What is it that keeps us rolling out of bed in what seems like the middle of the night after a fitful sleep, hooking up the trailer with bleary eyes, and heading along near-deserted roads with mainly security guards, taxi drivers and long-distance truckers for company?
For me, it's become a quest for that big one that hits my soft bait like a runaway train and heads for the horizon. It's only happened to me a handful of times so far in my soft bait career, so Saturday's weather window was a good chance to learn more about the Kawau North Channel fishery, and try to tangle with a big fish.
A beach launch into surprisingly warm water had me out in the target zone not too long after dawn, but the 18-20m areas of North Channel seemed devoid of fish sign. I gave it a crack for quite a while, but only tentative nibbles followed.
Plan B was to head for shallower areas of the nearby coast, but I rued not having tried those first. I felt like I'd done things the wrong way around.
After numerous casts and drifts I finally had a hit in about 17m over some reefy bottom. After a scorching run the hook pulled for some reason [curse word].
A big kahawai and a nice-sized trevally provided some welcome excitement and hit the chilly bin. Both had grabbed the 5" Z man Midnight Oil curly tail hard.
But two lost rigs on hard snags - even with only 3/8oz jighead - saw me take an enforced break to re-tie my FGs and traces. The anchored bait fishos I drifted past didn't look to be doing much good either, moving spots and no bent rods visible. It just seemed one of those days where conditions appeared ideal - with light winds and partially overcast skies - but the fish had their own ideas.
As low tide approached, I thought I'd done my dash. But I kept at it, and just after noon a smashing take and searing run on the drop woke me up. This one stuck, and it had the unmistakable power and head shakes of a decent snapper. A few nasty twangs on the line gave me some stressful moments as the fish twisted and turned.
But eventually i saw colour in the crystal water and it was a beaut.
Safely on board, it measured 69cm - a new softbait PB by 1cm. It was a thick fish with the bronze colour of a reef dweller.
It had inhaled the curly tail and I think that without the Mustad Fastach clip it might have bitten through the leader.
I lent over the side and supported it while it regained strength. Watching its big tail beats as it swim down to its home was a great feeling.
It was home time and Kawau Bay had turned mirror calm. As on my previous trip, Iris Shoal was the scene of a persistent kahawai work up so I throttled back to enjoy a few minutes' excellent fun with decent-sized kahawai on a little Z Man 3.75" anchovy colour Streakz. That area seems to be a death trap for anchovies - maybe the shoal's shallow flat zone makes it easy for the kahawai to trap bait fish and keep herding them?
During the trip it had been wonderful to see a number of pairs of korora (little blue penguins) bobbing and calling, and also be able to hear the native bird song amid bush on the Tawharanui Peninsula while drifting in North Channel.
The trev and kahawai provided delicious fresh sashimi and kokoda (ceviche) for dinner.
What a great part of the world we live in.