Current Lines June 2017

What with the Americas Cup sailing and the Lions tour on I would have thought there was little time left for fishing.  Along with the boat show and the Mystery Creek Field days on, how wrong am I.  I suppose with the Lions Tour, and the mighty Auckland Blues and the great southern Highlanders winning to date and the first test with the AB’s looming, I thought I’d listen to a top Welsh crooner from days gone by; yup Tom Jones with “What’s new pussy cat whoa oh oh”.  Let’s see what Eden Park can serve up in the way of cat food for the All Blacks!

Beast vs Beast from the Wild West out from the Hokianga – “So yesterday started with me going into work at 10:30am. By 11:00am I was off over the bar with TC and Jimmy James to go for a couple of drops.  Within 2mins of our 1st drop, that’s when all the fun began.  After 5hrs of battling, the arms burning and the thighs turning numb, I was on the verge of giving up and tapping out.  Top notch effort Glen Dick, a 7-hour fight, 1 hour battle to try get her on board just to find out she’s too big.  2.50am start the tow home, arriving in at 7.15am to tip the scales at 344.4 kgs, making this the heaviest fish to go over the Hokianga club scales.”  Congratulations boys 

From Tauranga – Well done Jans Decision, 1st tag and release swordfish for the GFAB trailers broadbill swordfish competition.  Fishing in high duty plastics, caught on a flying fish.  Well done to the angler and crew. John Holdsworth from Blue Water Marine added we have had some long term recaptures of swordfish tagged in NZ.  Up to 10 years 8 months later and within 100 miles of where they were released.

Marsden Cove Fishing Club – another Broadbill Club member, Daniel Johnson battled this beast for 7 hours before landing it. Tipping the scales at a massive 356.6kg it is easily a new club record. 

Fat sword caught off White Island weighed in at 214kg.  Congratulations William Carter and team, onboard Magnetic. 

Counties May 25th  – Congratulations to Mathew Kitson and Clint Hunt fishing on Freedom today.  Their broadbill weighed 108.0kg.  Unfortunately, they learnt a hard lesson to always check your gear.  Clipping on a nearly 9 metre trace to their shortest windon was enough to put them over length.  This would give them absolutely no advantage while playing the fish and at least there was no prize money riding on this fish.  Well done guy,s good fish and some great eating to be had.  To everyone out there, know your rules, check and double check your gear. 

12th June Whangaroa – 2 stripeys and a broadbill today.  Jack Lucas on ‘Significant Other II’ – 111.9kg caught off Berghan’s with a lure, and Robbo Teixeira on ‘Santana’ – 108.4kg with a live jack mackerel, 170m off Whangaroa.  Kelvin Cruickshank is bringing in his first broadbill, caught from Satisfaction II.  PB 109.2 weighed in glorious sunshine just before sunset at Whangaroa. 

Once again the WDSAC junior team have won the junior section for the Bay Of Islands International Yellowtail tournament!  Well done to the team and crew on Harlequin on taking it out.  Special thanks to Russ Bennetto, Craig Smith, Craig Johnson, Pete & Brenda Saul for organising this whole trip for the juniors!  We came away with 8 kingifish for the week ranging between 9kg and 17.45 kg which managed to get us the win for the junior division. 

4 nice bluefin caught by the boys on “Ramoe” today. Photographed and weighed in at Gisborne-Tatapouri Fishing-Club.  The club link in blue will take you to the photos on their facebook page.  Just proves that you don’t put your big game gear away until the last fish of the season has been caught. Now there is a little time left to clean and service ready to head out for the firsts of the new season starting July 1st. 

For the Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers Club – ‘Hook in Bull’ had another great result today.  This time for Deckie and Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers Club member James Laurie.  The species today was striped marlin and James was lucky enough to catch one of a double (the other falling off).  The best news is that the 117.0 kg marlin was on 10kg line and is a new pending WDSAC club record.  Fantastic result for the team on ‘Hook in Bull’, well done guys 

Quick trip report from yesterday from Whangaroa – “Ultimately we weren’t successful but it was fun trying.  We had our lures in the water by 8.00am and had a double hookup immediately.  I was on the rod for 20min before pulling the hook.  My opinion was they were bill wrapped, but either way it was bloody exciting.  It was an unbelievable day weather wise, it was like summer.  The water out at 180-260 was up to 18.6 and a really deep clean green, almost verging on blue.  But the real surprise was when we stopped in at 130 around 4.30pm.  Unbelievably it was blue, nearly as good as any water I saw over summer.  The Sauri, skippies and Sunfish are there as well, so with the bait around the marlin don’t need to leave I guess.  We heard a call on the radio of a tag & release blue est 200kg, we heard a stripey landed out of a triple and another launch landed a stripey in the same area we had the double.  Not sure if they were lures / livebaits.  So over all, at least 3 marlin that we heard of landed and around a half dozen or so hooked or seen, so there are still numbers there.” From weekend, 17th & 18th. 

Congratulations to NZ IGFA representative Scott Tindale who has now accomplished something very special. A hat trick of first places in every IGFA World Record sport fishing discipline. 1st place Male Saltwater Conventional tackle, 1st place All Tackle, and Male Salt Water Fly fishing, a trifecta of first place IGFA awards.  Well done Scott Tindale and team, the certificates arrived in the post today from IGFA headquarters in Florida. 

So here we are at the last week and a bit for the 2016 – 2017 fishing season.  Clubs, anglers and those interested please be aware that all nominations for NZSFC annual trophies must be applied for in writing from the clubs and in NZSFC hands by close of business Friday 7th July 2017.

editor 

Current Lines