Bashed and Bitten (2010)
As our plane approached the runway to Napier Airport, I took note of the calm sea and
wondered, would we see much more of that over the next seven days as we completed
the first leg of our journey to the Chatham Islands? After a short stopover, our Chatham
Air flight took off once again for the Chatham Islands, approximately 700km east of
Napier. This journey would see us crossing into a time zone 45 minutes ahead of New
Zealand. It was nice to see the laid-back approach of the flight's hostess, with comments
like, "We don't have allocated seating on this flight, so sit where you like," and the way
she was greeted by the Chatham locals.
I was doubly surprised when she served us a decent sandwich and a coffee. Chatham
Air's plane may be 54 years old, but their service is excellent. It was dark when we
touched down, and there was a noticeable drop in temperature when we departed the
plane. We were greeted by our host for the week, Ross Morrison, who turned out to be a
lovely bloke with a varied and interesting range of jobs on the island. Not only did he
own the Ultimate Hideaway, where we would be staying, he and his wife Kath were also
the local meteorologists, ran a local store, and did Sky 40 minutes from the airport on
dark gravel roads, where we could see little of our surroundings.
As Ross was giving us a bit of history about the island and himself, a rampaging wild
cow smashed into the front of the car and spun around, hitting the rear passenger door
where I was sitting. Ross did not even miss a beat and continued talking, finishing with a
quip about the cow having a bit of a headache in the morning.
Once we arrived at the lodge, we settled in and prepared our gear for the next day's
fishing. Our plan for day one was to have a late start so we could go to the beach, gather
some tuatuas and then go for a rock-fish. The day turned out to be nice and sunny, and
the temperature was comfortable. Better still, the view from the lodge was great,
showcasing the small natural harbour of Kaiangaroa and the ocean beyond - very
picture-postcard. Ross arrived at 10am and we set off to get tuatuas. After missing the
track, we eventually pulled up to the edge of a magnificent white sand beach. I was not
expecting to see such a lovely beach - it would rate against any in the world for beauty.
The local trick for tuatua collecting is to go where the seagulls are on the beach, but I
suspect that the pristine beach has very healthy stocks of this delicious shellfish along its
entire length. The tide was dead low and perfect for gathering. We started collecting by
pushing our hands in the sand at the waterline until we hit something hard, which was
grabbed and put in an onion sack.
The first thing that impressed me was the quantity and size of the tuatuas. It was only
going to take a short time to get enough for a feed and some for bait. Due to the size of
the tuatuas and the way they use their large tongues to bury themselves in the sand, we
had to wrestle to get them out of the sand. At one stage, I felt something hard in the
sand and grabbed, exclaiming that it was a good-size one. Then I felt an excruciating
pain in my finger, and on wrenching my hand out of the sand, there was a massive
paddle crab firmly locked onto my finger. Jumping around in agony, much to the.
entertainment of my fishing buddies, I managed to get the crab to release its claw. After
inspecting the bloody wound, I went back to gathering tuatuas, albeit a little more
cautiously. We moved to a nice calm rocky spot a few kilometres from where we'd
gathered our shellfish to catch a few fish for dinner. The standard tackle here is a surf or
rock rod with a 4/0 circle hook weighted by a half-ounce sinker and baited with tuatua or
paua gut.
Casting 30 or 40 feet into a gutter soon produced good bites. After catching a couple of
wrasse, it did not take long to catch half-a-dozen good-sized blue cod. (There are stories
of groper caught off the rocks in the Chathams, and this does happen, but you would
have to pick the right location and fish in the warmer months between December and
March.) On returning to our lodge, we cleaned the catch and had a great feed of fish,
before preparing for the next day out, which involved going with a local commercial
fisherman on Ross's son's boat. Once again, the day was beautiful and the sea state
was pleasant as we steamed out past the rocky reef that forms the harbour at
Kaiangaroa.
The boat had recently been repowered, and the 8km trip to the hotspot took no time, so
we were soon drifting in 16-20 fathoms of water. Bites were instantaneous on the large
Black Magic Groper Grabber rig I'd baited with two large curlytail soft-baits, resulting in
two very large blue cod. And the rest of the crew had the same result. This was like
fishing in untouched waters. My only dilemma was that, after just two drops and a couple
of minutes actually spent fishing, we had more than enough blue cod. Fortunately,
fishing buddy Rick - who was along on the trip - had a great idea.
This saw us catching a couple of smaller blue cod, around 2kg, and then putting them
down as live baits. Very soon rods were doubled over and groper to around 15kg were
coming over the side soon after. I tried other techniques to avoid catching blue cod,
including using massive baits and huge metal jigs, but the blue cod ate everything they
could fit in their mouths. On talking to Ross on our return from a great half-day on the
boat, he mentioned that the excellent fishing was a real problem for the Chatham
Islands, as they need and want visitors to come and enjoy the place, and catch fish - but
how do they protect what is a unique and very special fishery from exploitation? Ross
soon appreciated that we were only interested in catching a feed, however some people
who visit want to take their legal limit of blue cod, paua and crayfish back to New
Zealand.
The next few days were pretty low-key, with us enjoying much of the island's history, and
also visiting the seal colony and many of the other attractions. Between fishing and
diving trips, Rick and I took some time out to catch up with an old school friend of Rick's,
Tom, who was a Chatham Islander. We met up with Tom just as he was pulling in his net
in Te Whanga Lagoon, a large shallow, semi-tidal part of the Chatham Islands covering
some 174 square kilometres. The net was loaded with big, fat flounder that were quickly
cleaned and placed in an old kerosene tin to take home for dinner. On the back of Tom's
ute sat his dogs with a couple of weka they'd caught earlier. It is legal to shoot and eat
weka in the Chathams Islands. While Tom and Rick caught up, it became quite clear
how important it was to be self-sufficient in a place like the Chathams, and gathering
food is a big part of that. We went to Tom's for a cup of tea, and he pulled out his old
photo albums with pictures of massive wild boar and weka being processed for the pot. It
was great stuff. (I have to admit though, after a few days of Chatham Islands dining, I
was ready for some vegetables!)
Part of the fun of going to the Chathams is exploring around the island, and having a
vehicle is essential - preferably one with bullbars. It is about 50km from the main
township of Waitangi to where we were staying at Kaiangaroa. On one journey to
Waitangi to pick up provisions, Rick and I decided to try the big commercial wharf for a
spot of fishing. (I always love fishing wharves - there is something about fishing from a
structure set well out from the shore that you just know has to attract any fish in the
area.) There was a decent wind blowing and a good roll coming straight into the bay, but
with some strategic parking, we were able to get a bit of shelter from the biting wind.
I first tried chucking a soft-bait lure around and quickly got a couple of bites, landing a
large red cod. But the wind was so strong it was making detecting bites difficult, so I
selected a sheltered corner of the wharf to bait-fish instead. Rigging up a tuatua on a
KL3/0 hook, with a small sinker sitting on top, I cast parallel to the wharf. I thought using
a soft, delicious bait like a tuatua I would be plagued by unwanted pickers, and although
the baits lasted longer than expected, the first few fish I caught were XOS spotties and
blue cod. But undeterred I kept at it, until a fish picked up the bait and the line tightened
on my finger.
A much more serious take, I struck, and the large fish dived between the pylons of the
wharf I had to lock up and hope the 8kg braid and rod would stand the pressure. Even
so, the fish still managed to drag a few metres of line off the reel, and by the time it
finally turned, I was on my knees still doing everything I could to avoid being busted off -
and was not feeling very confident that I would succeed! After a good few minutes I
started to control the fish and, with a bit of assistance from Rick, we managed to get the
fish on the wharf. It was a magnificent blue moki of about 7kg - the first one I had ever
caught and definitely a great sportfish - an unexpected surprise from the Chathams. And
just to prove it wasn't a fluke, I managed to catch a couple more that day, which
encouraged me to make a point of revisiting the wharf for more great encounters over
the rest of my trip. Although bashed and bitten, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the
Chatham Islands.
I realise now that the Chatham Islands have a lot of different experiences to offer, and
I'm sure visits here provide a different experience each time, because there are so many
angles. Obviously the diving and fishing are great, but I also enjoyed searching for
fossilised shark teeth in the Te Whanga lagoon and socialising with the locals at 'The
Club' in Kaiangaroa. But there were chances too to see great white sharks, hunt for
massive wild pigs, or just walk the miles of white sand beaches. So my suggestion is to
experience it for yourself.
September 2010 - Adam Clancy
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
Copyright: NZ Fishing Media Ltd.
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