January 2010 - Part 4
Bay of Islands Fishing Report
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Ashley Watt broke the drought with this 12lb Snapper and then just kept pulling in great fish. Good luck on the baby Ash as this may be your last fishing trip for a while.
Ian Dollman was our quiet achiever. He reluctantly posed for this photo but he caught a couple of good fish so I had to coax him into showing us one of them.
23rd January - Deja Vu - I looked at the forecast this morning and it was exactly the same as what was forecast for yesterday. Or in otherwords, the Wallys in the weather bureau decided that seeing as how we didn't get the forecast right yesterday then we'll change the date and hope it happens today.
We did have strong SW winds again for a while so we had a look around first. The first spot to check was on the mud but all we saw was Spot-X and Blue Seas - no fish and definitely no activity on any of the aforementioned boats. We headed over to yesterdays reef and although the fish sign wasn't as strong we dropped anchor and checked it out. The wait was long and the results poor - lots of Mao Mao and small Snapper. Finally we moved as there was no sign of the fish improving. This time we tried the opposite side of the bay. Funnily enough the opposition were already there but as we approached Blue Seas weighed anchor and left. Terry was heading for a specific spot but about 200m short of it he spotted some good fish sign so he dropped anchor and we checked it out. It took 15 minutes or so but suddenly the fish started to bite and boy did they bite. I was having to prioritise pretty heavily as they were coming on so fast. I looked up briefly to see the other boats leaving the area and couldn't help but smile.
A very good result again today.
Murray Evan had a fantastic fish on his line but the drag was too tight. I was rushing over the cabin top to get to him to check out his progress but the line broke just seconds before I got there. We've recreated what he might've got (or even beaten) alongside the biggest that he managed to get onboard.
Good effort though by everyone and we finished with a lot of great quality fish today.
24th January - The forecast was for very light winds and I only had five people booked so it felt like a bit of a holiday. I was hoping that I might get a chance to fish myself as well. Unfortunately by the time we got to the fishing grounds the wind had picked up strength and was surprisingly chilly. We dropped anchor, baited up and waited. It took a while to get a fish and then first two or three were disappointing. However we then caught a 6.5lb Snapper, closely followed by a 3lb Snapper so things were looking good. We were comfortable in the knowledge that everyone on board were only looking for enough for one meal so we increased our minimum size and started to return anything below 34cm. By this time we were wearing every bit of clothing that had been bought on board as it was really cold (so much for the forecast.) Things went slow again and we were only catching the occasional small fish so we moved. We tried a bit further into the middle then on the far side of the bay at a place we call the Quarry. There was a lot of fish life here but only the small fish seemed to be biting. Finally the wind dropped, the sun came out, the layers of extra clothing came off and we moved back out into the middle of the bay. We dropped our minimum size to around 30-32cm just to get numbers a bit more respectable and eventually went home with just enough fish to satisfy everyone's needs. Talking with other people after the trip and the general consensus was that little fish were the order of the day so we didn't feel so bad.
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Johnny Lance with the biggest fish that he has caught in New Zealand. Shame we couldn't organise a better Snapper but without a hand grenade it wasn't going to happen today.
Peter Cannon and his brother were a couple of very laid back Aussies on our trip today. This 6.5lb Snapper was pulled in by Peter and was the biggest fish of the day.
26th January - We had a second day of light numbers (only seven) so I was looking forward to another low pressure day. The weather was pretty good and unfortunately the fishing was pretty slow to start with. Once again however it took about three ours before it really started to take off and by the end of the day I was happy with the end result. It was yet another day where we found the results were only just starting happen as the other charter boats finished their 4 hour trips and went home. I love it when I see the greedy buggers rushing off to get their next load of "punters" and missing out on the good fish. This is the time of year when you have to put in the time to get the good fish. We are constantly watching the others start to panic after a couple of hours. They find the fishing hard so they rush around the Bay of Islands trying to get something decent. If after 10-15 minutes nothing happens then they're off again. Each search gets more desperate. Meanwhile, we are secure in the knowledge that we've got lots of time up our sleeves and can afford to put more time into each spot we try. All I can say is that the results speak for themselves. Toady was another of those days.
27th January - Today was a bit different. We started drifting but it soon became apparent that the wind was building and we were going to be drifting slightly too fast for comfort so we dropped the anchor. We were in the same spot as yesterday and had confidence that it was going to work again so we sat in the same spot and waited it out. One of our clients admitted, after the fish started to bite, that he thought we had got it wrong but he was happy to concede once it started to happen. We'd been watching the opposition drift backwards and forwards for a couple of hours without any results (binoculars are a great invention). We'd pointed out to our clients that everyone was moving about because they were experiencing the same (non)results as us so we were just going to wait. Our patience was finally rewarded by a really good hit for about 5-10 minutes, then it was quiet for a period and then another 5-10 minutes of activity and on it went - on again, off again. We tried to hide it from prying eyes and believe it or not we succeeded. It was amazing that no-one clicked that the Arline had been sitting in the same place for the entire time. The other boats drifted closer and closer and we thought that they'll be on the fish soon but everytime they got close they gave up, shot off back upwind and resumed their drift back towards us. Our fishing got to the stage where we were getting really choosy and throwing lots of very keep-able fish back. A great day - love it!!
29th January - I did not want to go out today. The wind was promising to be around 35 knots, the swell was supposed to be around 2 metres. Horrible! However, In the back of my mind was that the last three trips that I'd been tempted to cancel because of the weather had turned out to be the best. Today was one of those !! The fast boats had screamed past us and shot into the shelter of the islands to get the calm water but being 5 minutes behind was just enough for us to see a massive buildup of birds in the exposed part of the bay just off Roberton Island. Wow!! I haven't seen bird life like that for a long time. We had a mosey around and then dropped anchor right in the middle of some likely looking fish. First hit came in about 2 minutes and after a great fight we pulled in a large Kahawai. Disappointed on one hand that it wasn't a large Snapper, we consoled ourselves that at least the Kahawai had come in. Next fish was a Snapper around 32cm and then ....... FISHING HEAVEN ........ THE BIG SNAPPER ARE HERE !!! Within an hour, everyone was knackered, we had enough fish for everyone and were getting very very selective. It's a great feeling throwing heaps of 3-5lb Snapper back especially when two days ago that was the best fish that we could expect. Everyone was knackered so it was time to check out the quiet, calm waters around Roberton Island. Nothing but Mao Mao so we checked with everyone to make sure they were happy for one last look in quiet calm water before we returned home. It was a bit early and locals, who noticed where we were, might have wondered why but it was definitely worth a look - we got a few good fish just before slack tide and it is definitely a place that shows promise already.
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We got some great fish today but this Thresher Shark was worth a photo. Edric Chang had fun pulling this beasty in.
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This photo doesn't show how rough the water was but the fishing wa definitely worth being tossed around. This beastie weighed in at 13lb (approx 6kgs) and was the best fish of the day. We caught a lot around 3-5lbs and many of them went back. Great fun!!
30th January - The weather was promising to be the same as yesterday so we were happy to go out again. I was intending to cap numbers at 10 people though (just in case) but boofed when I got my two diaries out of sync. I tried to convince a couple of people that it might be a bit rough but everyone still wanted to come so I ended up leaving with 14 people.
As it turned out the weather was better than forecast. There was a large 2 metre swell but it was a gentle rolling one which was just as well as we were side on to it. The wind was light and the sun was out - quite nice really.
No bird life however and very little fish sign. The first stop was producing okay fish but when a qualmarked charter boat with a load of drunken passengers turned up we decided to leave (it was entertaining at first but quickly got boring). My skipper said that he wouldn't endanger a boat by bringing out people in that condition which goes to prove that the Qualmark qualification is just something you buy - not earn. Our second stop was full of Mao Mao so we headed out into the middle to try a spot that did well for us a few days ago.
It was quiet until almost right on the dot of 12 noon we got our first decent fish. Then they kept coming in steady regularity. For the next hour and a quarter everyone caught many large Snapper and Kahawai and Snapper. Our success could have been partly due to Steven Hughes's partner who was up the front of the boat setting up a steady burley trail for most of this last stop.
31st January - The swell had dropped slightly and the weather was looking like it might behave until we got back home so we went out with a good sized group (found out when I got home that one of them hadn't paid so I hope he enjoyed his free trip and all his fish.)
The spot we picked was away from all the other boats and was showing good fish sign on the fish finder. We settled in and waited. The first couple of fish, a 3lb Snapper and a large Kahawai, looked promising but we then had a long wait for the next fish. Every now and then another good Snapper was caught but it remained slow all trip. We didn't bother moving though because we noted that most boats were shifting periodically and were obviously having trouble too. Terry put a line out to see what was going on and said that the fish were not biting well, they were grabbing the bait on his strayline but dropping it as soon as he tried to hook them. Often the take was just a long gentle pull and most people wouldn't realise what was going on as we were constantly rising and dropping in a big gentle swell as well which would have created a lot of pulling on the lines anyway. By the end of the trip however we did have quite a bit of fish to share amongst the group and most of it was from very good quality Snapper.
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Nationalities on the boat today, in order of appearance, Scotland, England, Australia (tassie) and New Zealand. The fishing wasn't as good as yesterday but it was pretty good all the same
Pictured here is Mary-Anne O'Grady who came fishing for the very first time. She admitted part way through the trip that she was starting to see the appeal of the fishing thing. Her patience was rewarded with this 6lb Snapper, which, obviously, was her biggest ever fish. Hopefully she'll give it a go again.
Today's biggest Snapper was caught by Terry and weighed in at 13lbs.