Decky Dreaming

Getting a job as a deckhand on a charter-boat seemed like a dream come true for 17 yr old Laurie Ross of Umawera. At the end of the 2001 school year, Laurie spent several days on foot, enquiring of fisher-folk from the Whangaroa, Russell and Paihia. Eventually he was pointed in the direction of Johnny Wilkinson, skipper/owner of Allure.

Laurie has been decky on board Allure ever since. Allure is a 42m cat powered by a couple of 250hp Hino diesels. Skipper, nicknamed Johnny Outrigger, has gained an enviable reputation for catching his clients some unbelievably large monsters from the deep.

Laurie’s initiation involved a typical trip with half a dozen young men from Nelson. The hard-case Kiwi boys arrived on board with enough beer to dilute the ocean. And they wanted to catch everything that swam, even mermaids.

The chiller ended chocker filled with at least 100kg of meat, including puka, snapper and kingfish. The crayfish collected when diving went well with the last of the beer.

Laurie’s nightmare trip was his second. Before leaving from Kingfish Lodge, he put fresh water in one of the diesel tanks. The problem took 4½ hours to rectify and he’s never been allowed to forget it.

At an annual game-fish event in Paihia, Laurie was nominated “rookie of the year” but was pipped at the post by a lass from the Charter Pier. This unfortunate girl had forgotten to secure a mooring rope and was pulled into the drink as the skipper attempted to drive forward on the un-secured rope.

His best trip so far involved a team of middle-aged Aussies. The marlin fishing had disappointed so the skipper went for a favourite possie to target some bottom dwelling monsters. On previous occasions, this same spot had yielded a men’s record bass of 78.3kg and a woman’s record of 76.8kg.

Fishing in 170m, they used double-hook droppers, live baiting the top hook and hanging a chunk of bonito on the bottom.

Following one small bass, the next three strikes busted off. The problem was inept anglers dealing with huge fish. The fifth strike initially appeared to be a rock, but then stripped 200m off the marlin reel in about ten seconds. After about fifteen minutes, it seemed the elephant was on its way up when the line suddenly went slack. The retrieved 12/0 hook was straight.

Other memorable moments include a boil-up off the Cavallis involving at least a thousand dolphins, an 18 foot Mako shark taking a whole hapuku, the unbelievable sight of a huge 1000kg sunfish and swarms of hook–shy mahimahi taking up residence under the shadow of Allure. His worst experience was diving to clear a tangle in shark-infested waters. Better than diving in shark-infested custard I reckon. Tight lines!