nz fisher issue 1

www.nzfisher.co.nz 1

ISSUE 1 September 22

// Targeting Winter kings – The Coromandel experience

Readers Photo competition //

// Pitch and Switch – Making it happen with marlin

Winter Moocher Hunt //Big winter snapper from the rocks

www.NZFisher.co.nz

2 www.nzfisher.co.nz

THE RUM THAT INVENTED RUM

www.mountgayrum.com Enjoy the adventure, drink responsibly


Pg 12

6

18

22

Pg 22

6 Stalking the Moocher Why driving rain, frozen hands and wind

burn are really worth it!

10 Reader Pics Competition for Winter fishing pics.

12 How To: Pitch N Switch Marlin on a spinning reel

17 Recipe Kingfish, cooked like royalty

18 Epic Success Epic Adventures rides the wave!

20 Kayak Fishing In the Hauraki Gulf

22 The Fin Nor Marquesa 30T In the Hauraki Gulf

24 Regional Reviews

26 NZRFC Report

Pg 17

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This is a GREEN MAG, created and distrib-uted without the use of paper so it's envi-ronmentally friendly. Please think before

you print. Thank you!

Happy Fishing! Derrick

idday and thanks for checking

out the very first issue of NZ

Fisher magazine. The team at

Espire and NZ Fisher extend a warm

welcome and invite you to enjoy what

we love to produce for you!

NZ Fisher is born of a desire to improve

the participation and enjoyment of fish-

ing in New Zealand. Our aim is to pro-

vide a mid-week boost of enthusiasm,

knowhow and just a touch of envy as you

check out how the rest of the country is

getting out there and doing it.

We begin with an intro to a handfull of

our contributors and give you an insight

to where our fishing passions begin.

NZ Fisher will strive to bring the latest

fishing news, views and techniques in an

unbiased and easily understood way. The

NZ Fisher team is made up of mad keen

fishers with backgrounds in land-based,

kayak, big game, small boat, underwater,

science and photography.

Our first issue is a chance for you to

enjoy some of our stories, start thinking

about how you’ll be attacking your

local species this spring and take pity

on those silly buggers who like to catch

snapper in the middle of winter!

Lastly, I’d like to thank a few people

who have made NZ Fisher a reality in

such a short time. The team at Espire

Media, Jen, Richard & Alastair have

put a huge amount of work in to the

publication and are taking a punt on my

enthusiasm!

Jodi, thanks for re-editing everything

a million times & Trudi for all your help

in getting the stories of a bunch of

fisho’s up to publication standards. To

our advertisers who have also taken a

leap of faith, thanks. I intend to repay

your faith ten-fold with a very well read

publication that will stand the test of

time. And of course, Elle and Oscar –

thanks for putting up with my head in

my laptop for days on end – soon we’ll

be fishing again!

EDITOR

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 Caffellffell

CONTENT ENQUIRIES /

Phone Derrick on 021 629 327

or email

[email protected]

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES /

Phone Alastair on 09 522 7257

or email

[email protected]

ADDRESS / NZ Fisher, C/- Es-

pire Media, PO Box 137162,

Parnell,Auckland 1151, NZ

WEBSITE / www.NZFisher.co.nz


Stalking the Moocher

feature


// Why driving rain, frozen hands & wind burn are really worth it!By Derrick Paull

t’s that time of year again. The

sun doesn’t ever seem to rise

above the horizon, the wind’s cold

and the rain comes in sheets not drops.

That’s right – it’s moocher time!

Imagine yourself like a gecko perched

on a rock willing the sun to warm the ice

off your skin. The sea is a bit wild and

has a dark foreboding look to it. You’ve

left your big bait out there in the wash for

over an hour in a desperate bid to lure a

lazy moocher to your trap.

The tip of your rod moves just slightly

more than it did after the last swell; the tip

continues to move down, dropping and

loading up. Your heart pumps just a little

harder at the anticipation of a bite, then all

hell breaks loose. The rod doubles over as

the well set recurve sinks home and your

quarry realises all is not well.

All of a sudden you move like a

teenager not a rheumy old man and

dance across the rocks to your now

singing reel. In gear, load up, lift the

tip – it’s all on! Deep thumps from the

tail and severe shakes of the head.

Your trophy heads for the deep reefs,

you grunt and apply just a little more

pressure – you know you have to turn his

head.......

Now. What did we do to get to this

point? A lot of hard work, long walks and

more than a few idle minutes waiting for

the bite. Trophy snapper don’t just throw

themselves at hapless fishers, you have

to think like a fish and be in the right

places at the right times.

It’s no secret that the coldest months

- July and August trough to October

-produce the very best inshore trophy

snapper fishing. Food stocks are low and

the big fellas are hungry.

There’s been a lot written about

catching these mighty fish and a lot

of what is said is dead on the money.

The thing is though – to catch a big ‘ol

moocher, you need to get out of bed and

get on the water. The fish will be there!

So before we get into the how-to, let’s

look at the why.

Because they’re hungry, big snapper

are easier to get on a hook in winter,

but they’re never an easy prospect

once hooked.

So what are the essentials? First of all

is location. You won’t expect to catch

an old moocher snapper at Devonport

Wharf! They hang out in areas where

food is easy to find and there’s plenty of

cover. Surprisingly big snapper are not

as shy as you might think. If there’s food

on offer they will show themselves and

make the hunt even more exciting.

Broken reef with a lot of weed is

your first goal. The more current and

deepwater near by the better – you’ll

want the burley you’ve carried in to be

dispersed by the currents and to drag


these big fish up from the depths and

into the relative shallows where you cast.

Second is equipment, for these big

fish I cannot recommend recurve hooks

strongly enough. They offer a greater

hook up rate but also allow the easiest

and most painless release when you

choose to release the fish at the end of

the fight (or if you accidently

hook a little one). The sort

of baits that you’ll do best

with are oily, smelly flesh

baits like Bonito, yellow tail

and my personal favourite,

fresh kahawai fillets are easily

baited with a recurve hook.

Push the recurve through

the flesh and a bit of tough

(scaled) skin at the thin

end of the bait. This offers

the best hook up rates and

means your hook doesn’t get lost in

the flesh of the bait and so deeply

embedded that you cannot hook up.

Big snapper will travel a reasonable

distance for an easy feed. The smell of

your burley in the water then the offer

of a free meal is usually too much for

them to resist. With a range of up to a

kilometre there is a big area for them

to cover so the better your delivery

system the better your chances. This

often means that patience is your

greatest virtue.

Whereas in summer it’s best to pick up

and move off when the excitement slows,

winter is definitely the time to stay put.

There’s no point in putting the effort in

just to move off when your quarry turns

up for dinner!

My advice,; set the alarm, go for a

drive, sling your pack over a shoulder

and do the business. It’ll be summer

soon and then you’ll be too busy getting

the run around by kingfish!

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competition

//Reader’s

Send us your pics of your winter missions

be it from the shore or the boat. Big fish are hard

to come by in winter, but shots of you out there

doing it are ok too. Get on the water and take a

photo – you’ll be up for a great prize from Go Fish!

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This month’s winner from our

Facebook competition is Paul

O’Donohue for his awesome Marlin

caught earlier this year.

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n the first of March 2010 a

mate and I headed out off

Northlands’ west coast in his

6.5m Fyran Pursuit targeting Marlin

with the intention of using the ‘pitch

and switch’ method.

In short the pitch and switch method is

when you tease a marlin in towards the

transom of the boat with a skirted lure

and simultaneously switch it to a bait by

dropping the bait back and retracting

the teaser. Some of you may be thinking

“why bother? Why not just catch them

on lures?” The answer simply is the

improved hook up rate and a massive

adrenaline rush!

As we departed the beach the first

mission of the morning was to catch

out live baits. Jack mackerel are very

good live baits for marlin however they

were very scarce (scared to death by

hundreds of marauding marlin more

like!) and we couldn’t find any.

Thankfully kahawai are also fantastic

live bait and we managed to snap up a

few of them. Kahawai are a feisty live

bait that stay alive well, are very strong

and Marlin love them. We caught a

couple and they were soon in the tuna

tubes ready for action.

I prefer to use live bait for pitch baiting

marlin however a lot of top crews

use dead baits rigged as “swimmers”

or “skip baits” which are also very

successful. The up side to using live baits

is that presenting them only takes a few

seconds with a simply bridle rig.

To rig a dead bait whether it be a

swimmer or a skip bait can take a lot

of preparation as most techniques

require removing gut cavities and gills

then stitching it back up with needle

and thread – not a two minute task.

Swimming baits normally take many

hours of practice to perfect so they

actually swim straight. As a result I prefer

live baits and I don’t think any thing

excites a marlin more that live prey!

To put the method into practice we

had to find the fish. We received help

from others who had been out the

// Fine tuning techniques before summer rolls aroundBy Kurt Bennetto

Pitch n Switch Marlin on a spinning reel

sportFISHING howTO


previous day (and had been right in

the heart of the action) who kindly

obliged us the GPS coordinates.

If you don’t have direct contact,

just get on the radio and listen out

for news from other boats on the

water – game fishing is an pretty

inclusive sport and most skippers

will let you know where the action

is hottest.

What we had also been informed

was that there were huge schools of

jack mackerel being balled up -which

is what the Marlin had been feeding

on. A lot of boats the previous day

had been getting a lot of bites on

lures with very little success. One

boat had over 10 marlin bites and

didn’t manage to catch one!

This was because the marlin

were not actually biting the lures

with aggression. They were in

effect swatting at the lures and

becoming bill-wrapped in the

leader, this makes them extremely

hard to catch on lures. When they

are feeding like this it results in a

frustrated crew and a poor outcome

if you don’t change your approach.

I believe the marlin bite

differently depending on what

species of bait fish they are feeding

on and when they are feeding on jack

mackerel they tend to use their bill’s

to stun their prey before eating it. This

is when the pitch

and switch method

becomes your

number one option.

To tease up the

marlin we remove the

hooks from the lures

which turns a lure into

teasers. The whole

idea behind this is

to raise a marlin and

even if it bites the

lure it will not feel the hook. This means

the fish doesn’t get hurt and as a result

generally comes back time after time.

This also aggravates the marlin because

it can’t catch its prey which can result in

an aggressive bite.

After trolling around for most of the

morning looking for good baitfish

sign on the sounder or free-swimming

marlin, a dorsal fin appeared behind

one of the lures. I jumped into action

to try and retrieve the hookless lure

the marlin had taken an interest in and

pulled 20 meters of line before I yanked

it out of his mouth (heart going crazy

and adrenalin pumping!).

As I wound the

teaser back in the

fish followed it to the

back of the transom

with its bill slipping

from side to side

rattling the lure. We

slowed the boat

down and the angler

pitched the switch-

bait right in front of

a stunningly lit up marlin. The next 30

seconds felt like 3 hours as we waited in

extreme anticipation for the fish to take

the bait. The rod tip jolted as the fish

I believe the marlin bite differently depending on what species of bait fish they are feeding on and when they are feeding on jack mackerel they tend to use their bill’s to stun their prey before eating it. This is when the pitch and switch method becomes your number one option.


picked the bait up. The line disappeared

at blinding rate - I hope we have the

capacity on the Stella!

The angler flicked the bail arm over on

the Stella 200000 and the rod loaded

up! The fish came to the surface ‘grey

hounding’ towards the horizon - we

were on!

The remaining teasers were cleared and

the boat was very quickly into reverse,

our adrenalin levels were sky high as the

outboard was screaming in my favourite

gear - reverse. As we settled into the fight

and the nerves calmed we managed to

work the fish up and had it along side

within 10 minutes.

One last burst of 50 meters from the

fish gave us some more entertainment as

it jumped away. We then had a chance

at taking the leader, I managed to get

a glove on it as we edged it in closer to

the boat. The tag shot was perfect and

the yahoos were blasting.

We then settled ourselves down

and prepared the fish for the release

when I discovered it was bleeding

from the gills as it was hooked deep

in the throat. It was decided that if we

were to release the fish it would not

have lived so we then dragged it over

the side and into the boat. The fish

weighed a very respectable 90.2kg (a

personal best for the Stella) and a few

cold ones were sunk in celebration.

Next month – Knowing when to stay

in the zone.

30 seconds felt like 3 hours as we waited in extreme anticipation for the fish to take the bait. The rod tip jolted as the fish picked the bait up. The line disappeared at blinding rate...

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Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winners for Issue #1!

If you’re one of the lucky NZ Fisher subscribers listed below, simply fire an email to our editor

[email protected] before 5pm Friday 1 October 2010 to claim your prize!

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 get in touch with our Editor before the deadline to

claim your prize. Sweet as!!! *Sorry—only NZ residents eligible for prize draw.

Jenny Atkins of Ohaewai

You’ve won an Active Duty sun and bug skin defence pack from Skinshield NZ including sunscreen, repellent, lip balm and Permethrin clothing treatment kit!

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Bryan Lowe of Auckland

You’ve won a fantastic goodie bag courtesy of the team at down at The Bait Station and including a selection of jigs, poppers and slow jigs - don’t blame us if the fishing’s no good!

Check out some of the merchandise at www.baitstation.co.nz

Brent Hazlett of North Shore

You have won a 700ml bottle of premium Mt Gay Eclipse Rum courtesy of Hancocks Wines & Spirits. Produced on the same plantation in Barbados for over 300 years, it’s a top drop!

For a list of fantastic Mt Gay Rum cocktail recipes visit www.hancocks.co.nz

The small print… Yes it seems like they won’t let you do without it, even when you’re giving stuff away. Anyway, please note that to be able to

win stuff in the Hooked Up section you need to have been a confirmed email subscriber to NZ Fisher e-Magazine as at a date no less than two

working days prior to issue date (‘cos that’s when our prize winners are drawn) and be a resident of New Zealand at the time of the draw. To

be eligible to claim any prizes including, but not limited to, alcoholic beverages, travel, motor vehicle/boat usage, tattoos, sharp things or any

other prize that might require you to be over than 18 years old, you must have been over 18 years of age at the time of the draw! Cheers.

By Chris Burton


ishing is about hanging out with

mates, exploring new places,

and having a great time along

the way. Eating seafood should be no

different. Serving up an amazing fresh

seafood dish for a bunch of friends

never fails to impress and is usually a

pre-cursor to a great evening of food,

drinks and tall fishing tales.

The Fish Stock draws from my own

stock of ideas, hints, how to’s and

recipes about what makes for good

eating. I’ll let the others tell you their

secret catch spots and tips; The Fish

Stock is here to help you in the kitchen!

Whipping up a great feed isn’t hard,

and it’s definitely worth the effort.

Following a few simple guidelines can

turn a run of the mill dish into a winner.

You’ll have the family begging you to

go out fishing every weekend, and

that can’t be a bad thing! Kill your fish

immediately and store on salt ice.

Always bring home some salt water

to wash your catch; tap water tends to

‘burn’ the flesh. Wash your catch well.

There is nothing worse than that fishy

smell from filleting making its way to

the dining table, a sure fire way to lose

fans. Use fresh ingredients, present

food with care and, of course, have a

drink on hand that complements the

dish. Fish for the future, take only what

you can eat fresh.

With this being the start of NZ Fisher

I thought what better way to kick

things off than with my favourite starter

of fresh tender kingfish wrapped in

prosciutto, dripping with basil and

garlic butter. This is an easy dish that

looks the part; it’s got brownie points

written all over it!

Ingredients600g kingfish fillets

150g prosciutto ham

50g butter at room temperature

3 garlic cloves crushed

Handful of fresh basil leaves finely chopped

Cooking oil

Salt and pepper

For the wraps, the key to success is to cook them hot and

fast so turn your oven to 220°c. While the oven is cranking

up, remove any red flesh from the kingfish then cut it into

4cm ‘cubes’. You should end up with about 12 cubes in total.

Cut your prosciutto into strips that are long enough

to wrap around the fish. Wrap each cube with a strip of

the ham; it should stick quite nicely to the fish. Place the

wrapped cubes onto a lightly oiled oven tray.

Mix the basil, garlic, butter and a pinch of salt and

pepper. Place a dollop of this mixture on the top of each

cube, divvy it out until it’s all used up.

Bake them on the middle rack in the oven for 8 minutes

until just cooked through. If you’re unsure whether they

are done or not - cut one open. The meat should have just

turned from opaque to white in the center. Now, take chefs

liberties and give it a taste test.

Serve the wraps straight away with a chilled bottle of

Sauvignon Blanc and watch them disappear! Tight lines

and empty plates!

Serves 4 as an entrée

recipe

By Chris Burton

Kingfish and Prosciutto Wraps


hen you make the deci-

sion to call your charter

fishing business ‘Epic Ad-

ventures’, you set the bar high, even

before the punters step on board.

Over the last four years Carl Muir of

said charter business has gone about

making sure that the adventures of his

clients are nothing but Epic.

I have had the pleasure of fishing with

Carl before and the success of this trip

graced the pages of another magazine.

As we now embark on a new era with

NZ Fisher, I thought it might be an idea

to check out the new Epic boat, named

Sanity, and skipper Toby (Tobes) Kemp,

to see if Carl was simply catering to the

demand or if he had really bought on

someone with his ideals, commitment

to big fish and same cheek that only a

successful skipper can get a way with!

Sanity is Whitianga based but fishes

the same water as Carl on Epic. Carl

has said that he’s spent two years

looking for the right guy to take the no.

2 skipper role, so once again the bar

has been set quite high.

As New Zealand’s weather is

want to do, it blew up a maelstrom

the day we were originally booked and

thankfully a second opportunity the

following weekend gave Aaron and I

the opportunity to get down to Whiti

and get our rusty jigging shoulders

back in action.

The weather was forecast to drop

from an early morning 20kn to light

variables in the early afternoon – how

much better can it get? With the sun

shining we headed out towards the

Aldermans with expectations ratcheted

right up. First stop was ‘Castle’ rock,

a Whiti local favourite that has a

record of producing nice, but not large

kings – a great spot to get the arms

pumped, but not too shattered before

reaching the real goal – the ‘pins’ out

wide of the Aldermans. The Castle

didn’t produce – not even a ‘couta! So

onwards towards the deep we head!

When jigging for kings is hot, it is hot

in no uncertain terms. Places like the

Epic Success

By Derrick Paull

boat FISHING


Three Kings can spoil a fisher. So after a

handful of drops and no takes, we were

quickly on to giving Tobes a deserved

ribbing – it’s never angler error on a

charter boat!

We had come across Carl on Epic with

a couple of Aussies testing themselves

against the Coro beasts and they were

into a few good fish. We kept bouncing

out lead for a few more uneventful drifts

before Aaron broke the duck, hooking a

freight train with no intent on stopping.

While Aaron and his Saragossa couldn’t

stop that one it was the catalyst needed

to bring the kings on strike!

For next hour our pains turned from

aches of jigging to the lactic burn from

holding on to big kings and wrestling

them to the boat. While no more

monsters were encountered some great

fish in the mid teens were boated on

various tackle including lighter ‘plastics’

gear that accounted for some very

spirited 10kg rats. The best of the

bunch was landed by Capt. Tobes while

a couple of our party took a rest. See

here for a quick video of Tobes’ battle.

We managed a respectable total

of 40 kings between four of us with

the biggest pulling the scales down

to almost 40lb. Not a bad day out in

anyone’s books. The ride home included

a mingle with some unusually friendly

common dolphins, not fishing, just

enjoying the stunning day.

Tobes and Sanity complement Epic

but not in a sycophantic way. Tobes is

an accomplished fisher in his own right,

he has his own spots, and a different

approach to Carl. The boat is well set up,

but for its size (8m Tsunami) the fishing

platform is not any bigger than Epic.

I’ll be back to hit more of the big ‘Coro

kings later this year – be it on Epic or

Sanity I know I’m going to come home

with a smile on my dial!

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hat is it about fishing?

Ever since I nabbed my

first perch some, oooh,

45 years ago in a subtropical Northern

Transvaal dam I’ve had it in my blood.

Back then we used the end piece of

a fishing rod with a bit of line tied to

a hook and a match stick as a float. I

have been hooked since day one.

Having worked my way up through a

club and league team in coarse fishing,

with the occasional trip to the sea

thrown in over the years, I now find

myself living in the real fishing heaven!

“We don’t know how lucky we are”!

I have heard this time and again and it

is true. From the northern reaches of

the North Island to the Coromandel

Peninsula, fishing opportunities

unrivalled in most countries are available.

In our very own back yard, we have

By Greg Theunissen, President of the Hibiscus Kayak Fishing Club

// ‘GT’ explores the Hauraki Gulf Plastic Fantastic


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some of the best places imaginable.

The ‘Rangi channel, the Whangaparaoa

Peninsula and within an hour’s drive

north, Lang’s Beach, Leigh, Jones Bay

and Mahurangi can be considered our

‘local’ stomping grounds.

Many different aspects of fishing can

be enjoyed here. From casting a line

from local wharves and piers, to the

many rock and beach spots in-between

and the many boat launching ramps

which are readily available. There is no

shortage of ways to get your line wet.

My favourite way of getting a feed

on the table is from my fishing kayak.

Having been there done that with

a tinny, this new-fangled idea

appealed to me immediately. After

trialling a few models and different rigs,

I can now virtually guarantee a feed

every time I go out!

Our region is also blessed with

many different boating, kayaking and

surfcasting clubs for those who are

inclined to be involved in such activities

with like minded individuals. Despite all

the doom and gloom about depleted

fish stocks, foreigners catching all our

fish, global warming and all the other

stuff going on, we are still able to

catch many fish. In fact there are some

very good fish within a stone’s throw

of where I live here on the northern

reaches of Auckland City. I will be

gleefully reporting on all the latest

action in the greater Auckland Area

over the coming months and hope to

see many of you out there enjoying it!

Episode Two: Find out from weekend

warrior boaties what they are getting,

profile Sullivans and the Nationals. Also

general report from the area.

Our region is also blessed with many different boating, kayaking and surfcasting clubs for those who are inclined to be involved in such activities.

http://bit.ly/bNjkon

http://bit.ly/cK9ZZR

http://bit.ly/cK9ZZR

mailto:[email protected]


tackleTALK


““in Nor has the distinction of

holding more IGFA World

Records than any other brand,

no mean feat. The Fin Nor tag-line

IS ‘Legendary tackle since 1933’ and

with more than 380 IGFA records and

counting it really is the stuff of legends.

The question we had was, can Fin Nor

stand up to the rigours of modern

Jig fishing. Scott Taylor at Thompson

Walker didn’t blink and handed over

the all new Fin Nor Marquesa.

It’s not a bad looking reel but doesn’t

quite have the eye-candy appeal of a

Trinidad or Avet – but it’s fast, tight and

very strong.

The Three Kings Islands have been the

downfall of many an under-prepared

fisher and sub-par tackle in the past but

they provide arguably the best yellowtail

kingfish fishing in the world. Where

better to test the Marquesa?

In Johns words:

I was using a Fin nor Marquesa 30 reel

and 37kg braid & Xzoga custom rod on

board Pursuit at the Three Kings Islands

in May this year. I used the Marquesa for

mechanical jigging with jigs varying from

300g to 500g in 100 to 200 metres deep .

The Marquesa handled the conditions

well and caught at least 10 kingfish

varying in weight from 15kg to 28kg.

I was also extremely happy to land a

28kg Hapuka on a jig too, again the

Marquesa handled it comfortably.

I found the Marquesa winding action

suited my style of jigging with its 6.1

to 1 ratio. I noted the handle allowed

me to avoid scrapes on my knuckles

as some other reels I have used

have done – they don’t have enough

clearance within the shape of the

handle and can have a tendency to

skin knuckles while madly reeling in.

I found the Marquesa the drag

consistent and easy to operate. The

proof is in the catch! The Marquesa

does the job, it’s very well priced and

therefore great value for money.

www.finnorfishing.com/Marquesa.html

// In the Deep End at the Three Kings

By John Callander

http://bit.ly/cLs5LR


regionalREVIEWS

s spring arrives we are expect-

ing an increase of fat healthy

snapper and have not been

disappointed with the early season

results! Our annual September mission

to Whatuwhiwhi produced scores of

10lb plus snapper and a few 30lb plus

Kingfish for those live-baiting or jig-

ging. The winter moochers were ever

present this year with Pete & Aileen

Michael both scoring 8kg plus fish form

our local haunts (Langs & Takatu). We

are off to Oakura on the 18th / 19th

September – so watch the club site

for info on how we fared. We will be

taking on the North Shore Surfcasting

Club on Sunday the 10th of Octo-

ber to contest the Rock-Yak Trophy.

We’ve held it for the last two events

and don’t want to give it up now. The

Rock-Yak Trophy is Kayak versus Rock

fishing & is a great day with awesome

prizes. New members are encouraged

to come along! See the web-site for

more info www.hibiscuskayakfishing-

club.org

he Kingfish are acting like it’s

spring already and the water

temp is just starting to rise. How-

ever over the last two weeks the inshore

kingfish have now thinned out, and so

the deep reefs and pins from Cuvier to

the Aldies and Mayor are where it is at

on the kingi front. We recently did a

three day trip fishing the extent of the

Eastern Coromandel and pulled awe-

some solid 20kg kingfish from all three

locations. Check that report out here

(http://www.epicadventures.co.nz/3D

ayFishingCharterMayorIslandCuvierA

ldermenMercuryIslands.html). Water

temps are three degrees higher at the

moment than this time last year and

with plenty of bait showing the kingi’s

are feasting up and in good condition.

While live-baits are probably still

delivering the fish of the day on a

consistent basis, the jigging has been

going well. Over the last week we’ve

predominantly been jigging, with most

trips being all people after their first

ever kingfish. One of those was 14 year

old Travis Clark pictured here, visiting

with Ozzie TV Show Mark Bergs Fishing

Addiction. They pulled some really solid

kings to the 20kg mark.

eather has played a major

part in the fishing this

month but those who have

made it out have returned with some

very good catches. Unfortunately the

sharks are there too, but if you can get

through them the Gurnard & snapper

are very hungry. Best results have been

coming form the 20m marks over the

low reefs and too the south there have

been great returns from 60m +/-. One

such kayak trip the yakker’s fish-finders

showed the bottom coming up from

50m to les than 30, they dropped

lines thinking it was a new reef they’re

found but were pleasantly surprised by

a double header of healthy 5lb snap-

per! October can be a great month

if you can avoid the horrid weather –

burley & big smelly baits will see some

anglers getting into 20lb +_ snaps this

month – get into it!

Inner Hauraki GulfSource: Hibiscus Kayak Fishing Club:

Coromandel / BOPSource: Epic Adventures

TaranakiSource: AMF Leader – Duncan McIvor


he weather, that’s what’s hap-

pening!

Last good day out was in

August, nice run up the east side of

Durville Island out of French Pass but

most of the trips planned have been

cancelled due to the weather.

Line fishers have discovered that

there are good numbers of kingfish and

snapper lurking in deeper water around

Stephens Island and some big boys from

both camps have been landed. Jigging

seems to be the technique, be interesting

to see if the jigging carries on working

into the summer as both species move

into shallower water.

When we are spearfishing in the summer

we often see kingies blasting along near

the bottom, sometimes they will come up

to check us out, but when they in ‘bottom

blasting’ mode they are unlikely to come

all the way to the surface for a lure. The

silver lining to the bad weather cloud

has meant that fishing pressure has been

relatively light, so the rare days out have

been very fishy, good numbers of terakihi

spotted although mostly small. Butterfish

are making a comeback in areas where

netting pressure has been reduced

although the biggest threat to these

and many other fish is the loss of habitat

as the weed belts are being reduced in

area possibly due to explosions in kina

numbers. The poor old blue moki seems

to get a hammering from spearos and set

netters alike, hoping to see a recovery in

numbers of this underated table fish.

Blue cod are under pressure outside

the ban area. Everyone seems to

have views on the ‘reopening’ of the

Marlborough Sounds blue cod fishery

but until we see the results of the

abundance report due out soon we’re all

shooting in the dark – realistically: does

anyone think that a species can rebuild

in a few short years?

‘Roll on’ summer and ‘roll in’ the clear

blue water.

Mark Roden

Nelson Underwater Club

Nelson Marlborough / UnderwaterSource: Mark Roden

Bar and Restaurant

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Westhaven Marina

Auckland NZ

Serving New Zealand’s Best Seafood For Over 13 years!

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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!

http://bit.ly/cYr2dR


s New Zealanders we hold

the bounty of the oceans as

a part of our cultural heri-

tage, a resource available to all. Sadly

economic pressures and an insatiable

demand internationally for fresh fish

means our local resources are continu-

ally under pressure from commercial

operators.

The New Zealand Recreational Fishing

Council was founded in the 1980’s to

begin reclaiming the oceans for the

enjoyment of all New Zealanders.

Today the NZRFC is recognised at the

mandated body to represent New

Zealand amateur fishers to parliament.

Other organisations such as Option

4 and NZ Sportfishing Council also aid

in this representation, but focus on a

more selective areas. The RFC aims to

represent all amateur fishers in whatever

fishery they can and to keep New

Zealand fisheries viable for the future.

Over the last 25 year the RFC has built

a reputation for achieving wins for New

Zealand fishers, these achievements

include some remarkable changes in the

thinking of the decision makers when

considering how we best utilise the

resources available.

nzfcREPORT

Next edition out 20/10/2010

The Picture of a Fishing Future is Being Drawn

If you wish to know more or feel you would like to be involved please e-mail [email protected] or visit www.recfish.co.nz

// NZRFC GoalsTo encourage government and •

MFish to perform their statutory

duty to ensure that fisheries are

sufficiently abundant at local

levels “to enable people to

provide for their social, economic,

and cultural wellbeing” in all

coastal communities.

To promote the interests of •

recreational fishers in the

management of New Zealand’s

fisheries.

To protect and enhance marine •

biodiversity and habitats.

To maintain and where possible •

improve recreational fishers ability

to catch a feed.

To participate through consultation •

in an effective partnership to

manage New Zealand’s marine

fisheries resources.

http://bit.ly/cFzXYl


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 fourth Wednesday!

// In the next issue of NZ Fisher…Hapuka secretsWhere do Snapper travel?Getting the most from your burley trail

Next edition out 20/10/2010

nz fisher issue 1

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