Favourite Fishing Things - Grant Bittle

In recent years, NZ Fishing News has asked contributors and prominent anglers: “What are the five things you most value about fishing or the five items you just cannot do without?” Grant Bittle, who contributes extensively on social media under the handle ‘Capt Espresso’, offers his spin on the ‘five favourite things’ theme…

To the Sound of Music… “These are Five of my Favourite Things…” Okay, I’ll stick to fishing, but you can chime in anytime with the Julie Andrews background voice.

For me, 100% bait free lure fishing is my bag baby; from targeting mackerel to marlin and most fish in-between, lures are my thing.

My loyal six-metre trailer boat turns 18 years old shortly and its third engine has already clocked up the hours fishing my local Hauraki Gulf and its outer areas, primarily for snapper and kingfish. I also chase adventures up the coast at Tutukaka and Houhora, but this is mainly during the warmer months when I solo fish for striped marlin, which is my preference for summer ‘holidays’, along with overseas fishin’ missions to Asia-Pacific destinations like Korea, Japan and Malaysia. Learning, developing and improving lure designs, as well as passing knowledge on, is a rewarding thrill.

The following five things are on my priority checklist when heading out for a day fishing – not including the odd rod/reel I may have aboard.

The forecast

New Zealand is not like California where they still have forecasts on the radio every morning saying the same thing in different ways. Avoiding both the bash of an unexpectedly rough day, or equally, missing out on a beautiful midweek day due to forecast vagaries, is key. Both scenarios really suck, and both are relatively easy to avoid.

Metvuw and in-particular Windy.com are essential to planning a trip. In the Hauraki Gulf, and also all-around New Zealand to an extent, a kilometre or two can be the difference between enjoying a stunning 5kt variable day, or an uncomfortable, potentially painful 20kts of wind against tide. Metvuw’s accuracy is right on – the pictorial representation of the isobars is highly accurate – and Windy.com is perfect for knowing where to fish flat seas throughout a day. If you’re in the Gulf, keep an eye on the Nowcasting forecast for the Manukau – when the windspeed starts to climb it’s time to get the lures up and start heading home to avoid a rough trip back.

Reading and taking heed of the best available weather forecasts will enable anglers to maximise their time and enjoyment on the water during those ‘perfect’ days.

Binoculars 7 x 50

These are a must-have when looking for surface action, whether its finding gannets when hunting down a workup, or other surface signs like skipjack boiling up, whale activity, terns over anchovies or surface feeding fish.

Stabilised binos of higher magnification are a luxury but can really pay-off when on a must-find action style mission, like when shooting a TV programme for instance! It astounds me the number of people saying they can’t find action, yet they rely solely on eyesight – it’s not surprising. Human eyesight just doesn’t cut it out there. Ask the gannets that have lens that adjust in 1,000ths of a second from air-sight to underwater sight. Steve Austin, the six-million-dollar man, was fictional – binos are essential for finding surface activity and the associated fish below. Burning gas ‘looking’ for something is an awfully expensive way not to buy binos.

Unless you are the Six-Million Dollar man with incredible long-range eyesight, a set of quality binoculars will save you time and money when searching for those work-ups.

Sunglasses

Inexpensive and very effectively used for many years, I carry sunglasses on the boat as backups for crew who inevitably forget theirs. The Shimano Antares are great. They provide excellent eye protection from flying hooks and have lenses that stop the sun’s rays bouncing up off the water and underneath the lens into your eye.

Retinal safety from sun and safety from hooks (more than once they’ve saved my eye) are the essential functions of sunglasses. My top shelf ultimate sunglasses are the Oakley Rotor blue reflective lens – just wow. Yes, they are an investment, but are superb quality in every way and heavenly on the eyes. I’ve used them for several years now and they’ve been thoroughly impressive.

Seeing kingfish hounding a school just under the boat is also something not to be missed, which can happen with no glasses or poor lenses. Polarised sunglasses are one of those things that are truly an investment in your fishing and in yourself, so when (hopefully) you get older, you’ll enjoy better eyesight and avoid any nasty health issues.

Quality sunglasses not only allow the wearer to see down into the water, but they protect the eyes from sunlight and the odd flying hook or lure.

Fingerless gloves

So many sports now use gloves to enhance the abilities and comfort of the participant, and fishing is no exception. They are usually only thought of for jigging purposes, but their non-use is probably just a hangover from bait users.

Fingerless gloves provide safety from hooks, especially with the current prevalence of twin hook lure rigs, while still allowing easy tying of knots and for handling fish safely and humanely. Wet but grippy gloves protect your hands and the fish. It’s not even a question for me – the jigging gloves go on before leaving the dock. Once you’ve worn them once, you’ll wonder why you hadn’t been always doing it. You’ll get a lot less knicks, cuts and hook stabbings in the digits and enjoy far fewer stinging fingers with cuts trying to heal for days after fishing. Bliss.

Fingerless fishing gloves, apart from offering good grip on the rod, protect the hands from cuts and spikes.

Zip Lock bags

Fresh, clean, semi-vac packed bone free fish fillets can be 100% sorted before returning to the ramp. Different species can be labelled in different Glad Snap Lock bags and the frames kept if you desire – awesomeness! There are a multitude of fishing uses (a lot like duct tape and zip ties) for snap lock bags: pre-made trace rigs, lunch, waterproof cell phone cover, tea bags/coffee for the brew, whole fish scaled and gutted ready for your family or a giveaway dinner, avoiding inevitable sunscreen splurges all over the place, putting used gloves in, rubbish collection (don’t be the guy who leaves rubbish stuffed in gunwales!) – the list is long and there are always new handy uses. Assorted sizes covering all the bases is a great idea. Snap locks are also one of the most common items ‘borrowed’ by fishing mates on every trip. Double bagging some fish with salt ice for a neighbour or elderly friend is absolutely priceless.

Glad Snap Lock bags in a variety of sizes have many uses on a boat, from keeping the cell phone away from water to storing the catch and the likes of pre-tied traces.

November 2021 - Grant Bittle
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
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