Snap Happy Saturday

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    Posted: 08 Nov 2021 at 9:27am
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Timing of the tides meant a late morning launch on Saturday. The late start and bright, sunny conditions with little cloud cover or wind had the makings for a quiet day fishing-wise. On the plus side though the Solunar calendar was showing “excellent” and spring conditions with water temperature prodding 18 degrees Celsius held the hope for some positive action. We made our way out to some structure near the Noises that I have fished occasionally in the past. While there were plenty of boats scattered all over the inner gulf, this particular spot had no other boats nearby and so we set up on anchor with the tide flowing out. Berley was deployed in the wobbly pot. My crew member did try a topwater popper for a while but with no surface action the focus turned to straylining. It didn’t take long for the bites to start and the really good thing was that we were not getting plagued with undersized fish. You know the sort of session when just about everything coming over the side is about 28cm long and occasionally something 30cm plus appears. This was thankfully not like that - the first fish in was a respectable pannie around 40cm and several more followed. Then my crew member had something more solid connect and after a good tussle landed a snap in the 50cm range. I also had a sabiki down to see if I could snaffle-up a livebait. No baitfish unfortunately, but I did bring in first a cod on the sabiki followed shortly after by a decent trevally I estimate was close to 40cm. Both were released. It was round about this time that my straylined half bullet tuna head was taken. When I tightened up on the circle hook, the fish started coming up easily, then when it was still about 10m below the surface decided it was time to play hard and it took off down and away from the boat. It was round about now that I realised two things – I was connected to a serious fish, and unfortunately my 6kg line was probably not going to beat it. This fish swam hard and fast over the reef in classic kingi mode, then ran back under the boat in the opposite direction. We hauled up the berley pot to avoid a tangle and the fish made a bee-line for the other end of the reef. What a fight! And at multiple times I was expecting the skinny nylon to part. (Just as well I retied the rig after finding a chafed section after an earlier fish). After the longest fight with a fish I have had in quite a while, a magnificently conditioned snapper come to the surface. Right up until the time I got it into the net I half expected the line to part, but the rig held and in she came. The call was made to keep this one as I simply couldn’t get the hook out and after the long fight the fish was spent. Here’s the evidence:


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote tjm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Nov 2021 at 10:29am
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Very nice condition fish- well done
Cant beat hunting and Fishing in N.Z
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Keith C Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Nov 2021 at 1:18pm
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Great stuff Paul. Go the 6kg! That is what makes it fun.😊
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The cook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Nov 2021 at 11:30pm
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Nice fish & a good read
Well done
How long?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Snappa Geoff Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2021 at 5:52am
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Great report, fish & photo MJ!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Reel Deal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2021 at 6:39am
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way to go! Great report and pic. Those lighter line battles are epic 


The gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men's lives the hours spent on fishing - Assyrian Proverb
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote MJ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2021 at 7:41am
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Cook - top of my chilly bin is 75cm long
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Telecaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2021 at 8:31am
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Nice one - awesome condition!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Zambezi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2021 at 9:57am
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Yeeeha great fish, great report!
A man’s comfort in life can be measured by the quality of the toilet paper he uses to wipe his arse.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kendalcarlos Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 8:50pm
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nice.
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