'Cascade' - Whakatane

The objective in this instance was to join Jason Calder and Kenny Oswalt on 'Cascade' and head off to the East Cape, where we hoped to fish the wonderful Ranfurly Banks, an area well-known for its monstrous kingfish, hapuku and trumpeter. We were joined by fellow writer Scott Hollis-Johns, wine maker Steve, and Jamie Munn, a very keen young angler.

Meeting up at the main Whakatane Wharf, we kicked the trip off nicely by eating at the wharf’s restaurant, aptly named the Wharf Shed. The food and service was excellent (and no, I didn’t get a free meal to say this!).

We returned to the boat and the mooring ropes were removed, enabling Cascade to cruise off into the blackness, the gently rippling water mirroring the weather’s benevolent mood — at least, initially...

Despite the almost lulling slap and slop on Cascade’s bows, sleep did not come easily, especially as the sea became increasingly rougher as we neared our destination. The latest weather report showed that the following morning could well be our only chance to fish the banks and I was thankful that my gear had been readied.

Sure enough, when daylight came the sky was overcast and the wind already puffing at over 15 knots, flecking the confused, open-ocean swells with white. Our trip out was filled with good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll.

Because everyone else was trying for hapuku, I decided to go for a big kingfish. My preferred weapon of choice in such situations is a stand-up outfit loaded with 37kg nylon as I don’t like to snap off big kingfish unnecessarily — they’re neat fish and provide a very physical struggle. The running rig had a big circle hook on the end and this was pierced twice through the hood of the biggest squid I could find.

Being less streamlined than the ‘puka’ bomb rigs, I hadn’t even reached the bottom when the others began to hook up. Just in time I looked over to see Jamie’s rod tip jiggle up and down and then load up firmly as the fish was hooked. Scott followed up on another shortly after.

Jamie was using superbraid and his fish fought right to the surface, materialising as an 8 or 9kg kingfish — a size that generally doesn’t even rate a mention at this legendary location and which was released without hesitation. We all hoped to get plenty more, and much bigger. Unfortunately, they actually turned out to be unusually hard to catch. Instead, small to medium hapuku (to 15kg) beat them to the baits, and on several occasions, two were brought up at a time. We soon had plenty of these tasty fish to take home— but no thanks to me! My monster squid proved intimidating to the inhabitants on the first three drifts and if I hadn’t changed to my superbraid rig for the last two, I probably wouldn’t have caught anything. As it was, the combined weight of my two hapuku would have been no more than 5kg — and one was shortened by an aggressive little mako (which unfortunately refused to stick around long enough to be presented with a fly).

With the wind now gusting to 25 knots and the swells occasionally mountainous, Jason suggested we try more sheltered waters. There was little resistance from us so Cascade headed back towards the mainland, albacore lures in tow.

An hour and a half later we tried anchoring up over an area of good-looking foul with swarms of fish clustered around it. Unfortunately, the wind proved stronger than the current and swung us out and onto the sand instead. But we caught fish, and pretty good ones, too! Most were snapper to 4.5kg, but there were also some very solid trevally along with some big kahawai and barracouta. After losing twenty hooks to these toothy critters, I regretfully admit that some of the latter met with overly severe termination.

To keep things interesting, two or three of the bait eaters proved so big that Steve (who alternated between 15 and 24kg tackle), was unable to control them.

In the end though, although we were enjoying ourselves and catching decent fish, we couldn’t help wondering how much better the fishing would be over the reef and finally got Jason to pull the pick (it took four attempts — every time previous to that, a tentative suggestion to move prompted immediate hook-ups to occur!).

After several minutes of looking around the vicinity, we found some likely looking territory and parked up. For a long time nothing happened, except that our bait was lost to hordes of nibbly-type fish. Suspecting maomao or tarakihi, some smaller hooked ledger and flasher-type rigs were baited with squid strips and dropped down.

Success was instant (I think it was Scott first), with his light rod bucking to the determined fight of what turned out to be a nice tarakihi. By the second and third tarakihi hook-up, all of us had changed over and were catching our share. After landing several each over the next half an hour, we looked at each other and decided that we’d caught enough. It was one of those times that you knew that you could’ve filled up the boat...

The next plan was to fish for big snapper at the change of light. With inclement weather obviously moving in (reportedly to 65 knots in some exposed areas), we decided to go up the coast a little for safety and comfort’s sake. The weather just got worse. We kept going, and as we motored, successive weather updates painted increasingly grim pictures: theoretically, the barometer was predicted to be even lower than during the Wahine Disaster! Great. With at least 60 prime assorted food fish on the ice already, we made the decision to cut the trip short and head for home. It had been a very full day.

(The trip story should end here, but to be fair to those that I have poked fun at in the past, I should just mention my little effort on the way home...).

As we made our way down the coastline, Jason set to work filleting our fish — not a small job obviously — while we deployed a variety of well-proven trolling lures for albacore, including a CD18 Redhead Rapala which had done the damage on the previous trip. And it was very effective this time, too, being taken on a regular basis by some very large kahawai, despite our being well offshore. I think it’s fair to say that despite the absence of albacore so far, the lure’s performance still managed to impress.

So when the Shimano’s ratchet shrilled again, I was filled with a smug satisfaction as I lifted the outfit from the holder, the line racing from the spool steadily. After 200 metres had disappeared, it slowed and then stopped. Despite solid resistance, I was able to pump and wind much of the line back onto the spool over the next five minutes. Then things got a little weird. As the line angled across the stern forty metres away, I got my first look at my adversary. It was round, blobby, and a dull reddy-brown. A few seconds of confusion was followed by an embarrassing realisation. 'Sh..! I think I’ve hooked a bloody fish carcass!' And I had — a nice big snapper, freshly filleted by Jason and hooked beautifully in the centre of its skeletal mass. It worked just a like a giant diving and planing bib, and provided a surprisingly good fight. Upon bringing it to the boat, I really disappointed everyone by keeping my back to them, and their waiting cameras, as the prize was unhooked.

I put the lure back out and was pleasantly surprised when it went off only a minute later. Something good had come of the episode after all. What a fluke. As I leaned back on the rod and waited for the line to slow, I had a sudden, sickening thought...AAHHHHH! NOOOO! I couldn’t believe it! The bloody carcass had washed off the duckboard and hooked my lure again!

I’ll never get any real respect at this rate...

Jason Calder and Ken E (Kenny) Oswalt provide a great duo for owner’s Steve and Vicki Jacks, as well as any charter on board at the time. Both these guys are products of the very competitive Whakatane charter scene and work particularly well together. Young Jason is already showing himself to be committed to this job and is getting good results, helped in no small part by the excellent and very diverse fishery found in the BOP waters. He also worked even harder than the last time I was aboard and, as expected, is assuming an increasingly professional mantle as his time at sea continues to accumulate.

As for Kenny, he might just be the most enthusiastic and helpful deckie I’ve ever come across. Certainly he’s right up there — and as for the food...! I joked that I felt like a battery hen at the end of the trip. It seemed that every time I opened my mouth, for any reason, food was put in it. Kenny is a huge, unstoppable force in the galley, and when the weather’s cold and rough as it was for much of our trip, that extra ‘fuel’ is appreciated all the more by the troops.

Cascade is a very tidy-looking boat and has quickly become one of the more successful boats on the scene: much of it due to the tireless efforts of Steve’s partner Vicky in organising much of the day-to-day running and organising of charters. They are really committed to providing a good service.

Cascade is enjoyable to fish aboard, having a surprisingly roomy cockpit which allows fishers to do their thing without any problems, especially as the walk-around deck enables anglers to follow their fish when they have to. The 34 rod holders hold an awful lot of gear...

Cascade carries her own, top quality tackle, with Penn, Daiwa and Shimano all represented on board. For divers, there is a dive ladder, an easily accessible duckboard and walk-through transom. There is storage room for two to three tanks each for up to ten divers.

Internally, Cascade has a decent-sized, tidy saloon and is fitted with a CD stereo. Below there are berths for up to six anglers and this includes a double bed for couples. She is a comfortable and well-appointed boat to live aboard, and catering is available on request.

For those who wish to sample the many fishing delights of the Bay of Plenty from an ultra-modern, fast, comfortable boat with a competent and enthusiastic crew, please phone: 025 748 700 or 0-7-308 7000.