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a p e h o H l l i B ing guru, Bill Hohepa – Wayne Wills MNZM – best known as fish nds yet, just mention his seemingly lives the quiet life at Beachla te him with the Maori name and most folk will instantly associa will know, others will fishing calendar. Of course, while many EastLife asked this larger wonder what he’s up to these days so passion and what has also than life character if fishing remains a hooked him on trucks!
Your real name is Wayne Wills, why the pseudonym and are you still known as Wayne anywhere? I began using ‘Bill Hohepa’ when I started writing a fishing column. At the time I was a prison officer and the inmates could, of course, read what I had to say – they would have given me beans! Instead, I used the pseudonym to avoid that. Most people now call me Bill and have done so for at least 40 years. The name Wills was my mother’s maiden name as she had me when she was just 15. I lived with her as my father was already married and I didn’t meet him until I was 46. Subsequently, I never knew about my Maori side. Where did you learn to fish and to love it? Nobody taught me to fish. As a child my uncle took all the kids with him to help fish with a net for piper. I looked forward to those occasions because I had a very abusive step father and this was a way to spend pleasurable time away from him. I used to borrow uncle’s net to catch piper by myself. I’d ride my bike to the beach, catch the piper, then ride to Auckland Zoo and sell the fish to the keepers. They fed them to aquatic animals and birds and I earned some pocket money.
I became passionate about fishing when I was about 20, fishing mainly from the shore. In those days fishermen told you nothing and took you nowhere; I learned the hard way. I used to think a lot about how to catch fish and was always trying new ideas, some worked, some didn’t. I sought out information on the Maori fishing calendar, and read all about it. By combining this knowledge with my catch diary, I formed my own calendar, which seemed to be reasonably accurate. Later, I began publishing this, and it still is published today. In 2014 You were awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to recreational fishing and the community; how did it that come about? It wasn’t just about my fishing columns. In 1979 I started a school holiday programme taking 20 youngsters away for five days teaching them to fish. Supported by Auckland City Council, the programme was formalised in 1993 and named Camp Hohepa Inc. Kids came from all walks of life and we held camps in Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Waikato, Auckland, and Northland. These ran from 1979 to 2009 but ended when Health and Safety highlighted risks and also my liability as the camp’s principal.
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If one little thing went wrong I’d be blasted and I couldn’t afford that. Other reasons for the MNZM were, indeed, my fishing information and entertainment provided via my fishing books, videos and DVDs as well as my national TV shows on fishing. We recorded some 540 episodes of fishing shows from 1997 to 2009. I also hosted fundraising talks via fishing seminars for schools, service clubs plus the ambulance and fire services. Between 1968 and 2009 I also wrote a weekly fishing column for fishing magazines, and newspapers. Is your advice still in demand? My fishing calendar information is still readily available, and I still do the occasional fundraising talk, but the younger fishing generation have many ways to obtain up to date fishing information; mine was more applicable to previous generations. Fishing TV shows are now two a penny and can be seen on many channels. After 40 years I thought it time to let the younger generation get on with it. However, in 2010 we moved to Beachlands. Here, I and my good friend Stu Cawker, or Captain Asparagus as he’s known in fishing circles, started a little kids’ fishing
club called The Sticky Baits Fishing Club. Over a five year period Stu and I taught some 20 kids to fish. After five years they all earned their Master Fisherman certificates. We still keep in touch with this group, now all young adults. As an aside, the oldest Camp Hohepa boy is now 52 and has a family and grandkids. Do you still fish regularly? After years of catching fish and showing others how to catch fish, my passion has slowed. Sure, I still go out from time to time and catch a couple for a meal, but that’s about it. People still recognise me and my name so I must have made an impression over the years. In the beginning it was all about catching that BIG fish, but later, it was seeing the smile on a kid’s face as he/she caught that first fish after taking a few basic lessons at Camp Hohepa. Do you have a favourite fishing spot? Fish move about so I can’t say I have a favourite spot as such. I always check the day in my fishing diary, and when I get out on the water I look for sea bird work ups. I’ve always said, ‘Those birds aren’t there for a haircut, they’re there to feed, so find the birds; find the fish’. That’s pretty much my advice www.eastlife.co.nz
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