The Fishing Paper & Hunting News - Oct 2017

THE

FISHING FREE

October 2017 Issue 145

PAPER

&

HUNTING NEWS

SAM MACKLIN SHIMANO’S SNAPPER SLAYER

The hunting dimension Crimpy explains P35

 Canterbury hapuku  Tailgating kingies  The perfect hunt

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THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

MARINE ELECTRONICS With Sean Ryan sean@fluidelectronics.co.nz

Carol Watson Advanced Archery

Housekeeping pays dividends

Give your batteries a decent charge; your electronics need healthy batteries to operate properly.

Run the outboard, check your cable steering, and that the bilge pump is actually working.

Water finds its way into all sorts of places including your wiring system, and if the boat has not moved recently, then it has probably been sitting in those places.

Scrutinise vulnerable exposed connections, surface corrosion is the most obvious, but the colour of the wire can also be a great indicator, if using standard copper. If it is a black colour then it needs medical attention, or you will simply be playing Russian roulette!

Copper corrodes over time, losses its conductivity, and becomes brittle, and is therefore likely to fail when you most need it. If you have

found an issue, give serious consideration to investing in proper marine tinned copper wiring, VHF antennas that are terminated in the base (and not directly into the aerial) need to be unscrewed, checked, terminating surfaces cleaned and Vaseline applied around the thread to bolster the water resistant protection.

Also check the connection between the radio and the antenna, then make a call to someone ensuring you can both transmit and receive.

Unplug your transducer, power, and any other leads attached to your sounder, check the connectors for corrosion, clean and spray with a product like CRC 2.26, allow to dry, and replace. Be very wary of generic electrical cleaners and other products, as some will melt or damage your plugs and plastic around your wiring.

Turn on your sounder/ plotter and briefly check the transducer is working. It should show a depth (which will not be correct) and a flat image on the screen.

The transducer itself will make a clicking noise when working. If not testing on the water pause/turn off the sounder function as soon as it has been checked to avoid damaging it. Look at the transducer to make sure it is correctly aligned and the bracket is not damaged.

When outside, go into the plotter satellite page and check that it is receiving 8-plus satellites and that the HDOP setting on that page is under 1.0.

Last but not least, check the software version number against what is available on the manufacturer’s internet site. Download and upgrade to the latest version, ensuring your unit is giving its best.

Generally, power the unit off and back on again for the upgrade to be effective.

They say a good marriage is built on a foundation of good communication and the same could be said for good hunting partners.

Being married to your hunting partner takes this discussion to a whole new level but we won’t go there!

Being guided by an experienced bowhunter, a friend or a professional guide is a great way to get started in bowhunting, or if you’re hunting a new species.

Having access to another’s wealth of knowledge, experience, and skill is often a shortcut to success, but

it is not without input from yourself. Don’t switch your brain off just because you have a guide walking in front of you. He doesn’t see exactly the same picture you see. He may assume you have a clear shot at an animal when in fact you can see that you do not. One step to the side and you can be getting a whole different perspective. Only you know whether or not you’re comfortable taking the shot that’s available.

Make sure you discuss your effective range and comfort zone honestly, before you go out. Agree on a distance

you need to get to from an animal to be able to take a shot. If your guide is using rangefinders, make sure it’s in the units you use – metres or yards. I’ve made the mistake of being told a distance in metres, I knew I had to recalculate to yards, but in the heat of the moment I managed to bugger it up.

You need to develop some trust in your guide and certainly learn all you can from them. But in the end you’re the one firing the shot, so the responsibility for making it a good one is ultimately yours.

Carol Watson doesn’t always ‘bugger it up’

If you are short on time or don’t know where to start take your boat to someone who does. Yes it will cost a few dollars but can avoid embarrassment; save many headaches and possibly even few soap eating words by avoiding the avoidable!

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Communication key to hunting ‘marriage’

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2

Issue 145 3

The fat on deep water jigging Doug Clifton

Deep water jigging has been around for quite some time now, and can be a great way to challenge yourself to try a different form of fishing and also put some greater diversity into your catch. On a recent trip targeting groper, we jigged up some good fillets for the table and the odd surprise as well.

TORY OND S

RICHM

ROD, REEL AND TACKLE Technology these days is allowing fishermen to fish much smaller, user-friendly gear, without sacrificing power and performance.

A good set up for this type of mission is the small powerful Shimano Talica 12 reel, matched with a parabolic rod like the Shimano Energy Concept PE 3-6. Jigging rods must be light and have a parabolic action with high strength for lifting power.

A parabolic rod will make working your jig much easier and they also help the angler fight larger powerful fish. This sort of combo should be spooled with 300 metres of 50lb braid, minimum.

When jigging in deeper water for species such as groper, it pays to fish heavier jigs with the weight in the tail, as this sends the jig through the water column much faster, getting you in the bite zone much quicker.

The average weight range for this deep water jig is between 400–500 grams. Fish with a bare minimum of a 100lb trace, as both groper and kingfish will readily wrap you around any structure they can find!

Kingfish are often a by-catch of deepwater jigging, as Jason Duff discovers

THE ACTION Generally, it’s a slower mechanical jigging action, with a higher rod lift to get that jig fluttering on the drop. Jig the bottom 10 to 20 metres of the water column before dropping back down and repeating.

You will find that species such as kingfish will still hit a slower moving jig and will sometimes be a by catch when jigging for groper. Groper are no slouches, however, and will come up to 20 metres off the bottom to smash your jigs. It’s not only groper and

kingfish that this form of fishing is effective on, but other species such as trumpeter and larger snapper will be amongst your catch at times, and are both great fighting fish and fantastic on the table.

If you’re ever heading through the Top of the South and feel like chewing the fat over tips and techniques, swing in to Hunting and Fishing Richmond for a catch up!

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Doug with a surprise catch, trumpeter... delicious

Jason Duff with a groper that was none too happy the jig was up

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4

THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

Kayaking

with Chris West

KAYAK FOOTRESTS

Tight lines, happy hunting & ‘bone’ appetite Hannes Nothdurfter

You may not give much thought to the footrests on your kayak. While they may seem like an insignificant part, they do have an important role to play in how comfortable you are in your kayak.

Why are they important?

Good posture in your kayak involves sitting with a straight back. Having a small amount of pressure on your feet will help you maintain an upright position. Without the pressure on your feet, it’s easy to slide forwards in your seat and end up leaning back slightly. The second purpose is to help you maintain control of the kayak. Without a place to rest your feet, you have one less point of contact with the kayak. This will make it more of a challenge to control how your boat moves underneath you.

Different designs

work is required to fit them during the manufacturing process. This style of footrest looks like a series of ‘steps’ or ‘ridges’ on the edge or floor of the kayak cockpit.

You place your foot onto one of these. Other than costing less to produce, this set-up is very durable. There is nothing to break or lose, so you know it will stand the test-of-time. There are two main draw backs; there

Fixed footrests

Adjustable footrest

The footrests in most siton-top kayaks will either be moulded in and form a part of the kayak, or they will be an adjustable design that slides on a track.

Moulded in foot rests typically appear on cheaper kayaks, as no additional parts are needed and no extra

are typically only 4-6 places where your feet can go, so there’s a chance the footrests won’t be in the right place for you. Secondly, there will be less surface contacting your feet, and it’s the outside and bottom part of your foot that will contact the footrest, so it may not feel that secure.

The hidden story of what has to happen prior to meat ending up on the ‘supermarket shelf’ Andrew has taken that first big step in the life of a hunter gatherer

Adjustable footrests can be set to a suit a large range of leg lengths, so it will be easy to adjust to suit you.

When sitting in a kayak with adjustable foot pedals, the ball of your foot should rest on the pedal. This provides a much more secure feel and allows you to press more firmly into the pedal should you need to.

When you are seated in your kayak, you should feel a small amount of pressure on your feet and you should feel comfortable. Your knees should be bent slightly, and how much bend will depend on personal preference and the design of your kayak.

Top Tip: If your kayak has moulded in footrests and you can’t find the ideal position (one position is too long while the next is too short) then the solution is easy. Most kayaks come with a clip-on seat that attaches with adjustable straps going forward of the seat and another set behind the seat. Try loosening off the straps behind the seat and tightening up the front straps. This will move the seat forwards a little and will hopefully locate your feet in just the right position. You can also do the same thing and move the seat backwards

Getting time with the kids away for a weekend is a challenge for our family, as there are always some activities pre-planned.

Whether it is the sports training on Saturday or the birthday party invite for Sunday from one of their friends, we simply struggle to have a complete weekend without any social commitments. I am sure that many families can relate to this.

the tent, we rose and jumped straight into the boat. We weren’t even trolling for five minutes when one of the two rods bent over erratically and the 4lb mono started stripping off the reel at high speed.

Andrew grabbed the rod and fought the fish for several minutes till, finally, the big brown ended up in the boat.

The smile on his face was priceless to say the least – first trout ever and a really good one at that.

So, when the opportunity for a commitment free weekend arose, I grabbed the bull by the horns and drafted a quick plan to take my 10-year-old son Andrew on a camping weekend to Lake Lyell, near Lithgow, Australia .

After we got back home in the evening, my wife cooked the trout to perfection. We all sat around the dinner table with the cooked fish in the middle and talked about the trip and the big fish Andrew caught and brought home.

On Saturday morning, both of us quickly put all the gear into the back of the Patrol and strapped the 3.2 metre inflatable onto the roof rack, making sure the fishing rods and the excessive assortment of lures was not left behind in the garage.

“Daddy smacked the fish on the head with his Leatherman multi tool,” Andrew said and his younger sister Alexandra cheekily added in a rousing tone while looking directly at me, “Daaaaddy!”

After a cool night of -6C in

Whilst both of our kids know about ‘the procedure’, my wife and I thought that

to be a perfect opportunity to explain, once again, how meat ends up on the table.

Andrew has just experienced it from catching through to eating it (plus the necessary thing with the Leatherman before it can be cooked) all in one day.

I am convinced that both our kids, and in particular Andrew, know the consequence and the story that precedes, “I want to eat this”. Both our children have more respect and more appreciation for animals, and for food in general, because of the whole experience from start to finish, which is important because an animal has given a life so that we may fish, hunt, and eat. The same principle applies to pork, lamb, steak, chicken, fish, … etc.

Oh, and let’s not forget that vegetables, fruit, and salad are living things too, even if you get them from the supermarket.

Tight lines, happy hunting and ‘bone’ appetite.

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Issue 145 5

‘Glow’ fishing for Canterbury hapuku

STORY Jake Williams

There’s something satisfying about eating a fish you’ve caught. Even more satisfying when that fish is the end result of a day when everything came together.

ION JUNCT TOWER TORY S

Ben Pond and I experienced a day like this recently, catching the often sought but seldom caught Canterbury hapuku. Seldom caught because the depth and distance from land is often protected by rolling seas and weather many boats won’t or can’t brave.

Often sought because, well, if you’ve ever eaten fresh hapuku, then you’d know.

Snaffled – a ‘softy’ hoovered by a hapuku

With a break in the weather, Ben and I commenced the 90km round trip by boat out of the beautiful Akaroa Harbour.

As the sun rose, we found ourselves miles from shore with our eyes glued to the sounder, looking for any structure or schooling fish we could drop our jigs to.

A small patch of fish can be mighty hard to find in a big ocean. The beauty of the Akaroa hapuku schools is they’re often only in around 80m of water, opening up a world of opportunities in ways to target these fish.

Ben decided a Shimano 300g glow pebblestick jig was going to do the damage and after watching his Talica 8 get peeled out with his Metaloid jig rod bent in half, I was quickly convinced.

After more screaming runs and a scrap that lasted minutes, he had his hapuku to the boat, which required both of us to lift up! Ben was ecstatic at his largest hapuku catch; it certainly seems big jigs will catch big fish.

I decided to try something slightly lighter since I had a lighter jig set, so I opted for a 2oz jighead and softbait on a Shimano Bottomship slow jig rod, designed for snapper.

Straight to the bottom and almost before I could start my slow retrieve, my Avet SXJ was screaming out line

In shallow water, Jake goes light for hapuku

as a hungry hapuku engulfed my 7” glow softbait and was heading to South America.

We boated my fish and exclaimed our excitement, as the day had started better than most and was looking likely to continue.

hapuku tackle. Something many people believe they need, just because they are fishing for ‘hapuku’, therefore it they need big, heavy gear.

Maybe if you were in 300m but not 80!

The beauty of using such light gear, like PE 1–3 rods and 10 – 20lb braid, is it allows these powerful fish to put up such a good fight.

Being in shallow water, they don’t usually float to the surface and a scrap with a big hapuku all the way up from 80m is something to experience. Along with ability to get light jigs from 80-190g down to the bottom quickly, light set ups are much more enjoyable, more effective, and lighter to hold and fish with than traditional deep water

After another day of screaming reels while light tackle ‘glow’ fishing for hapuku, we had kept nowhere near our daily limit as we want to do our part to protect this incredible fishery. Trying to ensure the fishing stays as good as it is, as one or two of these stunning fish is more than enough to feed the family.

Having had a great day enjoying this wonderful fishery, in my mind is the best way possible, we were off home with sore arms and soon to be full stomachs!

Groping about off Canterbury produces the results for Ben Pond

6

THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

Mixed bag for calendar event

Optically Speaking – with Ant Corke NIGHT HUNTING AND A GREAT NEW YUKON RIFLESIGHT

Scott Campbell At the end of August, the Wellington Angling and Surfcasting Club ran their annual ‘winter pairs’ social fishing competition at Ocean Beach in Palliser Bay.

Night hunting is great for gathering meat and controlling pests all year round. During spring and summer, pest numbers rapidly increase due to a greater abundance of food, whilst pigs and deer also improve condition after the lean winter months. Yukon has released an exciting new night vision riflescope that enables hunters to effectively shoot at night without spending a lot of money, perfect for these situations.

Yukon Photon RT Digital Night Vision Riflescope The Yukon Photon RT is the latest version of the highly successful Photon range, and replaces the XT version, which has been our best selling night vision riflescope since its launch in 2014. This upgrade is the most impressive yet, with increased image quality, built-in video recording and streaming, and a redesigned body and control layout. It feels a lot more solid than previous models, yet is still a very modest weight. I’ll be honest with you, I find the new Photon RT very hard to criticize, as I really like it. I also liked the previous XT model, but was frustrated by a few simple things like the lack of external power source, which has now been remedied by a quick-change AA battery holders, or rechargeable battery packs.

Shooting with the Yukon Photon RT The Yukon Photon RT is a line-of-sight optic, best suited to open areas that are free of long grass and foliage. The Photon RT 4.5x42 is ideal for short to medium range, while the Yukon Photon RT 6x50 is better for medium to long range. In low light, dusk for example, the Yukon Photon RT will outperform all daylight riflescopes regardless of brand, size, or cost. In total darkness, the Yukon Photon RT is fitted with a very capable infrared illuminator that will clearly show a target at up to 200 metres. If greater distance is required, a Yukon infrared laser illuminator is an excellent choice, especially on the Photon RT 6x50.

With this set-up, dropping a deer at 300 metres from a fixed position should be possible, though I wouldn’t do it myself because the

definitely reduces sighting in time and ammo. I usually shoot three or four rounds to be sure of point-of-impact.

The scope has six selectable reticles in four colours, which can be changed without altering the point-ofimpact. I like a fairly open reticle for centrefires, and a reticle with hold-over marks for rimfire rifles.

The image quality of the new Photon RT is noticeably better than the previous XT model. Unlike digital riflescopes that produce a colour image in daylight, the Yukon Photon RT is designed principally for night hunting, and therefore the image is black and white, and very sensitive in low lighting and to infrared light. Other optical enhancements are a new contrast control and a 2x digital zoom, both of which work extremely well. Because the Photon is digital, it is bright light resistant and can be used in bright light.

One final point, it is SO GOOD to have an inbuilt video recorder!

advantage of night hunting is that it is possible to sneak up close to animals.

Mounting the Photon is easy, it has a 30mm body tube that uses standard scope rings. Once mounted, the new one-shot zeroing

Over the next few weeks we will be out hunting and pest shooting. Keep reading my Optically Speaking column for more information about the Yukon Photon RT, or see one for yourself at one of our many stockists.

For technical info, phone Jayden King 03 9700 570.

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Over a quiet beverage, my mate Sam and I decided to head over and see what we could catch. Once we had some info’ on what species were available, thanks to Steve and Felix from Steve’s Fishing Shop, bait and gear were decided upon.

Pre-fishing day we prepped our bait of fresh paddle crab, mussels and fresh trevally, and dusted off the surfcasting gear.

Ocean Beach is about an hour and a half drive from Wellington, in the Wairarapa in the very scenic Palliser Bay. Luckily the wind was from the north and the swell less than a metre, so perfect fishing conditions.

We arrived at 9.00am and, after a quick chat and registration from the boys at the club, we drove along the beach to find our spot.

The next four hours we fished hard and had a couple of decent strikes but unfortunately all we could catch was the dreaded red cod and a small ‘spiny.’

However, we didn’t really mind as we had a great day, which finished with a

Sam Bradley with a ‘capital’ red cod

barbecue and prize giving and a load of banter with the fellow ‘fishos.’

There was some good fish caught, including rig, all caught before sunrise, moki,

trevally, skate, and kahawai, and a great day was had by all. Big shout out to the team from the club for organising this event. It will be on our calendar for next year!

Issue 145 7

Trout rise to demo day @ Twizel Pat Noone

Pat Noone Snr with a nice Mackenzie trout taken on the fly

What a lot of people don’t realise about the Twizel canals and the surrounding area is that it has a lot more to offer than just chasing big trout and salmon. There are so many little lakes, rivers, and creeks that produce some of the best dry fly and nymph fishing that New Zealand has to offer.

With the main lakes in Twizel at an all time low, with no sign of them filling up anytime soon, the canals are running very slow, if not completely stopped. Anyone who fishes the canals on a regular basis knows that in order to catch the big fish, you need flow. So it makes sense to have a back up plan for when things slow down.

I fished the canals mid September and was extremely happy to see fish

starting to feed on the top; I can’t say I was surprised, as it was warmer than usual and that’s all it took to bring the midge out in the hundreds.

and when it was far enough ahead, I dropped the fly a foot in front of it. The plump fish of around 4lb didn’t waste anytime sucking it down and the fight was on.

I counted about 15 to 20 fish in the one to four pound range, feeding on the surface and the same again just cruising along the top of the weed bed. As the weather improves, bigger fish appear and it’s not uncommon to land 10 in a day, some of which are around the 10lb mark but most around 5-6lb.

Over the next half an hour, I landed another three fish slightly smaller but fantastic fun all the same. I’m pretty excited for my next trip and will have a box full of flies so I can attempt to trick bigger fish up to the surface.

I didn’t waste any time getting my fly rod out and set up with my favourite little dry. Before I knew it, I went from rolling eggs on the bottom to fishing dries on top. As the first fish approached, I kept a low profile to let it pass

I’m will be down the canals on the 21st of October and will be doing a free two hour demo’ on how I fish the canals with spin and fly rods, so anyone interested in coming along message me on my FB page ‘nz trophy fish’.

I will have a selection a fly rods with me so if you’re keen on trying one, I’m more than happy to give some pointers.

BOOK REVIEW

PAINTING THE SAND

By Kim Hughes GC Simon & Schuster RRP $38 Reviewed by Daryl Crimp

Since Andy McNabb revitalised the genre with Bravo Two Zero, non-fiction war stories have hit the book market like a volley of wellaimed shots, with interest fuelled by the accessibility of modern war and the emergence of international terrorism. Since the first Gulf War, engagement with the

enemy has become a regular and familiar occurrence in living rooms throughout the world, with instant mass media delivering combat in real time.

PAINTING THE SAND tells the story of Kim Hughes GC and follows is six month deployment in the Afghan War as leader of a ‘bomb disposal squad’. It is an interesting read, simply told, but fascinating because of the insight is sheds on this little known part of combat theatre. Honestly written, graphic, amusing, and sometimes poignant,

PAINTING THE SAND tells the story from a soldier’s perspective and puts a few records straight, including the fact that a fat kid with a girl’s name, who was a failed academic and bullied at school, could come good given a sense of direction.

8

THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

Tailgating kingies smash flies

Ben Booth

BOOK REVIEW Lewis Hendrie with a nice tailgating kingi

THE BLACK BOOK

By James Patterson & David Ellis

Penguin Random House RRP $37 Reviewed by

Lynnaire Johnston

Lewis and I were about to head back to the car after a long day fighting the wind.

As we were walking out of the water we both noticed a funny looking splash off to our right.

It couldn’t have been a wave so we raced over as fast as we could to investigate. We were greeted by two black stingrays, both loaded with tailing kingfish.

Kingies like riding the rays because they spook all the bait fish and flounder off the bottom, and the kingies just dart off and get a quick feed. A few kingies tailgating on the back of a ray creates competition for food, so

usually your fly gets smashed if it is presented correctly.

We quickly cast and were rewarded with an instant double hook-up. My heart was pumping.

The early part of the season had been plagued with strong winds and today was no different. The Golden Bay area is very susceptible to an easterly wind, creating a considerable wave action, which tends to dirty up the shallow water. Luckily, today had been a bit lighter than normal so the water was only slightly coloured and spotting conditions were still good. We have learned that if the surface of the water is

broken by wave action, the stingrays, accompanied by kingfish, tend to travel into much shallower water than on a sunny day and you don’t have to walk far out to get into some good fish. My advice is to ‘fish your feet first,’ during a windy day and you will be pleasantly surprised how little distance you cover before getting into kingfish. During a windy day I always use an intermediate line and a baitfish pattern, just so I can limit the wave action on my fly and get a good presentation to the fish.

Back to the action. After a few seconds, my hook pulled so I made another

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quick cast over the rays and was rewarded with another instant hook up. After about 10 minutes we both had our fish to the bank and while they were not huge, they still had put up an epic fight, and is the reason we keep coming back. After photos, both fish were released to fight another day.

The weather had certainly made the day tough but, perseverance rewarded us with a number of hook-ups and fish to the bank. As we walked back to the car, we relived the day’s epic battles by telling each other how it had all unfolded – it had been a truly memorable one.

Thriller writer James Patterson has partnered with David Ellis on books for several years and their output has been both prodigious and popular.

The Black Book is their latest collaboration and became an instant #1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller. Even Patterson agrees it’s his best book in 20 years!

An ingenious, inventive thriller, it traverses the fertile ground of power, corruption, and the ability of secrets to scandalise a city while potentially destroying a family.

Let’s set the scene: three bodies are found in compromising positions in a bedroom. Two are cops, one’s an assistant state’s

The results are mayhem.

Everyone suspects everyone else. No-one trusts anyone else. And the true culprit, when finally revealed, is entirely unexpected.

All in all, the perfect recipe for a block-buster page-turner. It would also make a great movie, as with other Patterson escapades, but instead it’s already in production as a TV series.

Can’t wait.

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Issue 145 9

Pug the ugly duckling

Dylan Booth

where I could see fish jumping about.

The fish’s face looked very funny and deformed.

When we got there, I watched what people were using. A lot were casting soft baits to these very smart fish but nobody had any luck.

Thinking outside the box, I put on a very large spinner.

First cast to where I thought a fish would be lying, I hooked up to something rather large. My reel was screaming and my first thought was, “Rainbow,” but after a lazy fight and huge head shakes, I landed a 14lb brown trout.

First cast I managed to hook something big but it shook the hook before I even got to see it. A few casts went by with no more hits, so I moved down stream

There was something very wrong with this fish, it had some sort of disease. From what I’ve been told, this type of fish is called a ‘pug nose’, as it looks like a pug dog.

Scott and I took plenty of photos, then released it.

I cast the lure back out to the same spot and I was on again! This time the fish went absolutely ballistic, jumping all over the show and trying to throw the hook from its mouth. I ended up landing the fish and it weighed just shy of 12lbs.

Scott, from Scott Rose Fishing, and I arrived at Ohau A to try catch a large brown or rainbow trout.

I finished landing seven brown trout ranging from 3 to 14lb. Not a bad effort for an hour, I’d say!

I hope your mother loves you

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10 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017 For some time, the New Zealand fisheries management has come under attack from critics here and overseas. NZ Rock Lobster Industry Council Chief Operating Officer, Daryl Sykes, argues that any apparent failure of the system arises not from any structural deficiency, but from failing to use it to its full potential. He argues…

Lobstermen have an interest in maintaining the fishery

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAIL The New Zealand Quota Management System (QMS) has, for over thirty years, been studied and externally reviewed, and quoted as a ‘model’ for fisheries elsewhere. However, while superficial reviews of parts of the QMS, property rights, and sustainable catch limits, may satisfy academic curiosity, for those committed to the business of fishing in New Zealand, the well-worn cliché is only too evident – the devil is truly in the detail.

Without sufficient attention paid to the structure, design, and maintenance of such a ‘rights-based regime’, and without proper alignment of the public and private sectors, the right relationships within the commercial sector, and political support, the growth, innovation, and entrepreneurial activities otherwise found in abundant and sustainable fisheries, will be stifled. So too will the cultural elements of fishing communities that add colour, romance, and aesthetics to society.

Furthermore, the efficient and profitable delivery of

healthy and sustainably harvested seafood, along with local, regional, and national economic growth, will be compromised if we don’t fully utilise the QMS.

THE SHACKLES THAT BITE When the rock lobster fisheries entered the QMS in April 1990, we developed our research and management initiatives around the central themes of: organisation, cooperation, and collaboration.

The allocation of Individual Transferrable Quotas (ITQs), thought to be more secure access and utilisation rights, made the lobster industry even more ambitious in regard to greater self-management and/or co-management opportunities. However, despite these strong, enduring rights, collective and collaborative initiatives by inshore commercial fishers and stakeholders are routinely confounded by politics, administrative bureaucracy, and changing

economic incentives. A legacy of Government control and intervention has also conditioned many commercial and recreational fishers into believing, incorrectly, that no new initiatives are possible unless initiated by MPI and/or implemented by regulation.

Political responses to society’s changing values with respect to marine protection and usage, have increasingly been at the expense of fishing, primarily commercial fishing. In part, this is because the wider community does not understand the QMS is a conservation mechanism.

Unfortunately, there is also a bureaucratic ‘command and control’ philosophy within the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), which is fostered by influential politicians across all parties. This is exacerbated by an inherent bias against commercial fishing from within the media and state agencies. The bias exists because of a failing of both Government and commercial rights holders to adequately promote the intention and

potential of the Quota Management System, from its inception in 1986. This is compounded because the ‘rights framework’ has never been completed, thereby absolving the recreational fishing sector from any direct accountability for their individual and collective participation and behaviour.

LOBSTERMEN LEAD BY EXAMPLE But despite the inadequacies of the QMS, there are numerous examples of the commercial rock lobster sector realising the potential and being proactive in a collective and collaborative manner. Some CRAMACs (stakeholder organisations) have instigated research and management programmes that are beneficial both to the fisheries and fishers, in terms of increased stock status, security, and certainty.

The success of these can be put down to the existence of commercial property rights, and the incentive for rights holders to act responsibly in

order to consolidate the value of their asset, which is their share of a sustainable yield from the lobster resource.

We also have seen a greatly improved relationship between commercial rights holders and stock assessment scientists, which has led to improvements in data collection and greater trust in developing management procedures that guide decisions on commercial catch limits. This is another example of the importance of having the right people, with the right attitudes, guiding the processes that lead to decision making.

It is not enough to have commercial rights holders acting in accordance with the intent of the QMS, whilst politicians and bureaucrats act differently. Whether or not this disconnect is borne of wilful disregard or lack of institutional commitment to an innovative management approach, is hard to determine. However, what is obvious, is the resulting tension is depriving fisheries, industry, and the community

of benefits that might otherwise be achieved, if the principles of property rights and market mechanisms were properly upheld and applied.

FROM ABUNDANCE, ALL BENEFITS FLOW The decline of the QMS to little more than an allocative system for commercial fishing could have, and should have been averted. It cannot now be easily reversed, unless all parties revisit its intent and agree to collaboratively implement corrective action.

The principles and purposes of the Fisheries Act refer to utilisation whilst ensuring sustainability – and the QMS intended this would be done within a secure rights-based framework – it’s past time we got back to first principles and purposes.

Expanding angling horizons Don Rood

The new freshwater fishing season has begun, with anglers already enjoying the spring fishing on offer throughout the country.

While rain and wind can make the first months of the season challenging, the rivers are all in good condition and the trout are feeding well as they recover from their winter spawning.

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As we race towards Christmas, anglers also have other openings to look forward to, with backcountry waters not open for another couple of months, or trophy waters like Rotorua’s Ngongataha Stream opening in December.

Once the anticipation of the new season and the excitement of the first good days out on the water pass, the coming months offer anglers the chance to try something new and expand their repertoire.

We’ve introduced a brand new range of licences to better suit your fishing needs.

Whether you’re out there for a day or the whole year, you’ll find the right licence for you.

Buy your licence online or at stores nationwide.

Visit fishandgame.org.nz for all the details.

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The range of freshwater fishing opportunities on offer in many parts of the country is huge and as the days become warmer, longer and more settled, the opportunities to explore

them become greater.

And of course, while brown and rainbow trout are uppermost in many anglers’ minds, there are other sports fish out there. A few hours trying new water, new techniques and new species offer anglers variety and new opportunities.

Salmon have a dedicated following, with their ardent fans eagerly looking forward to targeting these silver beauties as they begin their spawning runs up South island rivers during the summer.

Elsewhere, coarse fish such as perch and tench also have their supporters and provide further species to target. Perch in particular is a good species to introduce children to fishing and the family licence offers a great way to include everyone in an adventure out on river or lake.

For the more adventurous angler, the best advice is to

use this coming season to make an effort to get out and explore new fishing spots.

There is nothing more satisfying than discovering your own little stream which other people don’t know about or drive past on the way to the more famous and well publicised destinations.

These little, overlooked waterways hold trout but don’t get a lot of pressure. If they are close to home, so much the better as visiting them for a few hours is a great way to unwind in scenic surroundings.

So this season, start thinking how to expand your angling horizons and get more out of your fishing.

Identify a new species to target, a new region to visit or a new technique to experiment with. The rewards are worth it.

Issue 145 11

Exhibitors flocking to NZ’s biggest shooting, hunting, and outdoors expo

An African stag in

Marlborough Daryl Crimp

Exhibitions Group Ltd

Julie Andrews sprang to mind. The hills were alive with the sound of music. Deep bellowing stag roars; some close and some tethered tenuously to the breeze like a storm-battered sparrow on a telegraph wire.

I roared back, judiciously, just enough to incite a grumpy reply.

I was hunting with experienced deerstalkers Gary Fissenden, Wayne Smith, and Jono Young, and that combined knowledge was an advantage when hunting the roaring reds of Marlborough. Four pairs of eyes glassing the high country was also a help, but stags can melt into the thorns, shadows, and craggy gutters easily, so enticing them to roar and give away their location was a priority.

Tucked in an eagle’s nest high under the cusp of a ridge, I bellowed and several stags responded half-heartedly. One below in a gut to our right, two somewhere on a face to our left, and one across the river half way to Africa. A good 12 point stag herding a harem appeared on a ridge below and as I scrambled into position for a shot, they peeled off and sidled away to safety. All seemed to want to hide from my lusty roars. Except for the ‘African’ stag. A bug crawled under his skin and he suddenly exploded out of the manuka, down into the river, and out of sight behind a spur on our side of the river.

“If he goes upstream we’ve lost him,” muttered Jono, but the words had little air time.

“There he is,” I whispered, indicating the base of the spur. In the full blaze of the morning sun stood a magnificent stag, his coat burnished with the lustre of arrogance, head aloft, and looking directly at us.

I roared. A single roar that set in motion a chain of events that will live with me forever.

Crimpy saviouring a successful hunt. photo Jonathan Young

That stag bawled back and picked his way up the ridge. Each subsequent roar of mine needled him further, to a point that he unsheathed himself and started pissing all over his underbelly as he scarfed the ground with his hooves. That was the game changer. Now his blood was up and he set about closing the gap. I ranged a few landmarks through the Swarovski EL 10 x 42 rangefinder binoculars and picked a point just under 300 yards that I’d be comfortable shooting at.

At 345 yards he stalled. His arrogance slipped from his shoulders like a discarded jacket and he twitched nervously.

“He’s got the jitters,” Fizz whispered. “You are going to lose him.”

And I did. The stag, inexplicably, turned and made a hasty retreat.

I roared hard, loud, and long. Messed with his head and he booked into the deer psychiatrist. He turned and came bawling in, stopping broadside at the last point I’d ranged.

I took the opportunity quickly and put a full stop on a thrilling hunt that had seen us lure that canny stag from over a kilometre away. It was the epitome of hunting in the open high country and I left with a fine 13 point red for the wall.

Swarovski Optik is a key sponsor of the Shot Expo

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As well as the Event’s major sponsors and the brands they represent, other participating brands include:

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This is only a sample of the brands you will see the show. New Zealand is about to witness the sport, on show, in an unprecedented way.

Shot Expo Auckland is being held in association with COLFO and many of the major Associations representing the sports in New Zealand. Being conveniently located at the ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane West, Shot Expo will be within around a couple of hours drive for over a third of NZ’s sporting shooters and rural population.

A truly international event, some of the popular attractions include working gun dogs, taxidermy, caping, butchering and trophy demonstrations, talks by experts and athletes, ATV demos, safety courses, and the ever popular night vision tunnel, plus much more!

For more information on being an exhibitor or getting tickets go to www.shotexpo.co.nz See you at Asia Pacific’s biggest shooting, hunting and outdoors Expo!

12 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

Captain’s Log:

Snapper & rig rock in early While early morning or change of light in the evening is still a popular time to target them, they are on the ‘chew’ at any time during the day during this phase, so it is really a question of time on the water if you want success.

Berley is not essential and may even attract pests such as spiny dogfish and small greyboys, but you need to work out what works best for you. Small to medium size baits are likely to work better than huge whole baits, because the fish are coming off the ‘slow metabolism’ of winter and building up to the full on ravenous feeding

September heralds the drift of snapper from winter deep to shallow water pre-spawning grounds in the Top of the South, with the vanguard normally comprising a few big moochers coming in early. However, school snapper have turned up in abundance in Tasman Bay and in shallow water.

Main concentrations are off Rabbit Island, The Kina Bluffs, and the Spat Farms, but they do move around a lot while feeding up in preparation of spawning.

Daniel Crimp loves early morning rig missions

we normally associate with post-spawning. Half pilchards, anchovies, squid tentacles, and small cut baits are recommended, as are softballs, flasher rigs, and small slow jigs.

October is also time for rig in Tasman Bay and the Sounds. Again, they come in to spawn and feed well prior to this activity. While popular with net fishers, they are also easily caught from the shore surfcasting with crab baits. Catches are good already and also look to the east and west coasts for shallow water rig action.

Daniel and his mate Daymon have been playing Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, raiding rig off Tahuna’s back beach in midnight to dawn missions – great to see adventure still alive in the young. I suspect they get little sleep on these bike-riding fishing sorties, because I came home recently to see a pile of fresh rig in the fridge, nuclear fallout in the kitchen from where Daniel had spontaneously combusted with a loaf of bread and a week’s worth of groceries, and no sign of said child. No amount of shouting elicited a response – I eventually found him comatose on his bed and it was impossible to rouse him.

Payback time

Ron Prestage

Last year I was fortunate enough to have several snapper fishing trips out into Tasman Bay aboard Lindsay Stuart’s Victory. The Victory was very conveniently moored at the marina so there were no boat ramp hassles.

We fished mainly on the 30m line out from the Kina Bluffs and the most successful weapon in our arsenal of strayline rigs, dropper rigs, and setline was Lenny’s two-hook strayline rig. Two snapper at a time was not uncommon.

This year the Victory is on a mooring in Duncan Bay so we have used my boat Blue Magic for our Tasman Bay snapper fishing.

Again we have had success at the 30m line but this year the area off Pepin Island has been the go-to spot. Dropper rigs with lumo beads have been the most successful catchers. It has been good to pay Lindsay back with a couple of very fruitful snapper trips.

Ron with two good snapper taken aboard Victory

Lindsay with a brace of snapper from Blue Magic

Ah, to be young again.

NEW Mobile edition – Smartphone & Tablet

Go Anywhere Read Anytime Watch Everything go to www.thefishingpaper.co.nz for the mobile experience Editor

NG FISHI THE

R

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& HUNTING

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Ron Prestage

NEW Contributors Daryl Crimp Ron Prestage Sean Ryan

Kim Swan

Dylan Booth

Lynnaire Johnston

Daryl Sykes

Chris West

Larnce Wichman

Jake Williams

Michael Stump

Ben Booth

Marty Bowers

rgprestage@xtra.co.nz

Poppa Mike

Printer

Bryn Williams

Storm Stanley

Ant Corke

Hannes Nothdurfter

Ian Hadland

Carol Watson

Patrick Noone

Vicky Maitland

Doug Clifton

Scott Campbell

Don Simms

Inkwise

The Fishing Paper & Hunting News 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.

Issue 145 13

STICK YOUR OAR IN

CRIMPTOON

FREEMAN GROUP

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 Sport fishing out-dated Dear Ed, An article in your August 2017 edition

by Ron Prestage stated for sport, Rory and his friend Darren targeted large sharks and stingrays on heavy duty equipment in South Africa.

Surely this idea of ‘sport’ is outdated now and belongs in the past?

Sport hunting or fishing is just simply a cruel, needless killing spree and definitely not a socially acceptable activity. In this so called ‘sport’, the large black stingray landed by Darren in the photo, was forced to participate to its death. A death that had no justifiable purpose. No catch and release for magnificent creatures like rays. And completely different to catching and killing to provide a meal for your family.

Please pass on to recent arrival Rory, that here in New Zealand sharks are now know to be an important part of our marine ecosystem with five species of sharks being protected.

NZ waters have at least 117 species of sharks, rays, and other cartilaginous fish species that are particularly vulnerable to overfishing due to them maturing slowly while living long lives with low reproduction.

Stingrays are also considered culturally significant throughout the Pacific Oceans and are beautifully graceful beings that deserve respect, are curious and not aggressive… and can even be taught to eat out of humans hands!

Melanie Karst, Lyttelton

1080 conspiracy suggested Dear Ed, Several weeks ago, after a 1080 poisoning operation, several deer and two pigs ended up on the Waianakarua Beach South of Oamaru following a flood.

After an OIA request on the cause of death of deer and pigs on the Waianakarua Beach, the response was, ‘because a deer had had back steaks removed and the heads of another couple removed, on the beach where they ended up, they were not tested for 1080 as it was ASSUMED they had been killed by hunters’. No hunter with half a brain would take meat from animals that had come from a 1080 poisoned area.

I would ask the question who butchered the deer? If my income relied on being employed

by OSPRI or DoC I would have been first there to butcher them so as to attempt to shift the cause of deaths to hunters, not from 1080 poisoning.

All the removal of the deer and pigs by helicopter back into the poisoned area without autopsy has done is create more distrust in OSPRI and DoC and has added another nail to the coffin of the poisoners.

PS. I offered twenty three dead native birds to the DoC from the same area as this poison operation in 2002 for autopsy but they declined. This time 2017 ten birds have been recovered from the same area, but no possums, which was the reason for the poisoning.

Lewis Hore DoC’s screwball propaganda Dear Ed, A Department of Conservation propaganda article (TV One News, 17/9/2017) about the six kea killed on the Arthur’s Pass road over

Rory replies: I would like to thank Melanie for her response, it is always good to get feedback from the readers.

South Africa is blessed with an abundance of fish, which is mainly due to careful environmental planning by individuals and government, lack of vehicular access to beaches, and various marine reserves right around the coastline.

We respect our environment and strive to practise catch and release where possible.

The black ray in the picture is a catch of a lifetime and it was released back into the ocean. The majority of competitive fishermen in South Africa practice catch and release, as they realize this is the only way that future generations will enjoy this wonderful sport.

The ray in question was caught using heavy gear, which allows the angler to bring the fish in very quickly thereby minimizing the stress on the ray. The ray was also not gaffed but leader-ed into the shallows where the hook was removed, a few quick photos taken and then approximately 30 mins spent reviving the ray in the shallows until it was strong enough to be released. Rays and sharks are not considered eating fish in South Africa as in some countries in the east.

As fishermen we respect our quarry and spend a lot of time, money, and effort ensuring that sport fishing is sustainable for future generations to enjoy.

Kind regards Rory the last few months lacked balance, fairness, and credibility. Two amateurish DoC officers presented evidence of these incidents and mentioned other ways our native kea have died over time but, even though they were DoC employees, they appeared to have no knowledge of DoC research into kea and other native bird deaths caused by DoC and OSPRI aerial 1080 toxin operations.

Somehow, that information never reaches the New Zealand public. Because those poisoned kea and other native fauna are killed by Government agencies, those agencies must think they have a given right to kill them. Those birds are only by-kill ... never to be mentioned again.

DoC and OSPRI have been responsible for the deaths of 25 monitored kea since 2008.

What about the kea that weren’t monitored?

By using Doc’s research extrapolation method, it appears 50 kea can be added to the total. The amateur clowns DoC used to front the news article said kea were intelligent ... they are. More so than some humans. This was illustrated in a 8/9/2017 Stuff article where a kea was filmed making a snowball on the Arthur’s Pass road, it was brilliant. Are people running over kea because the kea can make a better snowball than them?

We were then told large kea signs (like the kiwi signs) are now being put up along the Arthur’s Pass road. The background lecture then descended into real comedy when we were told these new kea signs were the first to be mounted in the world! The kea is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand ..... why would any other country in the world want to put up a kea sign? That statement is a perfect example of DoC’s screwball propaganda. Tell us the truth only DoC! Ron Eddy, Nelson

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Zebra man reads TFP

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Celebrity Mozambican zebra vet and renowned small game hunter Louis Boutros Boutros Beukes recently made headlines when he survived a charge from a wounded dik dik by playing dead and pretending to be an ant hill.

Beukes purely shoots for meat while on location researching Mozambique’s two sub-species of zebra, the black zebra with white stripes and the white zebra with black stripes, and shoots small game for convenience.

“I prefer cape buffalo but my tracker, Malibhongwe, is superstitious and believes ‘Black Death’ is the reincarnation of his aunty Nokia, who was as mad as a maggot, so he won’t eat it,” he told The Fishing Paper & Hunting News. “I could eat one myself but that would be greedy.”

Instead, Beukes shoots tiny antelope like the duiker, steenbok, and lesser striped outer-Mozambican pygmy kudu, dries them for biltong and carries them for snacks while following zebra in large circles.

“I never deliberately hunt dik dik because of their aggressive nature and resilience, but mistook this one for a Lusthof’s Grysbok,” he said. “Dik dik use ant hills to scan for prey so I put my size and round shape to good use, and narrowly escaped death by fright!”

Louis Boutros Boutros Beukes is soon to publish his research in a much awaited book, Why Zebras Sleepwalk.

Louis likes to read The Fishing Paper & Hunting News because it provides light relief from his dry academic research and has lots of big pictures in it.

At WorldTravellers Motueka we’re passionate about travel and are avid travellers ourselves. If there’s somewhere in the world you’d like to go, chances are one of our team has been there and can share their knowledge and personal experience with you – making the world of difference when it comes to booking your next holiday.

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14 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

BERT says ‘pick me’!

CRAMAC 5, along with all the other CRA regions, is still playing ‘hurry up and wait’ to find out the details and expectations of MPI’s new commercial reporting system, IEMRS (Integrated Electronic Reporting System).

As the weeks tick by, we have less time to prepare for whatever MPI expects of us: develop the electronic data collection device, manufacture the device, distribute the device, and then train the fishermen how to use the system. While we understand several devices are being designed for the potting fishery (lobster, crab, blue cod), CRAMAC 5 would like to stick with BERT, the proven device we already use for our voluntary logbook work. (See Fen 2016 Issue 125 – hit search on the new online smartphone version and type in BERT).

BERT has the capacity to ‘grow up and become more

intelligent’ to fit the roll, and then be approved by MPI. To date, we understand we will be asked to record all lobster kept, all lobster discarded, illegal lobster under size, soft-shell, egg bearing, unmeasurable, and by-catch of non-quota and quota species (the bureaucrats have forgotten to ask what the fishermen have for lunch).

All data is to be collected and electronically sent to MPI at the end of each day’s fishing. To not do so will mean a hefty fine.

Two devices are most supported by lobster fishermen: Deck Hand, which is an Australian data collection device being configured for New Zealand fishery, is based on a iPad platform with touch screen command, but there is a concern on the robustness of the iPad, as it cannot be taken out on deck. BERT needs quite a transformation as it is based on button pushing with commands coming from the screen. We know BERT is robust and can be used on deck.

since we first looked at developing BERT for the voluntary logbook data collection. Zebra Tech’s way of understanding and looking outside the square is pure Kiwi ingenuity, they listen to their customers, understand the tasks required of the equipment,

Larnce Wichman

communications, VMS (Vessel Monitoring System), and the ability to collect the data that we understand we may be asked to collect.

This is over and above the logbook data, fishermen’s personal harvest data, wet tag data, and lobster tagging data, – BERT’s all grown up.

How will the data device look?

ZEBRA TECH EARNS ITS STRIPES

and set about developing a prototype, which fishermen trial, kick around, and throw everything imaginable at it. It then goes back with recommendations on what’s good and what’s not.

CRAMAC 5 has a six-year close working history with Nelson firm, Zebra Tech,

As of today, we have BERT dressed in new clothes: it is smarter, it has satellite

Tin Signs

It has not been easy trying to second guess what MPI will ask of us and commercial know already that it is going to be a big job to get everything in place by the 1 April 2018. If we cannot get the job done in time, we are unaware of the consequences. However, if

the device cannot be rolled out in time, we do know there is a provision for dispensation to use a paper method, but that even needs to be designed and printed in time.

ANOTHER 64 MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION Will all the data be used for managing fisheries or is it largely a PR exercise?

We struggle to see how a knowledge of what discarded females in berry, lobster in softshell, and undersize in every pot, will contribute to science or research. Our logbook data has provided very good information to manage the CRA 5 fishery since 1997. The by-catch of non-quota species returned to sea alive does not mean much in managing lobster bio mass. The whole thing is beginning to look like a PR dance to show the public that MPI controls commercial fisheries, in light of the whipping Industry got from the Simmons’ Report, which was mostly based on the deep-water fishery. What MPI has failed to tell us to date, is what management benefits will come from all the extra data they will be asking commercial lobster fishermen to collect.

Unfortunately for the industry and the wider community, this is not a collaborative process; we have no say in it. And while much is still uncertain, some very real concerns have already surfaced, such as the huge extra cost imposed on every commercial vessel and stress on small operators.

Then the question of dataoverload: if too much data collection is required during harvesting, it raises huge safety issues.

Imagine the outcry if this level of data collection was imposed on recreational fishers – you only need to read what LegaSea have to say about that. But then, LegaSea is all about taking part in better managing the fishery – is it not?

TIDES OF CHANGE

By Poppa Mike

The perfect gift for everyone

Emigrant settlers sailed in squalor I recently read a number of personal diaries, correspondence, and faded newspaper reports, giving more personalised and detailed accounts of life on board the early emigrant ships bringing settlers to New Zealand. What an eye opener – quite different to the more clinical accounts based on shipping records, captain’s logs, and ‘good news’ press statements that now appear in so many of our reference books.

For the mustang, hunter, fisher, tractor, car enthusiast, man-cave and more, there is a sign here on display at our show room to suit everyone.

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Nearly all migrants who boarded sailing ships had no experience of such voyages. In fact, most had never even seen or been near the sea.

Secondly, they were peppered with stories of doom and gloom, what to do and not to do, and what to take or not to take, to the point that most were confused and apprehensive long before their ship cast off the mooring ropes.

Stories of storms, dangerous seas, and the perils of the unknown southern ocean, including icebergs, abounded.

However, the diaries revealed that the biggest challenge faced was the ‘human factor’, starting in their home port with the shipping companies lack of provisions, barrels of water that soon went sour, poor quality recruitment of crew with Crimping from local taverns to make up the numbers, overcrowded accommodation, poor ablutions that frequently failed, badly stowed cargo, and badly behaved individuals.

Then there were the cages of live animals - usually ducks, chickens, pigs, and sheep - spread around the deck. Often there were horses and cattle. Charlotte Jane also carried partridges and pheasants of which only 3 survived. Thurland Castle on her 1876 voyage also carried 32 fallow deer. One jumped overboard before they left dock and three others died two weeks out, while the rest of the herd became ill. These survived by good luck

when ‘sweet spirits of nitre’ were administered.

Diaries record a huge number of incidents involving crew behaviour, most involving the theft of ‘grog’. It was well known that large quantities, both in bottle and barrel form, were stowed in the hold, which was a tempting challenge for thirsty crew. Crew on Thurland Castle broached the casks by candlelight, on one side of them the straw in which the fallow deer bedded down, on the other side huge quantities of gunpowder kegs!

The Duchess of Argyle had her share of human drama in 1842 when a drunken New Zealander annoyed passengers, then threatened to kill the mate and set the ship on fire. The crew took sides, taking up arms and threatening the safety of the ship. A later enquiry found that the cowgirl had stolen bottles of brandy and given them to the crew.

In 1852 the Gwalior proved to be unseaworthy, with a list, a rumpty crew, and a drunken captain, passengers thought they were doomed. She was feared after six months lost but when she eventually did make port it was found that the captain was suffering from delirium tremens (DTs). On a later voyage, the same captain threw himself overboard.

Eighteen deaths occurred during the voyage of Ann Wilson, in 1857, due largely to overcrowding, a shortage of food and water, lack of medical supplies, and a shortage of cooking facilities. Clearly, the shipping company responsible was guilty of greed.

This was typical of many other such voyages, as it became increasingly obvious that rules covering the migrant shipping trade were far too lax and poorly monitored.

An uneventful passage was a rare occasion indeed.

MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18 15

MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE 2017 / 18

IMPORTANT! Check out current MPI blue cod and scallop regulations.

d’Urville Island Tennyson Inlet Outer Pelorus Sound Havelock Kenepuru Sound Picton Queen Charlotte Sound Port Underwood

16 MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18

HAVELOCK, KENEPURU & PELORUS SOUNDS

30 28

32

31 – Beatrix Bay Western Bank

29

Early spring and autumn snapper, mackerel and yellow-eye mullet

32 – Kauauroa Bay

27

31

Early summer through to end of autumn snapper, trevally, john dory, kingfish, gurnard, kahawai, yellow-eye mullet and jack mackerel.

33 21 19

20

33 – Rams Head

26

22

Between the mussel farms some deeper water provides an ideal place to strayline whole pilchards for school snapper during late spring/summer when they are feeding aggressively.

18 25 23 16 15a

17

24

14

15

13a The longer sound at 52km from entrance to exit, Pelorus is both diverse and productive and supports commercial marine farming. The Kenepuru Sound is a leading snapper fishery and the bays to the north east offer a broad mix of table species.

Road access is generally good and plenty of accommodation and launching options are at the fisher persons disposal.

2

1

10

13

12

7 5

6

9 5

5

8

5 4 3

“Sourced from Land Information New Zealand data. Crown Copyright Reserved.”

1a

1 – Cullen Point

Snapper and monkfish during spring. Use a stray line with good berley. Also a good surfcasting spot for snapper in spring and summer.

1a – Hoods Bay

Stray lining for snapper and bottom fish for monkfish in spring.

2 – Kaiuma Bay

Autumn and winter flounder.

Spring sees yellow-eye mullet in the bay. Sport fish for huge rays spring to summer with a whole dead mullet. Release rays to fight another day.

3 – Moutapu Bay Point Another good spot for spring snapper and monkfish.

Flounder strong between March and August. Bait net for mullet.

4 – Black Point

Large snapper in early spring.

Use light line and plenty of berley and keep quiet.

11

5 – Mahau Sound

Fish the shallows for early spring snapper. Berley and strayline. During winter, fish for flounder on the incoming tide.

6 – Kenepuru Sound Entrance

Snapper, kahawai and occasionally kingfish around the mussel farms. Good night results have been reported particularly on the change of light at dusk and sunrise.

7 – Snapper Point

The name says it all. A good deep hole surrounded by rocks provides good habitat for snapper, particularly around the southern mussel farms.

8 – Te Mahia

Good snapper fishing opportunities from the beach.

9 – Weka Point

Snapper on the edge of the channel. Change of light best.

10 – Clark Island

Snapper lurk around the mussel farms during summer and follow the harvestors.

11 – Kenepuru Head

Snapper move through here.

The area is very tidal so can only be fished around high tide.

12 – Hopewell Point

Snapper, kahawai and kingfish.

A shelly, sandy bottom lends itself to drift fishing.

13 – Little Nikau Bay

Snapper and kahawai. Fishing is best February through late autumn. Fish the foul along the front.

13a – Nikau Bay

Big kingfish from January to March.

15 – Nydia Bay

Late summer snapper. Winter flounder and kahawai.

Gurnard and snapper in summer but it can be a bit hit and miss.

21 – Tawero Point

15a – Penguin Bay

Snapper, kahawai, kingfish and groper in the open water off the northern tip of the point.

16 – Fairy Bay

22 – Middle Reef

Late summer to autumn snapper and kingfish.

Summer to early autumn snapper and kingfish.

17 – Yncyca Bay/Scott Bay

Snapper tend to move through off the point, around an hour either side of high tide. Trevally and snapper in the bay in autumn.

Worth trying at the change of light around dusk. From late summer through to autumn fish the southern entrance.

18 – North West Bay

14 – Turn Point, Four Fathoms Bay

Snapper, gurnard, kahawai and kingfish from spring through until autumn. Fish around the mussel farms and the drop-off.

Snapper tend to lurk around all the mussel farms in the area.

20 – Old Homewood Bay

Summer snapper often tuck into Miro Bay.

19 – Wilson Bay

Late summer big snapper, gurnard and blue cod in open season.

23 – The Gut: Hopai Bay

the stream inflows from Mt Stokes.

26 – Gannet Colony

Summer to early autumn snapper, trevally, kahawai, and gurnard. Good setline area.

27 – Laverique Bay

Summer through to late autumn perch, snapper, kingfish, trevally, kahawai, barracouta, and gurnard.

28 – Beatrix Bay

Late summer to autumn snapper, kingfish, trevally, salmon and kahawai.

Snapper and gurnard in summer and autumn particularly round the mussel farms. Red cod during winter.

Good setline area.

24 – Elie Bay

29 – The Peninsula

Snapper and kahawai from the beach. A long and winding road but the results could be worthwhile for those willing to put in the effort to get there.

25 – Clova Bay

Fish for snapper around mussel farms in summer. Big snapper late autumn. Oysters grow by

Spring to late autumn cruising snapper, gurnard, greyboy, kahawai, mackerel and kingfish.

30 – The Neck

Late summer through to early winter big snapper, sevengill sharks, kahawai, kingfish, gurnard, greyboy, yellow-eye mullet and mackerel.

MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18 17 1 – Okiwi Bay Esplanade

A tidal area – small baits and light tackle fishing for snapper, kahawai and flounder. Rays abundant.

CROISILLES HARBOUR

2 – Old Wharf

Summer and autumn fishing for snapper, stargazer and kahawai.

Cockle beds are found all over the sand and mud areas.

8

3 – Moncrieff Reserve

Both land based and boat fishing for spring and autumn snapper, with kahawai in late autumn. Use berley.

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4 – Okiwi Entrance

Dropping into a dense weed bank, snorkel here for moki, butterfish and if you search hard enough possibly a legal paua or two.

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5 – Squally Cove

Spring – autumn the mussel farm areas produce snapper, kahawai and trevally.

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Croisilles Harbour is the ideal launching point for accessing the waters of eastern Tasman Bay. Croisilles experiences a strong run of spring and summer snapper, a gurnard explosion over winter and late summer/autumn sees runs of tasty albacore tuna coming in close to the headlands of Cape Soucis.

6 – Croisilles Harbour Midground

5

4

Any of the banks sloping into the main channel produce great gurnard fishing in autumn and winter. Try setlines and squid for passing snapper over summer.

7 – Cape Soucis

Legend 1

2

Fishing Spot

Kayak Spot

Dive Spot

3

1

DOC campsite

5 Landbased

Boat Launch

Fuel

5 knot limit

Blue cod all year, with snapper from spring through to late autumn. Tarakihi, kahawai and kingfish can also be found in autumn. Good kina off the rocks.

8 – Albacore Tuna

Summer, autumn trolling for albacore out in Tasman Bay at the 30m – 40m contour. Jet head lures are a favourite.

9 – Island Rocks

From 10m to 18m, divers will find good crays. Pots tend to be avoided on this piece of coast.

“Sourced from Land Information New Zealand data. Crown Copyright Reserved.”

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18 MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

Tying up at a mussel farm

This way of tying up at a mussel farm requires a bit of equipment making. Prepare a couple of ropes, one that will stretch all the way between two mussel lines and one that will span just over half the distance.

Make two hooks from stainless steel rod, complete with eyes, and join one on to each rope.

Tying up at a mussel farm – bow

Proposed Marlborough District Council Navigation Bylaws

When you arrive at the mussel farm check which way the wind is blowing and face your boat into the wind as you hook a mussel line from the bow. Reverse across to the other line playing the longer rope out as you go. When the stern of your boat gets to the other mussel line, hook on your shorter rope.

We’re working to make boating safer in Marlborough.

To help improve boat safety in the region, we’re proposing a number of new bylaws.

These proposed changes are designed for the safety of boaties and other users of the Marlborough Sounds.

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THE PROPOSED BYLAWS SUBMISSIONS CLOSE ON 31 OCTOBER 2017.

For more information of the proposed bylaws or to make a submission, visit the marlborough.govt.nz website or cruiseguide.co.nz.

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Listening to a couple of fishing club members talking about the perils of fishing near a mussel farm and getting snagged in the ropes that anchor each mussel line, prompted me to remind fishers of a way to avoid this hazard.

Site

Address

Ron Prestage

Then pull the boat out to the middle between the two mussel lines by pulling on the longer rope and playing out the shorter.

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MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18 19 12 – d’Urville Peninsula

d’URVILLE ISLAND This South Island Mecca delivers on all fronts. Beauty, isolation, big fish and a diver’s Disneyland. The warmer waters of Tasman Bay meet the cooler waters from Cook Strait here, and tidal flows produce spectacular current features in the gnarly passages at both ends. d’Urville presents a smorgasbord of options 19 for the fisherperson, spearo and diver.

Kingfish and large snapper from summer to autumn. A good spot free diving for kingfish.

13 – Ngamuka Bay Land based fishing for school snapper from late spring to late summer. Kahawai plentiful.

14 – Passage Southern Hole

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Snapper and kingfish from late spring until mid autumn on jigs and bottomships.

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9a

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Fish for prolific blue cod in season over the patchy reef areas. You need a sounder to locate foul to drift as it’s deserted in between. Dive site for butterfish in close often with exceptional visibility.

15a – Chicot Rock

21a

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9a – Rangitoto Islands The northern tip is a winter snapper hotspot. Drift in 70-85m for big reds at slack water or during small tides.

Occasional big trevs and school groper. The eastern side provides exceptional free diving with butterfish, moki, tarakihi.

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10 – Kidnap Channel Fishing the drop-off for snapper during winter with blue cod in open season and kahawai year round. Snorkel for paua and kina.

11 – The Roadstead

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Kahawai and gurnard summer to autumn, but good baitfish like mullet and mackerel year round. Dolphins frequently pass through, herding school fish.

Well-known reef structure for large blue cod in open season and tarakihi. A good dive site for cray, moki and butterfish.

15b – Paige Rock Snapper in spring through to summer. Tarakihi year round.

Good spearfishing for kingfish.

18 – Black Reef A good autumn and winter fishing spot for blue cod (in season) and tarakihi. You could find school groper and john dory in late winter here.

19 – Bottle Point Perch year round. Snapper can be found here in late autumn with kingfish and pup groper in winter. Strong currents mean big sinkers.

20 – Nile Head Winter fishing hotspot for big snapper. Drift the bottom in 60-90m for 15lb-plus snapper.

Tarakihi in closer on foul.

21 – Port Hardy Red cod and warehou are found here in winter. From spring through until autumn there are cruising kingfish, kahawai, snapper and trevally, particularly around the mussel farms.

21a – Inner Port Hardy Free diving the rocky coves produces good results for butterfish, moki and crayfish.

16 – Paddock Rocks

22 – Fleet Rocks

Spring and summer kingfish, snapper, blue cod (in season), trevally, tarakihi and moki.

Use good berley for bottom feeding species. Try trolling live bait for kingfish. The area also provides good opportunities for free diving and spearfishing.

Crayfish are also found here.

23 – Okuri Bay

17 – Greville Harbour Good spring and summer snapper and trevally. Cruising kingfish are caught during summer. Kahawai can be found in early autumn. In winter you’ll

Snapper and tarakihi during late autumn. Look for big paua in Skull Bay and sizeable kina in close.

Snapper hang around the bay spring to summer, with schooling kingfish summer to autumn. An ideal freediving location for kina but paua here seldom reach legal size.

24 – Current Basin An area of high current flow that yields kingfish on bibbed surface lures.

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16

Night ’n Day

14 24

15b

15a

15 – Beef Barrels

find red cod and tough fighting blue warehou schools.

We’ve got it when you want it!

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“Sourced from Land Information New Zealand data. Crown Copyright Reserved.”

23 9

STEPHEN’S PASSAGE

Night ’n Day Blenheim 60 Main Street | Open 6am – 11pm, 7 days

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1 – The Drop Off 8

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3 6

2 – Eastern Bank

2a

1

Kingfish are prolific on the drop-off during winter, caught on live bait or jigs. Snapper, blue cod (in season) and trevally also caught on slow jigs and flasher rigs in closer.

Snapper and tarakihi at around 80 metres from autumn until spring. Fish flasher rigs and expect large trevally also.

2

2a – Stephens Island South

5 “Sourced from Land Information New Zealand data. Crown Copyright Reserved.”

Fish year round for perch and kahawai. Snapper are found in winter in 50 to 100 metres.

Good for large winter trevally.

Blue cod in season.

3 – Inside Saddle Rocks

High current flows with kahawai and big blue cod in season.

Choose soft baits or lures and lighter braid to counter currents.

4 – Outside Saddle Rocks

Perch year round and groper can be found here in midwinter.

5 – Hells Gate

Tarakihi and groper, good winter fishing. Free diving for butterfish, but be aware of strong currents and unpredictable eddies outside weedlines. Worthwhile cray spot. Blue cod in season.

6 – The Sisters

Winter fishing for tarakihi, and groper. Blue cod in season.

7 – Stephens Island North, Western Point Year round fishing for perch and kingfish.

8 – Northern Face

Perch year round with kingfish in 50 metres during winter.

Good tarakihi.

9 – The 220m Mark

Has historically been a reliable groper area with catches coming back recently. Drift large ‘couta cut baits or whole perch.

THE FISHING PAPER

20 MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18 1 – Tuna Bay

OUTER SOUNDS

Flounder in autumn and winter with elephant fish often found in autumn too.

2 – Penzance Bay Spring snapper then again in mid to late autumn. Kayak fishing spot for reliable snapper fishing and blue cod in season.

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3 – Deep Bay

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Spring fishing for school groper and snapper.

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4 – Godsiff Bay Spring and autumn fishing for snapper.

Autumn and winter for gurnard.

5 – Tawa Bay

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Early spring snapper and gurnard.

6 – Tawhitinui Island

42

Big snapper in spring. Good for set lining in autumn with occasional elephant fish.

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7 – Saville Bay In spring and again in late autumn large snapper can be found cruising these waters.

Gurnard are also caught in autumn and winter.

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8 – Garnes Bay Northern coastline for gurnard with good spring snapper around mussel farms and large drop offs.

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NOTE; all these bays have cruising kingfish in summer and autumn.

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9 – Picnic Bay School snapper in late spring and summer with large snapper making appearances in autumn, when you’ll also 8 catch gurnard.

10 16

MAUD ISLAND NO TAKE ZONE

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11

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10 – Hallam Cove Setline spring and autumn for snapper. Fish mussel farms through late summer for school snapper and kahawai, limited cod. Surfcasting at Kettle Point.

11 – Cregoe Point Spring snapper and greyboy.

12 – Brightlands Bay Large snapper in late spring and mid to late autumn.

Gurnard are caught in winter, while mackerel and trevally are found in summer.

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13 – Rams Head Bay Late summer snapper, kahawai, kingfish. Good gurnard fishing in winter.

14 – Salt Rock Early spring and again in late autumn for snapper.

15 – Tawhitinui Bay Gurnard year round. Snapper from late summer until late autumn. Perch and greyboy in autumn and winter.

16 – Richmond Bay Early spring then late summer for snapper around the mussel farms.

17 – Ketu Bay Target gurnard through the whole bay on drifted soft baits. Snapper over summer.

The northeast corner provides good overnight anchorage in favourable wind, for late night snapper sessions.

18 – Clay Point

23 – Sugar Loaf

Blue cod in open season, snapper and kingfish too.

Strong currents make slack water the best time for fishing.

Spring kingfish, john dory. Large late summer snapper. Gurnard in autumn.

19 – Culdaff Point

Spring and summer fishing for snapper, kingfish, school groper, tarakihi and warehou.

Find the deep hole off the point and target groper during spring and summer. Good stocks of blue cod in season and snapper in summer.

20 - Allen Strait Blue cod on north-eastern side of the pass in open season.

Snapper and kingfish ride the current.

21 – Chetwode Islands Free dive for moki and butterfish off points. Year round tarakihi and summer snapper on the southern side of the islands.

22 – Forsyth Island – Shag Rock Fish for blue cod in open season.

John dory, perch and tarakihi year round. Also a worthy free dive spot for paua and kina.

24 – Wakatahuri Point

25 – Alligator Head Eastern side blue cod in open season. Snapper, kingfish in spring and summer. Free diving on the eastern side offers good crayfish opportunities in as little as two metres of water. Exposed current means plenty of kelp and big paua.

26 – Cape Lambert A very exposed headland.

Tarakihi and trevally year round.

Great free diving for butterfish and moki but water conditions are often murky.

27 – Waitui Bay A good general free diving spot and has been used for regular spearfishing competitions. From either on the water or in the water choose from butterfish,

moki, trevally, tarakihi and blue cod in open season.

28 – Titi Island

33 – Danger Point Good summer fishing for large snapper and kingfish.

Be aware of strong currents around the island. Great kelp gardens on the seaward side of Titi make this an excellent reef dive with crayfish, paua and reef fish common. Boat fishing for tarakihi.

34 – Rat Point

29 – Harding Point

36 – Rocky Creek

High current flows best fished at slack tide or small tides in spring for snapper, tarakihi, blue cod in season and perch.

Fish around mussel farms from late spring until autumn for snapper, gurnard, trevally, yellow-eye mullet, jack mackerel and kingfish.

30 – Te Kakaho Channel

Winter fishing for groper and perch. Fish slack water drifting west to east.

31 – Forsyth Bay south western corner Summer through to autumn snapper and gurnard.

32 – Cape Horn Spring through to late autumn snapper, trevally, gurnard and small kingfish.

Spring through to early winter, fish for kingfish, tarakihi, school groper and snapper.

35 – Camp Bay Summer evenings snapper and perch.

37 – Hamilton Bay

Spring until autumn fish round the mussel farms on an incoming tide for snapper, school groper, kahawai, kingfish, john dory, gurnard, leatherjackets and yellow-eye mullet.

38 – Elsie Bay In spring and again in late summer to early autumn fish the mussel farms for snapper, kahawai, kingfish, greyboys and leatherjackets.

R & HUNTING NEWS

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g

MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18 21

45

39 – Deep Bay Good for an early start, fish the change of light at dawn from late spring until early autumn for snapper, kahawai, groper and tarakihi.

“Sourced from Land Information New Zealand data. Crown Copyright Reserved.”

19

very good results reported while mussel harvesters are operating.

42 – Turners Bay

45 – Sentinel Rock

Early summer to early winter fish for snapper, gurnard, yellow-eye mullet, kingfish, kahawai, and leatherjackets.

Off the back of this rock structure, the bottom quickly drops away. Ideal groper habitat.

43 – Reef Point

46 – Titirangi Entrance

41 – Pukatea Bay

Fish for spring snapper and for blue cod in open season and gurnard.

Fish early summer to late autumn for snapper, kingfish, gurnard, kahawai and john dory. Tie up to the mussel farms and fish tides with good current flow. For winter fishing

Kayak fishing. A long paddle but worthwhile. Deep water means extensions are needed on kayak anchor ropes. Fish round the mussel farms with

The furtherest point you can drive to in the outer Pelorus.

Boat fishing for cod in season and excellent weedbanks for crays, paua and kina.

The sandy beach holds pipi and presents surfcasting opportunities for snapper, moki and kahawai.

40 – Clayface Point

21

for blue cod and gurnard fish the change of light at dusk on a mid tide.

Late spring for school groper, snapper and tarakihi. In close great free diving conditions for moki and tarakihi.

28

44 – Elaine Bay

Reminder scallops off limits The Southern Scallop Fishery (SCA 7) including Golden Bay, Tasman Bay, the Marlborough Sounds and Port Underwood is closed for the 2017–2018 scallop season to both recreational and commercial fishing due to sustainability concerns.

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Parts of the fishery were closed last season after surveys showed a substantial decline in scallop numbers. This has allowed the fishery to be rested. However, a survey this year shows the stocks have not yet recovered significantly. A further closure is needed to give more time for recovery and to carry out important research to better understand what has caused the fishery to decline and options to help it recover.

For more information please follow this link: mpi.govt.nz/news-and-resources/consultations/temporary-closure-of-thesouthern-scallop-sca-7-fishery/

46

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22 MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18

QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND TORY CHANNEL

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“Sourced from Land Information New Zealand data. Crown Copyright Reserved.”

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BLUE LIGHT The navigation lights of ferries departing Picton Harbour at night can be difficult to detect amongst the background of shore lights.

11 10

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To help overcome this problem blue quick flashing lights operate in Picton Harbour every time a ferry departs the berth at night. These lights continue to flash for approximately 10 minutes.

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One blue light is stationed atop a tower on the seaward end of Waithoi Wharf and a second light is stationed on the seaward end of the Picton Marina Breakwater (see diagram opposite).

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20

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If you are navigating in or near Picton Harbour at night please keep a close eye out for the blue Iights.

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7 5 5

5 5 5

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4a

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Shore fishing on northern side of marina for summer snapper, kahawai and baitfish. Squid at nights on prawn jigs around well lit areas and wharves.

2 – Grove Arm

Snapper in summer and kahawai year round, good netting in season for flounder, gurnard and monkfish.

3 – Double Cove

5

4a – Inside Allports Island More snapper is summer.

5 – Waikawa Bay

Land based fishing for snapper and kahawai and bait fish. Arrow squid probable at nights on jigs over winter and spring.

6 – Dieffenbach Point Another summer snapper spot.

7 – Bay of Many Coves Snapper off the beaches for land based and off headlands for boat fishing.

Kingfish are caught in currents off headlands.

Popular holidaying bay.

4 – Ngatawhetawheta Point

Gurnard are caught here from spring until early winter in about 20m of water. School groper are also found in early spring. From summer until late autumn snapper are present.

Cruising snapper during the summer season can be tempted with berley and light flashers.

8 – Endeavour Inlet

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26 26a

27

9 – East Bay Parea Point and Pickersgill Island Off the headland kingfish from spring through to autumn. Snapper and tarakihi found in the main part of East Bay.

10 – Long Island:

Fishing is banned in here because it’s a fish nursery.

Feed the fish with bread, especially if you have children with you. Tame snapper and cod might eat from your hands!

24

25

6

The shorter of the two main sounds, Queen Charlotte’s beauty is matched by what’s on offer below the surface.

Deep water is accessed through Tory Channel and towards the north entrance. Wreck diving is a major drawcard around Cape Jackson, with three noted wrecks adding to the mystery and appeal of the area. Reserves (closed to fishing) foster abundance. Picton and Waikawa Bay offer ‘city style’ amenities and great marinas.

1 – Picton Foreshore

5

Northen tip outside reserve

Tarakihi year round. Due to currents best fishing is at slack water. ‘Couta are problematic at times so avoid silver tackle.

11 – White Rocks

On the right day, White Rocks can turn up trumps on big snapper. 7/0 flashers and fresh kahawai fillet is a top choice.

12 – Waihi Point: Cape Jackson

Some of the best spear fishing in the Sounds.

Available species are butterfish, moki and tarakihi. Crayfish prolific in rock cracks.

13 – Cape Jackson

Year round tarakihi, blue cod in season and free diving for butterfish in extensive weedbanks. From summer – autumn you’ll find kahawai and kingfish in the current (strong). Fish around Walker’s Rock for trevally.

14 – Anakakata Bay

21 – The Brothers

15 – Ship Cove and inside Motuara Island

22 – Awash Rock

Free dive for butterfish, snapper, kahawai, kingfish.

Gurnard, flounder, sole.

Softbait to target gurnard.

16 – Cape Koamaru

Fish year round for tarakihi and perch. Blue cod in open season. Good soft bait and slow jig territory.

Good cod fishing in open season with groper through the winter.

Blue cod in season, moki and tarakihi year round. Also a good spot for butterfish.

Strong currents attract kingfish and dropoffs hold groper – look for strucutre and drift big cut baits.

23 – Ruakawa Rock

17 – Cook Rock

25 – Tory Channel

Drift over drop off for perch, warehou, tarakihi, trevally and kingfish from summer through to autumn.

18 – Cooks Bank

Groper late spring to late autumn. Fish slack water through to the turn of the tide.

19 – The Twins

Snapper and tarakihi in summer, perch prolific year round.

20 – Onehunga Bay

Free dive for moki, butterfish, paua and crayfish. Off the headlands are good snapper and tarakihi through summer.

Tarakihi and perch year round.

24 – Unnamed Bay

Good free dive spot for butterfish. Solid pauas here.

Snapper, kahawai, kingfish and tarakihi. Spear butterfish along weedy points. Strong currents mean best fishing is a couple hours either side of slack tide. Paua hotspot.

26 – Jordy Rocks

Free dive for butterfish, moki, tarakihi. Boat fishing year round for tarakihi.

Scuba dive for crayfish. Big sharks patrol this coast by the seal colonies.

26a – Lucky Point

Fish for tarakihi year round.

Blue cod in season. Good groper can be found directly offshore over foul.

27 – Bushy Point

Free dive for butterfish, paua and tarakihi. Good year round boat fishing for tarakihi, perch and blue cod in season.

28 – Rangitoto Wreck: Cape Jackson

Sunk over 130 years ago this is an excellent wreck dive with abundant fish life including, butterfly perch, tarakihi and blue cod in season.

29 – Lastingham Wreck: Cape Jackson

A historical wreck with a huge amount of fish life seen. Some big crays resident on the wreck and surrounding reef. Kingfish also seen regularly during the summer.

30 – Mikhail Lermontov: Port Gore

The ultimate wreck dive with divers travelling from all over the world to dive this 176 metre Russian cruise liner. Voluntary no fishing policy exists on the wreck.

MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18 23

6

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PORT UNDERWOOD Port Underwood is exposed, with the water usually cooler than the other sounds, leading to marine life not unlike the Wellington south coast.

It’s a great base for fishing the deep waters of the Cook Strait and the bays provide superb habitat for paua, crays and reef species.

Kina, paua, and crayfishing is only allowed within 200 metres of the low water mark.

1 – East Coast south to Port Underwood

Free dive for paua, butterfish and crayfish. Big schools of moki.

Remember to check the boundaries of the restricted Cook Strait cable area. That area runs from the southern point of Glasgow Bay to Walkers Rock and includes all of Fighting Bay. There is no fishing of any type allowed, this includes trawling, line fishing or set netting.

2 – Coombe Rocks

Good free diving for butterfish, moki, blue cod and crayfish.

Boat fishing for blue cod, perch and tarakihi.

for the mobile experience

7 – Robin Hood Bay

Top landbased freedive spot.

Paua plentiful to the south of the bay and crays elusive but found in 3-9m throughout.

Camping ground popular with tourists who have missed out on a spot in nearby Whites Bay!

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3 – Pipi Bay

Tarakihi, blue cod. Free diving for crayfish in two to three metres.

4 – Glasgow Bay

5 – Oyster Bay

Free dive for a feed of oysters.

The main anchorage for commercial vessels here.

6 – Opihi Bay

Flounder, garfish, yellow-eye mullet in autumn. Pipi and cockle found in the sand and mud.

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4. Lochmara 4 chma bay x 2 24 MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS FISHING GUIDE - 2017/18 5. Double Cove x 2

13. Penzance Bay ay x 2 bay x 2 13. Penzance Bay hmara hma 14. Whatamango Bay x 2Cove x 2 14. Whatamango Bay ble Bay Coves 2 C ves x C Okiwi Bay off Many Coves ves x 2 15. Okiwi15. and Bay Arthurs ytawa andBay) Arthurs 16.

Bay) Pirapu 16.Bay Pirapu Bay y Bay mutoto 17. Te Ipapakereru Bay 17. Te Ipapakereru Bay ay ughton Bay ug 18. Ngakuta Bay x2 Bay x2 18. Ngakuta y x 2 Bay x 2 Mahia

Coves 6. Bay off Many C ves x 2 (Aratawa (A ratawa Bay and Arthurs Bay) 7. Kumutoto Bay Broughton Bay 8. Broug 9. Te Mahia Bay x 2

5 knot rule ’buoys’ Sound safety STICK TO TO STICK THE THE

Catch & release not all beer & skittles STICK TO– president Dawnbreaker’s Fishing Club Michael Stump THE

One of the objectives of the Dawnbreaker’s Fishing Club is the promotion of KNOT sustainable RULE recreational fishing. We all enjoy our fishing but we also want this to continue for future generations.

KNOT KNOT RULERULE

8

The 5 knot rule requires all boats to travel at a speed of 5 knots or less, within 200 metres of the shore.

moment, can suddenly seem dangerously closes the next, so care and vigilance is always important.

This rule can be found in the New Zealand Maritime Rules section 91.6 ‘Speed of Vessels’ and is also a bylaw most places in New Zealand, including the Marlborough Sounds.

It’s interesting to note that the level of risk arising from a breach of his rule, changes depending on location. For example, operating a vessel at high speed 100 metres off the shore is unlikely to generate as much risk in a remote isolated location as the same action in a busy congested waterway. Even so, it’s a breach of the rule in both situations.

The basic premise of the rules is that when you’re close to the shore there is more risk of conflict with other boats, people, or property, so it makes sense to slow down. However, sometimes it can be tricky to judge your distance from shore and this is certainly a challenge when navigating through the complex geography of the Marlborough Sounds. A headland or shoreline that seems a long way off in one

13. Penzance Bay 14. Whatamango Bay 15. Okiwi Bay 16. Pirapu Bay 17. Te Ipapakereru Bay 18. Ngakuta Bay x2

To help make things safer in Marlborough, the Harbourmaster has placed yellow 5 knot marker buoys in areas defined as high risk.

High risk areas are where you’ll find multiple users in the waterway, be it other boats, kayakers, swimmers, or any other maritime

9

9

activity. Exceeding 5 knots within these marked high risk area is highly dangerous and puts lives at risk, so if you see a 5 knot marker buoy in the Sounds, please slow down.

This summer the Marlborough Harbourmaster will be working hard to ensure compliance with the 5 knot rule is high, with a particular focus on the high risk areas. Any vessel speeding in high risk areas should expect a $200 fine.

An instructional video on how to navigate safely in these areas can be found on the Marlborough Cruise Guide. marlborughcruiseguide.co.nz http://www.cruiseguide. co.nz/marlboroughsounds/safe-boating-andnavigation/5-knot-warning/

Everything we do on the water will have some form of impact on our fishery.

The fishing location, size of hooks, species targeted, catch and release to just name a few. The ways in which we fish today will determine the state of our fisheries for tomorrow.

Over the last ten years we have seen a big increase in people practicing catch and release. Like any of the other topics it has caused debate leading to many discussions had with fellow fishermen.

The bottom line is that you

only know what you know and there has been very little research done in NZ. This is not a lecture on how to practice catch and release but if you are interested in educating yourself on how to maximise the survival rate of the fish you release, then keep reading.

Here are a couple of points to consider: • D on't catch them in the first place. If you are fishing a location where you catch undersize fish or undesirable species then move. If you don't catch them you won't hurt them.

• Catch and release or catch and go home: Let's say you catch 10 snapper, keep five and release five the chances are high that

you still killed at least 8 snapper on that day. If you catch 5 and go home you can be sure you only killed five that day.

• Signs of damage. Gut, throat or gill hooked, inflated swim bladder, bleeding, floating on the surface are obvious signs of damage caused to the fish and survival rates are slim.

• Barotrauma: My favourite discussion topic. How deep is too deep for a fish to 9 recover. Anything deeper than 6m will decrease the survival rate. Here are a couple of numbers from the Stewart 2008 Snapper Report -- 45% of snapper captured in depths of greater than 30m died -- Fish caught in 60m were in poor condition and seemed close to death after ~24 h.

Here are a couple of research documents to read: J ohn Stewart’s Snapper Report from 2007 This is a 7 page document prepared for the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries ssessment of barotrauma A and survival of snapper and mulloway

By Julian M. Hughes and John Stewart for the NSW Department of Primary Industries is an extensive 155 page report.

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Issue 145 25

MPI engagement updates Marty Bowers – Senior Fisheries Analyst, MPI Recreational Fishing Team workshop in early July to begin developing the strategy. MPI has since held information sessions around the South Island in early September and provided an online survey, which ran for four weeks. At the time of writing, we have had over 800 responses.

Information gathered from the information sessions and the first online survey will be used to guide the development of potential solutions during a second expert workshop.

t

Blue Cod As we have said in earlier issues, The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is developing a National Blue Cod Strategy. Overall, we are hearing the fishery is in pretty good shape, but we want to take action to get in front of a few concerns in some areas. This is an iconic species, important to so

Your thoughts and information about your local blue cod fishery will be used to guide the experts in developing a suite of solutions to address the issues in the blue cod fishery.

The experts will develop these solutions during a second workshop.

We will then come back to you to find out if you agree with the solutions that have been developed or if we have missed anything that needs to be included.

Experts will then gather for a third workshop to review the feedback and start drafting the strategy document.

This will then go to full public consultation.

many people – we want to make sure it stays that way.

We wanted to get this strategy right, and to do that we needed people to get involved and let us know what’s happening in their local blue cod fishery.

MPI and recreational and commercial fishing experts, tangata whenua, and scientists met at a

Ang Govier connects with a South Island icon

CRA2 The CRA2 rock lobster fishery covers popular fishing areas within the Hauraki Gulf, around the Coromandel Peninsula, and into the Bay of Plenty. MPI is very aware of concerns voiced for this important shared fishery and is why we have brought forward our scientific stock assessment survey for this fishery.

The first step in the review is to get updated science information. A full scientific review of the CRA2 rock lobster fishery started in late September and will be completed by late October this year. This involves undertaking a new stock assessment – the last of which was done in 2013.

A stock assessment is much more than just looking at commercial catch rates.

It includes a vast array of historical and recent information. For instance, it includes estimates of customary, recreational and commercial catch, illegal take estimates, commercial CPUE information, the sizes of lobster (length frequencies) from observer and industry logbook data, and tag-recapture data (i.e. growth information).

The stock assessment also factors in information on the sexual maturity of lobsters, natural mortality, and their recruitment (lobsters entering the fishery).

The results from the stock assessment process will provide us with the information necessary to make decisions about the future management of the fishery. It will provide us with information on the current status of the stock and whether the stock will grow or decline. The assessment also helps us to make predictions about lobster abundance under current (and alternative) management controls.

Once these stock assessment results are available, we will start engaging with stakeholders and the wider community to get their feedback. We want to hear from you about your ideas for the management of this fishery. We’ll be looking at this feedback, alongside the new scientific information, and it will help us inform catch limit settings from April 2018 and the implementation of any other management controls later in 2018.

If you would like to receive updates on the CRA2 review, sign up to the MPI recreational fishing mailing list: recfishingteam@mpi.govt.nz All of this work is about creating shared, sustainable fisheries for current and future generations to enjoy.

We can’t do it without you, so I’d encourage you to get involved.

Marlborough MarlboroughSounds Soundsarea areaclosed closed for forblue bluecod codfishing fishing The TheMarlborough MarlboroughSounds Soundsisisclosed closedforforblue bluecod codfishing fishingfrom from 1 1September Septemberuntil until2020December.

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This Thisisistotosupport supportthe thereproduction reproductionofofblue bluecod codbybyreducing reducingdisruption disruptiontoto spawning spawningbehaviour behaviourand andreducing reducingcatch catchnumbers. numbers.

NoNoperson personmay maytake takeblue bluecod codfrom fromareas areasmarked markedononthe themap. map.You Youcould couldbebe fined finedupuptoto$10,000 $10,000upon uponconviction. conviction.

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ToTocheck checkthe thefishing fishingrules rulesforforyour yourarea, area,download downloadthe theNZ NZFishing FishingRules RulesApp, App, visit visitwww.mpi.govt.nz/fishingrules www.mpi.govt.nz/fishingrulesororemail emailrecfishingteam@mpi.govt.nz recfishingteam@mpi.govt.nztoto sign signupuptotofishing fishingrelated relatedupdates updatesininyour yourarea. area.

It Itisisillegal illegaltotosell sellorortrade tradeyour yourcatch. catch.Free Freecall call0800 08004 4POACHER POACHER (0800 (0800476 476224) 224)totoreport reportillegal illegalpoaching poachingororfishing. fishing.

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26 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

Issue 145 27

Mmm – a good root!

Kim Swan

There’s a hind over yonder.

She’s a red-haired yummy mummy. She has a big, fat-dimpled derriere and an ample udder. So prolific is her milk supply, her offspring, now nine-monthsold, is still suckling from her.

The hind is a cunning creature, keeping her cool while living amid humans and all of their outdoor activities. From her daytime vantage point, she cannot be taken by surprise from above nor below. Here there is food aplenty, good food and, throughout the winter, she has never gone hungry.

Spring is now well underway and her new-season fawn weighs heavy in her belly.

Further to my left, through the boundary fence and in old-crop forest, there are two stags. They’re rough. They’ve spent the winter yarded in a secluded gully and it shows.

Their shaggy grey-brown coats are dull and they are gaunt and hollow-gutted.

Both of them are oblivious to all but the new growth, which has sprouted and proliferated in a sunnybathed clearing.

Considering the wind, a strong and consistent nor-wester, I reckon I could stalk within shooting range

of either pair of deer. Today though, I’m not in the mood for deer hunting, especially not when the stags are skinny and rough – and not just their bodies – like so many Marlborough red stags they’re certainly not trophy quality.

Hmm, sigh. The deer are not worthy of a hunt, so, nose to the breeze, I continue my circular route.

Despite the flush of new season’s greenery, there is little sign of grunters. The crossings are unused, the beds are empty, and the grass is not cropped. Big Hill is a big disappointment today.

Descending then, outta here. Straight-line, straight down and it’s steep verging on vertical. Negotiating knee-high boulders secreted in the tangle of creeping vines. Ouching through the matagouri spikes and sweeping broom aside.

Stumbling like a drunk as my footholds give way.

But wait, there’s more. On this huge weather-beaten face, where the vegetation and the topography can only be described as gnarly, where the view is restricted to arm’s length and the footing is hazardous, I hear a loud grunt and it is not mine.

Ears pricked, I home in on the grunter.

Close-quarters stalking.

The nor-west strong in my face. Grunts here and there. A weaner squeals.

A pig pushes through the broom right beside me, so near I can see its eyelashes. It senses me and sidesteps away, unsure of what I am. A sow shrieks.

One competitor growls at another. The air is heavy with the scent of boar, fresh dirt, crushed grass.

I am literally ‘amongst it.’

Amongst a mob of pigs. A sow is beginning to cycle and there are boars here in numbers waiting for the opportunity to mate. The sow’s weaned litter are feeding and she would like to too if it weren’t for the suitors pushing their luck.

As the pigs fight and forage in the tight cover I join them.

I crouch low to see under the broom and matagouri, and I pretend to feed so my movement is accepted as part of the noisome mob. I give the odd quiet grunt and smack my lips appreciatively – mmmmm, nice worm. A rolled rock is no problem, a broken fern stem all part of the plan. Mmmm – a good root, anyone wanna join me?

A young pig sidles closer.

I’m really hamming it up. It sounds to him like mine has to be the best tasting fern root this side of Big Hill.

Piggy is almost at my boot laces before he looks up.

Semi-alarmed he walks off a couple of paces, curls his tail over his back and has a nervous pooh. Individual baubles of dung slowly drop onto the ground and roll away. Yes, I am that close.

The boar that fell to the lure of a good root

Seven metres away, just through a light screen of vegetation, a black pig feeds downhill of me. No chance for a clear shot, I carefully ease closer. Six metres. Five metres. The pig, a young boar, his head still partially screened, is cropping grass totally oblivious to my presence. I raise the 7mm-08 slowly, focus on his ribcage and let a bullet fly.

The scrub all about me explodes with growls, scoffs, and hurtling bodies as the mob takes fright. Pigs right, left and centre. I am interested in only one. The one with a bullet in him.

Stooped low I begin my search, pushing cautiously through vegetation, which resists, tangles, and scratches. My heart-rate is still elevated; adrenaline still courses through my bloodstream. Is the boar dead here somewhere, or is he lying wounded? Is he in fight mode, or flight mode?

I find him burrowed like

a mole into the thickest of the thick stuff. He’s in an ungainly position and very definitely dead.

I drag Boris down into the open for a photo, gut him,

and continue my descent.

The hill is as steep and rough as it has ever been but I hardly notice. Adrenaline is potent stuff and I’ve just had an overdose.

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28 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

Amateur fishers turn professional Daryl Crimp

CEO of Recfishwest Australia Dr Andrew Rowland, speaking in Wellington last month, said professionalising the way recreational fishers ‘do business’ has produced huge gains in Western Australia and believes the model could work here.

Recfishwest (an entity established from Western Australian Recreational and Sport Fishing Council) is a professional peak body that lobbies, negotiates, and makes representations to government and user groups on behalf of recreational fishers. He was guest of Dr Randall Best of The New Zealand Initiative, who is investigating the establishment of a similar peak body to represent recreational fishers here.

A passionate fisher, Dr Rowland says rec fishing provides significant social, cultural, health and economic benefits, and believes in maintaining and building this value for the benefit of the whole community. He says natural resource management requires striking a balance between competing user groups and stakeholders, and a key component to achieving

the right balance is ensuring the interest and values of the recreational sector are effectively represented.

COLLABORATION HERALDS NEW ERA Dr Rowland said a ‘new era’ of collaborative management started in Australia in 2009, with a proactive Minister of Fisheries who wanted to deal with one entity, rather than disparate but well meaning splinter groups. Recreational fishers already had the will to create a more cohesive strategy and Recfishwest was best positioned to take on the mantle of peak body.

“Our purpose is to ensure great fishing experiences for all Western Australia, forever, and our commitment is to protect, promote, and develop sustainable, accessible, enjoyable, and safe fishing for the benefit of the community,” he says.

“We pride ourselves on delivering these in a credible, transparent, and respectful manner.”

Dr Rowland said WA has a huge and diverse fishery with 12,000 kilometres of coastline, tropical to temperate waters, a variety

of species from lobster and abalone to bottom fin fish and pelagic species, and 750,000 recreational participants, so it has its challenges. In this sense, it is not dissimilar to New Zealand. However, Recfishwest has evolved into a highly respected and productive organisation that plays a huge role in providing many services within the WA fishery and wider community: research, artificial reefs, habitat and conservation, fish stocking, representation, safety, communication, research grants, and community projects.

He says the key to this success is in the structure and ethos of the organisation, which are reflected in the peak body’s guiding principles: focus on developing strong leadership, be solutions based, show and earn respect, operate with integrity, to be informed, and to be accountable.

To this end, Recfishwest needed to be a highly professional body, so it was imperative it develop a strong funding stream so that it could employ the necessary professionals with the right skills to do the business as required. A key source of revenue comes from various recreational licenses: boat, lobster, abalone, netting, marron, and freshwater, earning $7.1 million per annum, of which Recfishwest gets

Dr Andrew Roland, Dr Randall Best, and Geoff Rowling exploring the idea of a peak body for rec fishers

15%. With this base, they are able to pursue other funding sources, such as grants from the Commonwealth Government’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. In addition, 25% of all licence sales goes into a Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund, which has provided millions of dollars to fund community-driven projects aimed at enhancing recreational fishing. These projects are an example of recreational fishers working together with the state government to ensure recreational fishing licence money provides benefits to the sector. To date, the RFIF has funded 20 projects costing $6.5 million and covering such initiatives as: habitat enhancement, stock enhancement, research and data collection, including the socio-economic benefits of recreational fishing.

or adversarial behaviour.

“It is important to note that from the recreational side, the peak body wasn’t ‘taking over’ from the various associations or lobby groups already in place,” says Dr Rowland, “but actually empowering them and giving them greater support and status by offering resources and direct representation at government level.”

To government, Recfishwest agreed to provide rec fishing representation, peak body advice, promote a sustainability message, and undertake project management.

“We also believe it is important that we be seen to be supporting government when they make the right decision and we communicate this to rec fishers.”

BULLY BOY TACTICS DON’T CUT IT

However, they remain firm negotiators, not frightened to ‘push back’ when government gets it wrong.

Building on this, the body needed the respect and support of both recreational and government, which doesn’t come from dictatorial

He says this collaborative fisheries co-management has benefits: lower fisheries management costs, more flexible and adaptive

management, and reduced necessity for political decision making. These benefits have manifested them in the form of, greater long term social/ amenity outcomes, such as the development of FADs, habitat enhancement, and improved access to fishing, the introduction of best fishing practices such as legislating the use of release sinkers to mitigate against barotrauma in fish, and reduced political decision making because government is receiving ‘one set’ of consolidated advice; everyone with an issue has to go through Recfishwest otherwise there is no contact with government.

There has also been more effective expenditure and targeted investment of public funds. For example, the Rec Fishing Initiative Fund is available for annual projects that benefit rec fishing, such as the development of artificial reefs. And it has resulted in improved government services, including consultation and the development of citizen science projects run by volunteers.

BUILDING A TRACK RECORD Dr Rowland says collaborative co-management requires a government willingness, an effective fisher organisation or peak body, and good governance.

“It also requires that philosophies change from ‘us versus them’ to one of joint management and responsibility.”

Then, he says, the critical component is building a track record; getting things done garners respect and trust from both rec fishers and the government.

“Talk is cheap in this sector!”

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Issue 145 29

Displaced fishing gives pāua the shakes

area taken care of, attention has now shifted to the pa-ua fisheries to the immediate north and south of the closure – i.e., Port Underwood and the Marlborough Sounds in the north, and Motunau and Banks Peninsula in the south. The concern is that catch previously taken in the closed area will be displaced into the remaining open areas, resulting in local depletion of pa-ua stocks and, if not addressed, threats to the sustainability of these fisheries.

COMMERCIAL PA-UA DIVERS ‘BANK’ THEIR CATCH The commercial pa-ua industry was aware of this risk from the outset. Around half the commercial catch of the PAU3 (Kaiko-ura) fishery was previously harvested in the closed area. Immediately after the earthquake, pa-ua divers collectively decided not to transfer their effort

By Ron Prestage

Storm Stanley – Chairman, Pāua Industry Council – paua.org.nz

The scale and extent of earthquake uplift along the coast from Kaiko-ura to Cape Campbell is a dramatic and startling sight, and it has had serious consequences for the pa-ua fisheries along that coast and in adjacent areas.

Nearly 100km of near-shore pa-ua habitat was lifted out of the sea, with substantial losses of pa-ua adults and juveniles.

Fortunately, local communities, the pa-ua industry, and MPI swung into action to put in place management measures that will allow the pa-ua fishery to recover. The affected areas were initially closed using emergency regulations, but from 20 November 2017 this will be replaced by a longerterm closure made under the Fisheries Act. The pa-ua fishery is likely to be closed for several years. The closure will have significant impacts on customary, recreational, and commercial divers, and on quota owners – but all are in agreement that it is absolutely necessary to allow the pa-ua stocks to rebuild safely.

With the pa-ua in the closed

From Sinker to Smoker Black Beard’s die is cast Long-distance casting pioneer and casting great, Englishman Neil Mackellow, died in Cyprus in July. He held the world record for long-distance casting from 1983 to1997. His longest ever cast was almost 290 yards.

Backs against the wall... pāua needs time and our help to recover

He pioneered the rods, reels, and methods used to make the long casts.

Mackellow won the world casting championships three times. He was the United Kingdom Surfcasting Federation champion seven times and placed in the top three of UKSF national championships 64 times.

For a time he worked for Penn, fine tuning reels to get maximum distance. He was always willing to offer casting advice and made a lot of instructional material, much of which is available online.

He was an advocate of the pendulum cast and the off-

from Kaiko-ura to areas further south, even though they were legally entitled to do so. Instead, they left their catch entitlements uncaught.

From 1 October 2017, the commercial catch limit for PAU3 will be reduced by 50 percent. Commercial catch limits for the PAU7 (Marlborough) fishery, of which the Cape Campbell area is part, will be reduced by 10 percent. This means that no commercial effort or catch will be displaced from the closed area to other areas of the pa-ua fishery in Marlborough or Canterbury.

Local iwi have also made it clear that they support the

have reported increased recreational pa-ua catch in Port Underwood, Motunau, and Banks Peninsula. With summer about to start, fishing pressure will increase further and there is now a very high risk of serial depletion of pa-ua in these areas and beyond.

Unfortunately, MPI has been slow to react to this risk. Although commercial catch limits have been reduced, MPI has taken no steps to manage the effect of displaced recreational catch.

It seems that the government will instead be relying on education and informationprovision for recreational

the-ground cast and stated that timing and technique were the things needed to get maximum distance. Body rotation to load the rod, and right/left arm coordination feature in his casting style. At the heart of his cast is a long, slow build-up of power as the sinker travels through an arc of 270 degrees or more, instead of the back and forth motion of the typical overhead thump.

Neil was a keen angler who fished the surf whenever he could, both in the UK and abroad.

The YouTube video – NEIL MACKELLOW- Master Caster – is a brilliant watch if you want see this great man in action and increase your casting distance.

Black Beard, as he was known, was a giant figure in the development of long distance casting world wide.

The industry is now urging recreational fishers to be aware of the very real risks of serial depletion of pa-ua, and to voluntarily exercise constraint when harvesting in the areas to

Self-restraint required in Canterbury & Marlborough p�ua fisheries the north and south of the closure. Tell your friends and colleagues. Recreational fishing organisations – make sure your members are aware and informed. We all need to share responsibility for rebuilding healthy and sustainable pa-ua fisheries in Kaiko-ura and Marlborough.

Black Beard in action

SERVICE GROUP

Commercial have voluntarily cut their catch

closure and will take steps to mitigate the impacts of any displaced customary catch.

Serial depletion huge threat That leaves the recreational fishing sector. Anyone who has previously fished along the Kaiko-ura coastal road will know how productive and popular that stretch of coast is, and how much recreational fishing effort will now be pushed to other less productive areas. Already MPI Fisheries Officers

fishers throughout the summer season.

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30 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

perfect The

hunt

S TO R Y

Daryl Crimp

Chamois have keen eyesight and often position themselves where they are protected from above, yet can survey the maximum amount of territory below.

I spotted this canny old campaigner from camp while boning out a yearling and my eyes popped, even before I assessed his horns.

The cheeky bugger was browsing just above where I shot the two deer the previous evening. And he was only 345 yards from me now, as the crow flies.

His summer camp was in the head of a tight waterfall amphitheatre, with steep sides and little vegetative cover to mask my stalk, so the moment I moved from the shelter of camp, he’d have the drop on me. I’d have to dig out all the tricks so, glassing from amidst the manuka, I waited for him to bed down before starting my stalk. I’d camo’ed up in the intervening forty minutes,

doffed a wide brim hat and camo’ gloves, and ranged key points of the stalk.

Instead of the direct approach, I slipped into the bush behind camp and tortuously picked my way upstream, up and over a slip in order to stay concealed, until I was out of the buck’s line of sight. Once across the river, I sidled back downstream, gaining height and tracked a course that would see me not gain fitness too readily. Into a stalk, the perspective of the terrain often changes, hence my deliberate ranging of distinctive landmarks earlier, and a couple of times I was tempted to change tack but veered back to the original course.

At one point, I thought I’d made the wrong decision because an errant eddy swirled up my backside and threatened to give me away, but then it settled back into my face. Then a God-awful smell engulfed me and I

The old buck wouldn’t have survived another winter

dry-retched. It was the putrid stench of decomposition but it didn’t indicate death from natural causes. It reeked of a life riddled with toxins, so I assumed it to have come from an animal that had expired through contact with 1080.

A few steps on I found the source of the ghastly fumes, and wondered how a dead possum could have climbed into my armpit unnoticed!

Presently, I found myself under the nipple of rocky outcrop I’d pre-selected as a sniper’s nest.

I eased my rifle over first, flat and slow, and then quietly raised my head.

The Swarovski binos told me the buck was 61 yards away from me. It was alert and out

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of its bed but not looking at me. I’d startled a pipit in the dying stages of the stalk and assumed that had attracted notice of the buck.

I quietly settled in behind my rifle and eased the bolt closed. I’ve never been one to deliberate the shot – when it’s on, it’s on – so thunder came quickly to that little amphitheatre and the old campaigner crumpled with it. He was the perfect trophy and it was a befitting end; at 13 years he was at the end of his reign and in no condition to survive another winter. He died cleanly without knowing I was there, after providing me with a challenging stalk; all the elements of a perfect hunt.

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Issue 145 31

An Affair of the Hart Daryl Crimp

Lofty Blake can judge distances – it’s a knack – and it has become a bit of a thing over the years, that mates are always throwing down challenges.

“How far away is that rocky outcrop?”

Usually, he can pin it down to within a few metres. He’s a good shot too; out to 500m with his trusty .270. But he’s not being boastful, merely pointing out that a lot of practise over time can make a person quite adept in the hills, and that is where Lofty loved to spend every spare moment of his productive adult life. Lofty Blake is a hunter’s hunter.

From the ubiquitous beginning at the feet of his grandfather, Lofty graduated through the ranks of air rifles, twenty-twos, centrefires, birds, rabbits, goats, and deer, until he became a man alone in the hills. He dreamed of owning 7x57 BSA Hunter but couldn’t afford it, so ‘had to make do’ with an old .303 during his formative years.

He’s covered a bit of country over the years: the Kawekas, Tararuas, Fiordland, Stewart Island, and the West Coast, and he’s ticked off a few species, reds, sika, fallow, whitetail, wallabies, and chamois to name a few. While he loves hunting in general, two species of game animal have captured his heart and he talks of them with a dreamy look to the eye and deep respect in his voice.

“Sika believe they are God’s gift but they are not as clever as they think,” he says.

Lofty has done a lot of bush stalking, especially for sika, and, while many think that it is difficult, he argues the contrary: “It’s easy, you just have to go real slow so you can get close to them, then they often outfox themselves.”

While red deer run for miles when spooked, Lofty says sika won’t spook in the real thick stuff. He says

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“Chamois are another kettle…” he muses.

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He dreamed of owning 7x57 BSA Hunter but couldn’t afford it, so ‘had to make do’ with an old .303 during his formative years.

He has a real soft spot for the South Island’s alpine antelope and considers them to be the most beautiful, most graceful, and most artful of our game species.

The expansive mountain habitat they call home is also a favourite of Lofty’s and it is amongst the alpine meadows, steep gutters, precipitous creeks, and herb encrusted bluffs he refined his skills at judging distance.

Of course, this is only a small facet of Lofty Blake’s hunting career, but the rest is revealed in a beautiful selfpublished book entitled, An Affair of the Hart – A Stalker’s Perspective. Now retired and living in Havelock, his knees finally bearing testament to a life lived in New Zealand’s back country, Lofty was encouraged by friends to tell his story and he has done the request proud, with this 200 page hard cover, liberally illustrated tome.

This book, written in three periods over 25 years, is a level above the archetypal Kiwi hunting yarn. Firstly, the production quality is outstanding, with folded dust jacket, hard cover, stitch bound, and clear crisp layout design. Also striking, is Lofty’s use of photographs to support the story and expose the underlying essence and

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Lofty with his memoirs

An Affair of the Hart is cleanly written, with an attention to detail, and an absorbing read. Separated into locations and time, Lofty takes the reader on many hunts and, through his words, there is much for the young nimrod and the ‘old hand’ to learn. The book is reflective, entertaining, and informative at one level, and, on another, a valuable record spanning two or three significant hunting eras.

Lofty has done a lot of bush stalking, especially for sika, and, while many think that it is difficult, he argues the contrary: “It’s easy, you just have to go real slow so you can get close to them, then they often outfox themselves.”

Combine the production values, the imagery, and the story, and the book, An Affair of the Hart – A Stalker’s Perspective deserves a prominent place in any discerning hunter’s bookshelf. Very highly recommended.

intrigue of hunting; they are not just hunting snaps to hang a story on but the left hand to the writing’s right hand. The imagery fits the story like a well-pressed suit: nostalgic rock biv’ camps, candid hunting moments, intimate wildlife studies, expansive landscapes, moody weather shots, humble mountain berries, red beech flotsam in a mountain stream, and alpine gardens amongst the schist, to suggest a few.

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32 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

Unexpected

Dev comes to grips with the windy porker

RY RA STO

KAIKOU

windy porker Bryn Williams

A series of unfortunate events led to an opportunity for a mate and I to nip away for a quick hunting trip. Road closures meant I couldn’t get in to work and my mate Dev was off work nursing a dislocated shoulder.

Having scouted some promising looking country in the weeks before, Dev had us on the front foot from the get go. Our intended hunting ground for the weekend was in close proximity to Christchurch and although we had high hopes, we headed in with realistic expectations. Being close to a major city tends to lean towards higher hunting pressure and more chance of encountering other hunters with the same idea. We packed light, studied the weather forecast, crossed our fingers, and entered the bush.

The walk in was a relatively easy stroll and a quick glass along the way revealed a couple of deer on a distant face. Things were looking promising as we dumped our packs at the hut and shouldered the Tikka T3x’s.

There was still a couple of hours before dark and we wanted to gain some elevation and check out the open tops.

As we walked through the native bush the anticipation grew. Upon reaching the bush edge our anticipation instantly changed to disappointment. Having studied the weather forecast carefully we knew the wind wouldn’t be absent but we weren’t expecting the near cyclone force wind howling its way mercilessly across the tussock. The

intense wind made it hard to stand up-right and glassing became impossible without our eyes instantly watering up. We both looked at each other and came to the same conclusion, ‘Let’s head back to camp and see what tomorrow will bring.’

I remember we had flicked a psychological switch; no longer in hunting mode, it

What unfolded next was possibly the epitome of ‘right place, right time.’

For a brief moment it seemed like the pig had escaped us, followed by, “It’s running right at us!”

seemed a good idea to yell into the wind to vent our frustrations. That’s when our luck changed. A pig was hightailing it across the open country, sidling the face we were on! We immediately closed the gap as the pig walked behind some dead looking scrub.

What unfolded next was possibly the epitome of ‘right place, right time.’ For a brief moment it seemed like the pig had escaped us, followed by, “It’s running right at us!”

Followed by, “It’s only five metres away!”

Followed by the crack of a .308 round hitting its mark.

The howling wind we thought was our downfall happened to be our saving grace, as the pig was caught completely unaware. Dev had pulled off a neck shot and sent our bacon rolling

Bryn taking on board a sow and a load of lice

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The last memory from that night was picking pig lice out of my hair and burning them in a candle flame. The things we do for wild pork!

out of my hair and burning them in a candle flame. The things we do for wild pork!

down the hill back towards the hut. We hung the heart and lungs up in the kanuka after gutting, keeping the mana of the animal within the landscape from where we had harvested. The light began to fade and due to Dev’s injured wing, I had the pleasure of backpacking the 85lb sow back to the hut.

It was certainly a memorable trip. The whole adventure

The last memory from that night was picking pig lice

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The following morning, Dev woke with a determination in his eyes. His dislocated shoulder didn’t stop him carrying 85lbs of protein, three hours back to the truck, only stopping once at halftime for oranges.

still plays over in my head. It was the perfect combination of luck and making the most of bad situations. However, looking back, I end up being thankful for the gale-force winds, thankful for the opportunity that had come out of a dislocated shoulder and a powerful earthquake, and thankful Dev shared his hardearned spoils, which is bloody rewarding in itself.

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Issue 145 33

COOKING with CRIMPY

Pan-seared snapper with spring salsa

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

4 medium snapper fillets 4 slices of thick toast bread 3 large tomatoes finely diced or handful cocktail tomatoes quartered Equal quantity of finely diced telegraph cucumber (peeled)

Cut bread slices into circles by using a large cup as a cutter. Heat 2cm of olive oil in a pan and fry the circle until golden on either side to form croutons.

Remove to absorbent paper to drain and then arrange on serving plates.

1 gherkin finely diced

Slice fillets to roughly match the size of the croutons. Pan-fry in a dash of olive oil for 3-4 minutes each side.

Half red onion finely diced

Salsa

1 small red chilli finely diced (optional)

Add tomato, cucumber, capsicum, red onion, gherkin, chilli, and parsley to a large bowl and combine. Squeeze over the juice of a lemon, black pepper to season, and a liberal splash of olive oil.

Mix well and spoon a measure on each crouton.

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34 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

Pig out on perch

T

BOOK REVIEW Ian Hadland

Perch is the perfect species to get kids into freshwater fishing. These lads were fishing along the shore in 50cm of water

ROUGHY ON THE RISE The story of New Zealand’s most controversial fishery

T

D

By Tim Pankhurst

Steele Roberts Publishers RRP $35 Reviewed by Daryl Crimp Available www.seafood.co.nz

Getting trout anglers to have a serious crack at perch fishing is like trying to get a retired farmer to shift to town – despite the benefits, they seldom budge!

Perch are plentiful and make delicious eating

Redfin perch are an underrated sportsfish in New Zealand. It may be the perception that they are bony critters or it could be that with such great trout fisheries, no one really needs to target perch to find sport. However, freshwater anglers should discard any preconceived ideas and give the humble perch a go.

They are present in many waterways but have a preference for slower moving lowland rivers or lakes. Perch don’t really like saltwater, so can be hard to find in saline estuaries unless the tide is well out. Young fish (up to about 20cm) tend to school, so where you catch one, there will often be more.

Once they grow larger, they become more solitary.

They are most active during summer and can tolerate water temperatures that trout find uncomfortable.

They are easy to catch, making them an ideal species for novice or junior anglers. Just about any lure or bait will do, although, from experience, the jighead type lures work best. While many hardened perch anglers like red lures, my preference is bright yellow or white. These are especially good colours for brackish waters. The action is important too, so let the

inner child escape and buy a lure that’s both colourful and has big wobbly tail, or wings, or janglers.

On bait casting gear, use a slow retrieve to fish close to the bottom. Lift the rod tip regularly to cause the lure to swim in an irregular up and down path. It drives them nuts. Use the same technique in rivers – cast upstream and across, and just wind enough to keep a bit of tension between the rod tip and the lure. Let the slow current carry the lure and twitch the rod tip plenty to liven up the tackle. If

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trolling, use the same jigging technique. You will be surprised at the results and probably pick up the odd trout as well.

Perch are delicious to eat, rivalling any trout in taste.

Despite their appearance they are easy to fillet and even a small one will yield a surprising amount of white coloured flesh. The texture is firm and holds together nicely in the pan. The small to average sized fish are the best eating, and as there is usually no size or bag limit, so you can really pig out on them.

Debate surrounding New Zealand’s commercial fishing industry is, at best, polarised and certainly impassioned, but all too often argued from a point of ignorance of all the facts and interrelated topics. Regardless of your stance, ROUGHY ON THE RISE is a compelling and insightful read. From the clever word play in the title, to the glossary, Tim Pankhurst furnishes an engaging, extensively researched, and professionally written tome that documents the ‘gold rush’ phenomenon that was the orange roughy fishery.

A trained journalist, Pankhurst’s narrative is substantive, with the clarity of gin and the pace of Cardigan Bay, while remaining highly readable and accessible to a wide audience. The scene is set from the first page, in Hammond Innes’ style (Google him), as fire belches from a lonely vessel’s funnel on a stormy night, and the hunt for roughy is on.

What follows is an oceanic journey, with Pankhurst negotiating the troughs and peaks surrounding the race for roughy and the subsequent ‘rebuild’ of a fishery exposed to one of the most intensive extractive efforts in our history.

While detractors, prior to its release, argued that it would be an industry snow job, I didn’t find it to be so; quite the opposite in fact. Pankhurst sets his foundations of the orange roughy story in a brief historical and cultural context, before introducing key players and characters that were at the coal face during the boom years. This gives the book immediate currency because the skippers and industry players are ‘real’ people who tell it how it was, candidly and frankly; there are no attempts to gloss over or omit unpalatable events.

And, quite frankly, some of the tales are bloody exciting stuff.

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Then the book progresses through the other dimensions of the industry: the science, compliance, industry machinations, cultural intrigue, and political perspective to name a few.

It is a multi-layered read because, while it is ostensibly about roughy, it is also the story of the wider industry, its complexities, and how many aspects are interconnected. There are also thought-provoking, underlying paradoxical themes, such as ‘sometimes bad has to happen in order to make good’. For example, without the roughy gold rush new Zealand wouldn’t have a mid and deepwater fishing fleet and our coastal waters would still be being plundered by foreign interests. And without the fleet we wouldn’t have

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It’s a good read and I highly recommend it, if for no other reason than self enlightenment. ROUGHY ON THE RISE adds a great deal of context to what has always been a hotly contested subject and may give you cause to see, at least some, aspects of the industry in a different light.

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Then there is the Phoenix from the ashes analogy, whereby it took the destruction of the Northern Hemisphere fishery to pave the way for better southern governance and management of our fisheries.

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Issue 145 35

The hunting dimension:

increasing: that’s roughly 600,000 new people per week or two-and-a-half million extra mouths to feed and bodies to place every month. That’s five times the number of people who live in our capital city of Wellington, being added to Africa’s landscape every month.

Those elephants need shooting Daryl Crimp

The foundation of any argument is a firm grasp of the facts and interrelated issues. However, in the case of the social media storm and fallout over the death of celebrity Leo, Cecil the Lion, global outrage over hunting has festered and reasoned debate has been supplanted by hysterical rhetoric and vacuous ranting. Africa and its animals have become the ‘Poster Child’ for the new cause célèbre – ban hunting and save the animals.

This is naive thinking because it presumes three simplistic premises: that all animal populations are threatened, that hunting is the cause, and that there is a simple solution. In reality, all three premises are wrong.

chance of survival, but more of that later.

TWO ELEPHANTS STAMPEDING

displacement because of human encroachment. This manifests itself in several ways: the obvious loss of habitat and ecosystems due to populations expanding and swallowing land with urban crawl, and the necessary industrialisation of outlying areas to farm foods to feed more mouths; displacement of wild animals because they are incompatible with rural peasant subsistence farming life, therefore they are eradicated, controlled, or confined to ‘reserves’; and the constantly increasing need for more protein, so animals are killed to be eaten! This is not a new phenomenon, stretching back decades and becoming problematic as long ago as the ‘50s!

And it is getting worse.

By 2050, Africa’s population will have doubled, with a growth rate of 80 additional people a minute hitting a protein-starved continent.

Putting that into perspective, it doesn’t take an overactive imagination to realise the impact of this on wild animals, through displacement and as food consumption. Even if every hunter to visit Africa in a year went on shooting rampage, they couldn’t possibly account for the carnage left in the wake of this population growth juggernaut.

So, who are the big bogeys threatening animals, if not hunters? The answer is It is an absolute truth staring us in the face but that there are endangered the truth is too unpalatable, The difficulty in finding species, some critically, and so we go into a state of a happy compromise with it should be an international global denial and political this dilemma, is that it is a priority to address these impotency because it is Addressing real issues is the only case of we can’t have our situations. Take, for example, INVISIBLE FENCES much easier to shoot a way to save these beautiful creatures continent and eat it too! the black rhino, whose convenient scapegoat, TAKING THE WILD Unchecked population population has decreased hunters, than tackle real OUT OF ANIMALS growth comes at the expense by 96% in 50 years: from issues. There are essentially huge areas of wild land.

The situation is now of wildlife. But who is going two major elephants in this 70,000 individuals in 1970 While there still appears reaching crisis status because The upshot of this is that to have the balls to try and room but they might as well to less than 2,500 today. to be enormous of experience of exponential hunting population experience.

Join me on my next African safaritracts and a true fair chase wilderness migrations are interrupted tackle the human component be invisible: exponential Ironically, and no matter ‘unspoilt’ land in Africa, growth and the fact that, or thwarted, animals are of this problem?

That’sAfrica one me sharehuman withpopulation you thegrowth magic of human Africasettlement as we hunt and the great Savannah of South how you spin it,Let trophy on the the mighty Bushveld of Botswana while the continent is hell of an elephant to tackle. contained, and natural and industrial scale hunting isn’t a factor in this current scale, with huge huge, Africa isn’t getting dispersal is interrupted or It’s much easier to shoot a poaching. animal’s demise. Quite the cities, interconnecting towns, any bigger. Her population scapegoat! ceases altogether.

Animal contrary, in fact: managed is currently 1.25 billion and a spaghetti network One of the greatest threats populations then require and growing at a rate of recreational hunting actually of highways and roads, (Next month: industrial to animals on the African 30 million per year, and gives these creatures the best content (and globally), is creates ‘fences’ around these ‘management’. poaching)

HUNT THE

Dark Continent True fair chase Wilderness Hunting Experience

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CALL Crimpy P: 021 472 517 E: editor@thefishingpaper.co.nz

36 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

BOOK REVIEW

Could this be you?

One hundred years ago, 17-year-old

TIME AND TIDE THE STORY OF THE PELORUS MAIL BOAT

Help! We’re Growing and Need a Superstar URGENTLY!

RRP $40

Reviewed by Daryl Crimp

Our success is an opportunity for you!

Eric Johnson set out from Havelock in his homemade boat to deliver mail and provisions to families in the Marlborough Sounds. That journey took two days and spanned a century, creating along with it the story of the Pelorous Mail Boat, which has been captured for posterity by local author Lorain Day. Lorain’s love affair began with the Sounds when she was six, and her father brought her mother, younger brother and her down to Ohingaroa to visit her grandparents. Since then, the little girl has grown into a woman and left the Sounds, only to be drawn back into its thrall, for, while some things have changed, a love for the Sounds has remained constant.

When the current boat owners, Jim Baillie and Amanda Smith, suggested someone should write a book to capture some of the stories about the Sounds while many of the early characters were still alive to tell their tales, Lorain leapt at the chance and ultimately penned the highly engaging and lavishly illustrated, Time and Tide.

As well as an account of the mail boat, Time and Tide explores some of the early history of this intriguing area – early settlement, whaling and the hunt for gold — and describes the unique and beautiful natural environment. Alongside lively accounts of fascinating local characters, laced with tall

In the past year, our business has expanded in leaps and bounds. We’ve got a great team that is well established and performing well. But we need more boots on the ground to expand our calling team. pig-hunting tales, is the story of the men and women who have continued the tradition of the Pelorus Mail Boat to the present day.

Place, mail boat, and people are inextricably entwined.

We want someone who has experience with using the phone as a sales tool and who is keen to learn about our business, calling structures and techniques.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve come from a reception or customer service background, or something else entirely, you will need to be able to work as part of a team and manage your time well.

The publishing of Time and Tide in October is timely, celebrating the launch of a new Pelorus Express. The current owners have built a larger, faster mail boat to continue the service from Havelock Marina to the Outer Sounds.

You will need crystal clear English, excellent communication skills and bundles of energy for this part-time phone-based role here in sunny Nelson.

“It’s a sign of the ebb and flow of time and tide that have always characterised the Sounds, and it makes my heart sing a little to know that something that began 100 years ago, in a little homemade boat, is still going on,’ says Lorain.

Lorain Day is a former publisher and author of children’s books and non-fiction for adults.

Adamantly a South Islander, she lives very happily in Havelock with her husband, who is an international children’s author, and their cat Couscous. While no longer publishing, she is still writing and editing as the managing director of One Day Literary Services, a business she operates from home.

Time and Tide retails for $40.

We want someone who likes a challenge and has a strong work ethic because our team works hard so we will expect the same of you. Attention to detail is also important with a sound knowledge of the usual computer systems. We have our own CRM so the ability to learn new software will be key.

If you want to be our new-superstar or know someone who’d be great, there are a few other details you need to know: This is a part-time job, 9am to 3pm, Tuesday to Thursday. We offer an hourly rate and there’s an achievable daily bonus structure as well. We have an on-going training programme that helps you and our team reach your goals and be successful at what you do.

There’s even a pathway to move into team-leadership if you have the desire to step-up!

Want to be our new super-star? Let’s chat.

Call us on 03 970 2868 and let’s get the ball rolling.

LE

Exciting lifestyle change awaits Do you like meeting new people?

Are you looking for a change of pace?

Then Affinity Cruises could be your answer to the best decision you have ever made – it was for us!

Our company now employees seven people; three onboard the vessel and four (not all full time) ashore in the office. For all of us, the days are filled with fun and it’s a joy to go to work. The crew enjoy a fantastic lifestyle cruising the waterways of three very different and special cruising locations, while enabling our passengers the opportunity to discover destinations few people get to experience. It is a real privilege for us.

However, after 21 years it’s time to sell so Mum and Dad can retire. As for me and the rest of the staff, we are looking forward to growing the business even more with new owners. And the prospects are bright. There has been a big increase in bookings over the past two seasons and forward bookings are exceeding targets.

For the new owners, there are plenty of opportunities regardless of their skills. If you don’t have a skipper’s ticket, it’s not a problem as there are many people around with the appropriate qualifications who would love to work onboard Affinity. Likewise on shore, if you don’t have the right skills or experience, our existing staff are more than willing to stay on because they love their jobs.

If this interests you get in touch because huge and exciting opportunities exist for those with a passion for cruising.

Contact Vicky Maitland 0800 862 334 or email vicky@affinitycruises.co.nz

R

We are a family owned and operated business and the three of us, with limited skills, turned this vessel into a cruising company to be proud of. Dad held the formal qualifications of Master Mariner/Ship’s Captain, while mum became adept at catering for up to 20 people and being the perfect on board hostess. I learned accounting, sales and marketing, and management, taking care of our shore-based office. Sure we (am by we I really mean me) made a few mistakes along the way but the company grew and grew with the success of our ‘Kiwi-style’ cruises.

FO

Does living and working in the Marlborough Sounds, Stewart Island, or Fiordland intrigue you?

SA

Vicky Maitland

Looking for a lifestyle change?

Like the idea of cruising Fiordland, Stewart Island and Marlborough Sounds? Established cruising company for sale.

Perfect opportunity – The business has seen a big turnaround in the past two seasons and has good forward bookings.

Room for growth in all markets.

Beautifully crafted vessel will impress all.

Includes Fiordland consent to operate.

Take advantage of the current owners 21 years’ experience.

For details contact the owners; vicky@affinitycruises.co.nz or 0800 862 334 or our Broker: Rick Warren | Area Manager – Nelson Bays/Marlborough LINK Christchurch & South Island Link Business Christchurch Ltd Tel: 03 366 3394 | DDI: 03 595 0578 | Mob: 022 351 6772

Issue 145 37

Dad’s

KAIKOURA CLOSURE EXTENDED MPI

plump

The current closure of some fisheries off the coast of Kaikoura due to expire on November 20, will now be extended. Put in place in response to the November 2016 earthquake, the closure applies to all shellfish and seaweed (excluding rock lobster and scampi) in Kaikoura and Cape Campbell.

snag

MPI established a scientific research programme to help fisheries managers understand the impact of the earthquake. MPI has decided to extend the current closure until the results of that programme start to become available in the middle of next year. This will continue to protect the earthquake-affected fisheries from fishing-related pressure.

Don Simms

The locals told us the weather has been so terrible no one has been able to get out fishing.

It didn’t stop Dad and me trying our luck fishing at Frankton Arm in Lake Wakatipu. We fished for three days and landed a mixture of 26 trout and salmon. All of the fish were in excellent condition and very plump.

We trolled the shallows early in the morning and once the sun was up, changed to lead-lines and fished the deeper parts of the Arms. It was the best trolling from the boat I’d ever had on Wakatipu.

Not long after we left the Frankton boat ramp on the first day, we were letting out our lines, and Dad, who is 85-years-old, said, “I’m snagged.”

The ‘snag’ turned out to be a trout, which took him 10 minutes to land. It weighed 12lbs and was caught on an 8lb nylon line in four metres of water. The trout was in prime condition, with lovely orange flesh, and we have already eaten most of it.

“The decision reflects feedback from fishers from all sectors throughout the consultation to exercise caution in order to maintain sustainability of these important fisheries,” says MPI’s Acting Director of Fisheries Management Steve Halley.

This isn’t Dad’s biggest trout though.

He lives in Queenstown and fishes from the Frankton shoreline all year round.

He’s caught 15 and 17lb fish from there but his best is a whopping 23lb brown caught in Lake Waituna, near Invercargill, in 1993.

Catch limits for neighbouring paua fisheries have also been reduced.

“This takes into account the significant area of paua habitat no longer available in the Kaikoura - Cape Campbell area. Lowering catch limits in these neighbouring fisheries will ensure they will not be put under too much pressure.”

The fish can be viewed in the foyer of the Invercargill Fish and Game office; Dad (Ray Simms) donated it to Southland Fish and Game.

We reckon bad weather before our three day fishing trip probably played a big part in our success, as it kept plenty of other fishers out of the water.

Southland Times photo

Can you follow the easy steps to help you draw Leo the Lion?

Wacka Murphy

By Daryl Crimp

38 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - OCTOBER 2017

Almost Fly Fishing Ben Booth

On the second cast the drift was interrupted by a very violent take as a large rainbow trout smashed the flies. The initial part of the fight was very violent as the fish thrashed around on the surface, trying to dislodge the hook in its mouth. After 20 seconds, the fish changed tack and held in the current and would not move. Two minutes later, it started to move off and headed downstream. Soon the fish was landed and pulled the scales down to 19lb. Malc was ecstatic.

Ben with a stunning Mackenzie monster

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spot to find a number of fish sitting below the wall in very fast water, some of which looked very large. We tried the usual soft bait patterns and were quickly into some good fish. Before long the fish became very wary of our offerings and went off the bite completely.

What he came up with was a rig that looked very similar to a cod rig, but the droppers were one line only and it was made out of 11lb fluorocarbon leader. At the end of the droppers he attached two different trout flies, as well as a ¼ ounce ball sinker to the bottom of the rig to give some weight.

This he fished, using a light 1kg to 3kg trout spinning rod.

After the trial run of this new rig, we were blown away by how many fish we had hooked and landed.

Neither of us had seen anything like it before. The quality of the fish and the fights was second to none out of the canals, and to say we were excited was certainly an understatement.

We returned the next day and had an absolute blinder, with many fish coming in over 10lb. The fish of the day was a cracking 18lb rainbow trout that put up an epic fight. One thing we noticed was the frequency of the bite times: the first of the day was close to 9.00am, and every two hours after until dark. This bit of information proved very useful during the next few trips.

Malcolm about to release another mega trout

As we headed back to Christchurch, we couldn’t stop talking about our discovery, which this was very new to the both of us.

Both Malc and I couldn’t wait until the next trip.

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“I have an idea,” said Malc and he quickly raced back to the truck to tie up his newly thought of rig.

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Once again Malc and I had travelled down to the canals to see what sort of new things we could learn.

We heard of a population of very large trout sitting in the fast water right up against the dam face, so we decided to head there first and see what we could find.

We arrived at the chosen

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Issue 145 39

DIRECTORY

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