NZ Fisher - Issue 50

ISSUE 5 January 2010

ISSUE 4 December 2010 I SSUE 1

July 20

Kayaking for Kingfish -

Lazy Fishy Days of Summer//

Autumn

Work-ups

firing

old Skool styles

Scallop’s perfected – The Fish Stock //

// Sharpening up – being on

- Hauling Hapuka//

target for landing Marlin The Sc-iwi: A Scott in Aotearoa //

So, where do the Snapper go? //

//Big winter snapper from the rocks

Targeting Winter Kings – the Coromandel Experience // Readers Photo Competition// //Pitch and Switch – Making it Happen with Marlin

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Landbased Pilgrimage -

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June 2011

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// Bye, bye Summer, hello Moochers

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f sher

ISSUE 12 September 2011

August 2011

ISSUE 11

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f sher

ISSUE 10 July 2011

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ISSUE 13 November 2011

ISSUE 14

January 2012

NZFisher

Snapper at

– One year old!

NZLBG July 2015 Nationals

Rawhiti:

Mastering

Gurnard

Kiwi El Dorado // Martin Salter’s

// NZFisher gets Fresh with Trout

Piper, too tasty for bait

50 Lord Howe adventure continues

// LORD HOWE ISLAND!

// The new Ocean Kayak Prowler 4.3 NZFisher scores gold at NZACA Nationals//

large for newby crew

The new History of Stickbaits//

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Monster

Lottin49 ISSUE or bust//

// Northern adventure scores

Landbased – from the boat?//

ISSUE 9

The

Ones!//

// Working the jigs

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ISSUE 8 May 2011

gulf //

big

Unlocking the Secrets of Rarotonga//

What makes a good jigging rod? //

in the

Goin’ deep for the

// Big boy snapper

Winter Moocher Hunt

March 2011 ISSUE 7 April 2011

Far far north//

Monsters from the Deep

ISSUE 6

ISSUE 3 November 2010

ISSUE 2 October 20 2010

// Broadbill season fires up

Magnificent Squid – International secrets shared

in the chill of winter Kawau by Kayak//

Landbased from the boat – Its becoming a habit!

// The Prowler 4.3 tested

The Waitemata – Auckland’s overlooked Jewel

Introducing the Kiwi Anglers guide to Fishy words

Jetski antics at Coromandel

Great Barrier Is – Better late than never

October Landbased Magic Top spot No. 3: The Bay of Plenty

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f sher ISSUE 15 March 2012

North, West, East & South

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June 2012

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ISSUE 17 July 2012

ISSUE 18

Sept/Oct 2012

ISSUE The Tuturoa Trophy Craig Smith explains

- GT’s in Raro - Far North epic - Kings on Stickbaits

Finally, a great Skippy recipe

- The fishing Mecca of Feilding explored

FREWZA!

Young Greg Savage with his sensational 11.3kg - only his second snapper!

The NZFisher boat launch

OffShore Landbased Fishing

Trout: What are they good for?

Gearing up for ROctoberFish

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Snapper galore & PB’s smashed

Whangarei Juniors take out BOI Kingfish International

NZFisher’s Landbased Bumper Issue

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ISSUE 20 December 2012

November 2012

Roctober Fish Rocks!

Landbased Retreat to the Winterless North

It’s all firing!

ISSUE 19

WIN an OKUMA Salina Combo

The kids take Dad fishing

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f sher ISSUE 22

March 2013

SOLO

MARLIN!

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Fish Your Feet First

June 2013

ISSUE 25

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ISSUE 26 August 2013

June 2013

f sher

ISSUE 27 September 2013

ISSUE 28 October 2013

Your Guide to Fishing - The Seasons

Snapper on dry-fly?

Paua

(Re)Learning LBG Lessons at the East Cape

Solo West coast Marlin

for the picking

Champagne Fishing – Shore Boys on the Water

North Queensland Barra, mate!

Small boat Swordfish

Rarotonga Still Delivers

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f sher ISSUE 24

Winter Moochers from Cape to Cape

Te Atatu Creek Kingfish!?!?

NZFisher take on the Chesters ‘Fanatical Fishos’ Comp

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ISSUE 23 April 2013

Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winner for Issue #24!

Spring Fishing Is Unleashed

Kiwis at the 2013 Offshore World Champs

Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winner for Issue #25!

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

Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winner for Issue #27!

Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winner for Issue #28!

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ISSUE 29 November 2013

Aitutaki Bone Fish - A Refreshing Challenge

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ROc

tober FISH

Where, When & How?

Strip Strike – SWF Club is Launched

Strip Strike – SWF Club is Launched

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ISSUE 31 December 2013

ISSUE 30 November 2013

KINGFISH –

KINGFISH – Where, When & How?

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ISSUE 32

Kingfish are on fire!

Big

From Fly to Micro-Jigs

Jigs

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f sher

January 2014

ISSUE 33

February 2014

Fish –

Small

Honda Marine IceyTek & Torpedo7 Competitions inside

Landbased Kings on Fly

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ISSUE 34

March 2014

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ISSUE 35

April 2014

Charlie & the Green

Machine

Huge Snapper on Livebait

Sailfish in Malaysia

Marlin, marlin everywhere!

All you need to know about knives To believe or not to believe

Winterise Your Outboard

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ISSUE 36

May 2014

Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winner for Issue #30!

June 2014

ISSUE 38

What Winter Fishing is all about!

Dwellers

Rompin Sailfish Video Inside

August 2014

from the

September 2014

ISSUE 41

Get IGFACompliant this Game Season HowtoFishTaupo Rivers

TimetoGet

ISSUE 42

The

Chasing Sails

Water Kings Do a

Little

Jig

Simply

Serious About

Our Fisheries Future

December 2014

Art Top of Fish Thievery

The Maniyaks on fire in Orton Comp

in Winter

Review: The Lowrance Elite 4 HDI Combo

October 2014

Yaks Attack the North

on the

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ISSUE 40

Learning Pro Tongariro

Legasea Update: Getting the Best Back Out of Our Fisheries

Congratulations to our Torpedo7 prize winner for Issue #33!

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ISSUE 39

July 2014

Rooster Rica

GURNARD:

Congratulations to our Torpedo7 prize winner for Issue #32!

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ISSUE 37

Powering up the Bottom

Congratulations to our Hooked Up prize winner for Issue #31!

Wrasse-tastic

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ISSUE 43

January 2015

Tired of

Catching

Tired of Small

Catching

Small Snapper?

Getting

sorted for Getting offshore sorted for Yakking

offshore

Yakking

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ISSUE 44

February 2015

Tired of

Catching

Small

Getting Yellow offshore

ISSUE 45

March 2015

ISSUE 46

April 2015

Catching

Kingfish from the Rocks II

Dream

Fin Yakking

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ISSUE 47

Marlin MARLIN

sorted for

On!

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your Fish NZFisher goes hunting

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May 2015

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ISSUE 48

Rockin’ On

Hapuku from a Kayak!

Surprise on BenIsland

June 2015

Fish of a Lifetime

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ISSUE 49

July 2015

Potential

World Record on Fly!

Enjoying the best of winter in Aotearoa

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CONTENTS 4.. Editorial 6..

Fishing Truth: Are We Training Fish to Avoid Lures?

14.. Active Angling: Outsmarting Trevally

with Flies & Lures 18.. LegaSea Update 20.. Winter Success 26.. Kayak Fishing: I Hate Winter Fishing 32.. Reader Pics 34.. Video of the Month 35.. Competiion

ABOUT / Short and sharp, NZ Fisher is a free e-magazine delivering thought provoking and enlightening articles, and industry news and information to forwardthinking 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 Derrick on 021 629 327 or email derrickp@NZ Fisher.co.nz ADDRESS / NZ Fisher, PO Box 47794, Ponsonby, Auckland 1011 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 Images: Every issue of NZ FIsher so far

www.nzfisher.co.nz 3

EDITORIAL WEATHER FEATURES SO OFTEN in my

I managed a new personal best Rainbow

editorials I wonder myself if maybe I

trout on the Tongariro this month. A

wasn’t actually a meteorologist in an

brief flick before work benefited me

earlier life. The weather windows have

a 6lb hen that was then beaten that

been decent; albeit clear, crisp and very,

evening by a 7lber on the Hinemaiaia

very cold. There’s been some extremely

– both were in excellent condition and

hot fishing to counter the cold – gulf

fought like demons. I was fishing alone

snapper, kahawai down both coasts,

in both cases but managed to get a

gurnard chomping at the bit on the

local to snap me a pic (see below) on

Kaipara and the trout are practically

the Tongariro – I think I’ve found a new

leaping into fishers creels in Taupo.

passion – trout are…ok!

I’ve had the pleasure of fishing for all

I attended the launch of the Marine

of these fine species in the last month, and I haven’t been disappointed.

Research Foundations new research project ‘What’s fishing worth’ on the 10th of August. This project is to investigate the value of the recreational fishing sector to the whole New Zealand economy.

For a very long time, we’ve been told that recreational fishing doesn’t provide the same value to the economy as commercial interests.

This study is looking to balance the books and find out the true value to the economy when the estimated 900,000 kiwis and 100,000 tourists who go fishing open their wallets. The research is

4 www.nzfisher.co.nz

being undertaken by world

what we take. Please check out the

fisheries economic experts

website, and commit your share to

Southwick Associates who

the cause.

have undertaken many studies

But front of mind for me – this is

internationally with a focus on measuring the economic impacts and values of outdoor recreation.

NZFishers, our Fiftieth Issue. And we couldn’t have done it without support from our reader base. Thank you for the

The Marine Research

first 50 and thanks for

Foundation is looking

the next, who knows

to raise $400,000 for this project and need your help. If every fisher helps, the cost will be covered in no time. The purpose of the information gathered is to generate statistically

“I’m committed to a bright future for NZFisher and promise bigger and better things in the months and years to come.”

valid estimates

how many!

As I mentioned last month, there’s been some big changes at NZFisher. I’ve been editor since day one and have loved (almost) every minute of it but my enthusiasm has taken a leap forward

of the economics

since last month when I acquired

(expenditure, jobs, tax revenues,

NZFisher from Espire Media.

income and other economic contributions) associated with New Zealand’s marine recreational fisheries.

NZFisher would never have begun without the vision of Richard, Jen, Jodi and Alastair - the Espire Media team.

This can then be used to place

Thank you guys for your blood, sweat

recreational fishing in the scheme of

and tears in our five years –

things when the minister considers

it’s been awesome. I’m committed to a

the best use of our shared fisheries.

bright future for NZFisher and promise

At present, only 6% of all fish taken

bigger and better things in the months

from New Zealand’s waters are taken

and years to come.

recreationally, but the benefit of our efforts are likely to be far greater than

Tight lines,

Derrick

www.nzfisher.co.nz 5

FISHINGTRUTH

Are We

Training Fish

to Avoid Lures ?

After a modest return from a recent Far North fishing trip I was left wondering how I could have done so poorly. by Neil Wagener YES, IT WAS WINTER, so I might not expect the fish to be hot on the bite, but I had spent a couple of full days plopping soft baits along an extremely fishy coastline without any luck.

This result shouldn’t have come as a surprise; however, since I started using soft baits in 2007, I have noticed that those mind blowing sessions have become harder and harder to come by.

I have even dropped my line weight down to 6lb to see if that would help increase my catch rates without any improvement. It’s unlikely that snapper numbers have declined over this time period, which leads to an awkward question: have snapper and maybe other fish started to cotton onto soft baits and other lures? I have heard others talk about fish being lure shy before, so was curious to find out if there was any more to it.

6 www.nzfisher.co.nz

There is actually a lot of anecdotal information and research to back up the concept that with time, lures can become less effective. This process can work in two ways.

The first occurs when fish repetitively see a lure, learn that it isn’t food and don’t bother attacking the lure if they see it again. If the fish is hooked during this process and either escapes or is caught and released, then this is likely to create a powerful negative association with the lure. You may have heard of “Pavlov’s dog”, which after repetitive association between food and a dinner bell began salivating at just the sound of the bell by itself.

The response of fish to lures, as described here, could be thought of as the opposite to the dinner bell.

In the US largemouth bass fisheries this process is called “fish conditioning”, and there is a lot of discussion on the topic, with many pro bass fishermen confident that in heavily fished lakes the bass become conditioned to the most commonly used lures. Some of the best evidence for fish conditioning comes from the company behind Berkley Gulp!

Pure Fishing. In lab experiments, researchers would expose groups of bass to a particular lure by casting it across the tank five times. Upon first seeing the lure all of the bass would hit it, with the number of strikes decreasing with each successive cast.

www.nzfisher.co.nz 7

FISHINGTRUTH

Essentially the bass weren’t getting the food they expected, so they became less interested. This process was then repeated on separate groups of bass with similar results. All of the bass were then left alone for three months before the same lure was again cast repetitively across the tank. This time each group of bass were uninterested in the lure, only striking at it a few times.

When a different type of lure was cast into the tank, however, the bass struck at it as often as they had when they first saw the original lure. This shows that not only were the bass able to remember that the lure wasn’t food for at least three months, they were also able to distinguish between similar lures. There is plenty of other evidence from fisheries around the world suggesting that fish can modify their behaviour in response to encounters with lures or hooks.

For example, catch and release trout fisheries have resulted in a pattern where the most heavily fished streams have the lowest catch rates. UK carp fisheries are well known for ‘bait shy’ fish, with some carp having a reduced probability of recapture for over a year after initially being caught. Some fish farming operations even use the remarkable learning capacity of fish to their advantage. When hatcheryraised fish are stocked into the wild, the farmers continue to feed the fish, and each time they put food out they

8 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Netted moocher

play a specific tone into the water.

Experimental fishing conducted on

wThey keep this practice up for a while

largemouth bass simulated this scenario,

but eventually let the fish find their

by removing individual bass that were

own food. After the fish have grown

captured by anglers and allowing the

large enough to harvest, the farmers

remaining bass to interbreed. After

simply play the tone into the water

this selection had been repeated for

allowing the expectant fish to be easily

four generations of bass, the resulting

encircled with a net.

population was much more cautious

The other way that lure effectiveness can be reduced is through selection.

towards fishing gear than the fish originally stocked into the lake.

Essentially some fish are more

This result goes beyond changing

aggressive than others and are

the number of fish willing to take a

therefore more likely to attack a lure

lure, it demonstrates that reduced

as it darts past. These individuals are

aggressiveness has a genetic component,

therefore the most likely to be caught

suggesting that fishing could even

on lures, and as they are removed by

determine how vulnerable future

fishing the whole population becomes

generations of fish will be to capture!

less aggressive and lures become less

While there is compelling evidence

effective as a result.

that reduced lure effectiveness can

www.nzfisher.co.nz 9

FISHINGTRUTH

occur in tank experiments and within small constrained lake fisheries, these results are not New Zealand relevant, and aren’t at the scale of a large marine fishery where millions of fish mix over hundreds of kilometres of coastline.

There are indications that similar things could occur in New Zealand though.

Have you ever been for a swim in the Goat Island Marine Reserve and noticed how close you can get to the snapper?

There are a lot of potential explanations Shane & last fish

for this, but most of them involve the capacity of the fish to learn and the lack of negative experiences associated with people inside the reserve.

Also, emphasising the capacity of snapper to respond to particular influences, tagging experiments have shown that snapper caught by longline were more likely to be recaptured by trawl and those captured by trawl were more likely to be recaptured by longline. This shows that snapper could remember the negative capture experience and learnt how to avoid that fishing method in the future.

Sea ox with 17lb snap.

So ‘fish conditioning’ and ‘lure shyness’ sound like a plausible explanation for my bad fishing trip, but are others noticing it occurring as well? NZFisher spoke to a few very experienced charter skippers and got mixed responses. Rick Pollock of Pursuit Charters is adamant that it has already occurred for White Island kingfish. Rick

10 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Some fish are even stupid enough to fall for a floating Santa

“Mechanical jigging is hugely efficient, enabling anglers to catch many more fish per day than would be possible using live baits.” refers to the extreme effectiveness of

fish per day than would be possible

long jigs and mechanical jigging when

using live baits. This combined with

this technique first came online in

the one fish limit in operation at White

about 2005.

Island and the popularity of catch

Jigging catch rates at White Island quickly declined, however, while live bait effectiveness remained high. Today Rick states that jigging at White Island mostly produces rat kingies, while the live bait fishery is as good as it’s ever been. These kind of results are very compatible with how we would expect lure shyness to work.

and release amongst jig fishermen in general means that many fish can quickly become conditioned to lures.

Rat kingies remain vulnerable to capture as they are new on the scene; they haven’t seen jigs before. The live bait fishery for kingfish remains productive as this method not only results in fewer encounters between kingfish and fishing gear, but kingfish

Mechanical jigging is hugely efficient,

are also less able to distinguish between

enabling anglers to catch many more

a live bait and their actual food.

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FISHINGTRUTH

Furthermore, kingfish tagged at White Island are seldom recaptured away from White Island, suggesting that the kingfish there are a constrained population, making repetitive exposure to jigs a more likely occurrence. Other experienced charter operators that we spoke to didn’t consider lure shyness to be an important issue for either kingfish and jigs or snapper and soft baits.

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In summary fish have the capacity to recognise lures and to learn to avoid them, and there are suspicions that this might be occurring in fisheries around the world. The jury will probably always be out as to whether it is actually occurring in our fisheries though. So what can you do to overcome the possibility that it might be affecting your catch rates?

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The answer is undoubtedly keep it fresh. Whether that be through using a lure with a different shape, swimming style, or colour, retrieving the lure in a different (potentially slower) way, or using actual fresh or live bait.

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A combination of these techniques will ensure that you are placing something that the fish hasn’t seen before or something that it can’t distinguish from real food in front of its face. For snapper the lure options are endless due to the advent of bottom ships, cabura jigs, micro jigs, slow jigs etc… This allows us to engage in a lure arms race, always keeping one step ahead of the fish. ■

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13

In the throes of battle

ACTIVEANGLING

Outsmarting

Trevally with

Flies &Lures Words by Alan Bulmer Pictures by Paul Smith of Active Angling NZ

14 www.nzfisher.co.nz

ONE OF THE MOST sought after

these common prey items. Small soft

estuarine flats targets is trevally.

plastics fished on light jig heads are often

Nicknamed the ‘Silver Prince’, they are

irresistible to big trevally.

a difficult fish to hook and often can be

Keep an eye on the shallows as the tide

even harder to land. The larger specimens encountered in estuarine environments tend to hunt alone, unlike in the open ocean where schools of fish are common.

Tagging studies by local fisheries

recedes as trevally will frequently move steadily downstream with the current zig zagging from deep to shallow water.

Often they will herd and concentrate bait fish against an underwater obstruction

scientists have shown

while doing this

that trevally are not

and then charge in

a wide- ranging fish and tend to stay within a 50 kilometres radius of where they spend their juvenile years. They tend to move into the shallow waters

“Trevally like lures and flies to be fished on the bottom, dead drift.”

of many estuaries

at speed to grab as many as possible during the resulting pandemonium.

Trevally like lures and flies to be fished on the bottom, dead drift. I generally target them with

in spring and move back out into

soft plastics and weighted flies using

deep-water in late summer.

the ‘wet lining’ retrieve and like to feel

There is always an exception to this

the lure ‘tap, tapping’ the bottom as it

rule though, and I have caught many

swings downstream with the current.

trevally in shallow estuaries through

Very slow retrieves, either by hardly

the winter period. The resident fish

cranking the spinning reel handle or a

caught over autumn – winter tend to be

figure of 8 for fly lines, seem to work

bigger than the fish that first enter the

best. When spinning I really just try to

estuary in spring.

do enough to keep a tight line to the

In the estuaries, they tend to feed

lure. The same applies in fly fishing

predominantly on mantis shrimps,

where a tight line ‘do nothing’ wet line

small fish and crabs, so it makes sense

retrieve works well.

to target them using small lures or flies

I’ve found that the most successful soft

which are accurate representations of

plastics are the Berkley PowerBait Ripple

www.nzfisher.co.nz 15

ACTIVEANGLING

The catch

shad, PowerBait minnows or Bento Bait minnows in 2” or 2.5” size. They will occasionally take a toby especially if a single hook is used, and an orange or pink soft plastic whirl tail is carefully threaded onto it.

The flies I’ve found work consistently well for trevally are what I call the ‘Krill Clouser’ or the ‘Brush Ranger’ (see above). Anything that could be mistaken for a marine worm, shrimp, tiny crab, smelt or bully will likely work though. In general imitative patterns work best as the fly is constantly moving due to the current pushing them steadily along the bottom. The fly should always lead the line in order to eliminate drag.

Takes can be incredibly tentative or equally brutal. If you are fly fishing, then strip strike at any pause or irregular movement of the fly. It is better to strike on impulse and not hook anything than do nothing and wonder later on whether you just had a faint touch.

Once hooked they generally tear off in a searing run downstream. They soon tire of this however and then tend to spin and head back upstream into the current. Trevally like to fight by running parallel to the shore as this allows them to use their broad flanks to resist the pressure being exerted by the angler.

If you want to see how to tie a Krill Clouser, then click on the video link below.

Regular changes of direction, vigorous head shaking and rapid bursts of acceleration punctuate the fight. This, coupled with the fact that the connecting flesh around the maxillary area is delicate, means that it is easy to rip a hook out if too much pressure is applied. Steady, gentle pressure works best if there is no foul areas on the bottom to worry about, but if the territory is gnarly, then a no holds barred approach is often necessary.

When fighting trevally, move quickly along the shore with the run and always try to keep a slight angle to the fish. If they are running into the current, I like to be slightly downstream of them and vice versa. When they tire, walk them out by stepping back away from the shore. They follow meekly at this point, and it is easy to tip them on their side in the shallows when they are nearly spent.

Trevally are my favourite estuary foe. They are not easy to hook, fight hard and are excellent table fare. â–

www.nzfisher.co.nz 17

FISHERIESMANAGEMENT

Legasea

Update

What’s our fishing really worth? Update by Trish Rae, Legasea

A RECENT AUSTRALIAN study found

contributions per kilo of fish harvested

recreational fishers contribute an

by recreational fishers. This will account

estimated $2.56 billion to the nation’s

for the value generated by retailers,

economy. But what’s fishing worth in

suppliers, boat builders, charter

New Zealand? No one knows.

operators, accommodation and tourism,

So the New Zealand Marine Research

the list goes on.

Foundation has commissioned

LegaSea is promoting the “What’s

Southwick Associates to research how

Fishing Worth?” fundraising campaign

much recreational fishers contribute to

to support this important project. The

our national economy through taxes,

research is already underway. Results

job creation and GDP growth.

are expected by the end of 2015, so

Southwick will quantify the economic

please, show your support now.

18 www.nzfisher.co.nz

Why is LegaSea involved?

As our decision-maker we need to

LegaSea is leading the fundraising

give him information that supports

effort because this research aligns with our Principle #5: Value recreational fishing. We are determined to make the most of this

more abundant fisheries and a thriving recreational fishing economy; because there is more to fishing than just lowvalue exports of our precious kai moana.

opportunity because this research is essential if we want balanced fisheries management decisions that restore abundance to our coastal waters.

What is the cost?

Overall this research project will cost $400,000, with $100,000 being

While a lucky few can remember times

sought from public donations. These

when our fisheries were abundant,

costs cover the scoping, research,

most of us know the feeling of fishing

report writing, peer review and,

in depleted waters. In many areas a

finally, publicising the results. After

reasonable daily catch is becoming a

all that effort we need to make sure

rarity. More fishers are saying, “we’ve

the public (and politicians) know that

had enough of ‘sustainability’, we want

our fishing is a source of jobs, income,

restored abundance!”

value-added and a treasure worth

Clearly the Minister, Nathan Guy, is

passing onto future generations.

under pressure to deliver increased

Please go online to

exports. If he had evidence similar

www.whatsfishingworth.co.nz to add

to the Australian study then he

a donation. 100% of your donation

might feel more confident in

goes towards the project and is tax

making decisions that take account

deductible because the New Zealand

of all aspects of fishing, including

Marine Research Foundation is a

recreational interests.

registered charity. ■

Call 0800 LEGASEA (534 273)

Subscribe at www.legasea.co.nz

Email us info@legasea.co.nz

Read more at www.facebook.com/legasea

www.nzfisher.co.nz 19

Winter Success

It’s been a long wait for a cracker weekend day.

Words and images by Ed Stubenitsky

20 www.nzfisher.co.nz

IN FACT THE BOAT hadn’t been in the

It was a cold start, the temperature

water for three months – you know

gauge in the car claiming -3, ice on

how it is with kid’s sports and house

the windscreen of the boat, a thick

renovations. The guilt had set in, and we

frost over all the grab rails and a hot

just had to head out to get a line wet.

cuppa coffee to warm us from the

I managed to convince a couple of

inside out…

keen fishing buddies, Josh and Graeme

The plan was to head to Channel in

to join me for a fine day’s fishing in

the hope of finding kings to test out

the gulf. None of us have never really

some of the new Stick Bait gear recently

had much success winter fishing in

purchased, but we needed a backup plan.

the gulf, a bit hit and miss you might

First stop – Live Baits, a quiet little bay

call it, well really miss, miss, miss. The

in the back of Waiheke proved to be a

forecast was good, there was some

successful stop, and after a bit of a burley

swish new fishing gear on board as

session we had a tank full just in case.

we set off to Channel Island from Half

On the trip out we saw Brydes whales

Moon Bay early.

and dolphins, but couldn’t find any

www.nzfisher.co.nz 21

likely looking sign on the sounder, so we decided to stick to the plan and head for the horizon. A few miles before we got to Channel we came across some sign that looked promising. ‘Cubura’ jigs, or ‘Sliders’ were the lure of choice, and very quickly a few nice pannies arrived in the boat. Now as I mentioned, winter fishing isn’t our forte, so we basked in the glory of being able to take home a feed of fresh snapper.

Next drift things spiced up somewhat, reels screaming, rods loaded… Well, two of us anyway.. It’s funny, there’s always one on board that seems to miss out on the good stuff, this time round I was stoked it wasn’t me!! Poor Graeme felt a little left out of the action, the fish were fantastic at

22 www.nzfisher.co.nz

playing along in the game, only jumping on the hook long enough for him to get excited and then spitting it back out.

Meanwhile Josh and I were landing good healthy snapper between eight and 16 pounds. After we had four or five of these ‘big boys’ in the bin, every fish we landed we attempted to release with mixed success. We celebrated as they swam back to the green depths. It’s just such a good feeling being able to let them go to live another day and provide stocks for our future generations.

In amongst all the action my little 60 gram Orange ‘Cubura’ got smashed by something big and heavy. After a long slow battle, we

“ Josh and I were landing good healthy snapper between eight and 16 pounds.

After we had four or five of these ‘big boys’ in the bin, every fish we landed we attempted to release with mixed success.

We celebrated as they swam back to the green depths.” www.nzfisher.co.nz 23

saw some colour – a bit of yellow, a bit of green… Trevally! At 64cm long the biggest any of us had seen. Both hooks on the ‘Cubura’ were nearly completely straightened from the fight. Sashimi all round was the call, too tasty to go.

With a few more drifts and 15 healthy snapper on board, we headed to Channel in the hope of finishing the day on a high with kingfish in our sights. Alas, it was not to be and after just a few token casts the call was made to return to our snapper spot for and more fish each before the long trip home.

So happy to say, by far the best winter fish we’ve had. Thanks to the kind weather gods, the snappers, Trevor the tasty Trevally, the good folks at Surtees and Yamaha for a comfortable day on the water and finally…. Winter Success at last. ■

24 www.nzfisher.co.nz

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www.nzfisher.co.nz 25

KAYAKFISHING

I Hate Winter Fishing

Sometimes it’s timing, others technique but after a while you get a feel for what’s working and it’s a damned good feeling. By Derrick Paull

26 www.nzfisher.co.nz

“So what now? The world at your feet – what to do? As I said, I don’t like, or don’t trust winter fishing because fish are slow, fickle and a damned pain in the arse to get to bite.”

I FIND AUGUST A terrible fishing

Shakespeare Bay and got our heads in

month in general and more so for lure

the game.

fishing. Cold water, strong, cold winds

The forecast was for a brisk, but warm

and incessant rain interspersed with bitterly cold clear days. Bliss.

nor-wester that appeared a bit more on the west once we hit the water

I’ve been chasing truth this winter

and that complicated situation with

and needed a hit of salt water and

a strong incoming tide frothing the

decided after a chiding from my kayak

water just off the headland into the

guru Stephen Tapp that the Viking

Tiri Channel. Heading out there was

Reload needed to be reloaded onto

sign everywhere – but no decent size

the truck and get its bum wet instead

to it and definitely no snapper lurking

of spending its winter in the rafters

under it.

gathering dust.

The wind picked up significantly and

My paddling buddies Forbes and

caused us to head for the shelter of

Daz were out so I hooked up a ride

the headland and into shallow, weedy

with recent yak convert Orson, and we headed north neither really convinced on the best location as we got on the motorway north. Around

shelves looking likely but extremely barren for the hour or so we needed to hide until the sun came out and the wind died completely.

Constellation Drive we agreed on

www.nzfisher.co.nz 27

KAYAKFISHING

28 www.nzfisher.co.nz

So what now? The world at your feet – what to do? As I said, I don’t like, or don’t trust winter fishing because fish are slow, fickle and a damned pain in the arse to get to bite.

The sign on the Lowrance was getting exciting – I’ve become so reliant on the Chirp/Down-scan functions I’m stoked I have it now on the kayak too – but I was struggling to entice a bite.

The fish were hugging the bottom hard and did appear to be feeding

“Daz has an annoying way of finding fish when there’s seemingly none around – and he usually looks like he’s not fishing. ”

– but not on what I was offering. I tried standard soft baits, inchicu’s and sinking stick-baits. Nothing.

www.nzfisher.co.nz 29

KAYAKFISHING

“Slow, lazy fisherman catches slow, lazy snapper. Maybe I could come to like winter fishing (for the record, my toes defrosted by the Harbour Bridge on the way home).”

So, time for a re-think; as we all do when confronted with these kinds of situations I looked back to experience and recalled one such experience where I got my ass handed to me by Daz on such a rubbish August day a few years back.

Daz has an annoying way of finding fish when there’s seemingly none around – and he usually looks like he’s not fishing. This in-fact means that he puts on a fresh soft-bait and casts, lets it sink and does nothing. And I mean nothing. No twitch, no jerk, no lift and check. Nothing but winding the slack in. Until it gets a hit. Which it does because at this time of year snapper are lazy and slow. Which is what I’ve been accusing Daz of being for a long time.

But it worked. I slipped on a Savage

30 www.nzfisher.co.nz

swim bait & doused it in Berley mate black-stuff and let it fly. The Savage baits are articulated & the tiniest movement makes them look very much like a wounded baitfish, and you don’t need to move them far – exactly what’s required when you don’t want to out-run your prey. The stink of the Black-Stuff brings them near and the wounded baitfish gets the bite.

Less effort, not more.

In the last 30 minutes before dark managed to bag four keepers after three hours in the wind catching nothing. Slow, lazy fisherman catches slow, lazy snapper. Maybe I could come to like winter fishing (for the record, my toes defrosted by the Harbour Bridge on the way home).■

18+ lbs snapper off the rocks.

Know what you’re doing Wide range of courses for all types of boating available nationwide

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Phone 0800 40 80 90 or visit www.boatingeducation.org.nz

READERPICS

>

Alex & Ollie with Alex’s PB snapper a 12.05kg monster

Reader

Pics >

Felicity Anderson with avery nice Pearl Perch from Cairns, on a recent trip

Winner! 32 www.nzfisher.co.nz

>

Mark Cockburn with a PB snapper 5.9kg from Cape Runaway queens birthday weekend this year

>

Ollie Reeves with an early winter Ngongotaha Rainbow.

www.nzfisher.co.nz 33

VIDEOOFTHEMONTH

Gurnard

Where,

How & On What

I love gurnard, for the table rather than on the end of a line. They’re ridiculed for their inability to fight, they’re admired for the stunning beauty of their wings and sought after for their delicious, sweet, delicate fillets.

We took a day out from chasing monsters to fill – check out how we did it, here.

34 www.nzfisher.co.nz

the fry-pan

Competition!

Share an Awesome Photo and Be in to Win!

Composite Developm ents (NZ) Ltd

ments

COMPETITION

Composite Developm ents (NZ

) Ltd

2015

catalogue

Like us on Facebook! facebook.com/CDRo dsNZ facebook.com/Born tofishnz

co.nz

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Share an awesome photo this month and be in to WIN a $150 Composite Developments Voucher!

Share an awesome photo of you with a fish to our Facebook page, or email it to derrickp@fisher.co.nz by ? and you’ll be in to win an $150 voucher from Composite Developments to spend on anything you like from their 2015 catalogue - click here to view.

This months winner is Felicity Anderson. Felicity has won a $150 Composite Developments voucher, happy spending Felicity! â—?

www.nzfisher.co.nz 35

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