wwwnzfisherconz 1

f sherISSUE 21 February 2013

wwwnzfisherconz

Summer Snapper Bonanza

What softbait when

Five Days of Northern Land-based Heaven

2 wwwnzfisherconz

The day you caught your first fish The first time you climbed into a boat These moments make up the beginning of the future

Today Hondarsquos forward thinking comes together to bring you a reliable fuel efficient range of outboards

The Beginning of the Future

Contact your local Honda Marine Dealer todayFreephone 0800 478 765 wwwhondamarineconz

From 23hp to 250hp

Scan me for a free cap

BeginningFuture190x225 Traderboatindd 1 15112012 85910 am

The day you caught your first fish The first time you climbed into a boat These moments make up the beginning of the future

Today Hondarsquos forward thinking comes together to bring you a reliable fuel efficient range of outboards

The Beginning of the Future

Contact your local Honda Marine Dealer todayFreephone 0800 478 765 wwwhondamarineconz

From 23hp to 250hp

Scan me for a free cap

BeginningFuture190x225 Traderboatindd 1 15112012 85910 am

wwwnzfisherconz 3

Pg 6

1012

Pg 18

CONTENTS

editorial

LANDBASED FISHING

6 5 Days Hardcore in the Far North

10 RoctoberfishRevisited

12 Reader Pics amp Competitions

BOATFISHING

16 Summer snapper slam

18 Faking It Right

JETSKIFISHING

20 Ourbestsoftbaitfishingyethellip

22 Gear Reviews

24 National Body Report

25 Video of the month

26 Fishing Video of the Month

The day you caught your first fish The first time you climbed into a boat These moments make up the beginning of the future

Today Hondarsquos forward thinking comes together to bring you a reliable fuel efficient range of outboards

The Beginning of the Future

Contact your local Honda Marine Dealer todayFreephone 0800 478 765 wwwhondamarineconz

From 23hp to 250hp

Scan me for a free cap

BeginningFuture190x225 Traderboatindd 1 15112012 85910 am

The day you caught your first fish The first time you climbed into a boat These moments make up the beginning of the future

Today Hondarsquos forward thinking comes together to bring you a reliable fuel efficient range of outboards

The Beginning of the Future

Contact your local Honda Marine Dealer todayFreephone 0800 478 765 wwwhondamarineconz

From 23hp to 250hp

Scan me for a free cap

BeginningFuture190x225 Traderboatindd 1 15112012 85910 am

4 wwwnzfisherconz

Hasnrsquot Okuma come a long wayThe exciting sound of the clicker the subtle

take of the fly the explosive strike that

comes from a rapidly retrieved popper

fishing rewards the senses in so many

ways From mountain lake to offshore

waters at every turn Okuma Fishing

Tackle embraces your passion for the sport

of fishing

Our 2012 introductions continue our

commitment to dynamic and innovative

rods and reels for both freshwater and

saltwater anglers Within each our goal is

to advance your skills and deliver a better

experience from every day on the water

We accomplish this with advanced

materials cutting-edge design and by

having one ear to the ground at all times

Never wanting to limit your possibilities

Okuma creates the tools to unlock endless

angling experiences

wwwcdrodsconzo nz

wwwnzfisherconz 5

AFTER TROLLING THE internet for

many may hours looking for good

stories amp images to share you get a

bit blaseacute about the stories amp images

you see and read about But every

now and again a story catches the eye

This one is simply too long to publish

in NZFisher so herersquos the link and a

few pics to accompany it are here

While New Zealand does have some

incredible fishing and some great

fisheries right on our collective door

steps we do no longer have a yellow-

fin tuna fishery so let this be my 2013

homage to YFT

It does not look good for the future

of either YFT or marlin in our waters

now the Chinese offshore fleet has

increased so dramatically and headed

to our once forgotten corner of the

Pacific Sadly time is probably passed

for us to secure these fisheries for

the future as the future is now and

theyrsquore being scooped up en masse

On the bright side weather has

been largely friendly recently and

there have been some great catches

reported Out own sub-editor Forsyth

is in Rarotonga this week facing

Cyclone Gary and searching for GTrsquos

while wersquore mostly getting back into

the swing of the five day working

week

Team NZFisher have been out wide

but marlin have remained elusive Our

inshore fishing has been fantastic with

a number of guest fisherrsquos landing

personal bests on consecutive trips

Itrsquos pleasing to hear fishers talking

about the improvement in both

snapper and kingfish numbers in

recent years ndash fingers crossed we

donrsquot see the gains sold away to

commercial interests

Keep fishing while the weathers good

ndash and enjoy issue 21

Tight lines

Derrick

From the EDITOR

editorial

ABOUT Short and sharp NZ Fisher is a free e-magazine delivering thought provoking and enlightening articles and industry news and information to forward-thinking fisher people

EDITOR Derrick Paull

ART DIRECTOR Jodi Olsson

CONTENT ENQUIRIES

Phone Derrick on 021 629 327

or email derrickpNZ Fisherconz

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES

Phone Richard on 09 522 7257

or email richardlespiremediacom

ADDRESS NZ Fisher

C- Espire Media PO Box 137162

Parnell Auckland 1151 NZ

WEBSITE wwwNZ Fisherconz

Cover Image Derrick Paul with the winning kingfish at the 2013 Chesters New Lynn lsquoFsnatical Fishesrsquo competition Credit Simon Bell

This is a GREEN MAG created and distributed without the use of paper so its environmentally friendly Please think before you

print Thank you

6 wwwnzfisherconz

BOZ GROVO JIMMY and myself had

been planning our now almost bi-annual

trip up to Waitiki landing for quite some

time with dates finally booked and

the weather not really sure what it was

doing with a bit of encouragement

from Chads trip report we said stuff it

we are going with fingers crossed the

weather would play ball

A reasonably early get away and

making it to Waitiki before 1 am as

per usual was a great start to the trip

and we were amping to get started

Main aim for the trip was to get Boz

his 20lber off the rocks What followed

was some of the hardest 5 days of

fishing up north we have experienced

Day one

Quick trip to Taputaputa to find the

swell too big to launch down to

Houhora and up the coast swell too

big to land where we wanted hopped

off at a spot only to be greeted by a

30knt wind coming round the corner

so frac12 an hour here and we had had

enough back for a short but rather

wet trip back in the inflatable Last

option for the day was out to spirits to

catch the outgoing

Managed to get 3 kahawai for livies all

set up along the ledge and we threw a

few poppers around had a quick chat

to a guy out the end who sounded like

he had fished there for a few days and

all he had caught was tope

He had a good hit and run while

we were there only for what hewe

believed to be a kingfish spit the

hook Jimmys turn to get hit bit of

excitement thenhellip a stinkin Tope half

an hour later and my balloon was doing

a dance andhellip half a kahawai back

That was us for day one we left the guy

at the end to it would be interesting

to see if he finally got one we know he

was still there for the next two days

Day two

We chose to put the boat in the creek

at spirits and carry the trailer down

to the beach to launch first time we

have done this and with 4 of us it was

actually quite easy definitely beat

trying to launch in swell

Down the coast we went once again

the wind and waves followed us but

we eventually found somewhere

to land Berley pumping very few

kahawai around I managed to site fish

a couple of snapper out of the burley

That was it on the snapper front

Highlight was Grovos livey getting

picked up by a decent king (after

telling me he would get one shot

on the trip that morning) sending

him scampering around the rocks

unfortunately it dived into the reef and

it was all over pretty quickly

After getting a bit demoralised about

the lack of well anything we decided to

jimmy up some boat sets from our gear

(mainly bait-runners and popper or Land

Based Game rods would have looked

rather amusing) and went and fished

the reef at spirits Finally we managed

to get into quite a few snapper almost

straight away Grovo with the biggest of

15lb before the tope turned up

Back to camp to re-gather ourselves

to be greeted by about 10 boats

from Oakley Fishing clubhellip great

usually have the run of the place and

enjoy the peace and quiet Being the

friendly folk we are (well ok Jimmy can

talk the backside off a cow) we found

out that they were all launching out of

taputs creek so would be interesting

to see what they turned up with

landbasedFISHING

5 Days Hardcore in the Far North By Brendon Deacon

wwwnzfisherconz 7

So a bit more demoralised we went into day 3

Launching with the other boats out

of taputs quite possibly the most

exciting part of the trip we were

greeted on the beach by two rather

attractive tourists in bikins going for

just coming out from an early morning

swim Glasses were donned and we

definitely had to wait a little longer for

a ldquoflat spellrdquo in the waves

Unfortunately that was as good as

it got for us once again the swell

and wind were making it difficult to

fish we couldnrsquot get to some spots

we wanted to once again the berley

pumped and the odd kahawai flittered

through and were put out for livies

The boat with its new reinforcing

So we once again packed up and

headed about 50m off the rocks

(after a rather wet trip and quick turn

around trying to get back to spirits

reef after the wind decided to pick

up 10knts half way there) where we

finally caught a few snapper not quite

so big this time but at least it was

some action

Back at camp the boat fishers had

had a good day snapper to 995kg

and two horse kingfish of 36 and 37kg

from the same boat (unfortunately

both killed just to weigh them and

were given away to the locals I guess

at least they werenrsquot wasted) later

learned they were jigging one with

a Tica and the other a Saltist so who

says you canrsquot catch big fish on cheap

gear They did take over an hour on

each fish though

Day 4

Right time to do something different

and show those boaties up So off we

went on a drivehellip

Places will remain nameless for this

one if you know where we are keep it

quiet As you might have guessed this

is the day we finally got a decent fish

Off in the inflatable to a place we had

wanted to hit landing on a really nice

deep ledge it just screamed kingfish

Berley in and a snapper was sighted

think I got busted off under the

ledge on that one but Boz finally got

into the action with a nice snapper

kahawai were caught and deployed

mine behaving itself in a deep hole

just near the end of the ledge while

Jimmys decided it eventually liked the

deep water well clear of the ledge I

was quietly hopeful that one of them

was going to get hit and must admit

to thinking that mine was in as good a

position as you could gethellip

A few hours went past all was quiet

and we were deciding whether to

make a move or set another berley

up the call was made to give it a

few more hours so I finally decided

to do something useful and change

the berley over throwing quite a

few chunks out of what was left in

the bucket out half way through this

Jimmy said ldquoI think your balloon is

getting dunked oh maybe notrdquo so

I had a quick look and sure enough

after watching it for the last couple

of hours it was definitely doing

something different A quick run over

reel clip released and the balloon was

landbasedFISHING

8 wwwnzfisherconz

starting to go under as I clicked it out

of the light gear setting line peeled

out very much different to a tope

causing a small over run as soon as

this was cleared up to strike and the

weight came on The fish was still

unsighted but I could feel the weight

in it as I was dragged along the rocks

for 20 or so metres with a close call

trying to go round one rock

By now everyone was running around

finding gaffs and gimbles and giving

advice (good advice ha-ha) the fish

made a couple of good runs but not

storming I managed to turn it and stop

it travelling down the rock and a stale

mate was reached the fish came up

just out of sight then peeled off finally

after maybe 5mins we had colour and

ldquokingierdquo was yelled out now hoping

all of the gear and knots were going to

hold together (I had a sample chinese

made game swivel on)

I am not sure how much longer it took

but the gimbal was finally on and

Grovo did a good job stopping me

from being dragged in Finally it came

up I would say disappointingly quickly

but I would be lying and Boz put in a

great gaff shothellip Tried to lift it up and

stopped dead Jimmy quickly gave him

a hand and hoots and hollers followed

along with high fives and a few words

that canrsquot be repeated were yelled

The fish was still a bit lively with Grovo

trying to ride it to calm it down Finally

after it had clamed down it was photo

time I could barely lift it

landbasedFISHING

Scales were brought out and

bottomed out easilyhellipJust the week

before I had decided to buy some

100kg scales ldquoin caserdquo someone

caught a horse of a fish luckily we

threw these in the boat for the trip

so off over the hill to get them First

weight with two people having to hold

it up was 24kgs which left us all a bit

dumfounded (and me disappointed)

as we thought it was similar to the

boat fish that had been caught

Luckily Bozs brain hadnrsquot been fried

and noticed that the scales werenrsquot

collaborated properly Phew next

lifthellip Ooh that looks more like it

325kgs

I think everyone was stoked with

that Definitely a fish of a lifetime we

have spent many days and money on

charters in top locations to try and

get a big kingfish like that and then

to go and do it off the rocks with your

best fishing mates is just awesome it

took a day or so to actually sink in and

enjoy what a catch it was

We eventually packed up and fished

another spot for snapper but with

once again no joyhellip

The rums were on me on the way back

and it was quite satisfying to show off

our landbased catch to the boaties

who were all stoked and amazed for

us (Their biggest snap that day was a

little over 10kg) Boz did a good effort

filleting the fish for the smoker and

the frame and head went to the locals

wwwnzfisherconz 9

Day 5

We really wanted to get Boz his

snapper so stopped off at Whangaroa

to fish for the day out there for

something different this spot

definitely had a bit more action about

it with Boz and myself getting a

couple of double figure fish and all of

us missing some good runs of possibly

bigger fish Grovos livie also got

harassed by a kingi but fishing came

to a finish all too quickly

The wind decided to follow us

everywhere we went the fishing

was VERY slow but I will forever

have great memories not only of

the kingfish but of the good times

we always have on these trips

unfortunately we couldnrsquot get bozs

20lber but I guess it gives us an

excuse to start planning another trip

Cheers to my mates for making it

another memorable trip especially to

Boz for doing the driving of the truck

and boat taking most the photos and

doing the gaffing we will be back for

your special fish soon

landbasedFISHING

10 wwwnzfisherconz

landbasedFISHING

THIS WAS MY second year of

ROctober fish Last year got me a PB

so the anticipation and excitement of

great fishing was building for some

time before the comp I managed to

render myself almost incapable the

night before after being cajoled in to

drinking whisky until the wee small

hours It lead to me leaving behind a

number of key pieces of kit including

one of my reels and anything to drink

Not my smartest moment

(I take absolutely no responsibility but those drinks didnrsquot pour themselves Ed)

After launching out of Maitai Bay

Brenton and I were dropped off on

a ledge on one of the islands off to

the north of Cape Karikari It didnrsquot

take me long to get my only rod

and reel set up Irsquove never fished

an overhead before so Brenton

gave me a few pointers With his

last words of ldquotake it easy on your

first few cast until you get used

to itrdquo ringing in my ears I chose

to completely disregard all of his

advice and gave it some oomph

Massive birds nest After spending

15 minutes untangling it the first

couple of casts saw the bait picked

off by the prolific midgets My third

cast had only been soaking for a few

seconds when it took off with some

serious pace A few steaming runs

later up popped a good sized fish

Cue lots of shouting to Brenton to

get the net I watched in horror as

he had a nightmare taking multiple

attempts to net it watch it swim

away flop about on the surface

and finally end up on the rocks

When we did get it safely ashore

it measured 65cms Another PB

for Forbes Delighted I wish I

could say the rest of the weekend

continued in the same vein but

unfortunately the fishing was tough

for me for the rest of the comp

The second day I landed a few nice

pannies but not the monsters we

were here to catch

The social side of this ROctoberFish

has been brilliant both years and the

fishing for the most part has been

outstanding I have already put this in

my diary for next year See you there

Roctoberfish Revisited By Forbes Taylor

1

2

3

4

5

5 simple rulesto help you stay safe

Life jacketsTake them ndash Wear them

Boats especially ones under 6m in length can sink very quickly Wearing a life jacket increases your survival time in the water

Skipper responsibilityThe skipper is responsible for the safety of everyone on board and for the safe operation of the boat Stay within the limits of your vessel and your experience

CommunicationsTake two separate waterproof ways of communicating so we can help you if you get into difficulties

Marine weather New Zealandrsquos weather can be highly unpredictable Check the local marine weather forecast before you go and expect both weather and sea state changes

Avoid alcohol Safe boating and alcohol do not mix Things can change quickly on the water You need to stay alert and aware

For more information about safe boating education and how to prepare for your boating activity visit wwwadventuresmartorgnz

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

The Boating Safety

Before you go boating on our seas lakes and rivers get familiar with New Zealandrsquos Boating Safety Code no matter what kind of boat you use

CODE

wwwadventuresmartorgnz

The Water Safety The Outdoor Safety

CODE CODE

Also available

Laying into one Sweet success

Too many whiskys No excuse

It measured up a new PB

1

2

3

4

5

5 simple rulesto help you stay safe

Life jacketsTake them ndash Wear them

Boats especially ones under 6m in length can sink very quickly Wearing a life jacket increases your survival time in the water

Skipper responsibilityThe skipper is responsible for the safety of everyone on board and for the safe operation of the boat Stay within the limits of your vessel and your experience

CommunicationsTake two separate waterproof ways of communicating so we can help you if you get into difficulties

Marine weather New Zealandrsquos weather can be highly unpredictable Check the local marine weather forecast before you go and expect both weather and sea state changes

Avoid alcohol Safe boating and alcohol do not mix Things can change quickly on the water You need to stay alert and aware

For more information about safe boating education and how to prepare for your boating activity visit wwwadventuresmartorgnz

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

The Boating Safety

Before you go boating on our seas lakes and rivers get familiar with New Zealandrsquos Boating Safety Code no matter what kind of boat you use

CODE

wwwadventuresmartorgnz

The Water Safety The Outdoor Safety

CODE CODE

Also available

Sweet success

12 wwwnzfisherconz

READERpics

David Wills with a stocky 19lber last July

Erina Brown with a Koura from Kai-iwi Lakes they caught early one evening

Arial amp his first King of 2013

WINNER Michelle MacKinven showing dsome great lsquoikiingrsquo skills

Daryl Lock with his PB (no surprise) King

wwwnzfisherconz 13

READERpics

Daryl Lock with his PB (no surprise) Kingi

Ian Biddick at an NZFisher super sectret spot The fishing was sublime but this is the closest wersquod let him get to it

Forbes Taylor proving theres more to him than just big landbased snapper

14 wwwnzfisherconz

This monthrsquos winner is Alan McKinven (making a habit of winning too) Alan wins a Reel

Adventures ReelWear Tee-Shirt for his Pic of Michelle MacKinven with her ldquoikirsquodrdquo snapper Alan

drop us a line to arrange your size amp delivery details Keep sending in your pics for the great

OKUMA and Reel Wear prizes up for grabs every month And Daryl Lock wins the OKUMA

hoody for his giant Kingfish caught on EPIC adventures (and it was his first king EVER

Win this Reel Wear tee shirt next month by sending in your fishy pics to Facebook

Rob Johnson with a prime Hauraki Gulf spring schoolie

READERpics

Alan Mckrsquos lsquoEnglishmanrsquo mate with a PB king on plastics

Simon Bell with a tasty summer king

from the mokes

Ian Smith amp his first Porae tasty bycatch on a snapper mission to the mokes

wwwnzfisherconz 15

COMPETITION

Win a Rod amp Reel with OKUMA amp NZFisherEvery subscriber who posts a pic is in the draw

JUST POST A pic of you with a fish

to our Facebook page and yoursquore

in the draw to win an Okuma Salina

II Rod and Reel combo plus tackle

worth $75000

Not only that but every month wersquoll

give away an Okuma Hoody and

ReelWear T-shirt between now and

June 2013 Every image you enter

has a chance to win each month and

also the big prize The more and

sooner you enter the better your

chances so get fishing and posting

those images to Facebook

FN47

18

LEADERS IN BOAT TRAILERDESIGN amp PERFORMANCE

Trade in your existing boat trailer for a new Voyager and receive minimum 10 DISCOUNT on the value of your new replacement trailerbull We service repair and re-galvanise any boat trailerbull Parts servicing multi-roller and tandem conversion

6 Kaimiro St Pukete Industrial Estate Hamilton ndash Ph 07 849 3158

wwwvoyagertrailersconz

Used bylsquoSuperbly BuiltrsquolsquoThe boat goes on and off the trailer like a dreamrsquolsquoit tows like a breezersquo

Matt Watson ITM Fishing Show

16 wwwnzfisherconz

boatFISHING

ONCE A YEAR myself and a couple

of friends head north to grab a few

eating size snapper for the table to

sustain us over the Christmas break

when family take precedence over

fishing (and to be fair the fishing is

usually sub-par)

As with most years we were once

again confronted with nasty weather

this time North Easterlies of 15-25

knots for all four days

We were equipped well on the New

NZFisher Frewza (a boat I can now

confirm is a dream in sloppy lumpy

windy North-Easterlies) and the new

Honda 60hp The new set up was a

saving grace as most other 5 metre

boats Irsquove been on would have been a

nightmare in these conditions

As with other years the weather was

as bad as the fishing was good While

we didnrsquot drag up any monsters their

numbers were beyond belief

Irsquove been trying for some time to get

snapper on salt water fly amp it came

together nicely this year ndash except that

my dream of a World Record on SWF

was ruined when I mixed up the current

record weights amp released what would

have been the new record (but was

still a personal best for me)

This was the first real trip utilising the

new Lowrance HDS-7 Gen 2 Touch

7-inch touch screen and we were all

impressed Irsquod had fears of a tacky

screen and poor interface but they

were unfounded The ultra smooth

glass touch surface doesnrsquot naturally

hold water amp there was no salt build

up When I felt it was getting a bit

messy I simply rinsed it with fresh

water amp it was like new again

Wersquove since coated the glass surface

with Diamond Fusion and itrsquos like

touching silk with zero residue The

7 inch gives so much more than a

standard sounder especially if you

run a structure scan transducer too

(Aprox $500 additional cost the

software and additional electronics are

now built into the head unit) Wersquore

fully tooled up and rearing to go

The fishing was tough because of the

weather but once we were in the right

places the fish bit like there was no

tomorrow The problem (if it could be

seen as one) was that the fish we were

targeting were being beaten to the

baits every drop Normally 6lb after

6lb snapper would be glorious but

were after 20lb plus fish ndash every drop

if possible

The new Lowrance helped the cause

through helping to identify quickly amp

clearly the depth that the bigger fish

were holding in so we were constantly

raising or dropping our soft-baits to

the right depth It took a few hours

to work it all out but the results were

excellent with both Ian amp I landing

70cm fish that were sighted above the

10m mark in 20 meters of water

The bigger fish didnrsquot necessarily take

bigger baits but the bigger soft-

baits did account for a larger fish on

average (if you can follow that logic)

Summer Snapper

SlamSpring bites

By Derrick Paul

wwwnzfisherconz 17

What we ended up with was over 300

snapper and 30 kings between three

anglers in three days (of which 30

came home) The arms hurt after that

mauling but the knowledge gained is

in-valuable

Having four days on the water rather

than just a Saturday out wide we

were able to try things you just donrsquot

normally bother with including new

and different techniques The Assassin

Softbaits form Australia worked

particularly well in the shallower

depths ndashopaque and white being

lethal even in smaller sizes The Z-man

4inch Paddle-Z lasted for hours and

accounted for about half Ianrsquos fish We

only had one packet but could have

probably fished the whole weekend

with them if wersquod had more

To emphasise the absurdity of the

fishes thirst for plastic Daz tore the

top off a blue branded softbait packet

and threaded his hook through it

on the last drop of the weekend

This torn anaemic piece of plastic

accounted for a spirited 25kg snapper

that went straight back in the drink

but it shows just how daft these fish

can be and perhaps how much soft

baits are designed the way they are to

catch our eye as much as the fishes

boatFISHING

18 wwwnzfisherconz

ITrsquoS NOT HARD TO see why Softbaits

have been such a commercial success

over the last five years Fact is they

work and often far better than bait

other times not so well

The current kiwi favourite is still

Berkley Gulp with its secret attractant

or scent the biodegradable base amp

bold contrasting colours The market

has flooded recently with imitators

complimenters and brands unheard

of in NZ but legendary in their

country of origin

I was in Go Fish recently on the north

Shore amp started to have a closer look

at some of the offerings of the world of

soft baits (SBrsquos) We were preparing for

our annual Far North snapper session

and Irsquove often thought the ldquoBig-bait

= Big-fishrdquo adage might be able to

be replicated in the realm of softbait

fishing While the results of that mission

are detailed elsewhere in this issue the

idea that the plethora of SBrsquos on the

market might actually be more useful

than just eye candy for those with TAS

(Tackle Accumulation Syndrome)

Early in the days of SB fishing I was

convinced that the most natural SB

imitations were the most effective

in shallower clearer water and high

contrast bright colours were the best

for deeper dirtier water While I was

able to consistently prove myself right

I wasnrsquot approaching the other colour

options available amp using them outside

of the patterns Irsquod already created Irsquove

tempered my views over recent seasons

but the question of what is the BEST SB

still gets asked amp Irsquom often answering it

with far too many words rather than a

simple ldquoNuke-chook materdquo

By Derrick Paull

boatFISHING

Getting the best from imitation baits

Faking It RightGetting the best from imitation baits

wwwnzfisherconz 19

My answers are a bit more considered

and tend to be more action season

and size related I donrsquot think there is

a lsquoBestrsquo Softbait but there are some

suitable for pretty much every season

Berkleyrsquos ubiquitous Nuclear-Chicken

is the most imitated colour and largely

itrsquos in the 5 inch lsquoJerk-Shadrsquo form

Therersquos a reason for their success ndash

they work Often But there are other

options that catch a lot of fish some

depend on season and itrsquos a case

of matching the hatch (to steal that

freshwater gem of a line)rsquo

As the spring season turns to

summer amp snapper disperse for their

dense spawning aggregations their

food sources also change leading to

a change in approach from switched

on soft baiters

Last season I discovered Z-man paddle

tails but they were too large for my

summer fishing which back when I

was bait-fishing I used yellow eyed

mullet so I looked for smaller paddle

tail options ndash Z-man also provided

the solution there with the 4inch

Paddler-Z baits It was a matter of

matching what the fish were eating

boatFISHING

naturally and not just presenting

them with what I the angler

thought looked tasty

Irsquove found the same goes with

Inchiku jigs ndash at certain times

its a big jig thatrsquos required but

as the water heats amp smaller

anchovy type baitfish fill the

inner waters a lighter more

natural jig (fished much slower)

does the trick

Therersquos no doubt that on some

days bait will out-fish artificial

lures I am convinced and often

surprised that soft baits are a

reliable amp effective method all

year round but you canrsquot rest on

your laurels

Horse for coursesJDrsquos prefer a more natural looking SB

Paddler Z

Mix n match

Mauled amp Munted

20 wwwnzfisherconz

jetskiFISHING

Our best soft bait fishing yethellip

I HAVE JUST arrived back from an

amazing few days break in the Far

North with the family

Over the duration of the trip we all

landed a number of Personal Bests

on the soft baits enjoying some

exceptional fishing and all within

5km from the beach

Even with the first dayrsquos weather not

turning out to be terribly flash I still

made the most of the average sea

conditions and managed to catch a

few small Kings and a nice Snapper

on the Jigs

The next day was a morning on the

water with my partner Kristy whose

goal was to land a good fish on

the soft baits off her jet-ski There

were plenty of Snapper at the 20

metre mark but after a morning of

trying all she seemed to land were

generous sized pannies

We persisted fishing for Kristy in

hope to catch her this better size

fish she had been dreaming about It

was then while I was casually fishing

when I instead was fortunate enough

to ldquohooking the big onerdquo

The action was caught on video

it was not long after me casting

the Gulp 7rdquo Lime Tiger that the

bait was smashed as it was sinking

through the water column The fish

had so much power that the initial

hook up had the peeling braid cut

through the handle bar grips as I

was railed by the fishrsquos first run After

what seemed like a brief tussle my

new lsquoPersonal Bestrsquo emerged to the

surface to our surprise so much so it

was a mammoth task for my net

What a thrill this was landing such a

trophy fish on the soft baits After

some consideration about releasing

it we decided to take it home

with us as I had always hoped for a

decent Snapper to be mounted and

on display at the Jetskifishing Store

to show the success we have fishing

off jet-skis

After that fish we called it quits for

the day and headed back to the beach

for a few photos and had its weight

verified by Kieron at Reel Rods

The third day was a trip out with

my 10 year old son Cooper at first

light He was eager to get some big

Snapper action and I assured him

the reward come after a early start

on the water The morning started

slowly but finally he was catching

and releasing a steady stream of fish

between 450 to 500mm in length

Kirsty amp a wee pannie due to swim again

Kirsty gets a new PB too

Doubtless Bay Pannie

wwwnzfisherconz 21

jetskiFISHING

He was really after a 10 pounder so

we kept going with a focus he could

hook a big one at any time

Most times I take out a passenger on

the ski fishing I normally pass time

by having a soft bait at the same

time myself As I did the day before

a cast of twenty metres ahead of the

ski this time using a Gulp 6rdquo New

Penny Grub With me manipulating

the bait on the drop it was smashed

at 10 metres depth this was another

solid fish I couldnrsquot believe the quality

of fishing and to our amazement 10

minutes later a bigger fish than the

day before was landed

I had to get Cooper to help with this

one as we intended on releasing it

Check out the video link truly special

the excitement kids get with fishing

We eventually removed the jig head

that was awkwardly wedged in the

fishrsquos mouth Unfortunately after

three challenging attempts the

fish was unable to swim away so

needless to say is destined for the

smoker Cooper continued to fish

and what he thought was going to

be a great Snapper soon realised

with the screaming braid that he was

to going to land his first Kingfish

He did great and after a 15 minute

battle had a legal Kingfish for a

photo which was swiftly released

Cooper had enough after a

strenuous Kingfish battle and called

it quits for his days fishing

After phoning Kristy with the early

wake up to let her know that the

fishing was hot the opportunity was

offered at one last attempt for a

big Snapper She was undoubtedly

keen so with a quick ride back to

the beach to swap passengers

we set back off out to the fishing

grounds and were soon on to the

Snapper again Her goal fish was

a struggle and after a good dozen

fish released she finally thought she

had the big one to only find a foul

hooked Snapper had consumed her

energies Kristy was devastated after

all her hard work so I suggested one

last drift The pressure was on and

then she finally managed to hook the

fish she was after I knew I would

be in the dog box if she lost the

fish so I was carefully choosing my

words The story ended great she

landed her fish and our mission was

accomplished Sure was awesome

fishing in the Far North and plenty

of family fun with memories to look

back on

All back to work now and after

selling a couple more new skis I will

be setting these up so these happy

new customers can get started with

Jetskifishing and enjoy the sport as

much as we do

With this manic month ahead we

will also be getting prepared for our

biggest Jetskifishing over-nighter to

the Bay of Islands 30 skis for 4 days

of fun

Cheers Andrew Hill

wwwjetskifishingconz

Cooper gets in on the

kingfish action too

A true northern monster

Jayden with a nice lsquoratrsquo king

Doubtless Bay Pannie

Bigger again Andrew makes it look easy

22 wwwnzfisherconz

GearREVIEWS

The Okuma Nano 6-10kg and Fin-Nor Marquessa

From NZ Fisher Okuma Nanotex 6-10kg Softbait rod

I had the pleasure of trying the new

Nano 6kg spin rod on a recent trip

out to the back of Tiritiri in search of

snapper The very first thing you notice

is the incredible lsquolackrsquo of weight The

blank amp fittings are so light itrsquos hard

to believe itrsquos got the good to deliver

on a decent fish In trying conditions

I managed a number of solid snapper

up to 4kg and was left astounded by

the strength responsiveness amp lsquofeelrsquo

of this new rod Irsquom a fan of stiffer fast

action rods and while this is slightly

more parabolic it responses very

quickly on the strike allowing for a

fast efficient setting of the hook The

tip has give but when required therersquos

plenty of grunt down low As summer

progresses I move to barbless hooks

and itrsquos important to stay in touch with

your quarry The Nano provides all

thatrsquos required to make this happen

Tested paired with the Okuma Raw II

40 reel amp 10lb Tuf-line Tuff XP braid

From NZ Fisher Marquesa MA12

Irsquove used the Marquesa MA12 as a

bait amp live-bait reel previously (and

reviewed it for another magazine)

but I recently had the opportunity to

take it jigging off shore on a real teat

in company of some brutish kings

Therersquos been a mass of reels come

into the market that offer mixed

functionality claiming both jigging

live-baiting amp traditional fishing

practicality The Marquesa is one of

Tackle Tests

Starboard

As tested by NZFisher

Finnor Marquesa in action on 20kg king

wwwnzfisherconz 23

boatFISHING

Built-in StructureScanreg HD sonar imaging plus award-winning Broadband Sounderreg with DownScan Overlaytrade and TrackBacktrade feature The ultimate fish-and structure-finding display wwwlowrancecomfind

Personalised or optional Navionicsreg charts View both at once in 3D perspective view plus StructureMaptrade and Broadband Radartrade capability wwwlowrancecomnavigate

New super-bright widescreen displays in 7 9 and 12-inch sizes with touchscreen control Dominate your time on the water with greater command and control thatrsquos now easier to learn and customize wwwlowrancecomdominate

P R E V I E W T H E N E W H D S G E N 2 T O U C H A T L O W R A N C E C O M

wwwenlconz

few that I think will work in all cases

(the Okuma Makaira and Shimano

Trinidad would be two others I that

come to mind)

My best fish was around the 20kg

mark amp the reel was very capable

paired with the new Fin-Nor Troppo

PE-5 350g rod I felt I could have

handled much larger fish The only

down side was the anti-reverse

during the jigging action but to date

I havenrsquot found a multi-purpose reel

out there that manages everything

and gets the anti-reverse right It

feels a bit heavier than dedicated

jig reels but it certainly isnrsquot one of

those old school reels that have your

arms quaking after 5 drops The 611

retrieve is great ndash again others tall

me itrsquos too fast but I like it fast Itrsquos

only after Irsquod finished and put the

rod back in the rack at the end of the

day that it was pointed out here no

dual speed (unlike the Makaira) ndash as

I hadnrsquot noticed I can only say it

wasnrsquot a problem At $469 on sale the

Marquesa MA12 is a very viable low

cost option and we give it a 4 out of

5 ndash a high pass mark

Tested paired with the Fin-Nor

Troppo 350g 5rsquo6rdquo jig rod

24 wwwnzfisherconz

Coromandel Source Carl Muir ndash wwwEpicAdventuresconz

REPORT

OVER RECENT YEARS there has been

a cementing of relationships between

the NZACA and the NZSFC with the

agreed joint administration of NZ

Fishing Records

This closer relationship went a step

further when last year the NZSFC

provided the uniforms for an NZACA

NZ Team competing across the ditch

at the Australian Anglers Association

bi-Annual Championships

The 14th of October saw an official

joint meeting between the two

organisations with senior officials from

both bodies meeting at Hamilton

This is the first formal meeting as such

since 1995

There was an agreement that in the

interests of NZ recreational fishing

there needs to be a coming together

in those areas which were common to

both and a unified approach wherever

possible in matters furthering the

interests of NZ fishers

These would include greater on-going

consultation on submissions affecting

the fisheries with the realisation that

joint submissions would carry more

weight where it matters most

It was also agreed that there be

a working towards the ability for

members from each organisation to

be able to compete in each others

Nationals and it was hoped that this

may see NZSFC members competing

at the NZACA Nationals at Gisborne

nextMarch The ability for NZSFC

Members to be part of the NZ Team

to compete at the Australian Nationals

in August 2013 was also agreed to

The NZACA has extended the

invitation to NZSFC Members to

be eligible to apply for its Masters

Award ndash a challenging test of a

fishers skill NZSFC Membership

benefits will hopefully be able to

be extended to include NZACA

members wherever possible

It is hoped that this move to greater

unity will not only be beneficial to

members of both organisations and

recrsquo fishing in general but also assist

in removing confusion that sometimes

exists by the general public about

the role of these two well established

fishing bodies Further joint meetings

are planned

Closer ties between NZrsquos two major recrsquo fishing organisationsBy Paul Batten

National Body Report

wwwnzfisherconz 25

Fishing Video of the Month

ITrsquoS DEFINITELY GAME season amp this

is one to get the ticker pumping ndash How

many damned cameras do they have

Andrew Hill from Jetski fishingconz

has been up to all-sorts of mischief in

the far North ndash check these two

VIDEO

wwwnzfisherconz 26

regionalREVIEWSNEXTmonth

Have you subscribed to NZ Fisher Itrsquos freeSimply visit wwwnzfisherconzto get a copy of NZ Fisher

delivered straight to your inbox every month

f sher