:

By Brenton Cumberpatch

LANDBASEDfishing

Bucket List Time in the Far North May 2013

North Cape – in a Dinghy?By Forsyth Thompson

www.nzfisher.co.nz 9

WE ALL HAVE A few things on our

fishing bucket lists; some are unlikely

dreams, and some are ones we’re

actively pursuing, but they’re all

things that give us a buzz just talking

about. The last big one I ticked off

was a couple of years ago, catching a

landbased GT up in Raro (check out

Issue 16 here).

Currently I’m after a 30lb snapper

and a 30kg king off the rocks, and

without wishing to ruin the ending; this

wasn’t going to be the trip where it

happened. Taking the little Baby Stabi

to Cape Cape Maria Van Diemen has

been something I’ve wanted to do for

years but didn’t think I’d realistically

ever get to do.

We’d planned to fish the club’s

(NZLBG) annual comp the week prior,

but an avalanche of work meant

that I just couldn’t get away so we

reluctantly agreed to park the trip and

wait for the next weather window.

Fortunately it came just 5 days later,

so the last Thursday in May saw

Andrew, Will and myself cruising up

to Waitiki landing with the trusty Baby

Stabi in tow, and 3x120l bins of bait,

berley and ice. And a forecast that

was so good it surely couldn’t be true.

LANDBASEDfishing

10 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Getting off to an early start on

Thursday, we were down at Paua just

after dawn (ok, perhaps more than just

after) and launched into the channel.

As we got to the bar we could see

just how flat she was, even at low

water there was absolutely nothing to

worry about, and north we headed.

Last time Andrew and I had fished the

North Cape area the weather turned

so bad we thought we might have to

overnight there.

This simply could not have been more

different: no swell to speak of and

5-10 knots of gentle breeze, the Stabi

running us to North Cape in no time

and then round to a spot around the

Surville Cliffs area that we’d looked at

in the past but never fished.

We’d agreed not to keep any fish on

Day one – as it turned out we could

have filled the boat! Whilst we never

got into any monsters, we got snapper

to 5kg and plenty in the 2kg range as

well as 4 legal kings.

The highlight of the day was Andrew’s

efforts on stickbaits: the tinny bugger

got not just his first, but 2 Kings at

12 and 14kg pretty much on second

cast both times! The first one when

the anti-reverse on his reel broke was

particularly comic. Will landed his first

LBG king on bait too and in a day of

LANDBASEDfishing

www.nzfisher.co.nz 11

LANDBASEDfishing

minor firsts, we caught 6 granddaddy

hapuka off the same spot which meant

we had to break the “keep no fish

today” rule. They’re so tasty you just

can’t miss out!

Day two was the one I’d really been

looking forward to for a year. Last time

we fished on North Cape it was the best

day’s LBG fishing I’ve seen, so when the

first 2 baits of the day produced fish in

the 5+kg range, we had thoughts of the

same. Sadly though, it just never really

turned it on for us.

We finished up with a number of

good eating fish in the 3kg+ bracket

which would be a good day’s

work most places, but here, with

memories of our last trip still fresh,

it just didn’t quite hit the spot. I had

my shot at what might well have

been a new PB though – a snapper

which, even with thumbs locked

down on the spool, I couldn’t keep

out of the reef.

After 10 mins of being unable to

get it through but with it clearly still

attached, we got in the boat and tried

to get a different line angle on it. I

could still feel it thumping away and

pulling line but just couldn’t get it out,

even circling the spot in the boat and

eventually it put its teeth through the

60lb fluro – heartbreak.

We all have a few things on our fishing bucket lists; some are unlikely dreams, and some are ones we’re actively pursuing, but they’re all things that give us a buzz just talking about.

12 www.nzfisher.co.nz

The journey home was an epic one:

Great Exhibition Bay absolutely dead

flat to the horizon in every direction

and massive schools of trevs and

maomao busting the surface around

us. There was virtually no swell at all,

and hardly a breath of wind: none of

us have ever seen that area so flat

and calm and we just couldn’t stop

wondering if it would last.

Saturday morning and the weather

hadn’t changed much, it was still

perfect and the swell some of the guys

LANDBASEDfishing

What I did come to re-learn ...was that the adventure and the trip are just as important as the trophy fish. So whilst none of the 3 of us cracked a major PB this trip, there’s no question at all that it will go down in my mind as one of the ones I’ll always remember.

www.nzfisher.co.nz 13

at the campsite had seen on the west

coast was supposed to be dying down.

So we headed up to Taputupotu for a

beach launch and to have a look at the

water around Reinga to see if we could

go around the cape and get to Cape

Maria Van Diemen.

The launch was easy, there was no

swell at all to speak of and the wind

was still only a few knots as we got

to Reinga and we sat off it having a

good look at the swell and currents.

After 15 minutes we were happy that

this was our chance and carefully

rounded the cape. There were plenty

of tourists up there and I’m sure they

were pretty surprised to see a boat

as small as ours run round Reinga and

head down to Cape Maria Van Diemen.

We had a good look around the

island and saw a couple of boats

hooked into solid-looking kings,

hundreds of kahawai everywhere over

the sand and some insane currents

running around the whole area. Big

currents, big fish right?!

What I did come to re-learn (just like

on the East Cape trip in Issue 24

was that the adventure and the trip

are just as important as the trophy

fish. So whilst none of the 3 of us

cracked a major PB this trip, there’s

no question at all that it will go

down in my mind as one of the ones

I’ll always remember.

LANDBASEDfishing

The journey home was an epic one: Great Exhibition Bay absolutely dead flat to the horizon in every direction and massive schools of Trevs and Maomao busting the surface around us. There was virtually no swell at all, and hardly a breath of wind: none of us have ever seen that area so flat and calm and we just couldn’t stop wondering if it would last.

14 www.nzfisher.co.nz

FishyHISTORY

WE ALL KNOW OF tall fishy tales

about how good the fishing used to

be, but these stories often need to

be taken with a grain of salt. Here is

one of New Zealand’s grandest and

oldest fishing stories. With a number

of witnesses and a chapter in a book

devoted to it, this story also has a lot

of credibility.

Over the millennia since Maui and his

brothers pulled up the North Island

there has been a lot of time to hone

fishing methods. By the time Captain

Cook arrived Māori had got pretty

good at catching fish, Cook himself

commented that the technology that

Māori possessed was superior in many

ways to that used in Europe. In fact

when Cook got hungry and pulled

out a net called a “King’s seine” to

tow behind the Endeavour it was New

Zealand’s first documented “mine is

bigger than yours” moment as the

local iwi fell over laughing at Cook’s

small net. Move forward a hundred

years or so and Māori still sometimes

used big nets to catch fish. This is

the story of the great net used by

Te Pokiha at Maketu in the Bay of

Plenty on New Year’s Day one886 as

documented by Captain Gilbert Mair.

Apparently Te Pokiha wanted to go

out with a bang and thought the best

By Sam Ellison

Old School Fishing in the Bay of Plenty

www.nzfisher.co.nz 15

FishyHISTORY

way to do this was to commission a

net to be made that would outdo a

famous and historic net that one of his

rellies had made. So during the winter

of 1885 hundreds of Māori living in

Maketu were engaged in weaving this

big net. Te Pokiha sent for two tons

of smooth oval stones to be gathered

from Motiti Island.

These were woven into pouches of

flax and bound to the lower rope

of the net. Much of the rest of the

net was made from tightly plaited

cabbage tree fibre. On Boxing Day

the net was taken in sections to a flat

area and set up. This involved tapu

and great ritual, and when the net

was assembled it measured 95 chains

long (almost 2 km). In fact the net was

so big that there wasn’t a waka big

enough to accommodate it. This was

solved by placing two waka side by

side about 12 feet apart and nailing

planks between them onto which the

huge net was piled.

On New Year’s Day the weather

was good and a crew of thirty seven

paddled the double waka over

the bar. At this point a grand old

fisherman named Tohe te Whanarere

climbed a 96 foot telegraph wire

tower to direct the fishing operations.

“The whole sea as far as the eye

could reach was covered with reddish

brown patches, each an acre or more

in extent, and denoting a solid shoal of

fish from surface to near the bottom”.

The crew had been warned to wait

for the signal before encircling any

old school, so patiently they waited

as shoal after shoal went by heading

to the mouth of the Motu River. “At

last an insignificant little brown patch

approached, when much to the disgust

“The canoe dashed in front, six men rapidly paying out the net. Steering north, then west, finally they brought the canoe to shore, with a considerable portion of the net unexpended…”. About a thousand spectators had gathered and attempted to pull the net in, but unsurprisingly found it too heavy. “Te Whanarere having descended from his lofty look-out, now took charge, and, divesting himself of his clothing, rubbed his body with red ochre… mixed with fish oil, and plunged into the sea.

of the onlookers, the old man shouted

“Haukotai mai!” (“Surround it!”)”

The water seemed a seething mass of

denizens of the deep; quite a number

of large sharks, countless sting-ray

and other fish were plainly visible. In

answer to our warning he shouted

back, “Ko-Tangaroa-puka-nohi nui

e kimi putanga ana” (“Neptune, the

many-eyed, is seeking an outlet”),

meaning the fish were too concerned at

their novel position to molest anyone.”

He ordered the crew to lift the nets

ground rope to lessen the load. This

was repeated twice, but still the top

rope broke under the strain. The spare

ends of the net were doubled back

making it triple thickness.

At high tide the net was fastened to

stout posts driven

into the sand and

when the tide had

receded the catch

was carried above

the high tide line.

Thirty seven places

were marked out

on the beach, each

receiving a thousand

fish to be given to

various sections

of the tribe. This

still left all the big

sharks, sting ray and

mackerel for those

who cared to take

them. The fish caught

consisted of mostly

kahawai, snapper,

trevally, gurnard,

moki, tarakihi, parore,

kingfish and smaller

sharks. Three large

anchors were also

caught in the net as

part of the catch.

When night fell the

crowd was still taking the catch away.

Over the next few days the fish were

cleaned, salted, smoked and dried. “For

weeks afterwards a resident of Maketu

could be recognised by his ancient and

fish-like smell.”

Now I really dislike filleting fish in the

dark after a long days fishing, but that

is a clean-up effort to match the size of

the catch. The real kicker for me though

is that the net was only used the once!

Mair, G. 1923. Reminiscences and

Māori stories. Brett Publishers,

Auckland. 120p.

16 www.nzfisher.co.nz

localFISHING

Alan Radcliffe and Scott Macindoe - keeping the Chesters comp on target for 23 years

Find the weed and you will find the snapper. Summer fishing

was all about the shallow regions of

the estuaries and harbors. Known

as fishing the “flats”, we target the

shallow tidal mangrove environment

for snapper and cruising kingfish. As

the water temperature follows the air

temperature and the oceanic currents

bring the colder water, my focus shifts

to the rocky margins of the northern

coastline. Weed lines exist where the

water is washed by tide and swell to

provide nutrients and rocky terrain to

give the kelp a foothold.

There are several types of kelp

and weed, but any weedline creates

reason for the snapper to hang

out in confidence, ambushing prey

and mooching around picking off

crustaceans and shellfish. Snapper are

versatile predators and while being very

shy, are also inquisitive and aggressive,

so if they don’t have reason to be

suspicious they represent an exciting

target for the saltwater fly fisher.

The weedline is best fly fished from

the shore, we have done well drifting

along the shallows in a quiet boat,

but hiding among the rocks presents

Fish Your Feet FirstStory and images by Matt von Sturmer

Find the weed and you will find the snapper

www.nzfisher.co.nz 17

localFISHING

At the other end of the purists

spectrum is what is being called pure

fly and this is probably the most

satisfying way to enjoy the fly-fishing

approach. Pure fly is actually just “fly-

fishing”, and involves packing light

with a stripping basket strapped to

your hip and scrambling around the

coast placing a few casts into likely

looking snapper holes. It often takes

time to find the fish and it requires

some coast with a range of features as

the approach is most successful when

you keep mobile, if a fish is hooked

place another couple of cast’s in the

area and then move on.

The third method is featured in a

video clip that is a typical day, without

any spectacular fish and a large

snapper can be seen in the opening

segment that I managed to spook

by presenting a dry fly, when it was

obviously not in the mood. Of course

later in the day after my battery died

I had several smaller snapper taking

from the surface.

Tiny morsels of pilchard broken up in

your fingers and thrown into the water

at a rate of about one a pilchard an

hour has become my go-to fly fishing

approach over the winter months. I am

not sure what to call this approach as it

is definitely not “burley” providing just

enough stimulus to switch otherwise

sleepy snapper into fired up predator

mode. Recently I have been playing

with catching snapper on dry fly, which

becomes a reality when you are hiding

behind a rock with snapper lit up trying

to hunt down the next tiny event, there

is a moment where they are so fired

up that anything floating gets a look. I

think the splash of a morsel of pilchard

is recognised by dormant snapper as

an announcement of bird activity above

or a recent baitfish attack. Whatever it

triggers if you remain hidden you can

observe snapper behaviour that will

have you shaking in your “saltwater

capable hiking boots”

The technique requires stealth ,and

this means a combination of very slow

movements and using the rocks for

cover, a good spot is one that allows

you to be above ,back and hidden but

still allowing a cast to be made. Often

I will spend 10 minutes in a spot and

invest just several morsels and then

move on then to the next. Returning

to the first spot up-to an hour later I

present another tiny morsel and often

have a large snapper charge in ready to

party, reading the snapper’s behaviour

to either present a fly or another morsel,

it is obvious when a fish is bold enough

to try your dry fly. However slightest

suspicion and your chance is lost.

It takes discipline to walk away from

the first sighted fish but that decision

often results in better hook ups and

even bigger fish later. To many morsels

and that fish will retire to the safety of

deeper water as there is no reason to

be in the open when it’s just as easy to

hang back, the trick is to keep them

keen. If you think saltwater fly is a

summer activity you just need to find

the weedline, and stay out of sight

an opportunity of witnessing natural

snapper behavior that will change

your ideas about this otherwise elusive

and cautious fish.

There are several ways to fish the

weedline on fly , my least favorite way

is to park a burley up and stand on

the edge in full view of anything that

becomes drunk enough to swim to your

feet. This will work however, the bigger

fish will often hang back and display a

degree of caution, otherwise becoming

so tuned in to the burley that they will

not recognize a fly. The upside is that all

the small fish activity is deserving of a

quick visit by from any passing kingfish

and if you want to do a lot of waiting

a fast presentation could result in a

hookup from a green-back hoodlum.

One common element to fly fishing for

Snapper is to not overfish the water.

Countless blind casts will not catch

me more fish; what is common to

the various ways we successfully fish

the weedline is to do few casts and

use slow retrieves with long pauses.

Concentration is required to suspend

the fly long enough to be sighted by

a snapper but not get caught up in the

ever present weed and rocks. Each cast

should allow for several strips of the fly

line and pauses to let the fly drift down

into strike zone. Take your time before

the next cast as the snapper are not

fish to move through an area, after a

few minutes it will be like fishing new

water again. Don’t be surprised to get

hit close to the surface, and it is not

uncommon for snapper to take flies

that are sitting “dry”.

18 www.nzfisher.co.nz

sportFISHING

2013 Bounty Hunter By Russell C Jones (Hong Kong)

GIDDAY, I’M RUSSELL. I’ve

participated in the Bounty Hunter

Competition since it first began. I

have been living in Hong Kong, China

for the last 9 years and always look

forward to some great New Zealand

fishing time. I thought I’d begin by

showing you what we catch here in

Hong Kong.

This year the Bounty Hunter

Competition was an absolute blast!!

Yep – the gale from the South and

the Southwest. Coming from 30 to 33

degrees daily in Hong Kong to minus

2 degrees in New Zealand was a

whole new experience in itself. Not to

mention the wind of about 60 knots!

Since the Bounty Hunter

began, Shane Cameron and I

have always headed up to the

Coromandel about a week early

to “suss things out”, a pre-fish,

if you like. Every year without

fail, we have done extremely

well during this time - especially

where kingies are concerned.

For the last two years we’ve

had a “placed” fish before the

comp has even started!! You’d

think we’d learn our lesson. But

oh no, it’s far too much fun to not

give it a crack.

This year we had a bit of an added

special. Tourists on dirt roads. Before

I start, if you’re a Brit, maybe you

shouldn’t read any further. There is

NO loop road around the top of the

Coromandel. Please know that left has

ALWAYS been left.

They came around the corner while

we were towing the boat and left

us no room whatsoever. Shane took

evasive action and manoeuvred us

as far as he dared to our left. He

edged forward to let the tourists

inch by (who by the way had an

extra 1 1/2 metres on their left).

The result was pretty bad. The boat

trailer tyre dropped over the edge

of the cliff. So much for giving

tourists a break!

And a PB to boot!

Hong Kong Fish

In Hong King, it’s not even fish we’re chasing!

www.nzfisher.co.nz 19

sportFISHING

The race was on. Secure the trailer

and find a tractor to pull us out of

certain catastrophe. The locals were

great! Three hours of contemplation

and holdups either way, because

of course we’d blocked the whole

bloody road, we had help coming in

from all areas of the peninsula.

I acquired a tractor to rescue Shane’s

boat and wagon from an absentee

resident whose neighbour assured

me that if there was a time to use

the tractor without permission, it

was surely now. Unfortunately, I did

not realise it at the time, but most

mechanical vehicles in the area do not

necessarily have functioning brakes.

However, we were grateful that I could

drive it. I made it to the top of the hill

and the brakes came on. The smell

of burning brakes and smoke left me

with now two dilemmas. Eventually

the brakes cooled down and we made

it to the crash site.

Soon we had diggers, pulleys and

chains, 4 wheel drives and a whole lot

of muscle all heading our way. With the

help of the trusty ‘no or little brake’

tractor, we managed to pull it out just

before full night fell. What a close call!

We did notice that the said tourists did

not say goodbye. However, we made a

new lot of friends.

Now to get on to the important part

that you’ve been waiting for - the

fishing. And it was amazing! We

thought that with the severe weather

warning, we’d be limited in what we

could achieve and do. Boy, were we

pleasantly wrong! Shane managed

to lasso the antennae of a crayfish,

and that was enough for him to get

wet and cold by jumping overboard

to land us a scrumptious dinner. Alas,

it was that little bit too deep. He did

come back with a bag full of kina for

our evening meal though. Yummy!

We had a couple of good sized

trevally swimming around as live bait

all that day. We decided to drop them

off by Lion Rock to see what they

would bring. Little did we know that

within 5 minutes I’d have a good sized

kingie (ED: His personal best in fact –

great fish, Russell!).

Joined by Johnno Hill, the Bounty

Hunter began. There were small

kingies all around. We thought Shane

may have been onto a goodie, but

alas the goodie turned out to be a

tope. We could have painted the tail

green and tried for a prize! The wind

blew, so we headed for the cliffs.

We landed more than a few smallish

snapper (and a few up to 7kg) and a

few too many undesirables to boot .

\

Salmon burly sometimes brings in

some strange animals. The anchor rope

was grabbed and the boat lurched

forward leaving us a bit confused and

quite concerned. When se saw what

it was - pod of orca whales – we took

the opportunity to snap a few pics

and enjoy another side of what New

Zealand has to offer! They were just

having fun and miraculously, they left

our live baits alone. They left us with a

glowing memory, one that will be with

us forever.

Every year brings a new experience

and new memories. Thanks to all

that crossed our path. The locals of

Kennedy Bay and Port Charles are to

be thanked for their selfless efforts

and compassion in our time of need.

Thanks to Milan and the crew for yet

another fantastic competition. We

look forward to being involved again

next time and the next time.

Russell and his great – pre-comp kingi

Balance on the ‘mandel.Just a pannie

Salmon Burley bought the Orca to the boat -

but wheres the fish!!!

20 www.nzfisher.co.nz

READERpics

Reader Pics

Seth Linnel’s beautiful Eagle ray landed on just 4kg line while surfcasting

Doug Wilson getting his thrills from a 52kg Mako while hunting Snapper

off Glinks Gully

Awesome king for Andrew Grigg from Whangaroa on board Reel

Life with Capt’n Phil

www.nzfisher.co.nz 21

READERpics

Hossain and a hefty king caught on board Sanity with Captain Tobes

Justin Weck and a solid looking Northland Marlin

Jeffery Zeelie & a winter Kahawai from the yak

Minoru Ichikawa with a 6kg snapper (his 2nd) he caught at

Mahia. Image; James Benge

22 www.nzfisher.co.nz

READERpicsHiro Yoshino with his first Snapper

of 3kg caught at Mahia Image: James Benge

Seth Linnel holding a 6kg snapper that fell to a slab of ‘old Trout!’

Ethan Benge with his NZ Record 14.4kg Spotted Smooth Hound From Mahia Beach

www.nzfisher.co.nz 23

READERpics

This month’s winner of the

ReelWear tee is Sabbir Safia,

he wins a Reel Adventures,

ReelWear Tee. Keep sending in

your pics for the great OKUMA

and Reel Wear prizes up for grabs

every month.

Haaka Carter with a stonking kingfish (sent in by Leanne Carter)

Sabbir Safia and his PB King (50lb) at the Aldy pins with Tobes on Sanity

24 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Win a Trip on Board Diversity with Tackle-It and NZFisher!

JUST POST A PIC of you with a fish to

our Facebook page and you’re in the

draw to win day trip aboard Diversity

care of Damo and the team at Tackle-

It. Not only that but every month we’ll

give away an Okuma T-shirt between

now and December 2013.

Every image you enter has a chance

to win each month and also the

big prize. The more and sooner

you enter, the better your chances

so get fishing and posting those

images to Facebook!

COMPETITION

www.nzfisher.co.nz 25

WITH THE ORTON EVENTS finished

for 2013 and such a good write-up in

this issue from our new Kayak writer,

Shane Kelly I thought it would be

cool to share this video shot by the

‘Northland Prowlers’ as they travelled

NZ over the last 12 months.

And here’s Shane Kelly’s own video

essay from the Bridge to Cape

comp – the final Orton Events –

Thanks Shane

VIDEO

Fishing Video of the Month

26 www.nzfisher.co.nz

kayakFISHING

Elite Kayak Fishing Orton Events 2013 – Bridge to CapeBy Shane Kelly

Big Drive, Big Fish, Great Fun

26 hours. Time spent fishing? I wish!

Sadlyope 26 hours is the time we

spent driving over a three day period

to compete in the final round of

the Orton Events NZ kayak fishing

series “The Bridge to Cape” Add the

time we did spend fishing you could

pretty much say we spent the entire

weekend sitting down!

The Bridge to Cape event has by far

the largest boundary in the series,

stretching a whopping 420k’s covering

both east and west coasts. Although

with registration, weigh in and prize

giving based in Whangarei, most

contestants stayed within an hour or

two. Bam Blaikie (fellow hurricane

supporter and team mate) and I were

lucky to be staying with a great bunch

of kayak anglers just 45 mins from town.

On arrival and prior to the comp

starting, Bam and I ventured out in a

largish post-storm swell to try find our

spot-x and give softbait and Inchiku

fishing a go. Its something we don’t

do much of in Wellington.

Our in-experience in what is a very

successful style of fishing for a lot of

anglers soon became apparent and

we decided to hotfoot it to Top Catch

Whangarei for copious amounts of

bait and berley but not before we did

we had a bit of fun in a surf session.

It was very cold and I’m far from an

expert but it is something I highly

recommend everyone does as it’s a

great way to learn how not to lose all

your gear should a surf entry or exit

be required.

Day One

Waking at 4am wasn’t too difficult

considering I was stuck in a room full

of snorers (myself included!). After

a quick breakfast and me waking

the other sleeping beauties with the

smoke alarm it was time to hit the

water. The swell was considerably

smaller than the day before but it

was very dark out until we saw Bryce

Stevenson’s kayak (snow white)

lighting up the skyline. The first hour

or so was relatively quiet with baby

snapper stealing bait after bait; that

was until my bait runner went off.

As my line was buzzing away so was

Bam’s! Yah that’s what we came here

Snow White

www.nzfisher.co.nz 27

kayakFISHING

for! Unfortunately in this instance

the woo hoos were short lived when

a bronze whaler broke the surface

my groans were then dwarfed by

Bams holler of holly crap! I think his

was bigger…I was being smoked

throughout the entire morning mostly

by sharks but some I was sure were

target species - too powerful for

my gear in 8 metres of water. Bam

decided to head out to deeper and I

elected to stay and persevere which

proved to be the right course as it

wasn’t long before landed a nice big

snapper. Some very impressive fish

were laid on the scales on day one

with mine coming in at a new personal

best of 19 1/2lbs.

Day Two

I’d gone into this final round with a

slim 2 point lead in the series and

although I was happy with my first

days attempt one big snapper wasn’t

going to cut it especially after seeing

Stephen Tapp’s phenomenal effort of

pretty much all the target species on

day one…so my focus had to change.

I needed another big fish that wasn’t

Snapper, the morning started pretty

much the same as day one but

without the smoke alarm and the

winterless north had put on a blinder

- no wind, clear sky and calm water.

Unfortunately it was not to be my

day. I’d hooked up to plenty of fish

but for neither love or money could

I land one.

Time after time I was being taken

to ground in the shallow water and

busted off. At one point a shark had

even decided to take my jitterbug

from just 2 meters of water the shock

braking my rod in half and although

a little frustrated, I was having great

fun! Never have I had so many big fish

hooked up in shallow water.

And the winner is?

As I suspected Stephen Tapp did beat

me for the individual title amassing

a series best 35 points for the round

and along with his team mate, Lyndon

Cox, they blitzed the teams section.

Well done guys. I did manage second

place and of that I’m very happy!

Results for 2012/2013 series

First individual: Stephen Tapp

Second Individual: Shane Kelly

Third Individual: Lyndon Cox

First Team: Viking Raiders (Stephen

Tapp and Lyndon Cox)

Second Team: Ocean Kayak (Peter

and Aileen Michael)

Third Team: Team Shimano (David

Brown and Robert Wright)

See you in the next series?

Are you keen on joining the series?

The 2014 series will kick off in the

East Cape in Feb 2014 register via the

Orton Events website.

I’ll be there chasing both the

individual and teams titles along with

that elusive 20 pound Snapper!

28 www.nzfisher.co.nz

COULD IT BE YOU?

Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winner for Issue #26!

HOOKEDUP!

HOOKED UP! Every issue, all NZ Fisher subscribers*

go in the draw to get hooked up with some fantastic prizes courtesy of generous NZ Fisher supporters. To find out if you’ve won simply check this section in each issue to see if your name has been drawn and then email us before the deadline to claim your prize. Sweet as!!!

*To be eligible to win stuff in the Hooked Up section you need to be a confirmed email subscriber to NZ Fisher e-Magazine and be a resident of New Zealand at the time of the draw. A big thanks to our Hooked Up sponsors! Please support them!

Matthew Brinsdon is the winnerYou’ve won this month’s awesome Hooked Up prize pack including:

Your choice of mens or womens ReelWear T courtesy of Reel Adventures •

A $50 voucher to spend online or instore from GoFish.co.nz•

A super tough 3-tray tackle box from Flambeau (contents not included)•

Plus two 500ml bottles of Tackle-It Odour Eliminator from PureAir to keep those fishy smells at bay!•

To claim your prize you simply need to email jenniferl@espiremedia.com before 5pm Friday 16 August 2013. Easy!

www.nzfisher.co.nz 29

COULD IT BE YOU?

Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winner for Issue #26!

Have you subscribed to NZ Fisher? It’s free!Simply visit www.nzfisher.co.nz to get a copy of NZ Fisher

delivered straight to your inbox every month!

regionalREVIEWSNEXTmonth

In next months issue:- Depth sounder or fish finder?- NZFisher compete in the World OffShore Game fishing Champs- Champagne fishing!