Issue 78 - The Fishing Paper & New Zealand Hunting News

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INFORMING • ENTERTAINING • ENCOURAGING TO FISH March 2012 Issue 78

Slivers of Silver

8pg K aikoura f is h Kaikoura g u idineg Fishing Guide!

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The magestic Kaikora coastline fishing experience sets the scene .Visitors lured for an amazing by cafes, sun, to the region beaches and are spoilt for the opportunity relaxation and choice recreation. to catch up on rest, Fishing is high on the agenda their own ‘secret’ for local residents, spots. We’ve these previously managed to purloin with many having well-guarded quite a number locations through nefarious and foul, and now various means, of include them – to be used both in this ‘Top Secret’ only by you and your cousin’s map guide third sister.

The fishing opportunitie s in this fishermen and those with boats, region are huge for both shore-based door. The area and the fishing offers is right at the back divers and free-divers,plenty of scope for kayak fishers, and there are trout discovered. new fishing experiencesanglers, still being The Fishing Paper is all about from your fishing encouraging you to get the and this 2012 most the right direction.

Fishing Guide will steer you It is by no means in an important comprehensive, part of fishing because is discovering satisfaction and a sense of accomplishm things yourself; extending your skill set and knowledge ent derived from base being an integral

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Inside

pg 10

Canterbury Snapper! pg 4

Robson Green Exclusive pg 11

150lb Snapper! pg 23

Hunting: Fallow Fizzing pg 24

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Setting Your Sounder Working in the showroom here in Nelson I spend a lot of time with customers going through the electronics they have bought, teaching them how to use them to their full potential. This is both before and after they have used the gear on the water. Nine times out of ten questions tend to be on sounder operation rather than anything else, so I thought I would go through some basic settings to help get the best from your sounder.

Fish Symbols: If you have fish symbols turned on turn them off. They are actually limiting the amount of information you can see. When you have them turned on, the sounder takes away all the information and only shows you what it believes to be fish. However it doesn’t always get this right and not only will it not show you fish that are down there, but will also show you fish that don’t exist. For example when fish symbols are turned on a thermocline will often be shown as a large school of fish.

Frequency: The majority of sounders are dual frequency, with the high frequency (HF) usually 200 kHz and the low frequency (LF) either 83 or 50 kHz. Try to keep it on HF as much as you can because this will give you a far better picture.

Generally you only want to put it onto LF when you can no longer see the bottom on LF. This is partly because HF gives you a far narrower beam providing better bottom definition, but also because HF gives you far better target discrimination in the water column.

Range: We can have this on either manual or automatic. The difference between these is when on automatic, your sounder will show you from the surface to the seafloor, constantly adjusting the range to accommodate this. On manual you can set the range to whatever you want. So if you’re fishing in 100m but are only targeting fish in the top 40 you can set the range to be 0-40 and focus in on the area you’re interested in.

Likewise if you’re targeting fish in the bottom 40m you can set the range to be from 60-100m.

Gain: Also known as sensitivity on some sounders. If you currently have this set to auto I highly recommend you turn this off and start using the manual settings for gain. You will

By Ali Kennard

find you get far better results.

To set the gain correctly turn it up until you have too much clutter on the screen, then just slowly bring it back so that the clutter clears to just a few weak specks in the background.

It can be easy to take it back further to give yourself a nice clean looking screen, but if you keep just a few specks in the background you know you’re seeing even the weakest fish echoes. I recommend adjusting this every time you get to a new fishing spot.

As always if you have any questions on the above, feel free to drop me a line or call in to your local dealer for a demo on any of these settings.

The Luck of the Irish

By Ron Prestage

My son Henry and his family visited from Ireland recently for a month long holiday.

Henry has lived in Ireland for the past ten years. Of course fishing was on the itinerary and two very successful trips out into Tasman Bay were undertaken.

On our first trip we targeted a variety of species using a special four-hook rig and fishing close to the rocky shore north of Nelson. Using our pothunter special, we were after a feed of fresh fish so one hook, a 3/0, was designated as the tarakihi catcher. Two bottom hooks with flashers were there to catch blue cod, snapper, gurnard and kahawai and the top worm hook was for the Nuclear Chicken soft bait, something the aggressive big blue cod or snapper must have a go at!

Using squid, fresh barracouta and pilchards for bait we were kept busy as the tarakihi in particular came on the bite interspersed with our other target species.

Our second excursion was to chase the plentiful snapper out wide in the bay and again the luck of the Irish prevailed. The rods and setline accounted for some fine Tasman Bay snapper and fresh fish was on the menu again.

We are so fortunate in Nelson to have access to such a variety of fish, something our visitors are quite envious of, and rightly so.

Henry, happy with his catch.

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Not Just ANOTHER Snapper

By Tom Robinson

www.thefishingpaper.co.nz Yep, you may look at the picture and say, “Just another bloke and another snapper.”

But there’s way more to it than that.

I caught this snapper in the middle of last month surfcasting at Amberley Beach Canterbury. That’s right Amberly, just north of Christchurch!

Now we don’t get too many snapper this far south, in fact I’ve never heard of one being caught here before.

It was a pretty fishy day that Saturday that’s for sure. My dad caught a salmon amongst the crowd at the Waimakariri river mouth, where he reckons about 18 were landed that morning. On his way home along the beach he came across a guy long lining off the beach with a kontiki and he had ten big elephant fish lined up on the sand.

Dad didn’t believe me when I called and told him about my catch. He reckoned it was probably a red cod, so I sent him this photo of my 3.5 kg beauty and now he’s a believer. And he didn’t mind having snapper for tea either.

I hooked up after about 10 minutes of fishing and proved these red and black snapper don’t mind squid bait.

With kingfish being caught locally off the beaches earlier this year, and now snapper, maybe climate change means we could be getting a real taste of the kind of fishing our northern cousins enjoy!

Playing the Shark Blues

By Steve McCarthy

Early in February my friend Kevin and I went down to d’Urville in our yacht Puffin for four days. In spite of a fair weather forecast, it was not that wonderful - misty rain and a southeasterly stronger than predicted.

We were fishing off Port Hardy on our favourite cod spot in about 75-metres of water and had landed five good size cod, a couple of Maori chief and a large bottom-feeding kahawai.

Kevin was reeling in what he presumed was another cod, when suddenly his line went slack.

“Damn it,” he uttered, “it’s got off.” Then almost immediately he exclaimed, “No it hasn’t. It’s just got a lot heavier and speedier.” Line was rapidly pulled from his reel. He was fishing with 60lb braid on an Abu Garcia reel and a good Penn rod, which gave us a fighting chance, we may just be able to land whatever was putting up such an epic struggle.

“It’s got to be either a shark or a good sized kingi to put up a fight like this,” Kevin said as the rod tip doubled over. Pumping the rod furiously

he managed to gain some line back, but this was soon stripped from the reel, plus some more, as the fish sounded.

After about quarter of an hour of this seesawing contest the fish came slowly to the surface some distance from the yacht. We briefly saw the dorsal fin of a large shark before it sounded again. It took a further ten minutes of struggle before the fish began to tire. It came up several times before wallowing on the surface at the stern of the yacht with a half eaten cod in the corner of its mouth.

It was a blue shark and despite the very dull day its colouration was spectacular. A deep and surprisingly blue back with a snow white belly.

Highly streamlined it was obviously a speedy predator with scythe like long pectoral fins. We cut it loose and it rapidly returned to the depths.

Although not accurately measured, we both estimated its size to be at least two metres, which according to my “Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand,” is about as big as Pacific blue sharks get.

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Recipe for Success

Salmon City

Mix in the right advice, add the right gear, combine with great weather and we had a recipe for groper success.

It all started last year when my father in-law Alistair and I went to a seminar run by Hamills in Christchurch where The Fishing Paper editor Crimpy, gave a talk on catching kingfish. After his presentation I cornered him and asked for some advice, then pleaded for GPS coordinates to go chasing groper around Stephens Island, which he generously gave.

Every summer we make a family pilgrimage from Christchurch to Okiwi Bay and always stay for a couple of weeks with Monty and Pam at Okiwi Bay Holiday Park.

This year armed with new Daiwa Tanacom electric reels, we were eager to get into the action.

After a few unsuccessful kingfish missions over preceding days we decided it was groper time.

We’d caught a couple of smaller groper several days before but decided to get serious. With a

By Steve Bennett

There are only two places in the world where you can catch a salmon within 500 metres of the CBD of a major metropolitan city, Vancouver Canada and Dunedin New Zealand, and right now Dunedin is the place to be.

Wharf fishers using sprats under a float are having great success, while on the harbour trolling with zed spinners, is paying dividends.

The salmon season started early this year, in November and now the fish are feeding on masses of krill which have made their way up the harbour. They appear on the sounder like massive meatballs with bullet shapes shooting through them.

I caught this 12-pound fighter on a green zeddy with a paravane keeping the lure at the

By Tony Hill

few really useful tips and hints on techniques, and where to position the boat from Monty, and the GPS marks given to us by Crimpy we set off full of confidence.

Within minutes of finding the spot we had a double hook-up. Two groper; one at 25lb and the other 20lb. The next fish was the biggie, tipping the scales at 55lb. Two smaller fish then followed in quick succession, capping off a fantastic day.

These new Daiwa electric reels are brilliant, they make life so much easier. There was obviously another fish on the bottom hook when I brought the 55-pounder in because for about a third of the way up the rod was fully loaded up and the reel was working hard. But it busted the trace off. It would have been a major job without assistance of the powered reel. It did all the work leaving us to enjoy the experience.

It was a terrific trip, we caught plenty of perch, some really nice big blue cod (outside the management area), snapper and wrapped it up with a magnificent groper.

right depth. I like to troll on the auxiliary at about one to two knots. The speed depends on the movement of the lure so I’m constantly watching it and making adjustments. To set the lure I hang it over the side then get the boat speed right and let it out. I tend to set it fairly close to the bottom using the paravane to control its depth, but it all depends on what information’s coming from the sounder. I find the paravane works better for me than using downriggers.

Credit for the huge success of the Dunedin salmon fishery has to go to the hundreds of volunteer hours that go into the raising and releasing the young fish by the Community Salmon Trust. The dedicated bunch of workers who manage the fish and look after the hatchery in Sawyers Bay deserve medals!

Twice the result for half the work.

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A Pier without Peer

By Greg Gilbert

Andrew Claridge with a nice New Brighton Pier rig.

I have come to enjoy fishing the New Brighton Pier. It’s a great place close to Christchurch for families to fish. The chances of catching mullet and kahawai are particularly high. I prefer to fish after dark because it’s a tad quieter, you get to know the small band of regulars and the list of species increases: big seven gill sharks, stingrays, school shark (tope), dogfish (yuck), elephant fish and my favourite - rig.

I arrive on dusk to catch my bait, mullet, paddle crab, and occasionally at low tide tuatua.

Rig are specialist feeders, mainly eating things like crabs and crayfish, but the humble prawn from the supermarket will always get them.

Cooked and raw both work well and one may out fish the other on any given day. I prefer banana prawns, although they are fairly pricey and work out at nearly a dollar each on special, that’s why I tend to use crab.

Once you have a device for catching crabs, it’s usually only a couple dollars a trip for some lamb or ox heart for bait to bring them to your pot. When baiting hooks with really small crabs I put them on whole, but I cut the large ones in half and bind their legs up the shank.

A two-hook dropper is my rig of choice for rig

fishing. When you cast out off the pier, make sure you set your drag. It also helps to bungee your rod to the pier, because I’ve seen a fair few rods pulled into the water by a hard-hitting rig.

Then it’s a matter of sitting back and waiting to hear possibly the sweetest sound there is, line peeling out at a great rate.

Try to remain calm and remember to untie your bungee before lifting your rod. With rig there isn’t usually much need to strike, as often the hit alone will hook the fish.

For the likes of rays, seven gillers, tope and dogfish, they aren’t fussy feeders, although as they say, fresh is best, kahawai or mullet. Bonito will also work fine.

The bigger fish have to be walked all the way down the pier to the beach, although some of us use a four pronged gaff on a rope to bring big fish up, but only if we intend to keep it.

Remember, if you don’t want to eat it, put it back!

The pier is a great place to fish. It’s safe, with high hand rails so children cant fall in and there is always someone friendly, willing to give a hand if you get that big fish. It beats sitting at home in front of the TV!

Worth the Wait

By Darryn Palmer

It was a long time coming, but for Richard Eden persistence paid off.

After years of trying, he was finally successful during the Christmas holidays catching himself his first ever takeable kingfish.

Richard was trolling off the mussel spat farm in Tasman Bay when the 91-centimetre 25-pound kingi hit his Rapala Magnum 30 lure.

After a brief spirited fight, the fish was safely brought on board the boat. Richard was rapt and reckons the drought has broken and hopefully there’ll be plenty more.

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Super Support for Taggers

By Troy Dando

Summer brings warm weather and the super yacht cruise season to Nelson. It also brought me into contact with the crew on the super yacht Slojo. Having heard of their passion for fishing I felt duty bound to give them a little taste of what Nelson has to offer.

After talking to the captain and mate I decided to introduce them to jigging, something they’d never tried. I decided a day trip to French Pass would be a good introduction to mechanical jigging while showcasing the stunning scenery.

We loaded up and hit the road to Okiwi Bay, launched and arrived nice and early at French Pass. The recent kingfish catch reports had been very bad so I didn’t expect a slaying session, but you never know on the day. We fished the normal spots in the Pass with little luck and just as hope was fading I spotted a couple of gannets on the wing and gave chase.

We stopped the boat and gave the lads the go sign and away they went getting jiggy. First to hook up was Josh and by the smile on his face it was obvious he’d just become forever hooked on jigging. A five-minute battle and he landed his first fish.

Next Scotty got smashed and taken to the rail but the hook pulled before he could land it. A

few drops later he hooked up again and this time brought in a good fish. After a few more fish, including some XOS ‘Australian salmon’ or kahawai to us Kiwis, we headed back to Okiwi Bay, threw the dredge over and got a feed of scallops. All round a great day!

Following that successful trip I was asked by the captain if I would join Slojo at d’Urville Island and take them fishing again. No problem! For the second trip I again took out some of the crew as well as some guests in what were not the best conditions. We hunted around Stephens Passage and finally Adrian hooked up to a nice kingfish and landed it.

I explained about the tagging programme we were running in the region, which was meet with an enthusiastic response. We returned to the mother ship after stopping off to grab a feed of bugs. None of the visitors could believe how much seafood was on tap in such a beautiful area.

The owners and friends of Slojo were so impressed with the kingfish tagging initiative they gifted $500 towards the programme.

Their generosity will go a long way to provide more tags so we can continue to study the fishery and protect it for the future. It’s a really

kind donation and on behalf of all the kingfish fishers in the region I thank them.

Just as I thought it was all over I was offered the opportunity to travel to Auckland on Slojo and take them fishing at the Ranfurly Banks and Great Barrier Island. The fishing was insane with kingfish landed left, right and centre. The first two drops at Ranfurly Banks produced hapuka in less than 50 metres of water. The snapper fishing at Great Barrier was awesome with big snapper getting landed on jigs as easy as hooking herrings with sabikis, and the gannets smashing the water in the tens of thousands is

Join The Fishing Paper Tag Team The local kingfish are going off. Use this opportunity to play a part and tag a kingi!

something I will always remember.

The lads from Slojo earned their stripes and are now fully-fledged mechanical jiggers with the world’s oceans ahead of them to go forth and conquer.

Send us a photo of your tagged kingfish and if published you win a Black Magic Livebait Gift Pack.

Valued at $ .95

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Big Blue Dive and Fish Cnr Akersten St & Wildman Ave, Port Nelson 03 546 7411 Coppins Outdoors 255 High St, Motueka 03 528 7296 Henderson’s 38 Grove Road, Blenheim 03 578 9960 Stirling Sports 213 Queen St, Richmond 03 544 8290

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Wave Trout Returns

By Craig Grant

Kingies Through The Magic Window

By Jason Wathne The Boulder Bank shouldering Nelson Harbour should have been lit up with street lights; instead it lit up with kingies and that made for some thrilling action.

Our technique was pretty simple: troll until we got a strike and then mark it on the GPS. Over the course of a week we’d built up some pretty reliable reference marks and were able to distinguish a pattern for the kingies’ suppertime antics.

Our secret technique was to troll a Walk the Dog casting lure amongst the others and, for some reason, that was the one that kept getting nailed – perhaps something to do with

the erratic action it imparted.

Once we got a hook up, all other lures were pulled in and we had a man ready with a stick bait set up. There were big fish following in the hooked kingfish and all that was required was a couple of casts of the stick bait and we were in again – double trouble!

We caught a lot of kingies, had an absolute blast and released most of the fish, taking just the odd one for a feed. A big thanks to Mario and Tony of Big Blue Dive & Fish for the tips.

The magic window for trolling kingies along the Boulder Bank in February? Change of light in the evening regardless of the tide.

James Mathieson with his 1.960kg barracouta.

On our way to Lake Aviemore, to camp with friends I sent a text to David asking him to get some worms.

30 years ago I had stalked trout on the western beaches when they were pounded by the waves in the easterly wind which arrived most afternoons. Back then there were small red worms living in the stones. They fed on the lake weed that was washed up onto the shore but some got washed out into the water. Any other floating insects blown across the lake also ended up in the waves and that’s where the trout came to feed.

On our way in I noticed more trees lining the beaches.

In places the stones were now pebbles, there was more sand on the beaches and the lake had claimed more land, but I was sure the wave trout would still be there. As we finished setting up camp at Waitangi Station the easterly wind blowing across the lake freshened. It was wave trout time. I made my excuses, said I wouldn’t be long, and drove to the first beach which was a kilometre or two away.

The waves were crashing into the shore when I arrived.

They hadn’t changed but they weren’t carrying as much lake weed onto the shore as they once had. I rigged up my toy Hikalite rod with a swivel for extra weight to cast the line against the wind.

Family ‘Couta’ Day

David’s worms were very small so I used two. My first target was a random cruiser, but it didn’t stay long, however the next fish I spotted had a beat and when I followed him along the beach it was like stepping back in time. I was in the groove again as I kept casting into the waves ahead of him.

When I hooked it the fish headed out into the lake as they always did. I kept it on the surface then let the waves push it back to the shore. A short time late I was back at camp with the trout.

By Brett Bensemann The recent Tautuku Fishing Club family day ‘Couta Hunt, on Dunedin Harbour and Otago Coast was a huge success. The focus of the annual event is to introduce children to the skills of fishing the local waters and the prolific barracouta made the perfect target species.

It’s all about getting young people interested in fishing, because as most of us know once your hooked, you’re hooked for life. By getting them interested at a young age also helps sustain the future of our fishing club. It’s a win-win situation!

All those who caught ‘coutas were rewarded with prizes at the club barbecue after the day’s weigh in.

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Captain’s Log: Beam me up spotty

It should be ‘Beam me up little kingi’ because that’s pretty much how it happened and it saved the day – or more precisely, my reputation!

In early February I was scheduled to film an episode of a new television series called Catch and Cook. The show is hosted by American adventurer, Aaron Carotta, and the basic premise sees Aaron travelling New Zealand and responding to a series of challenges put to him by celebrity chefs. Celeb’ chef says, “ Go forth and catch this and I’ll teach you to cook it!”

Nelson was episode eight on the agenda and by the time the crew hit town, celeb’

Salmon

Perfection – Cover Story

By Darryn Palmer Perfect conditions, a cold river and an idyllic morning. What more could a salmon angler want, except maybe a magnificent fish?

Mark Preston of Hamills Christchurch got it all early one Sunday on the Rangitata River. It was the first opportunity for him to get out on the river.

The evening before Mark spotted a nice little hole had developed on the south side of the river about a kilometre from

chefs were obviously getting a bit thin on the ground so The Mad Chef was called to dust off his loin cloth and TV history was made – seriously, TV history was made. I won’t reveal the whole saga here because Aaron has sold the show to Food Television, so we will get to see the series here. It starts sometime in May so we’ll keep you posted once we get the schedule and believe me, the Nelson episode is one you want to tune in for.

Aaron reckoned it was the pick of the series so far and had a hoot, completing a staggering FOUR challenges in record time.

FOUR? Yeah, well I don’t do things by halves. I would have given him one challenge like everyone else, except I panicked. I was kakking bricks because the week they arrived to do the shoot, the fish stopped biting. We had two earthquakes, five days of easterlies, a full moon, the snapper were still spawning and then I was told I only had one day to deliver the fish. At this juncture I thought I’d be clever but in reality it turned out to be the point my brain imploded and I regressed to thumb sucking.

I presented him with FOUR challenges on camera, with the intention that he’d have a fair chance of getting one of them and I wouldn’t look like a dick on TV. I’m not good at languages and I obviously didn’t speak Yank clear enough because he interpreted it as, “You’ve got to catch the whole bloody lot and make it snappy big boy!”

Let’s just say the show ended with another challenge – I had to create a recipe, ON CAMERA, using FOUR ingredients.

You’ll need to see the show to believe it. We made TV history. Stay tuned!

the mouth, and decided an early morning mission the following day was on the cards.

Leaving camp before anyone else was even stirring, he launched his kayak and quietly sneaked over to the south side.

He had the entire river to himself.

On the fourth cast of his 17-gram silver zeddie, as the sky was turning from the lingering greyness of night into a stunning sun filled dawn, he hooked up and it was suddenly all on.

This was the most spirited fish he’d ever played in all the years on the Rangitata, taking him on a 300-metre journey along the river before it was finally wrestled to the bank and landed.

Mark reckons this mighty fourteen-pound fighter had probably come up the river the night before and launched itself at the first bit of silver offered to it.

He says a fish like this, makes those hundreds of hours on the river over previous seasons, all the more worth while.

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FISHING PAPER

Published by Coastal Media Ltd 7 Kotua Place, Wakatu Industrial Estate, NELSON PO Box 9001, Annesbrook, 7044, NELSON Ph 03 544 7020 Fax 03 544 7040 www.thefishingpaper.co.nz

Editor Daryl Crimp 021 472 517 editor@thefishingpaper.co.nz

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Annette Bormolini 021 996 541 sales@thefishingpaper.co.nz Laura Loughran getresults@thefishingpaper.co.nz 021 277 2575

Graphic Design Patrick Connor production@thefishingpaper.co.nz Printer Guardian Print Deputy Editor Ron Prestage

Assistant Editor Darryn Palmer darrynp@thefishingpaper.co.nz

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Contributors

Tony Hill

Daryl Crimp

Greg Gilbert

Darryn Palmer

Troy Dando

Ali Kennard

Jason Wathne

John Crawley Kevin Bannan Mark Wills

Poppa Mike

Brett Bensemann

Tony Orman

Ron Prestage

Daniel Eddy

Kim Swan

Betty McNabb

Mark Weir

Dave Duncan

Philip Strang

Emily Arthur

Brayden Currin

Mark Wills

Kathy Pantling

Richard Cairns

Mark Roden

Ivan Wilson

Tom Robinson

Malcolm Halstead

Adrian Staal

Dave Dixon

Lynda Buckett

Peter Harker

Trevor Alty

Lawson Davey

Steve McCarthy Steve Bennett

The Fishing Paper is published by Coastal Media Ltd. All editorial copy and photographs are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions or comments expressed within this publication are not necessarily those of the staff, management or directors of Coastal Media Ltd. Unsolicited editorial, letters, photographs will only be returned if you include a stamped self addressed envelope.

The Fishing Paper encorporates the Top of the South Edition and The Canterbury Edition.

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Robson Green in the Extreme

Robson Green speaks exclusively and candidly to Crimpy about his unique and unbelievable gig – Extreme Fishing.

Crimpy: Why is fly-fishing your thing?

Robson: It helps me to relax.

It’s not an escape, it’s getting back to how it was. You are not isolated, you are surrounded by solitude which is completely different from isolation.

Crimpy: You originally turned down the offer to do Extreme Fishing - why?

Robson: I’m an actor, not a presenter and I truly believe I’m still not. Sadly I said no!

I’ve seen fishing shows and

Crimpy: Did you envisage the show would be huge?

Robson: No, not at all. Let me tell you – when I did the first episode in Costa Rica I thought I’d never work again. I was so awful – I was way outside my hinterland, my comfort zone.

I tried to be an expert and I’m not – I just know what I know, which is kind of limited but what I do know I can kind of articulate in a way where I know all walks of life will watch this – I want people to have a good night out when they watch it.

Crimpy: Are the reactions we see on TV the real Robson Green or a bit of hamming for the camera?

Crimpy: How has the show changed your perception of fishing?

Robson: It’s broadened my mind so that I embrace all methods. I never understood why people wanted to catch a marlin but then curiosity takes you over and I think it’s a true human emotion that you do want to witness what lies beneath.

Crimpy: What’s been the most challenging species for you” Robson: Fly-fishing for bonefish in Cuba, which is all about accuracy. The kind of parameters you got in order to catch a fish – you are talking inches – and then there’s the fight. Pound for pound they are the greatest fighting fish I’ve ever come across.

Crimpy: What goes on behind the scenes?

Robson: I get paid for waiting – the fishing I get for free! (Lots of laughing) There have been

Crimpy where are all the fish?

I don’t think they capture the real heart and human aspect and environmental aspect of what we do.

Crimpy: What changed your mind?

Robson: I met the producer and he sold me the idea of fishing all the continents of the world – not in a high octane way, but extreme in locations, extreme in species and extreme in contributors, because there are some pretty crazy people out there who do some pretty extreme kinds of fishing.

Crimpy: Apart from entertainment, is there an underlying theme to the show?

Robson: To showcase fishing in a positive light because, for some reason, rod and line fisherman seem to get a bad rap – we seem to get corralled into the same group as commercial fisherman who are raping and purging the oceans.

Robson: Let me tell you, last year I caught a 12lb salmon on the Twee on a fly and I screamed – it was just so beautiful I can’t help myself.

And when I lose a fish I get deeply upset!

Crimpy: I have to say there are times when you do seem a little peeved.

Robson: (laughs) Like the time in the Philippines where we decided to live the philosophy of the show and eat what we caught. We took nothing but water and tea and for 16 hours caught nothing!

On the sixteenth hour I caught a dorado, which are very aerial fighters, and lost it at the boat.

There was this moment of silence – you could hear the tumbleweed for minutes!

some butt-clenching awful fishing experiences.

Crimpy: Your worst experience?

Robson: In a force 9 gale 35 miles off Canada. I thought, “This is it – we are going down!”

The captain was terrified and that bled into the whole crew.

That was 36 hours of hell.

Crimpy: How did you cope?

Robson: I became very religious. I certainly did – I became a religious man. I cried like a girl … I thought …I’m not drowning, not drowning!

Crimpy: One more important question – do you get groupies?

Robson: Yeeaaaah (big grin) … Back in England you wouldn’t believe how many women have taken up angling because of the programme.

Dunno why … must be the attractive presenter!

Yakking with Kathy Sunrise Snapper By Kathy Pantling

“I had to check again, as the sea was so flat I felt like I was kayaking on a lake rather than the sea!”

We set off at 6.00am from the beach at Rabbit Island with the sun just peeking slowly over the Richmond Ranges casting a beautiful golden glow across the ocean, providing a stunning light to paddle out with.

This was my first trip out in 20 weeks and initially I was taking it cautiously, but once I was paddling out towards the horizon there was no stopping me. We had launched on a mid incoming tide and my sounder was sending me the signals that said below me were some hungry snapper!

We paddled out to around the 25ft mark and dropped anchors and bait. We waited and took a few snaps of the beautiful sunrise and waited some more. Where were the fish? Pulled the bait up to check it was still there. Yes not a nibble. Back down again just a few turns off the bottom and bang I was in and at the same time hubby was shouting, “I’m in!” We both hauled up similar sized snapper, around the 35cm mark, so with a quick kiss we sent them

back to tell their mates the food was good tucker under the orange kayaks!

It wasn’t long before they had gathered their pals and they were well and truly on the feed.

In just a few hours we had caught close to the limit and with one final bait, dropped by hubby, he pulled up a great fish, a beautiful 55cm snapper.

A few days later we ventured out again to the same place at a similar time. The sea was awash with bait fish, I had never seen so many small kahawai and piper all around the 6 inch size. I threw a pilly head overboard and it was like a piranha feeding frenzy. They went mad for it and even jumped into the kayak! But with all the bait fish around the snapper weren’t interested in my boring pilchards, no matter how I dressed them up to look like gourmet tucker. But I did have one trick up my sleeve picked up from the local deli counter. Our secret weapon, cooked whole prawns. Those Tasman Bay snapper obviously like pink, because that really got them feeding. Within a few hours we had a great catch and were paddling home looking forward to a fish lunch!

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Whether the Weather

ViewPoint Betty McNabb

By Daniel Eddy

Further Development Concerns Recreational fishers are becoming increasingly concerned at the expansion of aquaculture in the Marlborough Sounds, particularly Pelorus Sound.

Graham Knowles with one of his winners.

Permits are still being granted for new mussel farms and for extensions to existing ones.

Although I’m not opposed to aquaculture, the cumulative impact where mussel farms are concentrated in large numbers must be causing an undue adverse effect on the benthic communities beneath the farms.

In places where numerous farm are situated in one bay, the alienation of space is adversely affecting the habitat

of domiciled finfish including the seabed dwelling fish. In Admiralty Bay the feeding area for dolphins is greatly diminished.

Recreational fishers are finding more and more space allocated to aquaculture at the expense of erstwhile fishing grounds.

King Salmon and others are applying for permits for new space, for extensions to established farms, or for a change of use to enable mussel farms to switch to finfish culture.

Some of the King Salmon applications are for outside the former aquaculture

management areas. Those in the Waitata Reach are of particular concern.

A Cawthron Institute report states the dispositional footprint of a typical finfish farm can extend great distances from the point of discharge and although the impact of such pollution diminishes with distance it is an aspect of finfish aquaculture that must be taken into account.

All recreational fishers who are genuinely concerned about the future of the recreational fishery in the Marlborough Sounds should be taking an active part in the hearings for these applications.

fishing story

There’s an old saying, “Little boys who tell white lies grow up to be weather forecasters.” This was surely proven last month during the inaugural Edward Gibbon Corporate Fishing Competition in Napier.

The weatherman said to expect variable five to ten knots but instead a big ugly southerly of twenty plus knots hammered us.

We left at 3.00am bound for Portland Island in a 10.5-metre boat and spent four hours getting there with waves crashing over the vessel.

We had our company’s big cheese Graham Knowles on the boat with us, and he wasn’t doing too well in the heavy weather.

However, that all changed when we started hooking into the fish with our boat winning all the tarakihi and crayfish prizes. The boss managed to take away three prizes!

There was an impressive prize table thanks to the generosity of sponsors with categories for gurnard, snapper, tarakihi, groper and kingfish, as well as a crayfish section for divers. However, the wicked weather meant no one could get out to get kingies or groper.

It was a hard southerly, with hardly any fish caught but everyone had a ball and we’ll be back next year.

From Westport: Greymouth +05 minutes Hokitika +10 minutes Karamea +35 minutes Whanganui Inlet -1 hour 05 minutes From Nelson: Picton is -47 minutes on the high tides and -1 hour 19 minutes on the low tide Elaine Bay -35 minutes Stephens Island -30 minutes Collingwood -25 minutes Croisilles Harbour -18 minutes on the high tides and -02 minutes on the low tides

Tide Chart

March 2012

Marine Weather 24/7 NELSON • 1341 AM MARLBOROUGH • 92.1FM WEST COAST • 98.7FM

From Akaroa: Kaikoura +1 hour 08 minutes on the high tides and +1 hour on the low tides Lyttelton +43 minutes on the high tides and +42 minutes on the low tides Moeraki -1 hour 08 minutes on the high tides and -35 minutes on the low tides

FISHING WITH CRIMPY NELSON • 1341 AM MARLBOROUGH • 92.1FM WEST COAST • 98.7FM SATURDAY MORNINGS | 7 - 7.30 To find out what’s hot and what’s not and whose rod has a in it.

Join Crimpy and Darryn for fishing mayhem, madness and much more!

Tidal data supplied by OceanFun Publishing Ltd www.ofu.co.nz Note: Tides in chronological order. Lower daily depth = low tides. Higher daily depth = high tides.

The fishing Paper 13

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Adventure Aaron’s Seafood Supreme I created this recipe live on camera to celebrate Aaron’s amazing effort in ‘knocking off’ all four of The Mad Chef’s challenges in world record time. It’s a stunner!

Spicy Pan-seared Kingfish (and/or snapper) with Crab & Cockle (clam) Risotto and Red Capsicum Puree Fish Stock (cooking time 30 minutes) Fish frames, heads and crab bodies 1 onion roughly chopped 1 carrot roughly chopped 1 head of garlic with base cut off Salt to taste 2-3 litres of water (enough to cover frames)

Spicy Seared Kingfish/Snapper (cooking time 2-3 minutes per batch)

800g white fish fillets cut 1cm thick 2tbsp oil 25g butter 1tsp cumin 1tsp ground coriander 1tsp tumeric 1/2tsp Garam Masala Place all ingredients in a large pot, bring to the boil and 2tsp plain flour then turn back to a simmer.

Simmer for 30 minutes and season to taste. Strain and cool. Combine all dry ingredients to form a rub or seasoning for the fish.

Sediment will settle and stock can be decanted.

Heat oil and butter over a moderate-high heat and Crab & Cockle Risotto (cooking time 15 – 20 minutes) shallow fry fish portions in batches for a minute per side.

Remove to absorbent paper.

1 cup risotto rice 1 onion finely diced ¼ cup white wine 600ml fish stock 2tbsp light cooking oil 25g butter 1tbsp finely diced red capsicum 2 cups fresh crabmeat ½ cup chopped cockle (clam) meat 1tbsp crème fraiche Heat oil over moderate-high heat and sweat onions until soft and translucent. Add rice and cook for three minutes, stirring continuously.

Pour in wine, stirring as it is absorbed.

Now add a quarter of the stock and stir until it is absorbed.

Add stock a ladleful at a time, stirring as the liquid is absorbed.

Keeping adding and reducing stock until rice is creamy and soft to the bite.

Fold into the risotto the diced capsicum, cockles, crabmeat and crème fraiche.

Red Capsicum Puree 2 red capsicum Fire!

Either under an oven grill or over a gas flame, char the skin of both peppers all over until black.

Place in a plastic bag and allow to sweat for several minutes or until just cool enough to handle.

Under a cold tap, peel skin and discard.

Cut away stalk and discard seeds.

Place flesh of capsicum in blender and puree.

Combine all the ingredients on a plate and serve.

14 The fishing Paper

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Artificial Reef For Tasman Bay?

BOOK REVIEW

Hook, Line and Blinkers

By Gareth Morgan and Geoff Simmons Reviewed By Phillip Strang

By Darryn Palmer

A Nelson man sees much of Tasman Bay’s seafloor as a desert, and wants to put life back into it.

Ex dive instructor and keen recreational fisher, Tony Hill sees artificial reefs as a way of providing fish habitat to be used by fishers and divers.

His idea started while working for a construction company developing the

boardwalk on Nelson’s Wakefield Quay when he saw tonnes of hardfill dredged from the foreshore and dumped in a landfill. It could have been the base of an artificial reef instead.

After close to 12 months research and planning, he’s submitted his concept to the Nelson City Council to be included in its annual plan.

When a well educated, smart and articulate person, who has among other things been chosen as New Zealander of the year and one of the 10 most important New Zealanders, says something, most of us may listen. When that person ventures forth on a subject that aligns with your own interests, you would be silly not to listen.

During investigations Tony approached the owner of the old Australian hardwood fishing trawler Alfred, that has been sitting on the Port Nelson hard stand for many years, to use as a reef base structure. The owner supports the idea in principle.

Tony originally eyed a site near the cardinal marker in Tasman Bay, but is now looking closer inshore, to the southern end of the Horoirangi Marine Reserve adjacent to the Boulder Bank. This will put it within easy reach of all recreational fishers and divers.

Feedback so far has been positive. Tony’s yet to get reaction from the environmental lobby, but is expecting support because it will enhance marine biodiversity.

He says the project is now in the, “Hurry up and wait phase,” while the council ponders his proposal before public consultation.

I enjoy Gareth Morgan’s ability to relate complex issues in a manner, which is usually easy to read and digest, but does not become so dumbed down that the unassailable and wellresearched economics of the argument is lost.

A fair chunk of this book appears at first glance to be esoteric, and excuse the pun rather ‘wet and woolly’; discussing the international fisheries and the co-relationship between the fish, oceans, global warming and all the other

‘inconvenient truths’ that are bombarding us almost daily. But don’t be put off by this initial and first half appearance. While some of this discussion is indulgent, most is necessary background to the hard hitting points the authors make in the later chapters; in particular chapter seven on recreational fishing.

This is a timely and readable book. It does not have all the answers or posit all of the questions. There are occasional leaps of logic or argument, but for the most part the authors do a fine job of maintaining the threads of a well researched and well constructed argument.

That they appear to share the same passion for protecting and enhancing the fishery as I do, but are far better placed, articulate, resourced means that they are powerful allies and this book and its resultant discussion, a potent tool.

In Touch with North Canterbury

By Emily Arthur The new manager of North Canterbury Fish & Game comes from a different background from its past managers whom have traditionally been promoted from field based roles.

Rod Cullinane is a qualified lawyer and accountant with a long history of corporate management that he hopes will bring a different perspective to the organisation. The Council hired Rod to bring just this new perspective.

Rod will also bring an understanding of returning home empty handed from a fishing trip – an experience

all anglers have from time to time! Rod says when he heads out to the lakes his wife says “Rod’s going fishing - we’re having sausages for dinner.”

Rod learned to fish as a youngster on annual family holidays to Taupo, trolling on the lake and flyfishing on rivers such as the Waitahanui.

He admits he has had much less success since moving down to the South Island, but hopes to rectify this.

His favourite place to fish in Canterbury is the Coleridge lakes, such as Selfe and Georgina. He has never been salmon fishing but is keen to

Angler Profile: Rod Cullinane

Manager North Canterbury Fish & Game

learn.

In his time at Fish & Game Rod plans to review the structure of the organisation and make it more efficient.

“I want to look at whether we are doing justice to the different areas we are managing. Can we do things more efficiently?” he says.

One of the things Rod hopes to tackle in his time at Fish & Game is to make sure the hatchery is operating at its best. “North Canterbury is fortunate in that it has one of the largest hatcheries producing sports fish in the South Island. Not only is this a fantastic opportunity for our region, but it enables us to support other regions.”

He adds that North Canterbury is also unique in that it faces some of the toughest challenges to its waterways and fishery. “There needs to be a transformation in the farming sector - there is an obligation from this industry to preserve our natural assets from pollution,” says Rod. He plans to carry on the strong advocacy role that Fish & Game has shown in this area.

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Harbour Views Ramp Antics

How good are you with your trailer and boat on board? Are you aware a boat trailer can be even harder to back when empty?

Boat ramps can be the sources of great amusement for onlookers as frustrated boaties attempt to reverse a trailer with a boat on, or back the empty trailer down to collect a boat.

Here are a few tips for you at the main Port Nelson boat ramp.

If you have the luxury of help, get someone to walk down beside the trailer, at the engine end, keeping an eye out for those errant children or pedestrians.

Drive you car and boat toward the ramp and turn hard right at the top, ensuring your car and boat are in a straight line ready to reverse.

Ensure you have clear vision of the trailer wing in your driver’s side, side mirror.

As you start to move astern (backwards) you should occasionally lose sight of this wing and then regain it. This means you are traveling in a near straight line.

If you begin to see more and more of your boat, the trailer is swinging to the right, turn your wheel to the right, and the trailer should straighten then go left. If you lose sight of the trailer completely, look in your offside mirror and you should see it there. Turn your steering wheel to the left and the trailer will swing to the right. Therein lies the key, turn your steering wheel towards the trailer and it will go the opposite way.

By Dave Duncan

Tandem trailers can take longer to react than single wheel trailers. It is a practiced art so try and get to the boat ramp when it is not in use and practice.

Don’t forget to put your bungs in while the boat is on the dry.

Don’t take the safety chain off until the boat is in the water.

Don’t lower the engine until the boat is in the water and then only as far as it needs to create propulsion.

You have to be aged 15 or older to be in charge of a boat. An adult being on the hard with the car does not count.

If you are alone ensure you are able to efficiently remove the boat from the trailer, berth it and quickly remove the trailer from the ramp.

You cannot leave a car and trailer on the ramp. You cannot leave a car and trailer in the wash down area.

If you don’t pay your ramp fees your trailer will get clamped.

Ensure your boat lights work When your partner is driving the boat onto the trailer for you, don’t stand between it and the winch!

I also recommend you don’t drive the car into the water ahead of the boat, although you will provide great amusement!

Happy Boating. If in doubt – don’t go out”

Sizeitright Supports Compliance

By Richard Cairns SizeItRight Inventor After talking with Field Operations manager and honorary fisheries officers it seems many people are turning a ‘blind eye’ to our fishery laws.

I’m the first to admit it’s hard to sometimes size fish correctly, but if you are good enough to fish, dive or gather bounty from our shores or seas, it is your responsibility to know and obey these rules.

From the Ministry standpoint – ignorance of the rules is not a defence.

There are different sets of rules for parts of New Zealand waters. If you are in the fantastic position of catching that prize fish but are unsure of local sizing, bag limits and have forgotten to get a legal fish measuring tool, then read on, as help is finally here.

With the latest phone capability you can log on to www.fishgovt.nz then hit the species you have caught. The return text will inform you of sizing and bag limits.

And the best part - it is all FREE. Don’t get caught.

The only part now is accurately sizing length. This is where a sizeitright product removes any doubt, confusion or room for error and the device is Ministry approved.

Go to sizeitright.co.nz and hit ‘retailers’ to purchase your legal slip in fish measuring devices and play your part in helping to manage our resource.

If you are still unsure, pass that phone to the nearest child or teenager for a rapid response from the Minisrty of Fisheries.

Remember, either use a sizing device or return that fish back to the sea. If in doubt - check, check, check - it costs you nothing, but can save you plenty.

Good diving and fishing The Team Sizeitright Ltd

The Best Fun Ever

By Brayden Currin (10yrs)

Over the last two years my dad has been teaching me to fish for trout and I love it.

I now have all my own gear and I can spend hours on the riverbank hoping for a fish.

During the New Year holidays my family went freedom camping to a friend's property on the Pelorus River.

I helped my dad land this five-pound brown trout. I also caught a smaller rainbow all on my own.

We kept the brown trout to smoke and eat – yummy. But most of the time we catch and release them so that there will be more fish to catch another day.

I reckon fishing is the best fun ever!

16 The fishing Paper

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18 The fishing Paper

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Testfire: Garmin GPSmap 78sc

Coastlines Quite A Week

By Darryn Palmer

This is one cool piece of kit! I’ve been using handheld GPS units for more than six-years after becoming hooked on the sport of geocaching - a game of high-tech hide and seek. It’s an international outdoor sporting activity where participants use a GPS receiver to hide and seek containers, called geocaches or caches. But this review isn’t about an addictive sport my whole family enjoys; it’s about the technology we use.

A GPSmap 78sc arrived at The Fishing Paper office and editor Crimpy decided that because I was, 'into that kind of stuff,' I could give it a go.

The set up was child’s play; in fact my 10-year-old daughter did it while I was distracted on a phone call. She simply connected it via USB to our PC and the device did the rest. It auto connected to the Garmin website, registered itself, updated its firmware and was ready to go in a couple of minutes. One niggle I have is the full instruction manual for the GPS is only available on the Garmin website so has to be downloaded and printed out.

We couldn’t wait to give it a go so logged onto the geocaching website and found a new cache on the hill behind our house. The GPS acquired satellites amazingly quickly from inside the building, which is impressive and held them even when walking under the bush canopy, something my old GPS struggles to do.

The 78sc is solid, compared with some touch screen devices now on the market. This gives a feel of genuine sturdiness, offering the reassurance that if you drop it, it will survive.

It’s powered by two AA batteries, which Garmin suggests will give 20 hours continual use. Over the three months I tested the unit, I discovered a marked variation depending on battery brand. Cheapies just didn’t last, whereas highpowered Energiser alkalines gave 12 to 15 hours performance. That was my only disappointment.

But this device is much more than a toy. The simple menu system allows you to customise it for whichever outdoor pursuit you choose whether it’s hunting, tramping, mountain biking, even endurance running where it can be used with the optional heart rate monitor accessory.

But on the water is where Garmin has clearly designed this model of GPS to be most at home. The 78sc is perfect for kayaks and small open boats. It floats, features a high-sensitivity receiver, and two onboard sensors, with an internal electronic compass and a barometric altimeter. It also comes with Garmin BlueChart coastal charts preloaded. Information about navigation markers, tides, currents, hazards and nearby marine services can be found quickly via the ‘Find’ key. It’ll even give you the best fishing time each day!

The 78sc also has a very clever man overboard function that is activated by pressing and holding the MOB key. Then, by simply following the bearing needle in the compass rose, you can navigate straight back to the point the person fell overboard.

This is a fantastic unit with a myriad of features and a very clear bright screen easily readable in strong sunlight.

I highly recommend it. In fact when I hand it back to the boss I’m going to be lost without it!

Join the on

It was quite a week. However at the end of it I still got to cast a line.

The phone rang at something to 11 on the Monday night of Christmas week. Son-in-law told us our pregnant daughter was in hospital.

Thinking there’s never good news when the telephone goes late at night, we headed up to the hospital post haste. She was taken by ambulance the forty kilometres to Hokitika airport, then around 2.00am flown to Christchurch.

Our thoughts were very much on our girl and the baby over the next day or so, then sonin-law called to advise they had a son! Mother and the lad were doing well in spite of him being two months early. A well conditioned four pounder definitely a keeper!

Then just when folk thought maybe it was all calming down, the beleaguered city was bashed by another swarm of earthquakes.

Ronald McDonald House in Cashel Street was home away from home for the new mum and dad meaning strolls to and from hospital along the Avon River, quite a nostalgic amble for me, because that was where I first wet a line as a lad. Old, green, hollow copper, two piece, screw-together rod, with a wooden handle and an Alpha reel, which I still have.

I looked for trout each time and on one visit further into the CBD there were five just upstream of the Bridge of Remembrance, one a particularly good specimen nice to still see them still there.

As I recall it, the river from

By Ivan Wilson

Armagh Street Bridge around to the Barbados Street Bridge is closed water, so no rod was brandished on this occasion.

After an enjoyable extended family Christmas Day picnic in the gardens and having ensured ourselves that mum and baby were doing well, we headed back to the Coast.

I usually take fishing gear when we head to the city because we pass an awful lot of

Ivan on a better day

great water, so on the way home we stopped and I took the rod for a walk around a lake.

Conditions included sunshine, a strong westerly, white capped waves and long lines of foam…. ideal! Really? Too right! Just get a dry fly across and a little down the gusts, then follow it as it bobs along in the wind. You see the brownies come up out of the

depths in the sunshine and roll through for the take – classic!

But which fly to use? Trout in the High Country know what a blowfly looks like, so I tried that pattern. It had a nice iridescent blue body sparkling in the sunlight and sitting up well on the surface, it was easy to see amongst the waves and spume.

However, it might have been too gaudy as the only fish that rose in the short time available,

certainly knew what a 'blowy' looked like. It checked the artificial out and sank back down again!

Still – it was a good walk in darn good surroundings and a nice time to reflect on things.

All in all quite a week, but I got to wet a line on the way home to wet the baby’s head!

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Stealing Silver from Geriatrics

By Adrian Staal By seven o’clock in the morning there were already 44 cars parked at MacIntosh’s Hole on the Waimak’ so it was pointing to a big day with lots of metal in the water and aspirations to match.

But you expect that at the ‘geriatric’s’ hole because it is so accessible, fishes at any time of the tide and it’s not demanding fishing – anyone can chance their arm.

I prefer fishing the mouth on an outgoing tide but work doesn’t always permit this, so this particular morning I joined the masses and proceeded to thrash the water. Only four salmon were landed during the course of the morning and by the time the sun was reaching its zenith, most anglers had tired and departed.

Then my perseverance paid

off. My rod bent under the weight of a reasonable fish and the hours of constant casting evaporated like mist on a warm morning. The fish had snapped at my white 22g Zeddy – the flavour of the moment – to which I’d stuck

a small square of green tape. I was using size two Gamakatsu hooks because the chemically sharpened points set so easily.

Salmon are truly beautiful fish and this one tipped the scales at 12.5lb – not my best to date but after six years

It’s Good Buys This Month Excuse the pun, but it really is good buys this month. Barbara and Robin Duff of Ocean Electronics Christchurch are shutting shop to retire so to celebrate and say goodbye to those who have supported them over the years, they are clearing stock with some pretty staggering deals on offer.

The business will officially close on 31 March and it marks just another transition in the lives of two genuinely warm and interesting people.

Robin and brother Ian started Ocean Electronics over forty years ago, operating from Robin’s home until they acquired land and

built the shop and service centre in Hands Road in the eighties. The business focused on servicing the booming commercial sector in the early days but a growth in recreational fishing thirtyyears-ago spawned the second tier to the business and also marked the diverging paths of the brother.

Barbara joined Ocean Electronics, supposedly on a part time basis, to do the ‘paperwork’ and has enjoyed her role in administration, management and sales ever since! The couple have witnessed huge changes to the industry over the years, the most significant being the rise and rise of huge factory

By Daryl Crimp

trawlers and the sad decline of the inshore fishery.

“On the recreational front, the speed of technological change, sophistication and range of products available has been incredible,” says Barbara.

The couple now feel the time is right to throttle back a bit – Robin’s just turned seventy – and pursue other interests. Robin has a 1923 Buick he’s keen to restore and Barbara has plans to refurbish their lovely villa, as well as devote time to her

chasing the silver beasts, still an awesome thrill. The day ended with a dozen or so taken from MacIntosh’s and more than 20 from the mouth - pay back for all the blank days. other passions – fitness and gardening.

Both have been ardent supporters of The Fishing Paper since its inception and on behalf of the team and our readers, Annette and I wish Barbara and Robin all the very best for their – ‘retirement’!

Footnote: Customers need not panic they’ll be left high and dry because Ocean Electronic technician, Rowan Homes, will be seamlessly continuing to service commercial and recreational users under his new banner, Nautic Electronics Ltd, from 1 April (see ad this page).

20 The fishing Paper

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The Sweetest Sound

The Pink Page

By Lynda Buckett

Join the

on

What’s the best sound of all? The singing line of a kingi!

Buckie says, “Come on Ma I’ll show you what it’s all about, before you take off south for six months.”

Yes we are currently one of those nomads, living in our motor home.

It was 6.00pm and we set off from Stephens Bay with motor home friends, salmon fishers of the far south who couldn’t let a chance go by. Buckie was at the helm.

The start was a bit slow but when we found the ‘special spot’ we had so much fun. I was at the wheel when Gary brought his big one slowly to heel, then it was my turn. Greg cast and ordered me to wind fast. I’ve never felt such life at the other end when it took off all around the boat.

Encouragement was close at hand. “Wind in … let it run … wind in some more … don’t touch the boat … keep away from the motor … just bring it up slowly!” I was puffing from excitement, winding and all the advice.

It was my first kingi, such a neat feeling.

We came home with three keepers and lots of reliving of the experience. Back at camp there was fish to share and more to smoke, along with the usual fishy stories.

Our first weekend south was at the NZMCA “Music in the Mountains” rally at the Tapawera school grounds with 259 motor homes. The music was great, the jam sessions were great too but I could still hear the lines ‘singing’ in the bay.

So I called to Buckie again and back we went for another great evening’s fishing.

Those salmon fishers have a lot to live up to when we hit the deep south later this year!

seafaring superstitions Clergy

Priests are not lucky to have on a ship. They dress in black and perform funeral services. They are a symbol of possible death and anything that makes you think of death or dying is a bad omen.

Penny The Pinko Does it Again

By Trevor Alty Yep novice surfcaster Penny nabbed herself another five pound kahawai recently at North Beach Westport.

Just for fun I tied her up a pink fly, yep you guessed right. Mr Kahawai ignored a prime piece of bait and went straight for the fly. Not bad landing a kahawai this size on a 1/0 hook.

She’s learning.

Pretty soon I’m going to have to tell her, “That’s your rod to worry about, and the other is mine, hands off.”

And the complete pink ensemble graced the beach that day so I now try to pick deserted places to fish. I mean imagine if my mates came along, they would be blinded by the colour.

Frustration Finally Rewarded

By John Crawley

Two or three days of holiday frustration about this snapper fishing thing were starting to take effect.

Feeling a bit glum with little luck in finding anything but spotties, we took some friend’s advice and tried the famed ‘Spot X’ in Kenepuru Sound.

There was a lot of sign on the sounder during the 20 minute boat ride from Moetapu Bay to the hallowed ground, and sure enough it wasn’t too long before we were into a couple of pannies. Yahoo!

Aimee was getting a bit bored with it all, when all of a sudden her stray-lined squid 30 metres behind the boat took off. First

thought it was a stingray, but then we saw that beautiful red colour down deep, and finally we had it boat side. The gaff effort from Dad left lots to be desired. (We didn’t have a net on board, but do now!) The catch was finally dragged onto

Sudoku

the boat, and it was high fives all round.

Whilst we didn’t get any other biggies, this fish gave us all a great thrill, making it a memorable holiday, and we’re already looking forward to next year.

How to solve Sudoku!

Fill the grid so that every row and every 3x3 square contains the digits 1 to 9. Answers on page 31.

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Nelson Company Ices The Rest Most people know water can carry some nasty stomach turning bugs, however few of us think about ice. Those crystal cubes floating in your gin and tonic may just be harbouring hidden bacteria!

Nelson’s number one ice supply company has gone above and beyond to ensure its products are only the very best. Nelson Bays Ice from Southern Distributors has been certified and now meets full New Zealand Food Safety Standards.

Company owner Andrew Bruning says they’ve been fully tested to ensure the water they use is only the best quality. “This means the ice making factory and systems meet high national standards of hygiene.”

To meet the rigorous requirements of becoming Safe Food Certified, Southern Distributors were guided by Julie Bryant, from leading seafood production company, Seafood Solutions.

Andrew says once their plans were written and systems established, Southern Distributors underwent a stringent auditing and inspection process to ensure all criteria were met.

But what does this mean to the customer? Andrew says it means there’s an absolute guarantee of quality. “When you buy Nelson Bays Ice in either a three, five or fifteen kilo bag you’re getting the best, guaranteeing there are no hidden nasties lurking in your glass.”

Salt Ice Another facet of their business is salt ice.

Nelson Bays Salt Ice is popular with fishers, keeping catches fresher for longer.

Salt ice also prevents bacteria and makes filleting easier.

Remember, every hour a fish remains at surface temperature it loses a day’s freshness.

Nelson Bays Salt Ice keeps far longer than fresh water ice.

Fresh water ice, like rinsing your catch in fresh water, can spoil the taste of the fish.

Southern Distributors Salt ice is available from any good tackle store or service station.

More!

But as they say in the TV infomercial world, “Wait there’s more!”

Southern Distributors is also home to Southern Bait.

Good bait is a key ingredient for fishing success and the Southern Bait range comes

with a guarantee of quality.

The list of bait and berley products is enormous and includes pilchards, arrow squid, baby squid, bonito, trevally, anchovies, blue mackerel, sanma, even a kid’s pack. There’s also pilchard and bonito berley, shellfish and kina berley.

They’re also distributors for King Salmon Baby Salmon and Salmon Burley in 1.5 and 4kg packs.

Tackle The Southern Tackle range is another innovation from Southern Distributors. Premade snapper rigs, hooks, sinkers, rods, handlines and spinners are just some of the products available.

Ask for it by name, or if you want to become a distributor contact Andrew at Southern Distributors on 541 8321 or 021 908 549.

Billy the Kid Barlow

By Daryl Crimp The pint-sized four-year-old from Buller may be away from his home turf but after bagging his first fish this Christmas, he reckons the Queen Charlotte Sound is not a bad place. Billy Barlow was fishing with his family aboard Peter Crapper’s 35foot launch when he hooked into this superb blue cod, at a secret location between Cape Jackson and the Auckland Islands.

Billy needed a little coaching from dad, Karl, because he kept pointing the rod tip at the water in anticipation of spearing the fish (you can tell that kid comes from the Coast; Ed). The smile says it all but check out the body language from big sister! I’m picking little Billy was in for a pinching when the grown ups weren’t looking!

LIFE IN THE 1500’S The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying, dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway to keep the thresh in the house, hence the saying, a thresh hold.

Join the

THE

FISHING PAPER

on

22 The fishing Paper

Christmas

Snapper

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Dawnbrea k Fishing Clu er b Story

By Kevin Bannan

It was Christmas Eve, I’d knocked off work for the year and was keen to get out in the boat and hook a few snapper. I was out of bed at 4.00am heading for the Nelson boat ramp but I wasn’t on my own. There was a steady stream of 4-wheel-drive vehicles with boats hooked on the back all heading in the same direction.

Recent floods meant the water was dirty in close so I opted for deeper water. While heading toward Rabbit Island the boat suddenly jumped up then lurched to a halt.

“What the ###?” I thought. Quickly pulling the shift into neutral I looked out the back and saw a log just under the surface. I trimmed the motor up and all looked okay. I still had a prop and the fish finder was still working. There had been warnings of floating logs washed out from the recent floods so I was pleased I had a Stabi and not a glass boat or things could have been a lot worse.

Ten minutes later I reached my spot, 50 feet deep off the western end of Rabbit Island. There was one other boat fishing in the area so I went north a few hundred metres. The slight offshore

breeze helped lay the setline out, then I moved 50 metres north again, started a berley trail and put three rods out. One baited with squid, one with barracouta and the third with a pilchard.

After half an hour with no bites I pulled in the rod with the strip of barracouta and as it got closer to the boat a yellow tail flashed past at high speed. The rod suddenly bent over and line peeled off at a great rate. After a 10-minute battle an 800mm kingi was beside the boat, but I decided that because it was only just over the minimum size, I let it flick the hook out and swim away to fight another day.

An hour went by with no more bites and by this time I was surrounded by about 10 boats.

I was time to pick up the setline. As I pulled it in I felt something with a bit of grunt on one of the hooks and was rewarded with 14.5-pound snapper followed by a nice pan sized snapper on the next trace.

It was only 8.00am and I was on my way home with a smile on my face and my Christmas snapper.

Kids and Boats Children and boats are a great combination, out in the fresh air, learning about the world around them and having fun. Boating is a brilliant family activity!

As skipper, you are responsible for all those on your boat, but children need extra care aboard the boat and around water.

Childproofing the Boat.

Children are less aware of their surroundings and potential dangers. The boat needs to be free from ground tackle, gaffs, knives, and any topside equipment.

Safety Discussions.

In addition to childproofing, it is vital that you have a child safety conversation. Discuss the dangers of mucking round and how ignoring the rules can have deadly consequences.

With older children, demonstrate to them how to operate the radio and make an emergency call, reminding them it’s not a toy.

Also show them where other safety equipment like flares and the EPIRB are stored, and how to use them.

Lifejackets. A life jacket must fit properly; a child will slip out of an adult’s size life jacket in the water.

Life jackets fitted with crotch straps are essential for children.

Many parents ask, “What is the difference between a

life jacket and a buoyancy aid?” The difference is a life jacket is designed with more overall floatation, especially in the front so it can roll an unconscious swimmer face up, and, secondly they have a head support flap that will hold an unconscious swimmer’s head above water. Buoyancy aids have less floatation and are built for maximum flexibility and mobility perfect for water sports. Life jackets are recommended for children, as sometimes kids can be boisterous and are more likely to be knocked overboard by accident.

Entertainment and Food.

Depending upon the age of children, parents need to pack accordingly. This includes enough fluids, snacks, spare clothes, and medicine like motion sickness medications.

Parents should also be mindful that a child’s interest might stray throughout the trip, especially if the fishing goes quiet. Taking other activities or toys to keep them occupied and away from discovering potential dangers is also a good idea.

Age. The minimum age for being in charge of a power boat capable of 10 knots or more is 15 years old; this includes jetskis and dinghies.

But if an adult remains within reach of controls those under the age of 15 are allowed to

operate the boat.

Solo. Don’t go out alone with young children. You need to have another adult aboard who can cope if something happens to you.

Alcohol. Affects judgment, balance and survival time in the water. With children on your boat, your alcohol consumption will affect their survival chances, as well as your own.

If you plan to take children boating, it is your responsibility to ensure that they have the appropriate survival skills. Make sure they learn to swim and teach them boating skills and survival techniques in the water. Remember children look to adults for examples of appropriate behaviour, so do the right thing and they will follow your lead.

The fishing Paper 23

www.thefishingpaper.co.nz

Cast Back in Time Mystery Massive Snapper

Fact or Fiction?

Keen fisher Garth Turner was having a clean out recently when he stumbled across this newspaper clipping from years ago. He thinks it was from The Marlborough Express but can’t be sure.

Apparently captured on an old Box Brownie camera in 1947 (well before the days of Photoshop), the snapper in the picture had an estimated weight of between 140 and 150 pounds!

Is it clever photography, or is it for real? You be the judge.

We’d like more information about the fish and the fisherman.

If you know the story, email me darrynpalmer@ thefishingpaper.co.nz

24 The fishing Paper

www.thefishingpaper.co.nz

g n i t n u h THE

n o i t c se

Fizzing After Mr Big

By Daryl Crimp Another time and place, the incessant croaking would have driven us nuts but perched amongst the scrub in prime fallow country during the rut, the sound had a mellifluous ring to it. There were so many animals on the ‘Honey Spot’, the rasping mating calls rattled continuously, like cicadas in summer. Arrogant bucks strutted back and forth across the rutting pad, postured and parallel-walked with rivals.

Much of it was ritual; a theatre of male bravado but every now and then, in an explosion of rage, energy and testosterone, two bucks violently clashed antlers. The sound caught up with our ears seconds after we’d winced at the spectacle.

The does never batted an eyelid at such displays of machismo, feigning total disinterest – women!

Gary Fissenden and I were on day-two of our trophy fallow hunt near Beaumont in Otago and first light had us in a tiny clearing low-down on the face opposite. We were hunkered down amidst clumps of dried grass and sprawling vegetation and talked softly even though there was zero chance we’d be heard above the din.

Caution was advisable though because two attempts at Mr Big the day before were thwarted and the reason for our botch up was not apparent, other than the possibility Mr Big had a guardian angel looking over him, or more likely a highly tuned sixth-sense.

Fizz spent considerable time bedding himself in, using a juvenile matagouri, his coat and daypack as a bench rest.

I had my eye sutured to the video camera and was not

about to stop recording until the scene unfolded to its natural conclusion. Fizz had moved on to the breathing exercises and any minute I expected him to give birth.

Jokes aside, his methodical approach to shooting was something I learned from; so much of what happens after the bullet is fired is a result of what has gone on long before the trigger is squeezed.

Once settled, Fizz finetuned his grip on the 7mm magnum and waited for the shot to present itself. He had previously taken two nice heads and wasn’t looking for a third, but this was the opportunity of a lifetime and, judging by the set look to his face, the strain of making the 200m shot was beginning to show. Two hundred metres is not a long shot for Fizz but put a record trophy at the end of it and the perspective changes.

Mr Big had settled into a fairly predictable routine and at the end of his third crossing of the rutting pad, he stopped broadside on, presenting the best possible target. He held that position for forty-two years and I held my breath for as long.

Fizz held fire. I held counsel in my head and agreed to shoot Fizz if he didn’t fire soon. Mr Big swung his head round to nip an itch near his flank and the magnum shattered the moment.

Galvanised by the sound, animals erupted in a confusion of chocolate brown and cream, scattering in an instant. The big buck broke into a gallop and after thirty metres, switched to a stiff-legged gait much like an antelope, then slowed to a walk. It was clearly hit hard and

laboured under the strain. The shot had been good and should have poleaxed the animal but it is staggering the punishment fallow bucks can take.

Fizz fired twice more. Each shot was measured and deliberate. Each shot hit its intended mark but Mr Big absorbed the shock and found the pluck to carry on. The big buck was one step from dense cover when the third shot broke its neck and ended the saga.

It was an amazing hunt for a tremendous adversary and fitting Mr Big should be immortalized as a wall-mount.

It proved to be a magnificent trophy, with a Douglas score just over 236, earning Fizz a gold medal and the McGowan Shield for best fallow head in 2011.

The fishing Paper 25

www.thefishingpaper.co.nz

Backpedalling!

By Kim Swan

People my age often go through a life change, a period where they pine for the past, hoping to rekindle their youth.

A lot of men have a divorce, an affair, or buy a Harley Davidson. Me? Well I bought a mountainbike.

I bought one that is a tad too big and I reconnected with my youth in no time at all. Trying to get a leg over now is as awkward as it was then, with many a fumble and the odd whack in the crutch. But hey, when you get it right and you’re cruising with the wind in your hair and your heart pumping it’s all good, as good as a Harley but cheaper.

The mountainbike is my new secret weapon for surprising game animals. It enables me to cover the countryside in silence.

Aside from a desperate raspy sound - me in oxygen deficit and the ‘ping’ of stones as they fire sideways from 80psi, I can catch them out as they feed or play on forest roads and far distant trails.

Yesterday, just on daylight, I nearly whizzed past a boar feeding in a swamp. He was foraging for tidbits from a deceased cow, up to his eyeballs and enjoying every morsel. I was so close that the tiny ‘bip’ of the camera lens coming off startled him. I was so close that once he raised his nostrils from the dead thing he could smell me, a live thing. His hackles rose and his hairy tail stood on end.

The boar trotted along the swamp, huffing and growling, looking back over his shoulder.

I kept pace, enjoying the ride.

When he jumped onto the track I felt the exuberance of youth stir within me and I chased him.

He accelerated from canter to sprint and so did I. Heck, I even wondered if you could bulldog a boar off a bike. Wouldn’t that be a feat of reckless abandon?

Alas I knew my limitations.

Sure, I could catch him up, maybe even burn some rubber on his bobbing backside but if he should turn and show me his teeth I would squeal like a girl and frantically back pedal.

A couple of corners further on I came upon a red hind and her youngster. Me, the stealth missile, was upon them before they knew what hit them. It took only an instant for the hind to register ‘run for your life,’ and so she did. Every one of her four legs ran in a separate direction.

Before she could gather them all up she was kicking about in the dust in a state of panic. She finally self-righted, surfacing from the cloud of dust with eyes agog.

Junior had fled. Hightailed down the track for a hundred metres before realising mum wasn’t coming. But then Junior had to come back because Mum had gone vertical, up the bank.

Like the boar earlier, the little deer went from canter to sprint, but this time it was coming

straight at me. I sat my metallic mount stoically, I didn’t scream like a girl but only because I’m not scared of deer’s teeth!

Junior added his hoof prints to the signature his mother had left on the dusty track.

Scuffs and skid marks as he pulled a wheelie - spinning all fours as he skedaddled up the bank into the manuka. All this entertainment and I hadn’t even got to Spot X yet, it never would have happened if I’d been in my truck.

Cows next.

Big beefy backcountry models, mean and motherly, they didn’t like my bike or me. They didn’t like that a human could just suddenly appear. Mother and calf, two by two, they gathered ever more irately ahead of me. They bellowed and they poohed, calling their offspring and two magnificent black bulls to their sides. And, as the whole mass of mooing poohing hysteria made their way slowly along the track my minimal metallic mount felt very inadequate - now I wished I’d been in my truck.

Finally free of the melee, I continued on my life’s journey, forward in distance but backward in time.

You see there was this boy rabbit, this fluffy bunny that skittered along beside the track.

He was quick, mighty quick, so I challenged him to a race. That fluffy bunny he accepted the challenge and he spurted onto the centre of the track. He was going so fast, his ears pinned down and back legs pumping, that little loose stones flicked up and flicked off the bike and me.

Yeehaa, run rabbit run!

That’s when I knew I had reverted from an old fart to a teenager again. That’s when I realised that if I accidentally ran over bunny as we both bolted along the stoney track then I was a goner. I’d hit the deck at 50kph and there’d be tears and pain and embarrassment. How absolutely adolescent of me - I’d lost my head over a bit of fluff!

Wet Wallabies When a hunting or fishing opportunity arises I generally grab it with both hands, even if it takes a bit of negotiating on the home front.

Recently my son Jack and I returned from a successful Saturday goat hunt only to get a phone call from a mate, Aidan, in Ashburton inviting us on a wallaby shoot for the following Wednesday night and Thursday.

Cutting a long story short, at 4.00pm on Wednesday we were heading south to meet our fellow hunters, Aidan and his son Logan.

We followed Aidan’s Nissan south to the famous Hunter Hills as light drizzle from the south dampened everything. We set up camp in the shearers quarters, then donning suitable gear we headed for the nearest valley.

While we were parking the truck two wallabies were seen close at hand albeit moving away. A quick shot from one of the boys proved fruitless, so into the wet gloom we trudged, slowly moving up the valley.

At the next clearing Jack signalled he had seen a large buck up ahead, which he duly dispatched with a single shot from the .223.

This disturbed another one and even though we all had a shot, it escaped unharmed. There was a quick photo session before carrying on as the light began to fade. Logan was next to knock one over at 150 metres then Jack followed suit with yet another. On the walk back down the ridge I noticed a lone ‘roo’ as were now calling

By Malcolm Halstead

them, at a range of a mere 40 metres. A shot to the chest with the .243 had it in the bag.

We disturbed another three further down and Aidan dropped one of them with his .270.

That night we all agreed that even though it had been wet we still had reasonable success and now with a clear starry night we knew things would be better in the morning.

We awoke to a sunny day, so it was back to the same gully with agreement from the land owner, to shoot our way to the top where he would pick us up in the 4WD. Once there we would help him muster sheep off the block.

There were nowhere near as many roos out as the night before but we did manage to get another three between us. Near the top of the gully we came across seven little wild pigs which we debated shooting. But we agreed they were too small so sat back and watched them move around the face they were on and disappear into cover.

Once at the top, as promised, we helped muster the block which was an adventure in itself as they were Arapawa Island sheep and seemed to have a mind of their own!

We arrived back in Christchurch by 5.00pm, cleaned the rifles and put them away.

I’m sure it won’t be long before they are back out, although I had better get a few jobs done around the house to make getting out the door easier!

26 The fishing Paper

www.thefishingpaper.co.nz

Learn With Each Hunt

By Mark Wills

BOOK REVIEW

Sax- The Life and Times of Dave Saxton

By Dave Drangsholt

Published by Halcyon Press, $39.99 Reviewed By Tony Orman

Dave Drangsholt, ex-deer culler, has written about a legend of the West Coast. “Sax” the title refers to Dave Saxton, which the blurb on the back cover says, “soldier, hunter, fisherman, miner, movie star, helicopter pilot, chain gang member – LEGEND!”

Dave Saxton is synonymous with Haast where he settled before the Haast Pass road was forged. The years following have been filled with triumphs and tragedies, dangerous escapades, even brushes with the law and a life that has been rip-roaring and riotous. Personally I find it difficult to laud men who were involved in the indiscriminate killing of deer, slaughter that had no semblance to management. Too often they were lauded as heroes rather than cowboys. Mostly they were in the venison recovery game for sheer monetary gain and an adrenaline pumping lifestyle that not infrequently broke the law. But even with this viewpoint, I have to admit Dave Saxton is a remarkable man.

However, the book is not entirely devoted to Dave Saxton. While Dave Drangsholt has compiled an interesting book on the man, the author’s own experiences are told and there are chapters on other cullers such as wildlife photographer Gordon Roberts and noted culler Angus Thompson as well as a few others such as Dave’s son Morgan Saxton who fatally plunged into Lake Wanaka.

The book is a valuable addition to deer culling literature. The photographs are of historical value. The text is laid-back in style but could have done with sub-editing and honing.

Verdict, worth a read.

About forty years ago I went out hunting with a bloke who had a lot of experience. It was the first time I’d seen a pig get stuck with a knife, and that gave me the hunting bug.

Since then I have learned a lot on how to get regular success and now do most of my hunting on three farms noting down each place I see sign, whether it be pig rooting, dung, nosing, pig marks, rubs, wallows, runs, and where they have been sleeping or grazing.

About three and a half years ago I started hunting a farm with a lot of scrubby gullies that provided ideal hiding places for pigs. There was a lot of old rooting, so I firstly wrote down the month and how old I thought it was. This plan went on for nearly a year and during that time I shot a few pigs but wasn’t getting regular success.

So after that I started to revisit some of the areas of old sign I’d noted to see if the pigs had returned. When making my notes I guessed how old

it was so if it was in say July and I thought it was a month old then I would return in the following June.

Sometimes the sign was only a week or two old so next year the plan was to visit the site just a few weeks earlier and so on, until I was seeing pigs on a regular basis. This system works well for me but I still make regular adjustments because the seasons are sometimes wetter or drier, so the movements of the pigs maybe shorter or longer.

Even armed with all this detailed information, the old hunting rules still apply.

You must still move quietly and keep the wind in your face. The best hunting I have experienced is on drizzly days with little wind. This works both summer and winter so don’t put off a hunt in fear of getting wet. Clothing now is

much better than it was forty years ago, it’s warm, repels water and is also very light weight and comfortable.

Make sure you get out early in the morning or in the evening then just sit down somewhere and use your binoculars. In a DoC block using this technique I once sat on a rock and only moving my binoculars I saw goats, chamois, pigs and deer.

This gave me a good picture of where the animals were and it was easy to get a kill the following morning.

Last year I averaged more than four pigs each weekend hunt now I am not wasting my time looking in areas that don’t hold pigs.

For those of you just starting hunting try some of these techniques and you should soon reap the rewards. Happy hunting!

The fishing Paper 27

www.thefishingpaper.co.nz

Two Men in a Tub March 20 1982 It only took a few minutes to untie the walnut shell shaped boat from the roof rack and toss our gear into it.

Someone, although factory made, must have designed the boat with a sense of humour and obviously with little knowledge of the principles of flotation.

Regardless of how you stepped into it, it tilted to one side and the water rushed in!

Once seated it was an act to row and, even with minor riffles on the water surface the crazy craft wobbled alarmingly.

It had been almost a year since I’d undertaken a river crossing in the ‘coconut shell’ and even though time is supposed to smooth the bad vibrations, I can still remember the boat with total apprehension.

Grant Watt had coaxed me into a trip up the Macfarlane, and this meant crossing the Haast River, which was running quite high. I’d already come to grief with George Lindsay crossing the Haast above the Thomas Bluff a year or so earlier. That time our craft was a one-man dinghy sold in supermarkets, along with linen-cloth pup tents with Red Indian heads printed on the side.

With two men, packs and two dogs in a tin bath type boat we had little room to manoeuvre, and one untimely cough would have seen us both swimming.

Four hundred metres downstream and a hundred complete circles later we beached the boat and stashed it in a tall stand of secondary growth perched on the lip of an island.

Walking towards the bush we were buzzed by a jet helicopter and watched as it roared up the Macfarlane. It was certainly a great morale booster for so early in the trip.

Our destination as a narrow grassy flat 40 minutes upstream where an old NZR tarpaulin had been stashed beneath a pile of rocks a number of years ago to provide a superior shelter.

Whoever carried, or had flown the tarp in must have spent many hours cutting a variety of long poles which when lashed together formed a very stable framework. However they were well worm eaten and spongy after a couple of years, and were now very little use, apart from providing extra firewood.

Grant had a nylon tent of some size and which, according to him, was the best money could buy. Light, compact, built-in floor – and without guy ropes; that is it was meant to have them, but didn’t.

It took more than an hour to locate a clump of toe-toes that provided a substitute for ropes and without pegs we more or less had to drag logs out of the bush to act as anchors.

In the end we had a pretty good shelter under which to sleep without seeing stars and feel the wind while cooking a feed and generally lazing about in in the evening.

The Macfarlane provided us with one spindly anterled stag, but a swag of venison.

It was tubby as a young cow.

Obviously, competition for grass up there wasn’t great.

The return crossing in the boat was made easier by making the dogs swim, and apart from dropping a pack in the river we had an otherwise uneventful trip.

The rugged backdrop of Haast

What’s Good for a Goose

Liam Hobbs is developing quite an eye for the birds. The nine year old began shooting a couple of duck seasons ago but his dad Justin says in the first year the ducks were all a bit too quick for him. But the lack of first year success didn’t put him off. He’s constantly honing his skills becoming a real challenge to Justin.

His bag of birds includes mallards, paradise ducks and quail, but this was his first Canada goose.

Liam was on the annual summer family trip to South Canterbury when armed with his trusty Rossi 410, he went for a walk with his dad along the Ashburton River bed near Methven.

The goose was flushed out and as it honked into air the bird was soon in Liam’s sights.

A quick steady shot saw it tumbling to the ground. It was the only Canada goose shot that day, so Liam was justifiably proud of his efforts.

Justin says his son is also a talented shot with the .22 and the magnum and isn’t far from heading into the hills with him to chase some bigger game.

28 The fishing Paper

www.thefishingpaper.co.nz

PRODUCT PREVIEW Taking the Backache Out of Backpacks

A tired back, and aching shoulders, don’t you just love your old backpack?

The aches and pains of a few days in the hills are now a thing of the past, with the latest backpack technology from Motueka’s Abel Tasman Outdoors on High Street.

The Berghaus Verden 65+10 men’s pack and the Berghaus Verden 60+10 women’s pack are made with the amazing Biofit back system.

Biofit has a separate padding panel where your pelvis meets the pack. It rotates with your hips as you walk, transferring weight to the hips very clever indeed!

Berghaus Verden packs have a removable chest strap, cinch straps on the hipbelt, and side and base compression straps. They’re safe and secure with a zipped entrance to the main compartment. They have front pockets, plus two five litre side expansion pockets, come with raincovers and are compatible with hydration systems.

Users rave about them. “…Best backpack EVER! Great construction, comfortable, tons of pockets, zips and space. Can’t give anything but praise for this backpack. Do not hesitate to buy this FANTASTIC !!!

Berghaus Verden backpacks from Abel Tasman Outdoors 177 High Street Motueka. Phone 03 528 8646

All Conditions, All Temperatures, Total Comfort

The JahtiJakt range of outdoor clothing is the perfect solution for all hunting activity in the toughest conditions and is only available from Vortex Marine and Outdoors in Blenheim.

JahtiJakt, pronounced yart-te-yark is a combination of the Finnish and Swedish words for hunter.

The latest product just landed from Finland are made of lightweight Air-Tex2 material terrific at insulating you from the outside while letting the inside breathe, so there’s no need to ‘bulk up’ when you go out and about. This suit takes the next step in delivering functionality and comfort, first seen in the JahtiJakt classic suit.

It has scentech odour blocker material, is water proof and is windproof. It’s enhanced with a special brushed surface making it almost silent. This set is ideal for the hunter who wants to get close to his prey and is ideal for alpine hunters looking for chamois and tahr, to hunting sika and reds down low, as well as for duck shooters and club shoots.

Starting at just $450 for the JahtiJakt classic six piece pack, it’s fantastic value for quality European clothing.

Call Vortex Marine for more details on 03 578 5720

Confused Anglers

By Nelson Fish & Game Office - Lawson Davey

Nelson

Kahawai Fishing - Do I need a sports fishing licence when fishing at the river mouth?

Fish & Game is aware of confusion amongst anglers over whether or not they require a sports fishing licence to target kahawai at river mouths. The legal position is: If you are fishing in fresh water using gear that could reasonably be expected to catch sports fish like trout, salmon and perch, you need a valid sports fish licence. Freshwater is defined in the Conservation Act 1987 as any river, stream, lake, pond, lagoon, wetland or other body, whether naturally occurring or manmade. Freshwater also includes the mouths of rivers and 500 metres along the seashore from where the river meets the sea at low tide.

So if you are apprehended at a river mouth fishing with gear that could capture sports fish, bearing in mind salmon will take large silver kahawai lures, there is a legal requirement for you to demonstrate to a judge that the gear you were using is not likely to capture a sports fish like salmon.

Pretty black and white really. To avoid any confusion Fish & Game could enforce this regulation year round, but we don’t want to

A Battler For The Batter

By Mark Weir

stop people from kahawai fishing. Most regions therefore take a middle ground approach, tailoring enforcement to locations taking into account the time of year when sports fish could reasonably be expected to be a by-catch.

Examples in the Nelson/Marlborough region where different river mouths have different enforcement efforts are the Clarence and Motueka Rivers. The Clarence river mouth has active enforcement throughout the salmon season, (Dec to April) and anglers without a licence wishing to fish for kahawai on spinning or fly gear must fish 500 metres away along the beach. Signage to this effect has been erected at the Clarence. The high level of enforcement is due to fishing for kahawai with spinning or fly gear at the mouth during this period has a high likelihood of catching salmon. However, bait fishing for kahawai using pilchard or squid pieces is acceptable there, as it is in all other river mouths. The Motueka River mouth by contrast, due to the lack of a salmon fishery, is not enforced to the same degree. However there is still the requirement of unlicenced anglers to immediate release unharmed, any sports fish accidentally hooked.

Fish & Game’s advice to anglers wishing to target river mouth kahawai without a valid sports fishing licence is to use a surfcaster with bait. If you want to use large saltwater flies or kahawai lures, contact your local Fish & Game office first to see what they define as ‘gear capable of catching sports fish’ for that river mouth.

A third option is to consider buying a valid sports fishing licence to remove all uncertainty.

For the price of fuel for one reasonable length boat fishing trip, you get access to an entire year of fishing in some of the best freshwater fisheries in the world, throughout the entire country, except Taupo. And a good proportion of this licence fee then goes back into Fish & Game trying to keep clean swimmable water within our rivers, which is a huge task at present.

Greyboy, school shark or tope; no matter what you call them, they boil down to being a worthy opponent for surfcasters and here on the Canterbury coast, we are blessed with some mighty action. Often maligned and

much underrated, the greyboy is superb eating and you can’t go past it in the great Kiwi Classic – fish’n’chips!

My mate Geoff Wyllie and I throw the rods off the beach on a regular basis, chasing rig,

greyboys and elephant fish.

Prior to Christmas Geoff took advantage of a calm evening to test the local waters and was impressed when this monster struck. The big female put up a great scrap but was ultimately destined for the freezer.

The fishing Paper 29

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Stick Your Oar In Sounds in Crisis?

Dear Ed The Marlborough Recreational Fishers’ Association is concerned at proposals for the expansion of aquaculture in the Sounds.

Many believe the Marlborough Sounds are nearing a crisis stage environmentally worsened with large-scale forestry, which at the stage of clear felling harvesting of forests, results in debris and silt runoff into the water.

There seem few, if any, controls or plans to alleviate the adverse effects when rains follow logging.

Aquaculture is seen as the fisheries way for the future.

However this may be short sighted.

The Marlborough Sounds are essentially a tourist Mecca for both overseas and domestic visitors.

Recreational fishing is a vital part of the value. Heaven only knows - the Ministry of Fisheries or Government doubtless, don’t know - of the loss to the regional economy of the unjustified blue cod ban and now the ludicrous regulations (slot and transit rules, bag limits etc.) that deter visitors and locals from enjoying fishing.

It is arguable the Sounds are already saturated by aquaculture.

Aquaculture has disadvantages.

Certainly it may earn some $400 million in exports but the proliferation of mussel farms in Pelorus Sound (e.g. Admiralty Bay) is a visual blot on the landscape while occupying public ocean and seabed space. What is the value of recreational fishing and tourism to the Marlborough and Nelson economies? How many millions?

Besides it is important to realise recreational fishing is a heritage and a right for all New Zealanders.

Des Mitchell, Secretary Marlborough Recreational Fishers’ Association Dumping Disgusts Dear Ed On Tuesday 31st of January I was fishing at the Rakaia mouth on the North side. Kahawai were there in big numbers and about eight of us had a lot of fun with them, most being released. Eventually I was left there alone and noticed on packing up that five fish were left dead on the beach behind me.

I was angry and disappointed that some anglers would treat their quarry in such a way.

In an age where we are fighting commercial fishers for a fair share for recreational anglers, this sort of behaviour is totally reprehensible and reflects badly on recreational anglers.

Grant Holmes Why Can’t We? Dear Ed Recently, I’ve read with interest about the terrific success of the Otago Harbour salmon fishery.

Alongside that I’ve read the letters from recreational fishers concerned about aquaculture development in the Marlborough Sounds, particularly King Salmon’s fish farm expansion plans.

This got me thinking. To earn brownie points with local fishers, why can’t a large corporate, like King Salmon, help release young salmon into somewhere like Nelson Harbour or somewhere in the Sounds and develop a recreational salmon fishery in the area, like the one in Dunedin.

A community organisation would probably have to lead the project.

I’m not sure of the science of making a salmon release like this, but I’m confident such a generous community minded gesture would find big favour with recreational fishers.

Just an idea!

JM McKenzie Bishopdale, Nelson AHB and 1080 Dear Ed, How much more Animal Health Board propaganda do we have to endure before that Incorporated Society is finally brought under, if ever, Official Information Act and Office of the Ombudsmen scrutiny? The statements made by their Regional Co-ordinator Danny Templeman have no verifiable facts to back his claims. In last month’s NelsonMarlborough Farming paper there is the statement, “There is a vast TB-infected possum population in the Kahurangi National Park.”

Could the AHB please supply verifiable evidence of this claim along with GPS co-ordinates so independent verification can be made by interested parties.

He also stated, “There are currently no infected herds in Golden Bay.” Yet he’s quoted in

Crimptoon

Have Your Say… Mail your letters to Stick Your Oar In The Fishing Paper, PO Box 9001, Annesbrook, 7044, NELSON. Email: editor@thefishingpaper.co.nz The Fishing Paper encourages readers contributions and points of view. We ask that all contributions come supplied with contact details.

All letters must be emailed, type written or printed legibly, signed and not more than 300 words. The Fishing Paper states that opinions put forward are not necessarily those of the publisher. We reserve the right to publish in part or refuse to publish on legal grounds if the content of the letters are in any way legally contentious.

the 20/9/2011 edition of Rural News, saying there are two TB infected herds in Nelson. Where then are these herds?

The AHB claims that livestock movement restrictions have resulted in less herd infections is very arguable. Over the last few years movement of stock, in TB free areas, has resulted in new TB infections in herds in Northland, Taranaki, Southland and very recently at Mt Algidus Station in Mid Canterbury. Even though Mt Algidus had a large number of stock culled, some animals were also moved from the station to three North and Mid Canterbury farms which subsequently became infected. So much for restrictions!

The lack of transparency and accountability to the public by both the AHB and the Tasman District Council over another non notified consent 1080 operation in Golden Bay points to the fact that under the present legislation covering 1080 operations in this area, we are living under a rather less than democratic system.

Who killed the seven kea in the 1080 operation at Okarito last year? What about the seven kea that died in the 2008 Franz South 1080 operation?

The AHB and DoC of course must also take blame as they made the legislation that makes these 1080 operations so deadly to our native fauna.

Ron Eddy Wairau Saddle

Obituary

Ross Tonkin: The Man Who Never Was

By Daryl Crimp It’s always hard when a mate dies. It’s a lot harder when a mates dies and you’ve never met him!

Ross Tonkin became a good friend to The Fishing Paper through the successful advertising and marketing of his creation, The Foveaux Cod Catcher and was a great champion of the paper because of the success it generated.

He even became Southland’s Official Ambassador of The Fishing Paper.

He became my ‘best mate’, phoning regularly to chew the fat for hours; both of us in our respective offices at opposite ends of the island; dressed in imaginary gumboots, black Kiwi singlet, Cockies’ hats canted rakishly across weathered brows and mentally leaning on the old Hurricane wire farm gate in a neighbourly kind of way.

We embarked on the kinds of conversations common to dusty back roads rural New Zealand. We never met over a real gate.

Ross was easy to be friends with and we held similar views on many topics. He was old school business: fiercely honest, reliable, loyal, traditional, genuine, intelligent, committed and trustworthy. He recognised that seldom did good come from the ‘quickie’ deal and focused on developing longterm relationships because he always reckoned integrity and credibility were hard earned and business was more about the journey than the fast deal.

He suffered fools with slightly more tolerance than me but only just, and he couldn’t abide liars, cheats, tossers, posers, laggards, blaggards, braggards and rotten sods who stitched other people up.

Ross was born in the North Island but showed he had a sense for adventure when he married an Aussie in ’73 and moved to Invercargill, where he and Wendy settled to raise five boys: Jeremy

(34), Sean (33), Daniel (31), Matthew (27) and Stephen (20). Family describe him as a passionate man, full of zest and humour, who was never idle and always contemplating the next move or adventure.

He loved yakking (Ed’s note: and yakking and yakking and yakking).

He was, at various times, a meat inspector, artist, inventor, truck driver and agricultural supplier. He managed his own businesses and while he was active in the community, Ross was very much a one-to-one man. He loved his hunting and fishing and had a great appreciation of the simple things; he could take pleasure from observing birds wading at the edge of the estuary or from just watching water.

Of all his many achievements, Ross was most proud of his five boys.

Ross died at the age of 65, in his sleep on 8 February. The man who never was destined to be idle is now at rest.

(Nice to not have met you mate – Crimpy!)

30 The fishing Paper

www.thefishingpaper.co.nz

TIDES OF CHANGE

Mondo Travel

By Poppa Mike

Happy Birthday Alma I missed Alma’s 100th birthday. She lived in Tauranga at the time and I never knew she existed. Things have changed since then.

Several years ago Alma moved to Golden Bay, is still alive, looking remarkably healthy, still mobile and about to celebrate her 110th birthday.

Alma was born at the Auckland boat building yard of G.T.Niccol, a highly regarded builder of scows, in 1902, her first registered owner was Ada Beatrice Niccol. Made of kauri she was a deck loading scow, as opposed to a hull scow, of 79’6” length x 25’6” beam. With a shallow draft of 3’6” she was designed to carry cargo to and from shallow harbours, rivers and estuaries where wharves were not in place.

In her early years she had sail power only, a schooner rig but in 1924 she became an auxiliary schooner when an engine was installed to help move her along when winds were light. In 1937 a more powerful diesel was installed as her main source of power, then in 1946 she was converted to a twin screw diesel.

Most of her life was spent working in the Northland and Coromandel districts, often carrying large loads of kauri timber or other heavier native timbers for the Auckland building trade. At other times she carried shingle or sand, loaded by the crew using wheelbarrows. A ‘full load’ would need careful judgement and timing by the captain to ensure being able to float off at high tide.

General cargo, cut firewood and passengers were also carried. Occasionally if the opportunity arose Alma would head off to

more distant ports such as Dunedin but I can find no records of her travelling to Nelson or Golden Bay. Then along came some new owners, Geoff Benge and Bronwyn Billens, who saw future potential for Alma. She made the voyage from Tauranga to Golden Bay safely, eventually tying up at Waitapu Wharf near Takaka where Geoff and Bronwyn made her into their new home. Gone now are the masts and rigging, and much of the deck cargo area has been covered in for a larger living area. Last year she was pulled up onto dry land at the edge of the Waitapu Estuary for hull repairs to replace rotting boards. Alma sits close to the road, a wonderful sight for passers by, a grand opportunity to view one of the last of New Zealand’s scows. If you happen to see her, remember to wish her happy birthday and think of all those who sailed in her over the past 110 years, some of whom feature in Ted Ashby’s book ‘Phantom Fleet: the scows and scowmen of Auckland’.

“I think back to a trip on the Alma …” Her raking bowsprit and lovely sheerline show to advantage in the 1908 Regatta.

Bays Gold Lager A pale lager with good use of local Hallertauer and Saaz hops. Gold has at least 6 weeks of cold maturation which results in an extremely drinkable lager. Bays Gold Lager was judged New Zealand’s Best Lager at the 2003 New Zealand International Beer Awards.

89 Pascoe St Nelson Ph (03) 547 8097

Presents Horsing Around with The Fishing Paper Nelson authors, Rachel McRae-Woods and Paula Cunniffe, got the shock of their lives recently, when they were invited to attend the prestigious European Biergarten Book Festival in Luxembourg, where their graphic autobiography The Flying Pony Girls Save Christmas was short-listed for the Joan Collins Piece Prize. The award recognises high achievement with words and colours, although not necessarily in that order.

While at the festival the authors had the characters come to life with the help of Weta Workshop in Wellington, some clever computer digital enhancing and a new hologram app on their iPhones. Obviously there were teething problems with the new technology because one of the characters stole a copy of The Fishing Paper from a visiting salmon angler from Belarus and refused to give it back.

Co-author and illustrator, Paula Cunniffe, said The Fishing Paper is obviously an entertaining read and it has inspired the writing duo to pen a sequel to their very popular, The Flying Pony Girls Save Christmas. Although the plot remains a closely guarded secret, Paula let slip the title at the after-awards

share

Join the

THE

FISHING PAPER

on

TFP

TRAVELS

party while sharing schnapps with

Wilbur

Smith

and

Virginia Woolfe. The Flying Fish Saves The Chocolate Fish From a Sugar Overdose is due for release next Christmas and Paula is confident it too will make the Country Women’s Institute Top 50 list.

The fishing Paper 31

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SeaFIC challenges Best Fish Guide Like a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ is how the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council describes an environmental organisation’s guide for consumers on which fish to eat.

The Best Fish Guide, which is published bi-annually by Forest and Bird, ranks New Zealand fish species on a traffic light scale in terms of sustainability and environmental impacts.

But Chief Executive of the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council, Peter Bodeker says the rankings, which show that there are very few New Zealand fish species we can eat with a clear conscience is wrong.

“It is also an affront to the commonsense of the New Zealand consumer. The proper guide to what fish can be eaten is what fish is available in any reputable fish shop, because all commonly eaten species are part of the government-managed Quota Management System.”

The stand taken by SeaFIC garnered considerable media interest with Mr

Bodeker providing interviews for TVNZ’s Breakfast programme and radio stations.

Spearfishing

The story was also published in New Zealand

metropolitan

and

regional

newspapers.

“Of course commercial fishing impacts fish stocks and at times the environment.

However, care is taken to minimise these impacts and technology and practice improvements are also helping lessen these effects.

These impacts have to be balanced with the fact that New Zealanders like fish. It is a healthy dietary option. It is fresh and increasingly affordable. One of the privileges of living in a country like this is the chance to access affordable good quality fresh fish.

Forest and Bird describe their approach as precautionary. In fact, it is very narrow and cumbersome to the point of misleading. We are hopeful that the upcoming publication is more accurate and realistic,” said Bodeker.

PO Box 175, Nelson - 137 Vickerman Street Ph 03 548 0711 - Fax 03 548 0783 email: cscott@scallop.co.nz Representing your fishing interests and property rights

Crossword

& Sudoku answers

With Mark Roden The weather has been the big negative factor lately. We usually let the state of the weather decide where we go, but I can’t remember being forced to cancel so many trips in the past. Waitangi Weekend was cold and dreary. A group of us camped in Admiralty Bay. It was damp and drizzly in the evenings, and cold and lumpy out on the boat. We got some reasonable time in the water though, mostly around Paddock Rocks because it was the only place we could get out of the swell.

We’ve been spending more time exploring, just picking a piece of coastline and cruising along looking for some structure that might be worth a look and we’ve found some great spots, some of them in surprisingly shallow water. Jason picked some nice cod in about four metres on a recent trip as we were anchored in the lee of a headland to shelter from the wind. Of course when we were staying in Admiralty Bay blue cod were off the menu due to the no transit rule, and of course on those particular days we saw some beauties.

Blue moki are always on the spearos target list. These are a very underrated eating fish and one fish goes a long way. They tend to congregate in small schools maybe containing a dozen or so individuals with maybe half of those being of a reasonable size. A couple of spearos can clean out all the legal fish in the school in half an hour as opposed to one set net which can wipe out the whole school! We keep a lid on the moki speared trying to avoid returning to the same spots. Moki numbers have remained good over the summer as the weather has kept a lot of people out of the water, and deterred people from setting nets. I suppose that’s the upside to the bad weather!

We haven’t even seen a crayfish in the water for ages. Scuba divers are still getting them but they are going down to 30-plus metres to do it. That’s getting to the limit of sport diving

Hook, Line and Submarine Cable The owner and master of a Wellington fishing charter vessel has been convicted and fined $10,000 plus $380 costs, after being caught fishing in the Cook Strait cable exclusion zone.

The Ministry of Transport successfully prosecuted Paul Gubb, owner and master of Sweet Georgia for fishing in the zone off the south coast of Wellington.

The prosecution follows an incident where fifteen people were observed fishing from the Sweet Georgia, well within the cable protection zone.

In sentencing Mr Gubb, the Judge stated that the offending was grossly reckless.

“The message is getting through to most boaties that it’s not okay to fish in the cable

Craig Wichern ikis a nice spat farm kingi

and shows just how hard the cray population has been thrashed over the years. The older guys in the dive club talk about the good old days of getting sugar bags full of crays and raffling them off in the pubs to raise money.

Ah yes, those were the days!

The spat farm off the Motueka River has been running hot and cold. At times the structure is attracting large numbers of fish. Interestingly the number of boats and lures in the water seems to have made the kingfish a bit blasé and it’s not easy to get them very excited.

They’ll follow a boat around but they’re slow to take a lure or will even disperse when the boat stops. It’s worth a visit though, and it’s likely there will be fish there for at least the next month or so.

protection zone,” says Bruce Johnson, General Manager of the Ministry’s Aviation and Maritime group. “We hope this latest prosecution shows the risks are very high given that the zone is patrolled 24/7.”

The prosecution was taken under the Submarine Cables

and Pipelines Protection Act which provides protection for the undersea pipelines and cables around the coast of New Zealand. The Cook Strait cables are a critical link in New Zealand’s power supply and telecommunications networks.

32 The fishing Paper

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Puka Go Nuts

By Troy Dando

The hapuka were just going nuts on the jigs with six good fish landed in less than an hour. We were out chasing trophy fish for the Motueka RSA Fishing Competition. Fellow Dawnbreakers Fishing Club member Paul Maskell was fishing on my boat and managed to jig the winning fish of over 30lb after some tuition and rig setup tips from me.

We don’t normally take our quota of hapuka but it was a competition and we needed the biggest fish. It had also been some time since we had chased hapuka so we decided to top up the freezer.

All the action of Paul catching his hapuka on

jig is on my Youtube site www.youtube.com/ fishinnelson Using jigging gear on hapuka brings a whole a new dimension to this type of fishing with the fish hitting the jigs 30 metres up from the bottom then giving you the ride of your life. As the jigging gear is very light it’s easy to wind up, unlike traditional 24 oz sinker gear on heavy rods.

I seldom use a gimbal belt these days, preferring to fight my fish under my arm. The rods and reels we were using were Jigging Master brand. I prefer the Three Kings Special 200gm rods and the JM PE5n reels.

Coarse Fishing

By Dave Dixon

Three Little Fish for Third Title What exactly happened to the massive shoals of tench that inhabit Lake Rotokohatu in Christchurch during the recent Trans Tasman Coarse Fishing Championship and subsequent NZ Nationals, no-one really knows. But it will go down in history as being the hardest fishing ever experienced. Forty top anglers from Australasia struggled for bites throughout all four days, and with the only decent shoal of fish seemingly parked-up in the first three pegs of A section it was a lop-sided competition.

Auckland’s Gary Bourne made the most of his peg A1 draw on the first day to put 29lbs of tench on the scales, but elsewhere weights were poor.

I drew Peg B11 and worked hard for four fish totaling 6lbs 6oz, good enough for a section win and third place overall.

In the team stakes, New Zealand shot out to a solid 20-point lead and hopes of a convincing victory were high.

It was much the same on day two with Peg

A1 again producing top weight, but my effort with a catch of 15lbs 15oz placed me second and almost stole the

section.

With three section points I had a good chance of lifting the individual title, but Bourne managed to win a rock hard C section with just 3lbs 6oz to pip me by a point.

Australia mounted a comeback narrowly winning day two, but the final tally saw New Zealand reclaim the Trans-Tasman plate.

The weather on Saturday warmed considerably and for the first time fish were seen cruising in the margins.

I drew Peg C20 and caught steadily throughout the six hours to put a matchwinning 21lb 15oz on the scales.

My final draw was Peg D29 in an area that had shown little form all week. An early fish lifted my hopes but the next three bites produced the smallest tench I’ve ever seen with fish weighing just 1-2ozs! I added them to my net but wondered just how useful they would be in the final reckoning.

With several anglers fishless and walking the bank, news filtered through that six fish had been caught at the top of my section, and that Australian Ivan Mitchell, one of the previous day’s section winners, was ‘bagging-up’ on peg A3!

Finally the whistle blew, and I managed to hang on to second place in the section with a catch totaling just 2lbs 1oz.

A quick drive around the lake revealed that Peg A1 had produced four fish in the last 10 minutes and pushed A3 back into second spot, meaning both me and Ivan had finished on three section points: it would come down to a weight decider! I remembered my three little ‘tenchlets’ and calculated they were probably worth 6ozs, but we had to wait until prizegiving to hear the final result: Mitchell, three points, 23lbs 11oz; Dixon, three points, 24lbs. I’ll take that thank you very much!

I felt ecstatic to have won in Christchurch, my third national title in seven years, and to back it up with second place in the Trans Tasman was hugely satisfying. Of course, everyone wanted to know what my secret was so perhaps I’ll go into that a little more next month.

Enough for a section win on Day one of the Trans Tasman