We’ll never
know what chomped Chris’ normally virtually indestructible 7” Bruised Banana
clean in two in one savage hit. We’ll never know what grabbed my home-tied
squiddy ‘skute’ in 13m beside a rugged island and went on a long, screaming run
before the normally robust jighead hook straightened – leaving me both amazed
and gutted. Yip, that’s
the Far North.
I ran the
full gamut of emotions during the trip: from buzzing with adrenalin after doing
battle with another big red, to nightly anxiety about the next day’s weather
forecast; from disappointment over lost fish and what might have been, to the
pleasure of eating beautiful fresh seafood daily.
Amid winds
ranging from moderate easterly to ripping westerly, I managed to get out six
days running in my trusty FC465 Te Korora,
equally split between Rangaunu Harbour, the crescent bay outside, and the coast
north of Houhora.
Thankfully
summer’s easterly heavy La Nina conditions had started to dissipate by mid May.
It is a true
softbaiter’s paradise. Between me and my mate Chris, who joined me for the
second half of the trip, we caught nine species: snapper, kingfish, john dory,
trevally, kahawai, golden snapper, granddaddy hapuku, gurnard and blue
mackerel.
My first fish
of the trip was a donkey 21lb snapper on a Z Man Doormatadorz grub that was unfortunately
embolised, but made delicious panko crumbed fish cakes. That fish set an
impossibly high bar for the rest of the trip, but we got several other snapper
well into the 70cm+ range that we released successfully. Chris had great
success on Bruised Banana, flicking the switch when other colours weren’t
working. I found the Gulp 5” Crazy Legs Jerk Shad dynamite over the sand in
9-15m, and Z Man grubs the go in big fish territory.
The blue
mackerel – which is actually a member of the tuna family – was a new species
for me. Incredibly silver in the water and with beautiful markings, I had no
idea what it was after expecting to see a kahawai come to the boat. They were
feeding on the surface and readily hit a 4” baitfish imitation; but I also got
one on the drop in the outside bay where there was no visible activity.
Chris got
the golden snapper in deeper water up the coast – a first for either of us; the
granddaddy hapuku were stunning bright colours and seemed to love big grub
softbaits. Unfortunately after an initial hard thump that raises hopes of a big
snapper, it’s like winding in a sack of spuds.
I kept a
promise to myself to have the confidence to try out some of the ‘skutes’ I’d
tied up for the trip, and while my lovingly tied paddle crab imitation was a
bust over the sand, the squid pattern definitely appealed to the snapper along
the rocky coast, and to whatever giant – we were thinking kingie based on its
initial run and the maomao schools around us – that straightened the hook to my
bitter regret.
Chris
brought his smoker and a vacuum packing machine with him, which transformed our
fish processing and was surprisingly convenient for bringing some of our
hard-earned catch home in pristine condition.
It’s the
ones that got away and the stunning fish we landed, that will draw us back do
battle again with those mighty fish of the Far North.
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