THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA RETURNS

While this first story remains unconfirmed, it came from a very reputable source. Read on and see if you agree with me that the details suggest credibility.

According to the story, an older bloke from Pukenui went snapper fishing somewhere in the vicinity of Matai Bay very recently. While having some modest success with snapper and kahawai, he noticed a fin scything through the water nearby. Recognising it as a marlin, he quickly realised that a 200lb handline was the only tool at his disposal that could possibly do the job.

Picking up a half-alive kahawai from the bottom of his 10-foot tinnie, he secured his largest hook to the handline, placed the hook through the kahawai’s neck and dropped his lure overboard.

The badly injured kahawai spluttered into life and in clear sight of the elderly fisho, the marlin eventually rose, gave the frantic kahawai a nudge and swam away.

 “Them’s the breaks,” sighed our intrepid fisho. He was about to retrieve his live bait when the marlin returned, struck, swallowed the kahawai and took off for the eastern horizon.

Unable to hold the big fish, our good keen man tied the line to the prow of his dingy and was towed about Doubtless Bay. When the swordfish tired, the fisho put it out of its misery and tethered the fish to the side of his dingy. It took four and a half hours to row back to shore. When weighed, the angler’s prize tipped the scales at 70kg.

Then there was the one in which a local angler employed a live 30cm snapper to catch a kingfish off Roberton Island. A black marlin, estimated to weigh 300kg, took the offering and proceeded to leap enthusiastically about the Bay before throwing the hook and disappearing.

Bay of Islands sightings have been reported from the 70 Meters and The Queen’s Boy out wide to Kingfish Reef and Red Head inside the Bay. To date, most swordfish sightings have been around the 400-500 m mark.

The recent wind swing to the north should bring the blue water in closer. Don’t be surprised if the marlin fishing starts to crank from now on.

With a couple of smaller marlin landed over recent days, accolades would have to go to Trevor Wilston for his 74kg Yellow Fin. And what about the 71kg stripey landed by Jane Hargen on 4kg line? Incredible! A world record for sure so I’m told.

Out of the Whangaroa, with a couple of marlin accounted for so far, best to date was the 123.8kg striped marlin landed by Pam Cairns of Kingfish Lodge. And out of the Hokianga Club, Bill Millich of Dargaville decked an early100kg stripey way back on January 7th.

Travelling about over the weekend in a vain attempt to confirm my old man of the sea story, snapper fishing stories were almost all the same: very fickle fishing, short sharp bite times with some big fish the reward for endurance.