www.nzfisher.co.nz 1

ISSUE 46 April 2015

www.nzfisher.co.nz

Catching your Dream Fish

NZFisher goes

hunting

www.nzfisher.co.nz 3

5.. Editorial

6.. Catching those Dream Fish

14.. When the Trout Dry Up, Look to the Hills

18.. Miri International Deep Sea Fishing Tournament Reels in Anglers from Across the Globe

20.. Rock fishing with my dad

24.. Reader Pics

26.. Competition

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 Paull

GROUP EDITOR / Colin Kennedy

ART DIRECTOR / Jodi Olsson

CONTENT ENQUIRIES /

Phone Derrick on 021 629 327

or email derrickp@NZ Fisher.co.nz

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES /

Phone Jennifer on 09 522 7257

or email jenniferl@espiremedia.com

ADDRESS / NZ Fisher,

C/- Espire Media, PO Box 137162, Parnell,

Auckland 1151, NZ

WEBSITE / 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!

Cover Image: Keisha Peraua with a beauty snapper - Care of her proud dad John

Contents

Know whatyou’re doing

Phone 0800 40 80 90 or visitwww.boatingeducation.org.nz

Core Courses Specialty Courses RYA Courses

Wide range of courses for all types of boating available nationwide

Ocean Yachtmaster

Day Skipper

Boatmaster

Maritime VHF Operator Certificate

Coastal Skipper

Radar

GPS Operator

Engine Maintenance

Marine Medic

Sea Survival

Sea Kayak and Waka Ama

Club Safety Boat Operator

Bar Crossing

PWC

Powerboating

Sail Cruising

Motor Cruising

www.nzfisher.co.nz 5

THANK YOU NZFISHER READERS for your

positive and constructive feedback to my

editorial rant in Issue 45. There’s a real

groundswell of discontent with the way our

fishery is managed, and more importantly

a move by individuals to get behind groups

who actively work to protect and enhance

our rights to fish for fun and food.

I cannot deny there was a couple of

negative responses – well considered but

I suspect largely sent from my friends at

Seafood NZ or New Zealand Rock Lobster

Industry Council. I’ve had feedback from

the Office of The Minister of Primary

Industries that he had a read and all

going well he’s reading the same from my

contemporaries at other top publications.

So, what can we actually do to make a desire

for change a real change for the best? One

of the newer resistance groups, Fish Fight

Aotearoa, are loosely basing their fight on

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight UK,

to reduce or eliminate wasteful dumping

of fish by commercial interests. From what

I can see they’re looking to disrupt life and

gain public interest as their first line of

attack. I’ve asked for a bit more information,

but they’re not yet able to respond. I’ll bring

what I can when I learn more. They goals

of Fish Fight Aotearoa are lofty but echo

a lot of what the fishing public are asking

for; Ban Trawling inside the 12 mile limit,

implementation of rec-only reserves (in line

with National Government 20011 election

promises and policy), end wasteful discards

and accidental death and more.

Along with Legasea, The Recfish Council and Our Fishing Future, Fish Fight are building awareness, educating and adding pressure to those who make the decisions that disrespect the fishery we love.

Once again, we’re at the end of a long, pretty good summer, and there’s plenty of happy memories of big fish fought, caught and lost both in-shore and off-shore. The weather has oscillated between sublime (New Year’s week) and ridiculous (Cyclone Pam’s swells). The fishing in Team NZFishers camp has been sporadic at best, but the results, fitted in when time, family and weather have allowed have been choice. We’ve worked hard to find a diverse range of species and to look outside our normal Snapper and Kingfish haunts. I took this to the extreme recently when I loaded a rifle into the truck instead of the rods. A conservationist at heart, adding goats to my species list. I consider it a national service when I remove a noxious pest from the ecosystem, so I apologise if my goat hunting trip is a bit off topic for NZFisher, but it was a hell of a trip!

We’re in planning for some pretty big winter moocher hunts – nothing like winter snapper hunts to get the blood pumping (and the odd whisky doesn’t help) so it’s time to put the goldies away and dust off the bloody bait rigs – it’s

moocher time!

Derrick

Editorial

6 www.nzfisher.co.nz

SPO

RTS

FISH

ING

By Martin Salter

WE SHOULD WELCOME the news that

the BBC Natural History Unit, the world’s

leading producer and broadcaster of nature

programmes, is applying its considerable

expertise to bringing angling back to

mainstream television with the forthcoming

series The Big Fish.

The Angling Trust is proud to be

supporting and promoting this exciting

new programme. It will see anglers from

the UK pitting their wits and skills against

some unfamiliar species in six exotic but

challenging locations around the world.

Talking to the programme’s production team

about how the anglers will have to prepare

themselves for fishing in far off waters got me

thinking about my foreign fishing adventures

and how much I’ve had to learn about tactics,

travel and tackle along the way. As it happens,

I’m right in the middle of another ‘fish frenzy’

in preparation for my first ever trip to the

Himalayas to try and catch both golden and

chocolate mahseer.

The dining room table is a mass of lures,

braid and various items of luggage that

will hopefully withstand the rigours of

whitewater rafting and possibly the hardest

fighting freshwater fish on the planet. Back

in the 1990s I caught some huge Mahseer

in Southern India. Although these mountain

river battlers of the North may be a little

smaller, they inhabit such remote and hostile

environments that this was one challenge I

wasn’t going to let pass me by.

Orca in the anchor

Catching those Dream Fish

A golden mahseer like this from a remote Himalayan river is Martin’s next target - but with the nearest tackle shop 500 miles away preparation is crucial

www.nzfisher.co.nz 7

Since standing down from the UK Parliament

in 2010 I’ve been lucky enough to have

landed some cracking fish on my travels

including: marlin, kingfish, tuna, shark,

barramundi and Silver Trevally in Australia;

Snapper, Kahawai and trout in New Zealand;

sailfish, amberjack and wahoo in Kenya;

Giant Trevally and bonefish in the Seychelles;

bass and pollack in Ireland; golden dorado in

Argentina; salmon in Scotland and tarpon,

barracuda and grouper in Cuba.

What follows is hopefully a handy guide to

making the most of a trip of a lifetime and

ensuring that you put yourself in with a

fighting chance of actually landing those fish

you’ve spent so long dreaming about.

Rods for Travel

The arrival of good quality, affordable, multi-

pieced travel rods couldn’t come quickly

enough for those of us fed up with lugging

huge, extendable ‘Bazooka’ style rod cases

through international airport terminals. Being

able to pack your rods away in your luggage

is not only convenient, it’s also one less thing

for the airlines to lose, or send to the wrong

continent. It also enables the traveling angler

to disguise to would-be thieves the fact that

those bags may be worth pilfering.

For heavy duty work, I can personally

recommend the Deep Blue range from

Snowbee and the Trek travel rods from Fox.

These tough workhorses will land anything

from tarpon to giant marlin.

For lighter work, and by that I mean using 30

to 50lb braid and lures up to 50 grams, I’ve

become a huge fan of the Shimano Exage

and the Sonik new SK4 ranges. The Exage

was probably the first quality travel rod on

the market and I’m packing their new 9ft

11inch model (rated at 20 to 50 grams) for

the mahseer trip as a back up to the heavier

Snowbee tarpon rod that can throw lures and

spoons up to 100grams. Sonik are relatively

new kids on the block but I took the SK4

to the Scillies last summer and it was just

the job for firing out light soft plastics while

retaining enough power to bully some pretty

powerful wrasse out of their rocky homes.

Catching those Dream Fish

My first River Cauvery monster came in 1996 in the company of the late and legendary fishing guide Bola

8 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Reels that last

The big learning curve for me came during

my time in Australia when my previously

‘indestructible’ Shimano baitrunner

literally exploded as I tried, unsuccessfully,

to keep an angry kingfish out of the reef.

I’m afraid the clutches on our standard

freshwater reels are rarely up to the job of

using heavy braid on hard fighting sport

fish. A great place to check out informed

and unbiased reviews of various reels is

the American striped bass forum Stripers Online. Don’t make the obvious spelling

mistake when googling their site, or you

could be in for a shock!

The Yanks take their tackle seriously, and

it was this review that decided me to track

down a nearly new Shimano Spheros 8000 on

eBay at a bargain price.

Penn also have an excellent range of

spinning reels and their Fierce 5000 is

reasonably priced but with a drag that pulls

an impressive 25lbs. Again, both models are

in the bag for India and have been spooled

up with 65 and 50lb braid in readiness for

tackling muscular mahseer in a powerful and

rocky river.

If your pockets are deep enough then it’s

worth taking a peek at Daiwa’s Saltiga range

with their mag sealed, carbon clutches that

can slow down a London bus if required.

These are top quality bits of kit that have

landed huge fish all over the world and will

last half a lifetime.

My good friend Al McGlashan with a lovely Australian kingfish - these are some of the toughest fighters around

www.nzfisher.co.nz 9

Balls Pyramid - home to some tackle testing fish and where a valuable lesson was learned.

10 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Hooks that holdComing from an environment where I rarely

caught anything with teeth it took me a

while to adjust to some of the creatures I

was encountering Down Under. There was

one fish, known as the Bluefish in America

-the Aussies call them Tailor - which

also went by the nickname of ‘chopper’.

Whether using bread, prawn or fish baits in

Sydney Harbour, the result was invariably

the same.

A savage bite and a missing hook. They

wouldn’t look at a bait on a wire trace so

I resorted to using long shanked hooks in

sizes 2 and 4 and the problem was all but

solved. These days I always carry a few long

shanks with me on my travels as even some

of the baitfish intended for larger quarry

can have sets of tackle robbing teeth.

I like to release the vast majority of the fish

I catch, and deep hooking has no place the

fishing I do. I learned to use circle hooks

for live baiting. Once I got over the urge

to strike and simply tightened into the

running fish, I don’t recall ever hooking

anything (even sharks) anywhere other

than in the corner of the mouth.

The hook is the last item of tackle that

should be compromised and it’s worth

spending the extra on brands like Owner,

Gamakatsu and Eagle Claw to ensure that

when that dream fish finally comes along

you are not going to be reeling in a crushed

or straightened piece of useless wire.

One final tip that I learned the expensive

way - chemically sharpened and super

strong hooks like the Owner ST66 are

brilliant until you bounce them across the

rocks a couple of times. Then you discover

that they are virtually impossible to

sharpen so it’s worth also packing a brand

that can be filed back into shape.

Lines and Braid

You can take your pick from the mass

of braids available, but you won’t go far

wrong with bulk spools of PowerPro or

Berkley’s Whiplash for your heavier work.

Check out Henry Gilbey’s blog for an

in-depth analysis of what else is on the

market and for his favourite eight strand

braids that will deliver extra yards on the

cast - but at a price.

Unless I’m targeting beasties like

barracuda, dorado, wahoo or sharks

I prefer to use tough, clear mono or

fluorocarbon for my leaders. Again there

are plenty of top quality brands to choose

from but I’ve settled on Seaguar flouro

for anything below 35lbs and Berkley Big

Game for towrope.

Remember that mono is far more abrasion

resistant than braid and a decent length

of leader can reduce losses from rub-offs

on rocks or even from contact with the

sharper parts of the fishes bodies.

www.nzfisher.co.nz 11

Hooks that holdComing from an environment where I rarely

caught anything with teeth it took me a

while to adjust to some of the creatures I was

encountering Down Under. There was one

fish, known as the Bluefish in America -the

Aussies call them Tailor - which also went by

the nickname of ‘chopper’. Whether using

bread, prawn or fish baits in Sydney Harbour,

the result was invariably the same. A savage

bite and a missing hook. They wouldn’t look

at a bait on a wire trace so I resorted to using

long shanked hooks in sizes 2 and 4 and

the problem was all but solved. These days

I always carry a few long shanks with me

on my travels as even some of the baitfish

intended for larger quarry can have sets of

tackle robbing teeth.

I like to release the vast majority of the fish

I catch, and deep hooking has no place the

fishing I do. I learned to use circle hooks for

live baiting. Once I got over the urge to strike

and simply tightened into the running fish,

I don’t recall ever hooking anything (even

sharks) anywhere other than in the corner of

the mouth.

The hook is the last item of tackle that should

be compromised and it’s worth spending the

extra on brands like Owner, Gamakatsu and

Eagle Claw to ensure that when that dream

fish finally comes along you are not going to

be reeling in a crushed or straightened piece

of useless wire.

One final tip that I learned the expensive

way - chemically sharpened and super strong

hooks like the Owner ST66 are brilliant until

you bounce them across the rocks a couple of

times. Then you discover that they are v

One that didn’t get away!

12 www.nzfisher.co.nz

The GT Knot

Just the name of this knot should inspire

confidence for if there’s a fish in the ocean

that pulls harder pound for pound than a

Giant Trevally then I’ve yet to find it. It is

an easy tie to a braided loop, it will never

slip, and importantly, the mono tag ends up

pointing up the line meaning that it can be

cast through the rod rings without catching.

It is the perfect knot for those long, wind on,

leaders necessary for bringing big fish safely

to the boat. Check it out here.

The FG Knot

The FG is now Henry Gilbey’s favourite and

can be tied to a single strand of braided

mainline. This one is fiddly to tie but has

such a low profile it runs through the rod

rings so smoothly you will barely hear it.

This is because there’s no loop in the mono

as the knot relies instead on a cross weave

of braided wraps digging into the leader in

the manner of a Chinese Burn. I’ll leave to

Henry to sing its praises and show you the instructional video.

Lefty’s Loop Knot

I’m assuming everyone is reading this can tie a Grinner or Uni knot and these are perfectly good for use with swivels or eyed hooks.

However, there are times when you want a

reliable non-slip loop knot to allow the fly or

lure more freedom of movement than a stiff

mono or flouro leader will permit. Named

after the famous American fly fisherman

Lefty Kreh this is a knot well worth

learning and one in which I have complete

confidence. It also ties up easier than the

Grinner in thicker diameter lines, so I often

use it as an alternative.

More Knots

There’s a heap more knots out there, and you

can find a selection below but if you master

these four you won’t go far wrong.

The travel arrangement will require some thought!

www.nzfisher.co.nz 13

Creature Comforts

The Himalayan trip will involve rafting

through some none too warm water and

sleeping in tents on shingle beaches.

Keeping warm and enjoying a decent

night’s sleep are priorities for me these

days which is why I’ve handed over some

more cash for a blow-up mattress and

some neoprene long johns.

I’m told we may suffer from sand flies at

dawn and dusk, so those light trousers

that zip apart at the knee are going into

the bag along with a couple long sleeved

tropical Sportfishing shirts. Fashionable

we will not look!

Staying Safe

A bit of danger and excitement are a big

part of these trips, but it makes no sense

to take unnecessary risks. The sea and the

jungle can be dangerous places so go with

people who know what they are doing,

wear lifejackets where appropriate, respect

the wildlife, particularly those that might

want to eat you. Protect your head and skin

from the sun and never travel without a

first aid kit and a means of escape.

I’m counting the days until that plane takes

off on the next bucket list adventure, and

I like to think I’ll be prepared for whatever

challenges the river, and the fishing has to

offer. I hope the contestants in the BBC’s

Big Fish programme become just as excited

and that they get, not only to hook, but to

land some fish of their dreams.

Note: we are planning to feature video

footage from the Himalayan Mahseer trip

in a forthcoming episode of Fishing Britain

which can be found on YouTube.

“I’m counting the days until that plane takes off on the next bucket list adventure, and I like to think I’ll be prepared for whatever challenges the river, and the fishing has to offer.“

This piece originally appeared in Martin’s blog http://fightingforfishing.anglingtrust.net/ and is reproduced in an edited form with his kind permission

14 www.nzfisher.co.nz

I LOVE HUNTING PESTS. As a kid, I was

introduced to using firearms to keep possum

and rabbit numbers down on a family

friend’s farm. There’s not much better than

shooting a gun when the net result is one

less pest to terrorise our native species. My

angle is conservation, but there’s not much

I don’t like about hunting pests, especially

when I get to hike about in the foothills of

our great mountain ranges in the company

of a good friend.

FLY

FISH

ING

In search of late summer rises, low water levels had driven the fish out of the mountains, so we raised our eyes to the hills.

Hamish leading the way up hill

When the Trout Dry Up, Lookto the Hills

By Derrick Paull

www.nzfisher.co.nz 15

I took the family to the Wairarapa for Easter

and despite efforts to get the local Browns

to sup a dry under the willows, we left the

Ruamahunga empty-handed. My host and

guide Hamish was keen for some more

action and hatched a plan to nab a hair or

goat in the Tararuas the next day.

Hamish has friends with pest problems all

over the Wairarapa so with some smoked

Kahawai in hand as a sweetener to get

some good access we headed up the

Mangataere Valley. This valley creeps up

off the plains, and you’re quickly in the

deep ‘V’ of a lowland valley that steepens

rapidly into a full-blown mountain valley

in only a few kilometres.

The Valley itself is sparsely populated and is

proposed to be flooded in order to provide

an irrigation scheme for the Wairarapa

farmers. As the heartfelt, basic hand-painted

signs along the riverside mournfully state

‘8 Homes will be flooded’. Having been

there now, I cannot fathom the madness

required to justify the flooding of this

valley in order to feed more cows whose

defecation will lead to further poisoning of

the Ruamahunga River downstream.

When we parted with the smoked fish,

we were directed to a valley where there

had been recent goat sightings. I’m not

afraid of a long walk, but the hills here look

Himalayan from ground zero.

My first Goat

Back straps - a delicious side effect of pest hunting

16 www.nzfisher.co.nz

However, every journey begins with a

single step and my first step, in this case,

was straight into a bog. Luckily, that’s

as bad as it got. We silently hiked up,

up and up but saw very little below the

bush line for a long time. After heading

over a saddle at 450 metres, we spotted

a flock of wild goats on the opposite side

of a river valley to the south on another

owner’s land and frustratingly off limits

despite their pest status.

On our descent, on the opposite side of our

valley Hamish notice some movement on

a scree slope a few hundred metres away.

We ran as best we could to get to a clear

spot to take a shot and remain in cover.

Hamish had spotted to goats, a nanny and

a yearling kid traversing the scree slope and

stopping intermittently to eat. They were

heading for cover when we settled.

As the guest, Hamish kindly gave me the

first shot and despite the high doses of

both adrenaline and lactic acid a single

bullet took out the kid. I’d expected the

nanny to run, but she stood her ground,

looking bewildered as to the noise as she

couldn’t see the kid from her perch.

A second shot brought her down and

left us with the task of traversing a steep

valley and the scree slope to recover

the animals. Both were felled quickly by

instant kill shots. Full credit to Hamish’s

.223 and incredible scope that made me

look good.

I do hate pests that damage Aotearoa,

but I’m not into waste so as best I could I

took the hind quarters, backstraps and the

unaffected forequarter.

We didn’t cross any more nasties on the way

The nanny goat

Scree makes for a fun retrieval

www.nzfisher.co.nz 17

out, but I did spot some

Kokopu in the valley stream

which was a pretty cool end

to the morning walk.

Back at home I tested the

eating qualities of the goat

and found that a decent

dose of smoke and some

hours in the oven makes

a very tasty dish. Goat is

often relegated to curry but

if prepared well and given

time to tenderise in the

oven, it’s a delicious meat –

and very low in fat. Yum! ■

The end result

18 www.nzfisher.co.nz

TRO

PICA

LFIS

HIN

G

THE 9TH MIRI CITY International Deep Sea

Fishing Tournament will be taking place at

Luconia Shoals, about 10 hours boat ride from

Miri shoreline, from 23 to 26 April.

This annual event has been the a hot topic

between anglers all over the world. The

fishing haven is not only home to hundreds

of marine lives but also known to be one of

the biggest coral reefs area.

Those who have participated in the

tournament in previous years are already

making preparations to come back and relive

the wonderful fishing experience once again.

Miri is now noted among sport fishing

enthusiasts and anglers internationally as one

of the four places in Malaysia offering true

world class fishing.

The internationally recognised sport fishing

event has attracted anglers from England,

India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia,

Germany, Brunei, Singapore, China and Hong

Kong, apart from local Malaysians.

Following the popularity of the annual

event, the number of participants including

participation of foreign anglers has been

increasing every year.

Miri International Deep Sea Fishing Tournament Reels in Anglers from Across the Globe

www.nzfisher.co.nz 19

What makes the tournament a one of a kind

experience is its location, the world-class

sport fishing destination - Luconia Shoals.

Luconia Shoals, sometimes known as the

Luconia Reefs, are one of the largest and

(thankfully) least known reef complexes in

the South China Sea.

The shoals lie 100 kilometres (62

miles) off the Sarawak coast of Borneo,

southwest of the southernmost members

of the Spratly Islands.

Extending over an area of several thousand

square kilometres, both the north and

south groups of the shoals are permanently

submerged at a depth of five to 40 metres

(16 to 131 feet) below sea level. There are

extensive oil and natural gas resources under

the seabed in this area, which is also home

to various fish species including manta rays,

wrasse and grouper.

Among others, the tournament also promotes

the need for the preservation of coral reefs

and marine lives among anglers.

This year, a new category have been added to

the tournament: the Fish Species Category,

where anglers are encouraged to diversify and

not focus on one species but to search out

and catch many different species.

The Fish Species Category will have six

winners; one for each species, namely

Ruby, Snapper, Amber Jack, Grouper, Tuna

and Mangrove Jack. The person with the

biggest catch of each type of fish will be

declared the winner.

NZFisher goes out at about the same time

the tournament is being run, but if you’re

heading to Malaysia get in touch with the

team at Tourism Malaysia for more info.

We’re looking to send a team in 2016,

so let us know if you’re interested in

joining us or if you’d like to experience the

tournament yourself. ■

Thanks to Tourism Malaysia for this provision

of the images included.

20 www.nzfisher.co.nz

BEN

ISLA

ND

.CO

.NZ

IT IS HIS FIRST TIME on beniSland and one

thing I wanted to make sure of was that his

first rock fishing mission on the Barrier would

be a success. Partly because I want him to

land and eat decent fish, but also because I

would probably not hear the end of it if I took

him fishing, and we ended up empty-handed.

Fishing is an awesome sport and I’ve come to

notice that everyone is an expert and most

people are not shy to make suggestions,

theorise and make remarks based on, well,

pure assumption and thin air.

When it comes to taking less experienced

people rock fishing, I’ve learned that the

recipe for success is to NOT let them

participate in the decision-making part of

when and where to go fishing. Another

important thing is to let them know that

getting up early is mandatory.

My dad is very fit and able (for his age), but

the old knees and tendons are not used to

our rocky shores. Thus, unfortunately, he

cannot experience fishing those remote

ledges that I love to hike to. It would be just

too much of a mission and beat the purpose.

Finding The Right Spot

Somewhere easy to get to that does not

involve climbing. It shouldn’t be more than

half an hour of easy grade walking. Moreover,

the spot should have plenty of foul close by

so that casting far is not necessary.

Having my dad over for a visit is great.

Rock Fishing with my Dad

Dad with the best fish of the day, estimated at 3lbs

www.nzfisher.co.nz 21

1. CONDITIONS & TIDE

Saturday, 28.03.2015, Great Barrier Island,

calm sea, overcast, variable 5 knots of

wind, early morning. Low tide at 0830.

We had the Burley deployed and the first

baits in the water by about 7ish.

2. THE RIG A two hooked rig is not

appropriate for less experienced

anglers when fishing off the rocks in

shallow, foul-laden waters. There are

few reasons for this:

i. Increased chance of snagging on

the ground and losing gear.

ii. Assisting with the snag and re-

rigging the line further reduces the

amount of active fishing time.

iii. Every nibble and bite feels like a

monster fish to a less-experienced

angler, and therefore they start

fiddling about and striking too

often. My dad warned me that he

would not be keen to snag in the

foul. Moreover, he warned me that

he would not like to go somewhere

where there are little fish; he

doesn’t like hooking into one small

fish after another. Geez, speaking

of pressure and the fun of fishing,

aye? So I rigged his line with a

6/0 sized circle hook. A simple rig,

about half a meter of 50 lbs trace,

no weight and uni-knot-tied hook

at the end. The only other thing

I did was explain to dad how the

circle hook works and that he shall

not strike when he feels a bite.

Rock Fishing

3. THE HOOKUP After landing and

releasing about a handful of undersized

snapper, Dad got a feeling for how to

cast and to operate rod and reel. This

was quite evident when I, while re-

rigging my line, told dad that he was

hooked up and his only gesture was to

show me his hand, as in: “Yup, I know

what I’m doing.”

He increased the drag and had a

secure footing while playing his fish.

The waters here are very shallow, and

the kelp is omnipresent, so I feared

the worst as he was taking his time

to land his fish. Eventually, he got

snagged, and I went to assist him.

I had no clue what he was fighting, for

all I knew it could have been another 15

cm snapper. I wrestled the line out of the

weeds and felt a good thumb plus some

weight so I immediately gave him the rod

back and told him to land his fish. Dad

reeled in a nice snapper, the fish of the

day and I’m sure he was enthusiastic on

the inside.

“When it comes to taking less experienced people rock fishing, I’ve learned that the recipe for success is to NOT let them participate in the decision-making part of when and where to go fishing.”

22 www.nzfisher.co.nz

BEN

ISLA

ND

.CO

.NZ

He’s definitley more enthusiastic than he’s looking here!

www.nzfisher.co.nz 23

What Else Happened

Well, I managed to hook a trevally but lost

it at my feet, and the same thing happened

with a Kahawai. There were plenty of piper

in the burley stream but I didn’t have my

piper rod/reel on me. As we did not land

any fish suitable for using as bait, and

because the waters were simply full of

extremely aggressive snapper, we went

through a bag of pilchards and squid pretty

quickly. We landed four keeper snapper.

The best thing I could have done today was

to try to land a few piper with a sabiki rig

This article is reproduced with permission of Ben Assado. Check out Ben’s website www.benisland.co.nz for more fishing stories and a great read about island life

and send one out under a balloon, with the

intention of landing a big snapper. I’m sure

there was one around today…

Dad landed a couple more snapper, and we

fished actively for about two hours. The

circle hook rig worked fine, he lost the rig

on his last cast and was, therefore, able to

fish actively for the whole couple of hours.

Good fun, good fish for the table and I

assume he might smile when he lands a fish

twice that size. He didn’t seem impressed

today, so yeah, let’s see what we can do on

our second trip. ■

This photo was shot after we packed up and were about to leave. We got in at dawn....

24 www.nzfisher.co.nz

REA

DER

PICS

Reader Pics

Brian Knight 21lb snapper on $79 reel!!

Jesse Stubinitsky with a fat Hauraki Kahawai that gave him the run

around on dads boat

Afzal Rashid with a great work-up snapper from his mate Saffia Sabir’s Boat this autumn

Ella, Luke & Ryan Dorward with Lukes fantastic JD caught on a recent family holiday

www.nzfisher.co.nz 25

Caitlin Shore with her first ever snapper at 42 cm length she is still

smiling about it, kind of cool

Keisha Peraua with a beauty snapper - Care of her proud dad John

Marc & Lucien Touchette with their Easter kayak trip haul Teghan Errington. and friends with some solid Bluenose

26 www.nzfisher.co.nz

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www.nzfisher.co.nz 27

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