Admittedly I have never really done all that much jigging for Kingfish, and have only really caught large Snapper when jigging (I have a tendency to  successfully land A LOT of bi-catch) and mainly live bait when targeting the suckers. However, it was time for a change. So I made sure that I stuck with the beautiful Shimano Talica and the jigs all day in hope that it would pay off and as with most trips on Epic, it sure did.

I didn’t land anything monstrous, with this 14kg Kingi being my highlight of the day as it’s my biggest jig caught King to date so it kept me happy.  

However there were several other moments that  proved to be just as exciting, like this nice 16kilo or so Kingfish landed by Kerren Packer (from Shimano), after a rather lengthy battle on some rather lightweight gear as it slammed  a large soft bait whilst being retrieved.

So tell me guys, I want to hear your feedback. When you target Kingfish how do you do it? Any tips for other fishos out there? Do you have a #1 go to jig or prefer slamming a ‘livey’ down and waiting? 

I was lucky enough to spend Easter weekend down at Whitianga with the family, which was lovely but being a family event fishing was kept to a minimal.
That being said I tried a few times to get out on the Yak and push around the coast for some fishing, but large swells made it a bit too difficult to do and I started feeling a bit defeated after hoping for weekend of great fishing.

Come Easter Sunday, we all agreed to pop over to Otama Bay for the afternoon as it was a beautiful day. - Of course the fishing gear came with.

And we were glad it did; only 1 fish, but it was a pretty nice one. A new PB for my girlfriend with this 11 1/2 pound Snap. 

The day started by a 4.30am wake up to meet Antonio and Josh (No Major) at work to get everything ready in time. After the needed fuel and feed up at the gassie we launched down at Takapuna just after 6am.

(The first time I have launched from there on a Saturday and WOW!!!! I though traffic was bad getting to work this morning SHESH).

So we headed out to just of flax point Rangitoto for a few drifts while the sun started to peak its head up. Although nothing huge came on board it was a good start to the day with a few pairs of 40cm+ Snapper sliding on board. After about an hour of repeating drifts we decided to go out and hunt some bigger stuff – we were fishing a tournament after all.

^How the bin was looking.^

Heading north around the light house and towards motutapu we came across a whole lot of rather smaller Kahwai and tern work ups. By small we are talking the occasional splash and about 4-5 terns working it, nothing you would get particularly excited about but slowly driving over it and the HDS showed some sublime sign so down the softies went.

From that point on we just could not miss.

Nothing that massive was caught amongst these work ups but there were A LOT of great bin sized snapper underneath and nothing that small - Which is always a bonus! 
There were also a lot of Shearwaters around the place, following them around also produced a few juicy fillets.

However, for me it was swash fishing that did it for me on the day. I have honestly never really done a lot of it before and found out that it produced A LOT of fish on Saturday….  Including Antonio getting absolutely smoked but what would have ultimately been the tournament fish (would have :P).

 In Summary, we would have caught 60+ 40cm or so fish in the hunt for the elusive winner so there are plenty of fish around. 4inch pumpkin seed and pepper prawn jigging grubs where the main weapon of mass destruction which lead to Antonio sneaking into 2^nd place on the tournament with a 7lb 2oz  Snap.

Antonio sneaking in to claim his prize. 

This has got me thinking about the times that were. Reminiscing the good memories, and craving for some new ones. I also managed to get put onto the Surf Casting New Zealand website (http://www.surfcaster.co.nz/2012/01/12/the-way-things-used-to-be/) that was FULL of fishing newspaper articles from as far back as the ‘60s.

A newpaper article titled '3000 Snapper'.

Man those were good times, I think. One thing is for sure. They definitely weren’t ‘fishing for the future’. One story I read reported a group of 3 gentlemen who went out in a small dinghy in the Hawkes Bay and came back with 151 Snapper with a total weight half a tonne. Now I’ve done that math for you, that on average 3.3kg per fish. Not bad fish by all means.

The question is, is this right?

There was nothing illegal about it, but was it responsible? How do you feel about these kind of pictures, stories etc when you see or hear them? Do get excited? Jealous? Or a little bit angry?

Food for thought, so let us know your thoughts down below.

Anyway, I will post again shortly with some rather exciting news.

So get ready.

And when it comes to fishing if you can’t prove it, you didn’t catch it!

With plenty of fish and new PBs being caught this season already we thought; why not share your joy with other fishing enthusiasts?

And so the Facebook fishing video competition begins.

So if you have a great day out there on the water either fishing or simply cruising by and enjoying life please upload your video to our Facebook page and you could be into win $200 to spend on our website.

That’s right, if we deem your video to be the best entry we will give a $200 voucher.

If that wasn’t sweet enough, get your friends to like the video. If you get 10 likes we will also send you a $20 voucher, whether you are the winner or not….. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Entries close 15^th of February.

So get out and there and get filming!

 Look forward to seeing your entries. 

This happened to me yesterday.

Whilst out for a bit of a jigging session yesterday we stumbled across some rather blustery conditions which inevitably managed to tangle up two of the jigs on the drift.
After fighting the tangle for a few minutes there was no option but to cut it out.

Not wanting to lose my jig and with good sign still on the sounder I pulled up it up as quickly as I could to get down there for another drop a.s.a.p.

The Kings clearly didn’t like that idea and wanted that stick of metal right then and there as a small rat smashed my jig.

I have heard some stories about people using butter knifes as jigs  and even had one Wellington man claiming that he had caught a triple header of Hapuka, two on hooks and the third solidly biting his sinker.

This means there must be some more good stories out there on the weirdest things that people have caught fish on.

So please… enlighten us!

Welcome to my online fishing world. 

I hope to end up filling this space with some incrdible stories both of my own and yours.  So lets get excited!

I guess by now you are probably wondering who I am?

Well my name is Andrew and as you may be able to tell I am an absoulute fishing nut nad like most kiwis I cannot remember a time when I didn't enjoy casting a line. From fly fishing as kid growing up in Rotorua to tackling the best of the Hauraki Gulf, fishing is a passion of mine that continues to thrive.

On top of this passion I have worked in this industry for 6 years and have accumulated a knowledge that I hope I will be able to pass onto you when needed. 

So please feel free to ask anything and let the good times roll on!

Cheers,

Andrew

Remember those days?

Although I’m young, even I have noticed a dramatic shift in fishing styles over the past decade, and I’m not just talking about the selection of bait.
Now… before I get told off, I know that soft baits have been in New Zealand since the 70’s so can’t really be called ‘new’. Yet, it is their rapid growth and increasing prominence in the market that is still eye catching from my point of view. The amount of people coming in and hanging up the old salted bonito in favour for nuclear chickens or disco prawns is still on the climb. On top of this, you have the additional slow jigs and inchiku jigs creating a lot of fuss and if that wasn’t enough I now have one of the Shimano Wax Wings in my hands and am looking forward to giving hard bodied lures a good wack.

Question is, are we fad fishing?

Are each of these new methods truly better than the last or are we just glory hunting?

Don’t get me wrong, experimenting and trying new things is great, especially when they really work. It just seems that there is a flood of new products smacking the market all fighting for dominance, especially over the last 3 years.

With this being said, I would call myself a lure fisherman. I love to fish with soft bait and am really enjoying a spot of metal these days, all with a good level of success.

I guess my main question is; will these methods be here to stay? Or will they fleetingly leave us quickly as they arrived?

Share your thoughts…..

Yesterday I was out fishing in my neighbourhood, which tends to be somewhere between Tiri Tiri Matangi and Kawau Island. Not exactly a secret spot, but it seems to be holding a lot of good snapper lately. 

We went out there with the intention of catching a feed for Christmas Day and we came back with a bin scattered with healthy Hauraki Snapper. 

Apart from a small Mako Shark and a Queen Mackerel on the softies providing a bit of fun, it was the Lucanus that created the real action whenever it was dropped. I even managed to hook onto a rat Kingi and a snapper at once, one on each of the small hooks. I know competition in the wild can be intense….but really?

I have to say that the fight was the most interesting one I’ve had in a long time, mainly because I didn’t know what was happening. First I thought I had a Kingfish that got attacked by a shark, but then the all too familiar nods came in, and then it would change all over again. It was exciting to land them both.

Got me thinking…what’s the weirdest bi-catch you’ve had out fishing?

Made for a great Christmas lunch and story!