One thing I love to do on my Far North trips is go surfcasting from the beach – the north has miles and miles of coastline, both east and west, to whet the appetite. We have fished this area for a good 15-20 years now, and always base ourselves at the Whatuwhiwhi Top Ten Holiday Park.

On this occasion we headed off after work and reached our destination at 7.00pm. Pausing only to throw some of our gear into the cabin, we headed off to the beach and fished into the night. Our first couple of casts had no interest, but we kept refreshing the baits in the hope something would come mooching along.

Sure enough, as soon as the sun went down, we got smashed by fish that were like freight trains, our rods buckling and the line screaming out. Unfortunately, we were infected with excitement and somehow missed them, but I subsequently managed to reel in a nice snapper around 4.5kg, which was released strong and healthy.

Then, with no more interest, we decided to call it a night and get some sleep for an early-morning start.

I got up around 5.00am and woke Steve as we were a bit late. I love fishing the mornings, especially when it’s still and stars are still out; I like to get a good two to three hours in before daylight.

Steve wanted some brekky before we left, but our spot was only five minutes away, so we still had our lines in just after 5:30am.

It was nice and quiet at our favoured location, with no one else around – a scenario that makes the experience even more enjoyable for surfcasters.

Flicking out our first baits, it didn’t take long for both of us to hook-up. Once again, they were solid snapper around the 50cm length and in that prime late winter/early spring condition. However, we let them go, as we were there for a few days and only wanted to keep a couple to eat back at camp, as well as a few more to take home on our last day.

We cast out some fresh baits, which were again smashed within minutes, but this time we didn’t manage to hold them.

Fortunately, we got some more solid hits, and this time when we struck, our rods stayed bent and it was all go. Meanwhile, the sun was rising, making it picture perfect, with just the sounds of shore birds making the whole experience even more epic. It’s not every day you go fishing and every bait gets absolutely hammered – albeit over a disappointingly brief time, as once the sun came up over the hill, the snapper went off the bite.

We had another shot in the arvo with no joy at all, so didn’t hang around too long.

However, we talked to Rob Parker from Hohoura Fishing Charters, and he was having some hot snapper action each morning. So I set my alarm for 4.00am this time so we could have a longer bite time – but a bit too early for Stevo, making it a solo mission.

The decision to get up earlier was a great one as, just as Rob had said, it was a hot bite time – even if most of the fish absolutely dealt to me!

Despite numerous savage grabs and the even almost having rod ripped from my hands on occasion, I only managed to land two fish, one at 50cm the other at 60cm. There were definitely bigger fish in the area, but with the sun up and bite time over, a pattern was emerging.

With only one more day up our sleeve and the rain coming down, we chose to relax for the afternoon, before making the call for another 4:00am wake-up and a last flick off the sand.

Fortunately, after raining all the previous day, we awoke to a cloudless night sky with stars by the thousands shimmering above us. Not surprisingly, after missing out the day before and hearing my excited stories, Steve was keen this time.

Out went our first baits; again, we were the only two on the beach, with just the soothing sounds of slight waves slapping on the shore and assorted birds calling in the dark. It can be hard to concentrate on the fishing when you have such serenity around you – until, suddenly, a fish tries to rip the rod out of your hand! It was around 4:30am, and the mayhem was starting again…

First, Stevo got smashed, then I got slammed, too, but Stevo dropped his. This proved to be the pattern throughout the morning, with plenty of fish coming our way, but our hook-up rate being pretty poor. I didn’t care though – I just love my fishing, and it was nice to land the ones we did.

Staying true to predictions, the bite time died away with the rising sun, but at least we had some nice fish – including two snapper over 60cm – to finish off our far North mission.

One thing’s for sure – you can bet I’ll be back soon!