ISSUE 5 FEB/MARCH 2018
WORK HARD, PLAY HARD!
WILN EY
OF A PAIR AKLASSES ON U S G
PG 7
TRIPLE TREAT PG 10
PG14 V
INSIDE
KINGFISH FRIDAY HONDA : PORTABLE POWER DIVING : DEALING WITH THE SUMMER CROWDS
KIDS' FISHING FUN
PLUMBERS ONBOARD IN NUIE PG8
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WORK HARD, PLAY HARD!
Great Barrier
SNAPPER SHARE THE SNOOPING PASSION WELCOME TO EDITION FIVE OF RHEEM OFF-SITE
I
HONDA EU22I PORTABLE GENERATOR
It’s summer and most Kiwis are enjoying the outdoor opportunities the good weather brings. While many of us were obliged to take our break during the busy Christmas-New Year period, plenty of others, especially those who work for themselves, can defer their summer break until a bit later when the weather is more settled and the crowds have thinned. Summer is prime time for fishing and diving, as this issue of Rheem Off-site reflects, and over the next several weeks readers will be chasing game fish, seeking out trophy snapper and kingfish, or heading for the hills to stalk trout and wild game. For some, summer is about hitting the trails on a mountain bike or motorcycle, building and racing cars, paddle boarding, para-sailing, wind surfing or sailing. There are so many possibilities! Whatever you like to do off the tools, we’d like to share your passion through these pages. If you or one of your mates has a story to tell, we’d love to share your stories with other tradies through this publication. Contact: johneichelsheim@gmail.co.nz Enjoy.
DIVING WITH SUMMER CROWDS
JOHN EICHELSHEIM, EDITOR
CONTENTS 04 07 O8 10 13 14 17 18
HOW TO FIX A RUBBISH WEEK WIN WITH OAKLEY RHEEM ONBOARD IN NIUE THREE CHIPPIES AND A BOAT RHEEM OFF-SITE WANTS YOUR STORIES! TIME OUT WITH THE KIDS
Off-Site is published bi-monthly by NZ Fishing Media Ltd. Offices are located at 177B Marua Road, Ellerslie, Auckland, Ph (09) 579 4060. MANAGING DIRECTOR Grant Blair MANAGING EDITOR Grant Dixon OFF-SITE EDITOR John Eichelsheim DESIGNER Debra Tunnicliffe OPERATIONS MANAGER Sarah Ng EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES John Eichelsheim 021 775 789 johne@xnet.co.nz ADVERTISING MANAGER & ENQUIRIES Scott Taylor 021 862 579 sales@nzfishingnews.co.nz Advertising within this publication is subject to NZ Fishing Media Ltd’s standard advertising terms and conditions, a copy of which is available online at www.fishing.net.nz or by calling (09) 579 4060 Cover photo: Courtesy of Brad Bowden
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Off-Site Feature
Take Friday off By Steve Dickinson
HOW TO FIX A
RUBBISH WEEK
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Sometimes the best thing you can do is invoke the '10-knot clause' and go fishing, even if it is Friday.
Y
ou know, it does not matter what you do as a job – digging holes, plumbing pipes or selling advertising. No matter what you do, you get weeks when it all turns to custard, you don’t get a break, and as soon as you put out one fire, another one flares up. That’s how our week was: one fire after another, followed by yet another! But then we looked a few days ahead and saw a small window of calm coming when the tides were right, the winds were forecast light and water temperature were trending upwards. So, Greg and I decided to leave the stresses of work behind, and like two naughty schoolboys, we bunked off Friday. We got an inkling of how good the day was going to be when we pushed off the boat ramp at Whangamata and the shallows burst into life with sprats scattering everywhere. A smile, a raising of expectant eyebrows, and we were off. As we rounded the headland the expanse of the water was nothing but blue from the Mayor to the Aldermans, and as is so often the case with this stretch of water, there was an uncomfortable chop. We know a wee reef about 50 minutes from the ramp that does not get hit very often. We call it ‘Jackpot’, for good reason. GPS positioning locked in, we headed straight in that direction. However, as we approached the aptly named Dirty Dodger (a well-known large reef system), where the water goes from
LEFT Greg with one for the bin. ABOVE Steve with a nice king.
40m to around 26m, there like a blazing sun on the fish-finder was a ball as big as an orange. “Better give that a crack!” We were already geared up with 400g long jigs for the deeper water, fishing plus 80lb braid with 100lb mono leaders. First drop, boom! Greg was nearly dragged over the side of the boat. The drag was screaming, the boys were laughing and the ‘shit week’ was vanishing. I reeled in, got the net, the gaff and the gloves, and strapped the gimbal around Greg’s waist – always an uncomfortable man moment. And no sooner was the rod was in the belt, when the line parted and the fish was gone! We wound it in to see it if the fish had been chewed off. There are a lot of big sharks in this area and barracouta too, but judging by the dead weight and straight run performance, the first loss of the day was almost certainly a big Noah. Back fishing again, Greg chose to go down to a 300g blue jig. I stayed with the pink 400g jig and second drop,
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Greg with a kingfish too big to lift.
to this area, the workup would start and vanish within a few minutes. It didn’t take us long to realise the more successful workups were the ones with the most action. These tended to be the tightest and often the smallest and most orbital. We assumed that these tighter groups were being herded by predatory fish. We drifted into one tight mass of raging fish and dropped jigs to around 15 metres; the sounder had so many dark eyebrows on it, it looked like a Spanish football team. First drop and we both got hit at the same time. We had learnt from previous occasions and now wear our gimbals with pride. The braid is so sensitive I could feel the hook in my kingie actually slipping until it came loose. Gutted, I turned to Greg who smiled and said, “I’ve got a small one.” I replied in the affirmative and laughed. We were having fun!
WE CALL IT ‘JACKPOT’, FOR GOOD REASON.
before the jig even hit the bottom, the rod buckled over in my hands, the fish on the end of the line this time showing less straight line pulling and more of the traditional kingie rampage. After much yelling, anticipation and excitement, our fist kingie of the day was on ice. At around 80cm, it fitted nicely in the icebox. We have found that icing the fish makes a massive difference to the texture and taste of kingfish. It completely changes the quality of the fish if you keep it chilled. We use salt ice because we have found over the years, as I am sure many of you know, it just lasts so much longer on those long, hot, summer days. By the time we had got this fish on board and iced him down the situation had changed and the fish had moved on. This was very much the pattern for the rest of the day: we would find the school, either on the sounder or, alerted by the birds, on the surface. The school would stay active for a very short burst and then move. We continued to travel over the shallower reef area and soon realised there was no need to go any further: ahead of us was a bombardment of gannets smashing the water – the surface looked like a river rapid. As we slowly closed in with the wind behind us, we could see the backs of large sea-going kahawai packed together like giant sardines. Every so often they would erupt as something obviously much larger made a major move on them. As we looked around we could see several workups all happening at the same time, but unlike on previous visits
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Suddenly his rod went from bent to ‘'Holy Mackerel!’ and it looked like he was being dragged over the side – this big boy just woke up! An old school Cresta Craft, while it might not have portaloos and a coffee maker, does have great padded gunnels to brace yourself against. And brace is what Greg did for a solid 30 minutes! This horse of a fish came to the boat and then dragged out 50 metres of line without any effort. Back to the boat it came and out it went again; back to the boat, then gone! A flash of colour, then gone. Eventually the bend in the rod was not as dramatic and the line started to come in and stay on the reel. As this beast finally approached the side of the boat we realised that the net and our gaff were not going to cut the mustard. Gloves on, we eased the fish alongside and the fish slowly laid itself against the side of the boat like Moby Dick. We could see our reflection in his great eye and it did remind me of Melville’s book: “In his fiery eyes of scorn and triumph you then saw Ahab in all his fatal pride…” – Moby Dick. Gloved hands on tail and in the fish’s mouth, we struggled to lift it into the boat. Then, in stunned disbelief, there was a moment of silence and heavy breathing followed by yells and high-fives all round! As Greg picked it up by the tail for the picture, his classic somewhat pragmatic comment was: “I always wanted to catch fish I couldn’t lift!” Photos taken, we gently placed Moby Dick back in the water where he burst to life and swam away. If felt good to let a big fish go, not because we are core environmentalists, but simply because it would not fit in the chilly bin, and anyway, it was only 8.30am – we had the rest of the day to come yet. But we both agreed it was a great way to turn around a rubbish week!
h t i w WIN
OAKLEY tly
n e r e ff i d e f i L e Se WINNERS
SENT IN BY TRACEY BURNS
SHANE CHRISTENSEN KARL DANIEL
SEND IN A SHOT OF YOU AND AN ND YOUR YO YO COPY OF RHEEM OFFSITE IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS Include Inc clude c clud cl lud ude de a caption capt ca pti pt tio ion off of ion of who, who wh ho what, wha hat when hat whe hen and hen and where wher wh her ere e the th he picture piict ctur tur ure e was was taken. take tak ta ken You ken You u could cou ould ld win win in one one of of three thre th hre ree e Oakley Oakl Oakl Oa kley ey Polarised Pol olar lar ariis ised dC Caliber alib al lib ibe er er Sunglasses valued at $299 per pair. The winners will have their photos published in our next issue of Rheem Offsite.
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Rheem and Plumbing World were proud to host the event for the sixth year running, to reward their loyal customers with a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. The group flew from Auckland to Niue on November 4, and were up before dawn the next morning to jump on small boats and head out on the water.
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The skippers held their own competition, with each using his local expertise to choose the best fishing spot for the day for their Kiwi passengers to catch a big one. The choppy seas were no obstacle for our competition winners, hauling in an 81kg marlin, and dozens of massive wahoo and blue fin tuna, some of which weighed in at up to 28kg. The group spent a full four days out on the water, with a few rest days on dry land to enjoy the small island’s cuisine and culture, and spend time among the friendly Niuean people, who were eager to welcome the Kiwi “fishos”. They stayed at the luxurious oceanside Scenic Matavai Resort Niue, an idyllic getaway spot with stunning bay views that topped off the extraordinary trip.
1 What happens when you take 10 plumbers, fly them to a Pacific island for a week, and set them up with fishing gear and expert local skippers? A literal ton of fishing. This year’s winners of the Wahoo Fishing Competition netted a whopping 1.06 tonnes of catch during their all-expenses-paid experience in Niue.
Rheem’s commercial manager Paul Watson, who accompanied the winners to Niue, said it was an awesome event, and a great opportunity for the Kiwi plumbers to unwind and enjoy a unique fishing experience. “Every year, it’s a thrill for Rheem to partner with Plumbing World to host this competition for our customers,” he said. “We’re proud to be able to invest in Niue by running this competition and to bring a significant shortterm investment to the island. It’s great to see the customers and the locals working together – and catching lots of fish!”
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7 1 - Dan Keenan from Plumbing World reeled in a 21kg wahoo 2 - Fresh onto the warm tarmac, the group’s excitement began to build 3 - The lucky plumbers enjoyed the late afternoon sun at the Scenic Matavai Resort during a pre-contest briefing 4 - Andy Thomson and skipper James hauled in an 81kg black marlin 5 - Local fisherman Daryn let young Vio take credit for their catch 6 - It took just a few hours for one boat to snag this catch 7 - Niue’s rocky coastline makes for a novel way of getting the boats into the water 8 - As a religious day, Sunday meant downtime, and a chance for the group to walk the Togo Chasm
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Tradie Profile Brad, Mark and James
LEFT James with a personal best 11.88kg snapper. CENTRE Mark is two-up on his co-owners in the billfish stakes and has been designated helming duties until Brad and James catch up. RIGHT This 15.1kg snapper saw Brad take out the species honours in the year-long DB Export NZ Wide on-line competition.
S E I P P I H C E E THR The Specialist in its gamefishing livery overnighting at the Poor Knights Islands.
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Sharing a boat can have its pitfalls, but three good fishing buddies have got it sussed. Grant Dixon talks to the three chippies, Brad Bowden, Mark Lindsay and James Marcinowicz, and finds out what makes their boating ménage a trois work…
AND A BOAT
B
Holidaying together at Waipu Cove, where they met through surf club activities, James, Mark and Brad share common interests: a love of the water, whether fishing in it, diving or surfing, as well as a proclivity for being ‘socially active’. ‘ “Dad used to take us fishing with hand-lines at the sprat wharf – he didn’t realise what a monster he had created,” Brad quips. The boys fished with parents and mates, and doing charters together before they decided they needed a boat of their own. They established a joint account, purchasing a fourmetre 60hp Yamaha-powered Fyran centre-console for
$7000 which they then used mainly to target snapper in the greater Bream Bay and Hauraki Gulf areas. It proved to be a great little boat in which to hone their nautical skills and gave them a taste for adventure further afield. A plan was hatched to get into a bigger boat to expand their horizons, so with a little help from family and friends, The Specialist was purchased for $75,000 two seasons ago. The 2006 Westcoaster 730 was a former company demonstrator, so had all the bells and whistles. Powered by a Yamaha 250hp four-stroke and equipped with a 270-litre fuel tank, the boat has plenty of range to see the boys get out wide chasing billfish. To date they have two striped marlin to their credit – or more correctly to Mark’s credit.
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The Specialist crew with its first billfish. Mark (left) is the lucky angler.
They run a shared 'chair time' system when marlin fishing, with each of them getting a 20-minute slot each. Mark’s has been the lucky spot so far! This season Mark has been delegated helming duties, while James and Brad catch up. James and Brad say they are the snapper ‘specialists’, with several impressive catches to their credit. James has a personal best of 11.88kg on six-kilo line, while Brad recently landed a 15.1kg snapper on 15kg tackle to win the DB Export NZ Wide competition. The mates never let a chance for little banter and ribbing go by: while Brad is claiming snapper honours with the heavier fish, James suggests his is the most meritorious and worth more points because he caught it on the lighter line. Unless
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either of them improves on their PB, you can guarantee the ‘discussion’ will continue well into the future. The Specialist is well set up for sport-fishing, as well as overnighting. It has downriggers and outriggers, a livebait tank and tuna tubes, plus a full suite of Simrad NSS Evo II electronics, including sounder, plotter, radar and autopilot. There is a full set of Shimano Tiagra game gear on board. The Westcoaster is a big volume boat with broad shoulders, so there is plenty of cabin space. The three buddies are all relatively tall, well-built guys, yet they can sleep comfortably in the cuddy cabin with plenty of space to stretch out. Other features include a gas cooker, basic galley items and an electric toilet.
DAD USED TO TAKE US FISHING WITH HAND-LINES AT THE SPRAT WHARF – HE DIDN’T REALISE WHAT A MONSTER HE HAD CREATED
The Specialist has proven quite a comfortable boat for overnighting and the boys have enjoyed several trips away in her so far and are looking forward to plenty more. The three are easy going and say there needs to be some give and take when sharing a boat. When the three of them are away together, the boat account takes care of the bait, ice, refreshments and fuel – when it’s taken out individually, the cost is on that person.
Running costs, such as motor servicing, insurance and maintenance come out of the boat fund, along with any ‘capital improvements’. The boys recently debated the relative merits of a new sounder transducer or replacing the cockpit matting with SeaDek, coming to consensus that a practical fishing item such as a more effective transducer takes precedence over upgrading the decking. They jokingly refer to The Specialist as Squabbles but say they always manage to work out any differences amicably. They have a few ‘loose’ rules. If one person wants to take the boat out, they have to ask the others if they want to go along first before inviting ‘guests’. The boat always comes back with the fuel tank filled, and is also left clean and tidy. Any breakages or damage is put right by the person causing it. While the boys say they would love to upgrade to a small game boat such as a 35-foot Bertram, that will have to wait. There is no reason if we look after what we have got, why it shouldn’t last us for many adventures to come. The next ‘major’ consideration is a new trailer with a decent breakaway brake system, and perhaps adding in a small freshwater system. Their plans this season include plenty of gamefishing, as well as searching out a few bluenose and ‘puka spots – hence the need for a better transducer. Your can guarantee these three will make the most of their opportunities, calling when necessary on the ’10-knot’ clause in their contracts to get off-site and on the water.
HARD!
ISSUE 4N 2017/18 DEC/JA
D, PL AY RD! ORDK, HPALRAY HA WR A H K R O W
WIKN LEY
OF A IR AP ES O AG L A S S
SUN
TT D ABBO RICHAR
NEED FOR D SPEE
PG 7
PG 14
PY HAPR 'HO - I' OUT RS DOO
IN FREE-DIV ORTS MOTORSP G TIPS HUNTIN SUMMER FETY R FILL SA SCUBA AI
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INSIDEG
WE WANT YOU!
INSIDE
G FISHINING HUNT
X BIG SI RHEEM
PG10
K! IS BAC
THE AIM OF RHEEM OFF-SITE IS TO FEATURE SOME OF THE INTERESTING OUTDOOR STORIES TRADIES HAVE TO TELL. YOUR STORIES! Send us your best hunting, fishing, diving and outdoors images as well - we have a pair of top quaility Oakley sunglasses to be given away each month for the best image. Tradies, Rheem off-site is YOUR magazine. Please share your experiences and adventures with us. You don't have to be a puiltzer prize-winning writer - that is our job! Look forward to hearing from you.
JOHN EICHELSHEIM
EDITOR RHEEM OFF-SITE
TALK TO US SO WE CAN SHARE YOUR STORIES WITH OTHERS.
EMAIL JOHNEICHELSHEIM@GMAIL.COM PHONE 021 775 789
VɈZP[LUa 13
Off-Site Feature Fi s h i ng w i t h ki d s By Craig Worthington
TIME OUT with the KIDS A
Although we know taking kids fishing is a very serious business, a wharf during the school holidays provides plenty humour. Often, it would appear, John Cleese was the instructor at the last ‘parent fishing school’ judging by the number of adults attempting to imitate his wellknown antics. I confess to having myself been a Cleese imitator a time or two. The problem is, we all tend to embark on kids’ fishing expeditions with visions of multiple hook-ups and entranced children. But enjoyment quickly wanes and stress levels rise when reality doesn’t match our fishing expectations – or theirs! Tangled lines, hooks in clothing or fingers, a rod ring crunched underfoot, crying children and fractious parents... It is all so familiar, but it need not be this way. The secret to taking kids fishing is understanding how their attention spans change as they grow older. Three and four-yearolds (for instance) have the shortest of attention spans, but they actually fish quite well. That is because everything is new and completely fascinating – from cutting the bait to landing a fish. A child of this age will be interested in everything, but we need to remember that for him/her, these are simply a multitude of separately occurring events. At this age we shouldn’t expect children to connect with the concept of ‘fishing’ as such, but if we allow them to swing their first fish up onto the wharf and put it in a bucket of water, they will be our friends for life.
HANDS-ON FISHING The five- to seven-year-old age group is the tough one. These kids love fishing, but need constant help and attention and can be quick to lose their focus. Unless there’s instant action on the fishing front, their
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Why not take the kids fishing this summer ? You don’t need a boat, writes Craig Worthington: if you do things right, kids can have heaps of fun fishing from the wharf. Jean Sharpe and Jack Worthington with a kingfish.
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WHEN KIDS GET TO EIGHT YEARS AND OLDER YOU START TO SEE THE TRUE FISHING FANATICS DEVELOP.
Kaimei Sharpe happy with his snapper caught off the rocks.
minds will wander, so good planning is vital to success. Fishing rods for these youngsters should always be rigged before you leave home – and make sure the bait is defrosted and ready to go the minute you arrive at the wharf. It can pay to get the kids busy with some berley preparation when you arrive, or maybe a bait catcher and some bread. The emphasis is on instant action: they don’t have to be catching fish, but nor should they be idle while Dad farts around tying knots and sorting himself out. Instant fishing success is important, so pack good bait and good hooks. For years Kiwi kids grew up using horrible, fat-shanked galvanised fish hooks that were almost impossible to sharpen and rusted quickly when wet. I’m amazed we caught anything on them. Thankfully, we now use chemically sharpened hooks. Be careful with them though, especially around kids, and ensure they are always hooked on the rod rings whilst travelling. And watch out for kids who think they can cast – it takes the smallest pull on a sharp hook to sink it deep into the wrong piece of flesh! Sharp hooks might impale a few unwary children, but they
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catch fish and that’s why they are so important when fishing with kids. Little fish don’t hook themselves as easily as big fish, so the smaller and sharper the hook, the better. With everything set up, including cracker bait on red-hot hooks, you’ll find your five- to seven-year-olds catching fish and loving every minute of it. They may be all fished-out after only half an hour, but that’s okay – don’t push them into any marathon routines and they’ll want to go and do it all again tomorrow.
I CAN DO IT! When kids get to eight years and older you start to see the true fishing fanatics develop. There is a lot going on in the brains of eight-year-olds. They’re beginning to understand a bit more about their own independence and this reflects heavily in their desire to go fishing. Being able to perform most fishing requirements unassisted makes them start to relate to fishing on a more personal and exciting level, rather than considering it a hand-holding exercise with Mum or Dad. With this age group you’ll still need all the tricks you used with the younger ones, and then some. Kids at this age need lots of guidance, but in a way that lets them do things themselves. Little things like pre-cut bait make a big difference.
They’ll tell you they can do it themselves, but the results are not always satisfactory, or desirable. Sometimes a small pair of sharp bait-cutting scissors is safer than a knife for cutting bait. A local father in Russell used to set his boy up with a lump of dough mixed with mulched pipis. Baiting was a simple and safe routine of moulding dough onto a hook. The boy caught lots of fish and was particularly known for his ability to catch parore. Makes sense, really. Similarly, with spare hooks and traces: avoid messing about tying up traces on the wharf. Make up spare traces and rigs at home and show your kids how to connect them via simple loop to loop connections. This avoids having to tie difficult knots.
Tools of the Trade Honda EU22i portable inverter generator
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HOOKED ON FISHING By seven or eight, kids might be eeling by themselves in the local creek or fishing under the care of an older sibling down at the wharf. It is important that they can exercise a level of independence that will make the whole fishing exercise go well. The important thing to realise with this older age group is that suddenly the attention span thing has changed from half an hour to all day. That is because of all the other things that are happening to them. For an eight-year-old, it’s a fishing adventure as well as a social adventure. The fact that there are lots of other kids on the wharf the same age is part of the fun – and they often fish surprisingly competitively! When fishing with eight-year-olds and older, you can get a decent fishing effort in yourself. So take your gear along and show them how it’s done. With the right preparation you’ll find ‘taking kids fishing’ is damned good fun after all.
Max Miller with a school holiday trevally off the wharf.
Honda's new inverter generator sure packs some punch!
H
onda’s new EU22i inverter generator is the same weight as the popular EU20i it replaces, with the same silent operation, but even more power. Honda’s GXR120 121cc four-stroke engine has a maximum power output of 2,200kW and rated output of 1,800kW. The EU22i features a microcomputercontrolled sine-wave inverter that guarantees commercial-quality electricity, so it’s ideal for use with frequency-sensitive electrical equipment such as laptops and home computers. Four-stroke power offers low emissions, less noise and lower fuel consumption than its two-stroke counterparts and the fuel off feature idles the unit until all the fuel in the carburettor is used up, eliminating post storage stale fuel issues. Weighing just 21kg, the whisper-quiet EU221 provides up to 15 hours of continuous operation on a tank of fuel and only runs at full capacity when required for better fuel economy and reduced noise. Available from stockists of Honda Power Equipment nationwide, the EU22i retails for $2,699.
Honda Power Equipment is distributed by Power & Marine Ltd. www.powermarine.co.nz
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Off-Site feature Dive Smart
By Ian 'Griz' Miller
Diving with the
SUMMER CROWDS
Dive smart, stay safe and keep only what you need this summer.
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W
ith summer in full swing, for many of us our attention turns towards time at the beach with family and friends. For those of us with a love for sub-aquatic activities, now is the time to dust off the dive gear and get prepared for the underwater excitement that lies ahead. Scuba divers should already have had their regulator and BCD serviced by a technician and made sure their dive cylinders are in test and full of air. There is nothing more frustrating (and it happens often) than getting to the coast only to be told, “Sorry, I can’t fill this bottle because it’s out of test, but it should be ready in five days!” Once we’ve arrived at our destination and everything is in order, we can look towards all the available options to provide the sort of seafood bonanza we have been so looking forward to! However, it’s likely we are not the only ones with that thought in mind: at any given location there are probably dozens of others with the same idea, so the pressure on the resource is a lot higher than at any other time of the year. Easily accessed crayfish and scallop spots can be cleaned out quickly by over-eager divers keen to max out their limits as soon as possible “while there’s still something left…”! Taking just what is required for a good, fresh feed is a more responsible and respectful approach that gives over-stretched resources a chance of making it through the holiday period.
DOWN AND DIRTY FOR CRAYS Hunting the elusive crayfish is normally number-one on the list for most divers. A good tip came from a very good commercial cray fisherman over at Little Barrier Island.
He told me to dive inside his pot line, where it was too shallow for him to work. That’s where they would be, he said. So, finding a likely looking piece of coast and going right up into the shallows can work well. We call it ‘getting down and dirty’ because you need to get right in under the kelp canopy and poke your nose into every nook and cranny, often in only three metres of water. Free-diving (or snorkelling) is often just as effective in these sorts of places, particularly at low tide, even for those of us with now limited lung capacity! Another good thing about this sort of hunting is that you will often have a nice stretch of coast all to yourself, whereas outlying reefs tend to attract a lot more attention.
Scallop catch.
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TASTY SCALLOPS Second on the list would undoubtably be the tasty scallop. During busy times finding a feed of these popular bivalves
THE BIGGEST SAFETY TIP I CAN GIVE ANY SPEAR-FISHERMAN IS TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE VISIBLE.
Seafood smorgasbord coming up!
provides more of a challenge because they tend to congregate in very specific areas, often less than a hectare in size. This very definitely brings local knowledge into play, although it seldom takes long before everyone knows where the bed is! That means, of course, there is going to be a hell of a lot of boat action in a small area and boats without divers are probably going to drag dredges around as well, just to complicate matters! A fact that is not widely known is that the harmless looking little scallop kills more Kiwi divers than any other sea creature. Why? Quite simply through greed! Even old-school divers are guilty of falling into the trap of staying on the bottom for just one more scallop, only to find their air supply has all but gone. Ascending with a heavy bag of scallops takes quite a bit of effort, meaning any air that is left is quickly exhausted. At this stage you’d think divers would drop the bag and weight belt and get the hell out of there…
Well no: “I didn’t come this far or wait this long not to take my catch back to camp!” Too little air transforms into dizziness, followed by what is known as ‘a shallow water blackout’ whereupon everything and everyone ends up back on the bottom. Another major concern with a ‘crash ascent’ is that there is no time to listen for any boats which might be in closer than they should be, so the risk of being hit by boat or a propeller is very real. Just by following a few simple procedures none of the above scenarios needs to happen. Firstly, fly a large, visible dive flag. You must let other water users know you are diving and that they should keep well clear. If the depth of water you are in is, say, 15 metres, tie a 20-metre light rope to your catch bag. On the other end, attach a good size, highly visible buoy. Your boat can now easily stay in close contact with you rather than guessing where your bubble trail is and at the end of your dive it is very simple just to swim up your rope line, and once back on board the boat, to pull up your catch. As you probably guessed, I am not a great fan of diving from an anchored boat. A drifting or mobile boat takes tide flow out of the equation, as well as being right there when divers surface. There are many cases of a diver arriving on the surface in a distressed condition, but by the time the anchor has been retrieved it is already too late. So treat the humble scallop with a great deal of respect because there are many aspects to the gathering of these morsels where it can all go very wrong!
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A well prepared, well equipped diver about to get 'down and dirty'.
FRESH FISH The seafood banquet would not be complete without some fresh fish. Contrary to popular belief, spearfishing is the most selective form of fishing there is. You select the fish you want to eat, shoot it and it’s game over! It sounds easy, but is it really? Once again, there are many aspects to spearfishing, and along with that, a lot of things that can tip up the unwary diver. Spearfishing is a huge subject and probably deserves a feature all of its own, so I will stick to the basics. The purest form of spearfishing is free-diving. By free-diving we mean breath-hold diving with no artificial air source. The past 15 years has seen a massive surge in popularity of what has really become a sport in its own right. There are many reasons for this upswing. Free-diving is a physically demanding activity so a relatively high level of fitness is desirable (you very seldom see an overweight free-diver). It is a great form of exercise, which appeals to many. Compared to scuba diving, free-diving is relatively inexpensive to get into. For as little as a thousand dollars the budding snorkeldiver can equip him or herself with a reasonable set of kit to start out with.No qualifications or tickets are required to go out: simply buy the gear and go diving. But a word of warning: a sound knowledge of what happens to your body in a breath-hold situation is essential because shallow water blackout, the same thing I alluded to with scallop diving, can occur. There are many books and articles written on this subject and a close study of some of these could be a life saver. The truly great aspect of free-diving is the freedom it affords you. It is not essential to have a boat because anywhere there is a shoreline has the potential to provide a good feed of fresh fish. This could range from flounder in a couple of metres of estuary water to snapper, kingfish or john dory along a rocky shoreline. There are also very tasty fish such as greenbone [butterfish] and blue moki which don’t readily take a hook and so are rarely caught by anglers, leaving them squarely in the spearo’s domain. All this fishing can be accessed from the car park.
...THE RISK OF BEING HIT BY BOAT OR A PROPELLER IS VERY REAL.
RIGHT The humble scallop is responsible for many diving accidents every year.
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BE SEEN The biggest safety tip I can give any spear-fisherman is to make sure you are visible. A dark-suited diver almost flush with the water is extremely difficult to see and runs a very real risk of being run over by a passing boat. A large, bright float attached to your gun and towed along behind will certainly help alleviate this problem. Also in the event that you mis-hit a kingfish and he wants to go down while you need to go up to breathe, you can let the gun go without losing it or your prize! Spearfishing using scuba equipment is very much frowned upon by the free-diving fraternity. However, as a means of harvesting a feed of fish, I have no problem with it. I guess once again it’s the same old argument – take only what you need or don’t shoot it! The thrill of the chase is one thing, but no-one is a hero when fish is dumped. Have a great, safe diving holiday this summer and bon appétit.
PHOTO: BEN BROWN | BUILT TO FISH TV
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