Last Friday and Saturday we took part in the Trailer boat competition that’s run through the Tauranga Sport Fishing Club. Last Friday we went out to White Island in less than ideal conditions. We stopped at a reef to hopefully pick a good kingie or two. We dropped down jack mackerel and it didn’t take long till it got eaten. I got absolutely dusted by a big kingie - both thumbs on the spool and tight drag but it wasn’t stopping! We managed to land one at 107cm and a few others around the metre mark.
With our livebait stocks depleting we moved and tried to get onto one of White Island’s big trevally. We went to one of our proven spots and luckily the Trevally played ball! My biggest was 5.2kg and was the biggest on the boat.
With the Trevally ticked off and the wind building we pushed for home but decided to flick some lures out and troll home. We were just about to pull them in when WHACK! something had smacked the rapala and my tiagra was screaming. We quickly cleared the gear and I jumped on the rod. After a few minutes we got the first glimpse of the fish. We immediately saw the distinctive yellow 2nd dorsal and anal fin! I remember yelling “IT’S A YELLOWFIN!!” We had him boatside and Dad sunk the gaff. It was a solid shot and secured the fish but unfortunately for Dad it was caught on a rapala which was rigged with two trebles. The tuna had been hooked on the bottom hook and when Dad gaffed it with our short handled kingfish gaff the treble went through his thumb! We tried to push it through but it wasn’t moving so we headed for home and took Dad to A&E.
We weighed my yellowfin the next day and it went 14.1kgs after it had been bled, gutted and gilled and took out first place in the big tuna section. My trevally also won 1st and Dad took out 2nd.
Looking forward to my next trip out wherever that may be!
What I learnt that day:
1) Don’t use a small gaff to gaff big fish!
2) Don’t be lazy like Dad and get the long handled gaff out from under the floorboards!
3) Yellowfin sashimi is amazing