Comp winner's day out on Days Out Charter

They say good thing come to those who wait, and this was certainly the case of our ‘Put Yourself on the Cover’ competition winner – Whangamata builder Kaleb Kirkby.
 

Kaleb entered the magazine’s competition at the 2018 Hutchwilco NZ Boat show back in May. He had his photo taken with the kingfish mount and then gained the most ‘likes’ when he posted it to our facebook page.

The pic that started it all off – Kaleb poses for the ‘cover’.

The prize was a trip for two, hosted by NZ Fishing News, fishing with Darren Knapping aboard his Bay of Islands charter boat Days Out.

It took some months to sort a suitable date around everyone’s busy schedules and a Sunday in late September was decided upon.

Kaleb and partner Amber Baker travelled up north and made a decent weekend away of it, while deputy-editor Miah and I left early in the morning from Waipu Cove to make the 6.00am rendezvous at Paihia wharf.

Kaleb & Amber with a couple of nice snapper caught soft-baiting,

not bad for their first attempt at this style of fishing.

About 15 minutes out, I received the call from Darren – ‘the bloody motor won’t start’. When he had berthed the vessel the night before, all was well but the next morning the power plant was dead as a dodo. No amount of swearing, tinkering and testing could spark it into life and Darren arrived at the wharf from the boat’s berth in Opua by land, not sea.

‘Sorry team, but we won’t be fishing today’ was the call. It turns out a small spring had broken in the boat’s ignition system, tricking the motor to think it was still in gear and consequently it wouldn’t fire. To their credit, Darren and wife Sheryl made sure Kaleb and Amber made the most of their journey north, arranging some extra activities and a bit of fishing once the boat was fixed.

They also provided accommodation the second time around when the date was reset for the first Sunday in December.

This time round there were no mechanical issues and we left at the appointed hour, heading out off Waitangi to load up with jack mackerel livebaits. With plenty in the tank, our first, and what proved to be last, port of call was the area known as Centre Foul – a patch of rock in around 35 metres of water.

We ran a mixture of baits, livebaits and soft-plastics and with the tide starting to move, the action heated up. Darren carries a range of top-quality Okuma tackle on board and this was soon put to the test, including the new Makaira overhead reels. We drifted across the foul, offering its inhabitants livebaits, lures and soft-baits – tokens which were readily snapped up.

Kaleb’s personal best snapper up to this trip was a 5-kilo specimen and he would blitz this several times over with fish to seven kilos. Amber too was in on the action and without a set of scales on board, it was tough to decide who had actually taken bragging rights for their best of the day between these two – in the interests of relationship harmony, let’s just call it a draw!.

A couple of rat kingfish were thrown into the mix and both Miah and I chimed in with nice snapper of our own, caught on Catch Lives and Z-Man Motoroil tails respectively.

I had a nice snapper over the 20lb mark bust me off when the hook broke and another big fish was nailed by a bronzie as I fought to bring it under control. Having lost several ‘fish of the day’ through no fault of my own, I was pleased to finally put an eight-kilo specimen on the deck. It and a similar-sized one were kept to be smoked and subsequently grace the tables at a couple of Christmas functions.

The writer with the best fish of the day at just on 79cm – approximately eight kilos.

We introduced Kaleb and Amber to soft-baiting and they both became good at it very quickly, landing some nice snapper into double figures. In all it was an action-packed morning and the big ice bin aboard Days Out held proof that ‘good things do come to those who wait’!

Darren runs a great operation. The boat, a full walk-around 11-metre McLay, is always kept immaculate, as is the tackle. And there was always a back-up plan, even one that took into account engine malfunctions! Fortunately for the fishing, the only plan we needed was A, the first one.

Days Out is an 11-metre McLay Walkaround – ideal as a charter boat as it offers so much fishing space.

We were back at Paihia wharf where the catch was expertly dealt to before being bagged up to be shared among family and friends. Darren and Sheryl not only host fishing trips, but they can arrange a full itinerary that shows off the Bay of Islands and its attractions at their best.

For more information go to www.fishingdaysout.co.nz or phone 021 086 04029