Nz fisher magazine issue 24

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f sherISSUE 24 June 2013

www.nzfisher.co.nz

(Re)Learning LBG Lessons at the East CapeSmall boat Swordfish

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Pg 22

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14

Pg 6

CONTENTS

editorial

LANDBASEDFISHING

6 New Season Lessons

10 East Cape Dreaming

14 The NZACA Nationals

Roadtrip 2013

SPORTFISHING

18 Small Boat Swordfish

LOCALFISHING

20 Inner City Sole

22 Reader Pics

24 Competition

OLDSCHOOL

22 Shark Fishing the 1880’s Way

28 Hooked Up

Can you hang on to 45.4kg of drag? Okuma Makaira delivers market breaking drag and complete over engineering - delivered with dual drag cams to suit your fishing style.THE MAKAIRA REELS FEATURE:• Up to 45.4kg of drag with complete free spool• Patented T-Bar handle• Custom thrust bearing to alleviate side load• Cold forged spool• 17-4 stainless steel components• Silent retrieve• Helical cut gears• Abec 5 – Sapporo stainless bearings

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New technology leverdrag for ultimate versatility -Solterra features carbonite drag and ergo design,its Okuma’s latest in graphite leverdrag.THE SOLTERRA REELS FEATURE:• Patented T-bar or ergonomic handles• Durable Aluminium Frame• 5 + 1 HPB Bearings• HUGE drag performance• Racheting lever Drag System• Aluminium Handle bar

SOLTERRA

Ultimate weapon! 11kg of drag and massive line capacity - the Andros 2 speed leverdrag is the reel for your arsenal.THE ANDROS REELS FEATURE:• 2 speed, 6:4:1 High / 3:8:1 Low• 6-pcs ABEC 5 rated EZO Japanese Ball Bearings• External Adjustable Casting Control System• Ratcheting Lever Drag for precise settings• Carbonite drag system with Cal’s drag grease• Integrated recessed reel foot for low profile rod fit• Max drag at Full with complete freespool is 24lbs• Max drag at strike with complete freespool is 15lb

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AS WE HIT AUTUMN I always

have mixed feelings: I’m a summer

person, no question, I love hot, sunny

weather, blue skies and long days. But

as the weather changes, the water

temperature drops, and we’re into

the cold, rainy season, I don’t mind

so much. That’s because this is, for

me, the beginning of the serious LBG

season, and as much as I love my

softbaiting and workup fishing, LBG is

my real love! With trips underway for

East Cape, Great Barrier, Coromandel

and the Far North twice in the next

few months, topped off by what

will be an epic ROctober this year

(tickets go on sale soon!) it’s going to

be a fantastic season I’m sure. And

it started in great style at the East

Cape on my now annual trip with

the NZLBG club with some fantastic

fishing in what is one of my hands-

down favourite LBG destinations

in our wonderful country. Amazing

accommodation, spectacular country

to fish, untouched ledges, top drawer

fishing, topped off with a night at the

Waihau Bay pub, maybe the friendliest

in NZ. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a start

to the season more in recent times.

But it’s not all landbased colder-weather

fishing either. While we were off at the

E Cape my good mate Andrew was

out there doing it and getting into a

swordfish from a trailer boat, the jetski

boys were having an amazing time

out of Colville and the inner harbour

was firing for the saltwater fly guys.

Just today I was out softbaiting under

workups of gannets and bait with

snapper and kahawai everywhere, and

then I’m heading off to the Far North to

fish another slice of LBG paradise.

The weather might be getting cold

but the fishing is still hot, so make sure

you’re out there getting amongst it!

Tight lines,

FT

//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.

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New Season Lessons

THIS YEAR’S EAST CAPE trip was

a memorable one for many reasons:

a first decent kingy for me in 4

years (!), a first livey-caught kingy

for Brenton (see Page 10), a 7.3kg

snapper which fought top water

like a kahawai, and some utterly

spectacular fishing and scenery with

great mates.

But what struck me most of all at

the end of it was how different a

trip it had been for us in the way we

approached the 4 day trip, how we

fished, and how that translated into

results. So, as this is the beginning

of my winter LBG series, I thought

I’d start by sharing a few things that

we learned and re-learned over the

course of what was an excellent trip.

Over the rest of the series we’ll cover

off hardware, tackle and so on, for this

one we’ll focus on some other things.

After 3 days fishing, we’d had some

good successes and were feeling

pretty happy with life: the first day

had put us onto an amazing steady

snapper bite with fish up to nearly

6kg, some much bigger ones lost (!)

and a number of big, fat blue cod.

We’d treated it as a fishing holiday

and had a great time, rather than

flogging ourselves from pre-dawn

till after dark every day. Then, on the

third day Brenton bagged a solid

king but by Friday night I was getting

worried about whether my kingy

horror streak was going to continue.

The forecast was for strong S/SE winds

with rain, and only one king had been

caught between 9-12 anglers each of

the previous days so the other crews

all decided against fishing the last

day. On top of that, I’d hurt my back

so badly before leaving that I had to

LANDBASEDfishing

(Re)Learning some key LBG lessons at the East CapeBy Forsyth Thompson


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

lie flat in the back of the truck all the

way down and was dosing heavily on

codeine and ibuprofen to get through

the days!

Despite all that, we got up in the

morning, packed the gear one last

time and headed down to Lottin and

launched off the beach. There was no

chance at all I was going to get my

kingy sitting at home or diving for crays.

We had Midway in mind for our final

push, but as we got round there

the SE was wrapping right up the

coast and making it unfishable, so

we headed back towards Lottin and

found a point out of the wind where

one crew had spent the last 6 days

for just one kingy. But it has always

produced in the past and was surely

due to again.

B and I unloaded the boat (slowly,

my bad back making me pretty

useless!) and then as I stepped off

onto the rocks I managed another

first: missing my footing and finding

myself swimming off the rocks for

the first time ever, in full wet weather

gear! Thankfully the water was still

warm and I just swam round to the

back of the boat, climbed back in and

stopped laughing for long enough to

step off properly.

The berley went in, the country looked

incredible and then the maomao

turned up. Thousands of them. We

couldn’t get baits past them and

couldn’t find a livey to save ourselves

but by casting as far out as possible

past the berley I got a couple and the

balloons went out.

After 3 hours of inactivity, I’d more

or less dried off! I’d just cast out a

bait when I saw the liveys trying to

tangle each other up so put the reel

on clicker and ran up to sort them out.

Then a small king turned up, harassing

the liveys but not big enough to really

trouble them.

I turned and looked back down the

rocks: no rod anywhere to be seen,

it had somehow been dragged in.

Talk about gutted, a bad day was

just getting worse for me and the

expensive loss reminded me how

LANDBASEDfishing



LANDBASEDfishing

much my back was hurting!

Another couple of hours went by with

nothing more than lunch to break the

monotony so at nearly 3pm we had a

final “what shall we do conference”

and came within a hair of packing up.

We were at the exact same stage of

the tide as when we saw and caught

kings the day before, so decided to

give it 30 more minutes and throw

every last bit of berley and bait in.

Within minutes we had a mini work-up

going on with mao mao everywhere

and birds all over the place, creating

a huge amount of noise in the water.

I looked up: “B…where’s my balloon?

No, seriously mate, where the **** is

my livey?”

Then B pointed to it just as it surfaced.

And then blew away in the wind as the

ratchet on my Everol 50 went off! Over

the last 4 years, every time this had

happened had resulted in heartbreak:

bust offs, pulled hooks, spat baits,

reefings etc. But this time I had the

serious gear, 37kg mono, wind-on

leader, trace and a CD 24-37kg stick

to match and there was no chance this

fish was getting off. In fact, I was able

to subdue it so much that I called for

the net until I saw her come up by the

ledge – this was no rat! B gaffed her

straight in the lateral line, and blood

pouring out and heaved her up.

On the mat she went 1.21m, and on

the scales 20.3kg. Not quite a PB but

with all the work we’d had to do to get

this and all the reasons we’d had to

stay at home or pack up and go home,

this was the most satisfying fish I can

remember catching in many years.

So when you bring the right gear, and

you’re in the right place, there are still

loads of reasons to pack it in when

things aren’t going your way. Stick at

it and keep making more effort, not

less. Keep cubing baits, changing

liveys out, cubing baits and doing all

the things that you know work.

The easiest thing is to get lazy and

let your head go down, but when

you keep going, keep doing the right

things, and keep having a great time,

its funny how things go your way!



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

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By Brenton Cumberpatch

LANDBASEDfishing

East Cape Dreaming



EAST CAPE, LOTTIN POINT. It’s

one of NZ’s great Land Based Game

meccas and when I got an invite

from Forsyth to go fish 4 days of the

NZLBG Clubs annual 10 day Easter

expedition, I immediately said “95%

yes” (Actually I think an expletive

may have replaced the 95% if I’m

completely honest), a quick call to my

long suffering fishing fishing widow

wife and I was 100% commited to

the trip. Awesomeness! Now, how

was my fishing OCD going to handle

the next 4-5 weeks?! Luckily I was

kept busy with work and family life

(you can never earn enough brownie

points, ever. And they only have a

limited shelf life...), so I only ended

up repacking four times in the lead

up to our departure.

I’ve been trying for 3.5 years to

catch a kingfish off the bricks on my

Offshore LBG 70 rod and TLD25 reel.

I’ve been lugging that set around

everytime I go landbased fishing, and

have floated numerous kahawai under

balloons in an attempt to entice those

wily kingfish.

In March of 2012 I caught my first

ever landbased kingfish on a piece

of pilchard I was straylining to

catch a kahawai. It weighed in at

10.1kg, was 98cm long and caught

on 8kg mono. That fish recently

won me the Bill DiMento Shield

for Heaviest Fish Caught on a Club

Outting and the Ralph Kennedy

Cup for Heaviest Fish of the Year

at the North Shore Surfcasting

Clubs end of year prize giving.

East Cape is good 6 hour journey

from Auckland with the boat on the

back. It’s remote and has no cell

phone coverage – not something

I’m used too that’s for sure!

Forsyth’s new Mazda BT50 was

exceptionally more comfy than the

old Isuzu (smelt a hell of lot better

too!) and it hardly even noticed the

Stabicraft 349 we were towing.

Luckily it was also comfy, especially

given Forsyth had put his back out while

fishing over Easter... pain drugs and

resting on the journey down helped to

ease the pain. In fact he looked quite

comfy reclined in the passenger seat,

his iPad slung over the passenger visor,

watching some episodic TV while I

drove. A bit different from how we used

to road trip!

LANDBASEDfishing



We had some fantastic fishing on

some awesome ledges that probably

haven’t been fished since the NZLBG

Club were here last year, but for this

article I’ll focus on Day 3...

Forsyth and I launched out of Lottin,

and went left with a SE wind blowing

over the hills and chilling us down. (Well

me especially as I left my wet weather

gear back at the farm. Clever... not!) We

found another nice gut to park the boat

up in, burleyed up and setup the gear.

Once setup we saw kahawai straight

away. Awesome! 3 were caught in

quick succession and went out under

balloons and the next hour was spent

training them to NOT make plaits in

our lines, useless liveys! 2 were so

misbehaved they were disciplined into

Snapper bait. Luckily the kahawai were

still there in droves, so I cast out my

snelled 2 hook rig and instantly caught

2 more to replace them, these were

were sent out and the message must

have been passed around as they

stayed out there like little troopers.

Forsyth managed a nice 7kg snapper

while I was messing around having

fun catching and releasing kahawai,

trying to ring Mr Kingfish’s dinner

bell with distressed fish splashing in

the shallows. It must have worked,

LANDBASEDfishing

for as I was baiting up another hook I

heard “Zzzz! Zzz-zzzzzzzz!”, I looked

up, Forsyth yelled “B!” I looked

at my virgin TLD25 and it went

“Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!” again. Line

was screaming off my reel! Awesome,

I was in! “Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!”

I raced over, unclipped the tether,

“Strike it! Strike it!” was yelled at me,

I pushed the lever to strike. came up

solid and I pumped the rod hard a

couple of times to set the hook.

Finally I had a kingfish on my livebait

gear after years of frustrating near

misses. The kingfish gave a little run

then the tension came off! Crap! I

wound like mad until I felt the weight

again, and it was swimming back to

towards us. Phew! It didn’t really fight

that hard after that, it pulled against

me a little more but there were no

more runs, so I pumped and wound it

in figuring it wasn’t particularly large...

until it rolled up next to the ledge!

“Gaff!!” I hollered and Forsyth leapt

into action. The kingfish decided it

wanted to roll around a bit in the

kelp and try and get under the ledge,

there were a few tense moments

while disappeared and rubbed against

the rocks and kelp until it resurfaced

again and a well placed gaff shot to

the head saw it being hauled up the

rocks, until it decided that it didn’t

like several inches of sharpened steel

in its head and went beserk, flipping

itself off the gaff and sliding down the

rocks, back towards the sea! “Aargh!”

I screamed. “Crap!” muttered Forsyth,

scrambling after it and swinging the

gaff at it, connecting solidly in the

shoulder and man handling it up the

ledge towards the chillybags. I was

high on adrenalin, grinning like a



LANDBASEDfishing

madman, and staring in awe at my first

big green machine.

There flapping madly at my feet,

was my very first livebait caught LBG

kingfish. Once I had introduced it

to the Shank Of Love™, I pulled out

the lie detector and we strung it up.

Apparently gaffing it in the head and

sticking 4inches of steel in it’s brain

wasn’t enough to subdue this fish, for

as I lifted it’s weight off the ground on

my scales, the bloody thing flapped

around about like crazy, wriggled of

the scales hook and started flapping

down the rocks! Heck, what more do

I have to do to subduew this fish! I

launched myself on top of the maddly

wriggling fish as it slid away from us,

thankfully it slid right into the big

landing net we’d brought as I body

checked it’s downward momentem.

Lucky! It got in a cheeky tail slap to

my legs and a head butt to my check

as I wrestled it under control, before

I finally dealt it a killing blow with my

iki stick.

Once we were sure it wasn’t going to

cause any more grief, we strung it

up on the scales. “Whoa, it’s a bit

heavier than the last one” I grunted

as I lifted it. The scales settled on

18.9kg. Nice! We laid it out on the

NSSCs IGFA measure mat, the v in

the tail was just under 110cm. Yup,

definitely bigger than the first one.

We packed it into the Precision-Pak

coolly bag, spread some ice on it

and stuck it in the shade.

10 minutes later Forsyths livey went

beserk darting around the place

frantically and then stopped. We

waited a couple of minutes with no

movement from the balloon, so we

wound it in to see if it had been killed

and all we found was a bare hook.

Bugger! Interestingly, all the kingfish

sightings, harassment and hook ups

we had during the week were within

an hour of the high tide, not the

typical either side of low tide. Maybe

they’re always there and this was the

bite time? All I know is I have more

chance of a king eating my livey if I

have one out than if I don’t.

Finally I had achieved my long time

goal of catching a landbased kingfish

on my livebait set. I had managed

to do it at one of NZs primo fishing

destinations, with a great mate, in

fantastic conditions. Life was good,

now to get one another livey and aim

for one over 20kg! Unfortunately it

wouldn’t be mine, but it would be

over 20...



LANDBASEDfishing

THIS YEAR’S NZACA NATIONALS

(Nats) were hosted by the Gisborne

Surfcasters club and was held over

four days, beginning with distance

casting, ending with accuracy casting

and two days of fishing between.

I had annual leave with a use-by

date of March, so I planned a ten-

day road trip taking in the Nats in

Gisborne and the Kahawai World

Cup (KWC) at Papamoa.

I’d found the fishing at last year’s

KWC really slow, so wasn’t expecting

huge catches, but I felt I had a slightly

better than average chance of walking

away with the $10,000 1st prize due

to what I’d learnt at last year’s event.

The two-day competition is held off

Papamoa with about 8km of white

sand beach available for fishing.

There were about 200 people

competing, and the Bay of Plenty

was the Bay of Empty for most. I

think there were a grand total of 19

kahawai weighed, with the winning

fish going 1.938kg. I didn’t even get

a bite, but consoled myself knowing

I’d chosen my spot well, with the

winning fish being caught about 100m

to my left on day two. I tried casting a

range of distances, different rigs and

baits including the local go-to bait

of anchovy and didn’t even manage

a bite. Even so, it served as a good

warm-up for the Nats.

Wanting to get some casting practice

before meeting up with fellow club

member Mark Mortimer in Gisborne,

I found myself at a deserted Tolaga

NZACA Nationals 2013, Gisborne (and Kahawai World Cup)By Barry Williams, NSSC

The NZACA Nationals Roadtrip 2013



LANDBASEDfishing

Bay beach and set to work on my

off-the-ground technique. Having

gotten some good distance, I wound

up for a beast of a cast, and…snap!

That was the end of my rod. Bugger!

Luckily, Mark Graham of Action Bait

and Tackle personally delivered a

replacement rod section in time for

the competition - service doesn’t get

much better than that.

Day 1 of the Nats dawned and after

the AGM and competition briefing we

headed to the casting venue, stopping

en route for a flat white (you can take

the Aucklander out of Auckland…).

My confidence must have taken a hit

after snapping my rod the day before

- two of my casts were out of bounds

and my only measurable cast went

144.8m; 12m short of my personal

best. Mark managed 127.8m, beating

his previous best by 2m. The best cast

on the day was 192.833m by Gary

Whitaker from Wellington.

Next up was a drive through the

Waioeke Gorge and on to Te Kaha,

our base camp for the next two days.

We picked a likely-looking spot on

the rocks near the Waikawa Stream,

with a nice mixture of deep water,

rocks and kelp that we hoped might

hold large snapper.


The next day we were on the rocks

at 5am, where we set the burley,

cast out into the dark and waited.

Unfortunately all was quiet so at

sunrise, we moved a few hundred

metres to fish into more open water.

Soon after, Mark landed a trevally of

about 47cm, a good fish to kick off our

Nationals tally. Between us we landed

a few kahawai, snapper and hiwihiwi,

but nothing large enough to weigh in.

For the afternoon, we headed to

Omaio Beach, which, according to

Spot X, has accounted for some

monster snapper. Not that day. Small

snapper stripped our baits almost

as soon as they hit the bottom. We

landed some small kahawai. One was

put to work as live bait for a passing

kingy but only got the attention of a

large ray.

Returning to the rocks for the evening

change of light, we landed a few

decent kahawai, three for Mark and

LANDBASEDfishing

two for me, all over 50cm and in

the 1.8-2kg range. The few snapper

we landed were all below the 35cm

qualifying length.

By 6am on day 2, we had lines in the

water at the previous day’s kahawai

spot, but with no sign we bailed

before the sun was above the horizon,

relocating to the beach at the mouth

of the drought-dry Pakaranui stream.

Surprisingly, this spot produced my

largest kahawai for the two days’

fishing at 2.11kg.

En route back to Gisborne, we

stopped at the legendary Motu River

mouth, planning to slide bait for

kingfish. We took the bush track down



LANDBASEDfishing

from the Tokata Scenic Reserve and

walked along the gravel spit to reach

the eastern bank of the river.

The fishing here was nothing short

of sensational with four out of five

casts resulting in a 50cm+ fat, hard-

fighting kahawai. We soon gave up

on slidebaiting for kingfish, as all the

fish were too large for this technique.

Instead we just enjoyed the spin

fishing and marvelled at the kahawai

surfing the waves.

Spring and late summer are the best

times here - make sure you take

along a few lures as they are easily

lost and bait fishing is frowned upon

by the locals.

In two hours, we must have caught

about 30 fish, all released except for

Mark’s first Motu kahawai. I don’t think

I’ve ever had as much fun fishing as

that session at the Motu. Believe the

legend and pay it a visit if you’re on

the East Cape.



sportFISHING

Small Boat SwordfishBy Andrew Evans

I HAVEN’T DONE TOO much big game

fishing, and of all the 15 or so days

marlin fishing I have done, I have only

actually seen one marlin and my only

hookup turned out to be a mako! So

when a great weather forecast for the

weekend coincided with an invitation

from my mate Josh to go and chase a

daytime swordfish, its fair to say that I

was very excited to say the least.

Josh has had a stonker of a game

season, popping two of his mates’

marlin cherries on his own boat and

then getting himself a 264 kg blue

marlin at the Nationals. Josh and his

crew had lost a swordfish last year out

on the garden patch when the hooks

pulled after 35mins of getting dealt to.

But this year everything was upgraded,

bigger gear, and a new technique on

getting the bait down and we were off

with the Surtees 5.5 in tow. Neither of

us had seen, let alone caught a broady

before but you’ve got to get out there

and give it a shot!

With no bait to be caught in close,

we headed out to the Shallow Patch

where we saw an incredible sight.

Out of nowhere the ocean erupted,

thousands and thousands of sauri flying

clean out of the water. Then we saw

big tuna coming from every direction,

smashing sauri and covering the water

with oil as they exploded out of the

water all around us. Then as quickly as

it started it was over. Arriving at the

Garden Patch we were the smallest

boat surrounded by 7 big sport fishers

and clearly in the right place.

Picking a spot on the bank in 540m we

sent the squid bait down on a double

hook rig with lights. It hit the bottom,

and the breakaway sinker did its job.

Then, only about 20mins in, all the

weight came off the line. Josh started

winding but no weight came on.

After a few minutes further winding

with still no weight on, we knew

something was up…surely we couldn’t

be onto a sword after 20 minutes of

trying, people take years before they

get one. Then, incredibly with only

about 100m of line still out, the rod

loaded up, and we were into it.

The fish had taken the bait without one

click of the ratchet and swum 400m

straight up towards the surface. The

first 15 mins as we backed up closer

to the fish was fairly easy and we were

wondering what all the fuss was about!


sportFISHING

Then things got really interesting as the

fish started dealing to us. The weight

and power of the fish was incredible,

and we had so much drag on that

Josh was seriously struggling. Despite

catching a massive Blue earlier in the

year he called it as easily the toughest

fight he’d ever had. A few times we

got to the 50m leader to only to have it

taken straight back in crackling runs.

After 30 mins on this severe drag

setting Josh was just about broken,

even half turns being hard to get,

and then the harness gave way, the

stainless clip snapping under the

pressure. You can’t overstate how

serious these fish are! The call was

made for a change of angler, so I

clipped in with the spare and got

stuck in. My legs and back were

burning in no time and with half a

wind here it felt like lifting a car: this

just wasn’t fun! About 30 minutes later

we had colour, and it looked amazing

as it thrashed its sword side to side.

There were a few hair raising angle

changes we had to deal with as it

came closer then as Josh had the

leader in hand, it gave a last burst and

smashed the outboard with his bill.

We got it back to the side and up it

came: I threw in the flying gaff, Josh

grabbed the big fixed gaff, I dumped

the rod and Tail roped him.

The fish didn’t have much left at this

point, the heavy drag we used (maybe

a touch too heavy?!) had broken it, as

much as it had us. Up on the surface,

it’s bronze skin was shining like armour,

the bulk and thickness of the fish

incredible, and with its long bill, broad

and sharp, this was a true gladiator.

With its head out water we grabbed

any handhold we could, heaving it’s

head over the gunwale and then she

was in the boat. Relief. High fives, hugs

and a couple of energy drinks were

sunk as what we had achieved hit us.

First time out and just an hour and a

half in and we were both broken and

had a sword on board.

Once we’d got a few pics we realised

that there was no more fishing for

us, we were both done, mission

accomplished and we headed back

to get her weighed at Reel Rods in

Whatuwhiwhi (thanks to Kieron). She

pulled the scales down to a healthy

128.4kg and we’d done what we came

for, an experience I’ll never forget.



localFISHING

CASTING A FLYROD to surface

schooling Kahawai is what many

people think when you mention

saltwater fly fishing. Without a

doubt Kahawai are a truly world

class sports fish that make great

targets for the fly fisherman, but

they represent just a one of the

many opportunities for the way of

the long wand.

New Zealand is relatively new

territory for SWF and consequently

new discoveries are being made all

the time, like Clark Reid discovering

Kingfish riding on the back of stingrays

and Craig Worthington perfecting

pot holing for snapper in rocky

terrain. All those who have seriously

fished fly have brought their own

innovations and ground-breaking

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

Inner City Sole

Story and images by Matt von Sturmer



localFISHING

discoveries. Recently Mark Hoffman

and Jeremy Coombes showed us that

Point Chevalier and Meola Reef are

legitimate locations for proper saltfly

fishing all within sight of the Auckland

sky tower. My discovery is as a result

of this growth in the Meola scene and

came about while exploring further

up the harbour system in pursuit of

shallow water kingfish, but that’s

another story.

Technical fly lines matched to the

appropriate size fly rods provide an

elegant system to present creative

lures to fish hunting in the shallows.

Once cast, the fly line is fished in the

hands and this controlled retrieve

combined with the subtle weighting

of the fly, means we can impart

an action of pauses, flits, starts

and stops to fool fish where other

methods just cannot succeed.

Once the water really starts to

warm up, its time to start stalking

the mudflats of the upper harbour.

When fishing there, I’m constantly

scanning the water in the hope that a

passing kingfish will reveal itself with

a telltale bow wave. Or even better,

with a smash and grab feed sending

mullet or flounder flying through

the air. Over the course of many

intense hours waiting and watching,

my attention started to be drawn to

much smaller events. These splashes

of smaller predators began to distract

me from the search for kings, and I

often missed my shot at a passing

king while throwing my lighter fly rod

at what I thought were the splashes

of Kahawai. Then, out fishing with my

mate Trevor (an excellent fisherman

and regular visitor from the UK), we

both got to see a flash of pink and the

back of a snapper bust the surface in

one of these splashes. This suggested

that for the last two seasons what we

had thought were Kahawai were in

fact snapper, surface-busting baitfish

on the flats. I managed to land a

cast right on the spot and instantly

caught the snapper we had just seen,

proving they were there, and feeding.

But we didn’t know what they were

feeding on and what was causing the

splashing. It was not until a further

season had passed that I began to

see tiny bow waves ahead of the

busting snapper, clearly they were

chasing something, but what? The

answer to that question was revealed

to me when one of these tiny bow

waves kept coming towards me and

deiced to take sanctuary between

my feet! And there was the snappers’

quarry: a juvenile of a species of sole

and just 50mm long. My kahawai

chasing bait turned out to be snapper

chasing flatfish! Knowing what these

upper-harbour snapper are feeding

on allows me to present them surface

flies knowing that seconds later a

snapper will hit. As a consequence, my

catch rate of 30-40 cm snapper has

increased significantly. But with all this

distraction, my catch rate on the 10

kg kingies on the flats has not been so

good. Next season I’m going to have

to refuse new discoveries as I really

want to land a kingfish on fly from the

mudflats in central Auckland, and its

going to take some real focus!

We knew there were snapper in the

shallows so it was never a surprise

to come up solid and bring a feisty

snapper to the beach.

http://www.fishingcomp.co.nz/


READERpics

Aaron McDonald with his PB Snapper at a scratch under 20lb

Charissa and Toni

Frank Mountjoy with a couple of lanbased beautys from near Taipa - PB’s no less!

Graeme ‘Sea Ox’ Cox ‘Dancing’ in 5m Swell and 50km winds


READERpics

This month’s winner of the ReelWear

tee is Aaron Macdonald. Aaron wins

a Reel Adventures, ReelWear Tee.

Keep sending in your pics for the great

OKUMA and Reel Wear prizes up for

grabs every month.

Pursuit deckies, Sam & Zane with a pair of ‘Pup’ Bass

John Callandar with a healthy

Three Kings Puka

:Coromandel Porae YUM


http://bit.ly/15DCptw


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Personalised or optional Navionics® charts. View both at once in 3D perspective view, plus StructureMap™ and Broadband Radar™ capability. www.lowrance.com/navigate

New super-bright widescreen displays in 7, 9 and 12-inch sizes with touchscreen control. Dominate your time on the water with greater command and control that’s now easier to learn and customize. www.lowrance.com/dominate

P R E V I E W T H E N E W H D S G E N 2 T O U C H A T L O W R A N C E . C O M

www.enl.co.nz

Win a Rod and Reel with OKUMA & NZFisher!

JUST POST A PIC of you with a fish to our Facebook

page and you’re in the draw to win an Okuma Salina II

Rod and Reel combo plus tackle worth $750.00.

Not only that but every month we’ll give away an

Okuma T-Shirt and ReelWear between now & June

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 & posting

those images to Facebook!


http://bit.ly/10aIl4R

http://on.fb.me/j19cf6




HAWAII ON A Kayak. Legend

in the making right here!

VIDEO

Fishing Video of the Month


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woTXiadEEuQ&list=UU7Bu3A3FpAKgqSR0sDmzeOg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woTXiadEEuQ&list=UU7Bu3A3FpAKgqSR0sDmzeOg


oldSCHOOL

Shark Fishing the 1880’s Way

By Sam Elliot

Auckland City

Libraries Tamaki

Pataka Karero

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE a good

fishing story, especially from the

good old days. Fortunately some

of the really old yarns have been

preserved in the literature, and they

make a great read. Here is a doozy

from way back.

In the article below R. H. Matthews

recalls the “old time institution”

of shark fishing, in the far north

(Rangaunu Harbour) during the 1880’s.

Matthews describes how this particular

shark fishing event is a strictly observed

maori custom rich in tradition that is

like a national holiday for maori in the

area around Rangaunu.

They are fishing for dogfish (or

kapeta) (presumably school shark)

with the fishing restricted to two

days per year, first on the full moon

in January and only by night, the

second two weeks later and by day;

with severe punishment if these rules

were not observed.

After a notice of the date of the fishing

was announced and a signal cannon

fired a “muster of not less than fifty

canoes, each with an average crew of

twenty” gathered. So about a thousand

fishers plus a full support crew!

Matthews goes on to describe the

gathering of fishers as a hive of activity

and excitement “For many days prior

to the fishing crowds of Natives were

to be seen going to Te Unahi ….All

bent on having a good holiday, and

on getting plenty of kinaki (relish)…

and looking forward to a plentiful

supply of dried mango (shark) for

kinaki during winter…The village was

humming like a swarm of bees”.

The preparations that were being

undertaken by the fishers also

sounded extensive. Different groups

were involved in a multitude of tasks

including rolling flax fibre to attach to

hooks, lashing ornamental bow pieces

onto the canoes, fastening elaborately

carved stern posts, filling joints

between boards on the canoes and

making movable platforms on which

the sharks were killed.

The most attention, however, was

paid to the hooks and lines that were

Drying Sharks



oldSCHOOL

to be used for the fishing. Matthews

describes how the hooks and snoods

were put together with specialist

technique and material to prevent rust

and avoid being cut by the shark teeth.

The morning before the fishing was

to begin several canoes were sent

to catch bait, clubs (timo) for killing

the sharks were made, and finally the

canoes were pronounced ready for sea.

Then as dark fell “the order was given

to go on board, and off we started

to the refrain of “Huka ka huka”…

When we arrived at the rendezvous

at Te Ureroa we found the fleet in

position… We took up our station…

Here we waited for high water…

The Maoris believed that the strong

spring tides swept immense numbers

of sharks into the harbour and far up

the rivers and creeks, and that when

the tide ebbed the returning sharks

were intercepted by the fleet. As the

time of high water approached, the

talking ceased, and there was a dead

silence through the fleet.

Presently our chief whispered, “Kua

whati te mata o te tai” (The tide has

turned). Almost immediately after

Popata stood up in his canoe and

shouted out in a stentorian voice,

“Hua kina” (Charge). Then followed

a most exciting race for the fishing-

ground and the mataika (first fish).

All through the fleet the Maoris

were shouting…It was a brilliant

moonlight night, and the whole

fleet could be plainly seen paddling

furiously for the channel.

The shouting, yelling, and cheering,

together with the noises that only

the old-time Maoris could make,

were indescribable… As soon as the

channel was reached anchors were let

go… and waterproof coats were tied

around the waist and then the ready-

baited hooks were thrown overboard…

Almost immediately, “Kohi kohia” (Haul

in) was shouted from a canoe close to

us, followed by a loud splashing and

cries of “Mataika” (First fish).

Then came the blows of the timo

clubbing the snout…Presently one

of our crew called “Kohi kohia”.

Eventually my turn came to give

warning. I pulled the shark to the

gunwale, my friend then took charge

and landed it on board… several

smart blows with the timo close to the

end of the snout soon quietened it.

A corner of the raho is then lifted up,

and the shark is passed to the bottom

of the canoe. Within five minutes of

the time of anchoring, and for the

space of at least three hours, the

sound of the timo could be heard

incessantly all around us, accentuated

by shouting and loud splashes. The

scene was simply indescribable.”

When the fishing was done Matthews

noted that ”The catch in our canoe

totalled 180. The cleaning of the

sharks had now commenced… the

bodies were hung by the tails… There

they remained until thoroughly dried

by the sun and wind… In a day or two

the stench would be intolerable.

The livers were thrown into a large

funnel, made of green flax leaves... and

suspended. Large stones were then

heated and placed on them, and the

oil was caught in calabashes. Surplus

livers were put into the stomachs of the

sharks, and hung up in the sun until the

oil exuded from them.

The total number of sharks caught

by the fleet, including those taken at

the pakoki held a fortnight later, was

about seven thousand an average of

about sixty-five per canoe for each

of the two trips.”

R.H. Matthews 1910. Reminiscences of maori life fifty years ago. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Art. LIV, 598-605.

“For many days prior to the fishing crowds of Natives were to be seen going to Te Unahi ….All bent on having a good holiday, and on getting plenty of kinaki (relish)…and looking forward to a plentiful supply of dried mango (shark) for kinaki during winter…The village was humming like a swarm of bees”

http://www.fishingcomp.co.nz/


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f sherIn next months issue:- East Cape Paua mission- Far North Queensland Barra hunt - Know how: Winning Fishing Competitions


Nz fisher magazine issue 24

Documents

Transcript of Nz fisher magazine issue 24