Rayglass 2500

Mark Kitteridge meets a down-to-earth Kiwi whose life revolves around the sea, fishing and boating.

Over the years Craig Stewart has always been drawn to the sea and its bounty, in the process owning an impressive succession of boats!

His earliest memories involve heading up with his family to stay on one of the Cavalli Islands owned by a mate of his dad’s. Thanks to the ‘delights’ of the accommodation’s long-drop, his mother was generally deterred from joining them, making it a ‘boys trip’ – just him, his brother and his dad.

And they made the most of this added freedom, with their modest 4.5m Fleetline Sapphire enabling plenty of fishing for snapper using hand-lines, exploration of nearby islands and coasts, as well as opportunities for snorkelling and spearing assorted sea critters.

Craig was 18 years old when he bought his first boat, a 17-foot Marlborough fibreglass runabout, which was used for water-skiing as much as fishing, mostly on the Waitemata Harbour.

A couple of Sea Nymphs were next, with a 17-foot Ranger serving to introduce Craig to the delights of ‘game fishing,’ although at that stage the catch was mostly confined to skippies, albacore and the occasional mako shark.

Then came two successive Bayliner Trophies, and around this stage Craig got his skipper’s ticket, enabling him to take advantage of the America’s Cup gold rush, skippering and working on charter boats carrying spectators.

A crewing stint in the Bay of Islands aboard the fishing charter boat Cool Runnings (skippered by Rob Stone) followed. Craig enjoyed seeing the punters having a good time and catching fish – mostly snapper, along with some kingfish.

The next craft purchased was a Sea-Doo PWC – a bit of a departure from Craig’s usual M.O. However, the extra ease of transportation and the speed of this small craft saw his fishing benefitting, enabling expeditions to be based out of Whangaroa and the Bay of Islands, down to Auckland and across to Coromandel.

Then it was back to boats again, in this case a 23’ Wellcraft craft called Stella, also allowing his sport- and game-fishing aspirations to blossom, especially when targeting kingfish with live baits and towing plastic for marlin. (Craig counts his first-ever marlin as the highlight of his fishing life – a nice specimen weighing 115kg, caught on a friend’s launch.)

More importantly though, it was a time when he met fiancé Paula Smith. Rather than limiting Craig’s fishing passion, she’s become hooked too, and is now his regular fishing partner. They particularly enjoy overnighting at various Hauraki Gulf anchorages, with the quieter, more private options around Great Barrier and Kawau Island being favourites (“…just us and the dog!”).

So, when Paula suggested going to a bigger boat – one with a separate head and a galley – it made good sense. But which one? At least Craig had plenty of boat-owning experience to help with selection!

Having the Rayglass factory next door to their boat-storage facility at Tamaki Marine Park appeared serendipitous, but although Craig and Paula loved the look of the Rayglass boats, they suspected these craft would be beyond their financial means. However, exhaustive research kept bringing them back to Rayglass. Part of their criteria was having an inboard diesel motor, dramatically narrowing the choices. Also, they were only coming across positive comments concerning Rayglass vessels, with a good friend’s glowing appraisal of his own Rayglass carrying extra weight. Hmmmm. No harm in just talking to the guys at Rayglass, they figured – and that was how they met up with the company’s Sales and Marketing Manager, Ian Sullivan.

And lucky they did, because owning a Rayglass turned out to be much more ‘do-able’ than they’d imagined; pretty soon they’d signed up for a Rayglass Legend 2500!

Craig said the guys at the factory were great to deal with (“nothing was a problem”), welcoming them in to view their boat during the construction process and open to changes whenever practicable.

In the process, Craig became good friends with Ian, and this saw an invitation extended to NZ Fishing News to join them out on Got Reel for a morning of fishing. Refusal was not an option, especially as the winds were forecast to be less than 10 knots...

Joined by NZFN Sales Manager Scott Taylor, we met up at the excellent Tamaki Marine Park dry-berth facility just as the sun emerged from the horizon, its early rays glinting on Got Reel’s sleek hull.

Although Craig had plenty of very productive spots himself, he was open to options. So, as we’d been hearing great reports of red-hot fishing around the Flat Rock area, that was the destination. Yes, it was a long way off, but Craig assured us Got Reel was fast, comfortable and seaworthy – and wouldn’t be expensive either, thanks to the miserly diesel engine!

Inside the hard-top was comfy seating for the four of us, with a step-down accessing the cosy but more than functional living quarters further for’ard. It was easy to see why Craig and Paula had opted for this particular boat: despite its relatively modest size, the Rayglass designers had achieved a wonderful compromise, providing pleasant liveaboard accommodation, as well as a spacious, well-thought-out cockpit that hard-out anglers would enjoy.

That wasn’t the end of the major attractions. On the way north, I was invited to take the controls and, hand on heart, I can’t recall an easier boat to helm. Despite mostly heading into sharp-backed, wind-againsttide slop, the power steering made Got Reel feel more like a car than a boat – albeit driving over a very undulating ‘road’.

We made a brief detour when Motuora’s recent fishing history proved too powerful to resist (despite even more recent reports of very poor fishing), but an absence of hook-ups soon saw us back on track – until the Simrad’s screen continued to show clumps of snapper passing under the hull in 30 metres of water south of Kawau Island.

At first I suggested stopping to drift when the snapper sign ceased, but after a kilometre or so the marks were still going strong – that would do!

We then enjoyed a wonderful couple of hours’ fishing. Unfortunately, Scott was selfish and forgot that this was to be a feature on Craig, as well as the fact I’m supposed to be the soft-baiting expert. He put all of us to shame, getting bite after bite while we struggled. Indeed, if he’d managed to convert all the bites into secure hook-ups, I might have needed counselling afterwards. It was still a pretty comprehensive win though, especially over the first hour.

As time went on, Craig started steadily catching fish too, but it took more radical moves for me and Ian to join in the action. I had to swallow my pride and change to 7-inch Gulp!s, the same as Scott was using, achieving instant success – unbelievable success!

Amongst several rippers, I hooked a true monster, its ponderous movements actually making me anxious – it didn’t seem to know it was hooked. Then, when it finally did start bulldozing away, the hook fell out!

And, similarly for Ian, after being given a Nitro Elevator Rig armed with a Gulp! New Penny 6-inch Grub, the lure was grabbed by a big hungry snapper while still descending, and he was away too!

The last hour was a blur of bent rods and yahooing anglers, made more pleasurable by the well set-up Rayglass Legend.

I appreciate boats fitted with ‘caged’ duckboards. Although wet in rough conditions, they offer real advantages for lure-fishing anglers, letting them easily lob jigs and soft-baits up ahead of the boat’s drift, then fish them all the way back and past the transom some distance, making the most of every drop or cast. Admittedly Craig’s version is more a duckboard with a sturdy central support than a cage (LOVED the comfy, non-slip SeaDek underfoot!), but, as he says, it’s usually just him and a mate or Paula. Even set up the way it is though, the four of us were easily accommodated.

Thanks to the frenetic action, our fresh fish needs were soon met, and very reluctantly (as there were some beauties amongst the hordes of snapper below us), we decided not to keep fishing if we were only going to let them go again afterwards. Not surprisingly, it was a happy bunch of anglers who headed back to Tamaki Estuary.

Nor was I surprised when, while relaxing in the Legend’s padded seating, chatting to Craig later on, he said the only other boat he’d be tempted to buy is the Rayglass 2800…