Nice Going Rockhopper..... brings back a few memorys, was a long time ago when i fished and dived up there i remember nearly getting locked in the place for the night.... was excellent fishing then, hows it now???
Cheers Lethal
Can't really get to Te Arai , too far north. My lovely wife lets me go fishing whenever I want so I dare not abuse the privelidge by clearing off for the whole weekend.
Went to Schnapper rock up at Whangaparoa today. Nice day but no fish. Got a bit wet , sat in a pool , sun burnt and knackered climbing back up the hill.
I have to be honest and say that I have got to get a tinny. There is nothing worse than comeing home empty handed ...again !!
Te Arai point , have found lots of sinkers here while swimming out to the rocks 200 meters off shore . WE usually see quite a few snapper in reasonably close to the point so well worth a go. Plenty of Kahawaii , the odd trev and good sized kingfish. Is shallow in close so reccommend an early or late start.
Acces easy - not much more than 1 to 1 and a quarter hours north of Orewa.
Russ
Te Arai - a favourite spot and no doubt will be there in the next few days (at Mangawhai for 10 days). I tend to fish the beach at Te Arai as it's normally no problem getting a feed of Kawhai. I have fished the right hand side of the quarry a few times - years ago used to be very good off that rocky beach, now I'm not so sure. Jeremy from The Fish and Game Shop in Northcote has a nice bronzy story off that very same beach. He had a bunch of fish on his float speared about 700 meters out - by those rocks. Whilst swimming back in a bronzy started a tug of war ending in lost fish, as well as gun and float. After getting back to the rocks he saw his float pop back up - hoping his gun might still be attached he jumped back in and came back with float and chewed rope!
If any of the forum guys are at Mangawhai and intend fishing the Eastcoaster this weekend, I'll be at the weigh in for a beer both nights. Just look for the guy wearing Black Magic garb.
Jerm , I know Jeremy well , he was my partner at the 2000 spearfishing nationals and is a very good diver.
From the no Bull..it file - one of the guys was diving at Te Arai Point about 8-10 years ago and was eyeballed by a Broadbill estimated at 10 feet long. About a week later three were washed up not far away so assume it must have been sick.
As a spearfishing location those rocks just offshore can be superb. Stacks of mackeral and koheru providing feed to Dory up to 3kg , kingfish to nearly 30kg and some big snapper. Most snapper we see in real close to the point and can be berleyed easily.
KIngfishsi - I still have the sinkers , they have those wires coming out at right angles to help hold in sand. Happy to give them to you.
Rockhopper - mate you deserve a medal for getting down that cliff and back.
Talk a walk out to the Takatu Lookout yesterday with the wife and kids - nothing like a family walk for fishing reconnaissance. Would seriously suggest the boat option or a Kayak around from Anchor bay.
pland
I havn't told you about the best bit !!
Down on the beach ,on my way to the ledge , jumping from one rock to the next the bottom of my rucksack burst open along the bottom seam. The gear was packed in pretty tight so it didn't all fall out at once. Took some line and tried to sew it back up using a hook as a needle but the material was too thick.
For the return I turned the runcksak upside down and tied the zippers closed with line then wore it upside down. If you have ever tried that ,it 's a real pain because all the straps dig in and the weight is all wrong.
On the way back I ended up walking with this Russian guy who was built like a tank with hands like bear paws who'd been fishing the other side. Turns out he was a physio for a Russian wrestleing team. When I got back to the carpark I was virtually locked up , anyway this guy , he did tell me his name , Sergi I think , comes over and offers to help. I sit on a bench and the next thing I know he's got one huge hand under my chin and another on the back of my head. For some reason my only thought was " He's been useing pilchards"
Suddenly there several loud snaps from my neck and i'm looking left , another several and i'm looking right. A knee in the middle of my back with my hands on my head and several more worrying snaps as he pulls my elbows backwards and for several seconds I'm a bit stunned.
I've never had my back worked over but I can now throughly recomend it , the next morning the ony thing that ached was muscle pain in my legs. !!
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