Arenui

TRIP ONE (with Mark Kitteridge)
Not many people win two-day live-aboard trips on luxurious charter boats like Arenui, especially with well-known skippers like Geoff Lamond at the wheel – and to top it off they had NZ Fishing News editorial staff Mark Kitteridge and Grant Dixon, respectively, looking after them!
Subscribing to NZ Fishing News at the 2014 Hutchwilco Boat Show proved particularly worthwhile for Leon Webb, who was drawn from hundreds of others to win an overnight Hauraki Gulf expedition aboard the luxurious 47’ charter boat Arenui with well-known skipper Geoff Lamond at the helm.
To sweeten the reward still further, Editor Grant Dixon generously offered my tutoring, crewing and cooking services for the two days. Fair enough, I’d still get a little fishing in myself – and fortunately we’d be back in time to catch the Rugby World Cup final between the Aussies and the All Blacks (thanks to some hurried rescheduling earlier!).
We met up with Leon and his good mates Chris Davis and Shane Webster at Orakei Marina, Arenui’s base over the cooler months – and right away I could see we were going to have a lot of fun. In addition to having a passion for fishing, these guys also loved rugby: Leon had previously played professionally in Japan, Shane was a keen fan like me, and bubbly Aussie Chris (would you believe it?) is a HUGE All Blacks supporter, too (“I just love their attitude and the way they play, mate!”). On the minus side, this gave us no room to rib him about the Wallabies’ chances and to increase the trip’s competitive element.

Then, with all on board and gear, food and drink stowed tidily away, we were off – and when I say off, I mean at 25 knots – a good cruising speed for a boat this size!
The following one and half days were filled with enjoyable times, aided in no small part by the affable guys on board and the great weather – which was a pleasant surprise. Originally forecast to blow 25-35 knots, we had just 15 knots of southwesterly, which decreased to almost nothing in the afternoon. And the second day was always going to be a pearler – just light sea breezes.
Consequently, instead of cowering in the lee of an island or section of mainland, we mostly chased the work-up action off the Tiritiri and Kawau Islands in 40-50 metres of water. To be honest though, the fishing was mostly pretty tough – until I suggested placing a squid tentacle on our slow-jigs’ assist hooks. Then it was all on: mostly modest fish around 1.3-3kg, but talk about a dramatic change in fortunes. Indeed, this strategy proved to be the turning point for the remainder of the trip; whenever the fishing slowed on lures, we added very thin squid strips or tentacles to the lures and away we went again!
I don’t know how many snapper were brought on board, but it was a lot, with most released, including three or four in the 5-7 kilo range. The ‘Aussie Battler’ managed to take out the top angler honours, as well as the hardest celebrator, providing him with a big handicap to overcome the following morning. However, this didn’t stop him from catching the biggest snapper over that session, too!
Then, with arms (and heads) sore, and completely snappered out, thanks to Geoff’s fish-finding skills, the boys called an early end to the trip. All agreed it had been one of the best fishing trips ever, and on the way back in they were arranging another with Geoff in the future.
For some of the action and fish caught over the trip, watch this Youtube video: youtube/6Aob2FULPSU

TRIP TWO (with Grant Dixon)
As Leon’s subscription prize had been carried over from the previous year, the 2015 Arenui subscription prize winner Waihi farmer Graham Rogers and buddy Mark Murdock ended up going second. Unfortunately it turned out the Swampfox boys, both mad keen rugby players, were playing into the wind with me as their deckie, cook and ‘tutor’.
Initially they were probably not too worried. After all, reports indicated the fishing was red hot, with the snapper lining up to jump on the hook leading up to the trip. Even the fact we were fishing over the full moon didn’t faze me – with so many snapper in the gulf, we had to find a few with their mouths open somewhere over the two days. Wrong!
Day one saw us struggling to find any bird action, and while there was always sign on the bottom, nothing would bite. It was only the deployment of some good old fashion Top Catch bait and berley late in the afternoon that saved our bacon.
With fresh hope the next morning, Geoff pointed Arenui out wide of Kawau Island and eventually to the eastern side of the gulf. The rat kingfish at Anchorite provided some light entertainment, and it was not until we drifted in 40 metres out the back of the Ahaa’s that we gained some respect, resulting in the boys heading back home over the Bombays with at least a good feed in the bin. Whew!
Graeme just pipped the skipper with the best fish of the trip – a relatively insignificant snapper of around 2kg. I felt so sure we would do much better that I didn’t even snap a photo for posterity!
Even so, it proved to be an enjoyable trip on a great boat in near-perfect weather with plenty of good-humoured banter making up (mostly) for the lack of action.
Acknowledgement
NZ Fishing News would like to thank NZ Gamefishing Ltd and skipper Geoff Lamond for making Arenui available as part of the subscription prize.