I thought how about talk it over with fishing mates on fishing.net. Heres my ideas.

Winding the boat back on the trailer takes a lot of energy. I have started using an electric cordless drill to turn the winch. Took three attempts to get it right, but now it works well. See my post to this topic. 

I generally anchor, and put berley down. But that attracts hordes off tiddlers ( as well as the occasional keeper), that demolish any bait put down. So there is a huge effort required to wind up and rebait. I have decided I think to mostly drift, without berley. This avoids attracting a lot of tiddlers, so reduces the effort. See my earlier post on this topic.

Another thing - I dont clean the boat and fish until next morning. Because I am too tired to enjoy. I put whole fish into a chilly bin with ice. I think that works ok. I know some swear by putting fillets in the frig same day, but after over 500 meals of snapper, I have not noticed any noticeable deterioration. And the boat - next day the motor gets a flush with fresh water followed by salt attack. 

I have joined the Golden Years fishing club (Hibiscus Coast), that arranges charter fishing trips. I hope it provides a worthwhile alternative to running my own boat. I went on a charter from Gulf Harbour, on Skipjack. Unfortunately, as the new chum (and last there) I was put at the front on one side. During the day, fishing was extremely good - the 3 guys across the back caught most (good snapper), then the bods along the side (caught a few), then me, caught one just big enough (in 5 hours fishing!). What a waste of my time. The Fishing Club allocates places by ballot, which I think is fair. 

Come on you guys, its not hard, post!!

i know how you feel i am 80 and have stuffed lungs. Have been fishing today in my own boat and i am too exhausted to fillet my fish will do that tomorrow but as hard as it is i wash the boat, trailer and flush the motor when i get home ,i think if you leave it to the next day it is too late. for years i have had an electric winch with a remote on the trailer makes retrieving easy. i do not anchor i only fish soft baits and jigs and i sit down to fish caught a 65cm snapper today in 50meters and needed a rest when i finally got it in the boat,do not want to catch kingfish that would be too hard.

so my advice keep fishing as long as you  can, just have to have lots of rests and not catch too many big fish

I am not a whole lot younger than my neighbour, but last I checked I am better shape.

Hopefully for a while yet.

Alan

I am still game fishing solo, and beach launching solo. Who knows how long that will continue.

But when you think life expectancy 50 yrs ago was around 60-65, we ain't doing too bad with the bonus years.

Make the most of them, I reckon. I visisted a mate a few days ago - he is 82 and spends most of the day on the couch with his i pad. His wife was so happy to see me - highlight of the day apparently.

Some folks at this age are probably filling in the day with scrabble. I prefer this lifestyle.

Alan 

I'm 71ish. My wife and I  Usually run a small open boat out from the half moon bay public boat ramp.  I used to have a Yamaha f25 manual trim, tilt and start.  Had the boat and engine for 24 odd years.  Just re-powered with a new Yamaha f25 with electric tilt, trim and start.  Makes a huge difference to boat utility.  Only go out on week days now.  Out at daylight, back by lunchtime.  I have a light boat so winching it on to the trailer is no problem - yet.

The cleanup gets me a little though.  Have to push the boat up a 9% incline to get it in the shed.  Will have to do something about that soon, probably a winch mount on the floor of the garage.

We are trying to get out about once a fortnight at the moment.  Getting out more than once a week is too hard.  It usually takes  about two to three days to prep the boat for the next trip but after that it is stored ready to go.   

On the plus side it is cheaper to run the boat for a mornings fishing (8 - 10 litres of fuel and whatever bait we have in the freezer) than to share a cafe breakfast between us.

Cheers,

Colin

Alan

We trolled for a couple of the days while based in Tutukaka (and went out to the Poor Knights for a swim with the fish - that place is awesome).  

Last weekend I spent Saturday taking the Coastguard folks out on Saturday and then as we were leaving Kawau I messaged Shelly to see if she wanted to meet at the marina and go out overnight.  Answer was yes - so after dropping the blokes off the two of us headed down to Waiheke for the night  (ended up anchoring in man O'War Bay).  Sunday we caught a couple of snapper and a reasonable trevally and then as we cruised back past Rakino we saw a HUGE bust-up - something big and silver was leaping out of the water as birds worked around it ... so I trolled some lures but we only got a kahawai.

I live in the wrong place for such a boat - wild coast and bugger all shelter. Long way between berths.

Make the most of it. Make some memories.

Alan 

Might be moving up that way if we can find a house.  Maybe join up and see you there then

Octopus is a tough bait. Sounds like a good strategy to me

Naturally, the new battery had terminals back to front so had to turn it round and cut/customise the lid to get the cables on. Why cant they adopt standard terminal positions!!! 

Not very interesting, but I want to encourage posts on here. Happy fishing!

So far it's worked well.  I haven't had to use it to start my boat (yet) but I have used it for:

i always carry a jump starter, have never had to use it to start the boat motor have used it on cars and the rideon it is a good bit of extra safety.

fishing to day hard work but have a feed,now need a rest

As for battery terminals - there are so many configurations as to how they are supposed to connect to a vehicles wiring, they basically have to make every combination of post orientation. They are coded. So you definitely could have gotten the equivalent battery with the same orientation.

I haven't had the chance to get near the water lately. Maybe this w/end if the swell/wind is OK.

Good luck.

Alan

On the Mohaka itself, fishing was good too, however the black berries have been rampant making access bloody hard. Cyclone Gabrielle, wiped out the blackberies so I could get along the river ok, but its become too hard for me now - so I knew I couldnt handle it now.

Stayed at mohaka River Farm on Mcvicars road - units like a motel and a campground. Not nice though, and cost far too much for a tiny unit, no ablutions - had to walk to a central block and share with the whole campground. Outrageous $388 for 2 nights. And, no TV , and no hot water in the unit even! 

Fished the Mohaka near the farm, plenty of trout but very careful, educated about lures, always bumped the lure to see if it was live or not, and didnt get hooked.

I intended to change to fly fishing, to try and fool them, - but walking on rocks, I slipped and hurt a tendon in my left leg. Managed to hobble to the car, but that was the end of trout fishing.

I think I have learned my lesson - My balance and eyesight are weak now - so walking on unsteady rocks is asking for trouble. 

I know this negative stuff isnt what you like to read about. I am still looking forward to going on charter trips, with the Golden Years Fishing Club.

Have pushed on well beyond mcVicars.

But like you say - these big rivers are a challenge. The slippery rocks are no fun and I have 1 knee that has had 3 ops. Always a worry getting stuck way upstream with a twisted knee. There are times I have crossed somewhere and wondered half way across how it was going to end. I usually floated home downstream - easier than bouncing over all the rocks and slipping into the pools again.

That river is no push over.

I am nursing a torn tendon in one ankle - been near 2 yrs now - still healing. Beach launch casualty.

There are easier rivers, but the slippery rocks are always an accident waiting for you.

I haven't tackled the Mohaka for quite a while now, but not done much trout fishing for a while.

One thing I could recommend is boat fishing at the likes of Waikaremoana - some easier shore fishing, and fishing from the boat - river mouths, beaches. Much less demanding on the body, and a stunning place. And hot shower and doesn't cost $388 for 2 nights. Ridiculous. I will pass on that.

Alan

Sitting in the boat is much easier.

Is interesting to note two contributors in a row mention the Waipunga.

I lived in Taupo for 18 years & fished it quite a bit, most often with John Parsons.

I only knew of half a dozen people who fished it & can say I never saw another angler.

Was a sweet wee river to fish & the rainbows were pretty feisty.

One noteable catch had a native bat in it's stomach.

But my last trip to the Waipunga was one of those days. My mate and I crossed the Mohaka at the Waipunga mouth early one morning. I had heard there was good fishing a long way up - water that was never touched - except by chopper from Poronui. I had fished Poronui and was told that was where they took people who had no clue of fly fishing. Flop a line over the edge in to pool and wait. So, our plan was to push on well up in to that water. We were up for big expeditions. 12 hr days and very difficult terrain were regular events.

So we were in the process of crossing the Mohaka and putting a few clothes back on at the Waipunga mouth and a chopper flew low overhead. I told my mate - no prob, that will be Poronui. They will be heading well up. By the time we get there they will be well gone.

We went around about 2 bends in the river, and there they were - dropped right in front of us. The guide was up a rise on the edge, spotting for the american angler casting in to a pool.  We had fished this river for years and weren't about to put up with this. I also knew Poronui had the exclusive rights to the river (paid the landowner). But having fished it for years before Poronui came along, I still considered it public property - altho technically it wasn't.

I figured the guide wouldn't want a spat in front of the high paying customer.  I told him he must have seen us - he flew low over us. We were here first. We would walk on up for the next 45 minutes and not touch any water, and they could follow behind. Which we did. It suited us anyway - because we planned to go far up. At the end of the day we wander back down and come across them again. They had caught the odd fish, but nothing special. It just so happened that very spot was where my mate had landed a 6 lber, which he chose to keep. He dug in the sand at the anglers feet, and pulled out a big fat trout, and we wandered off home.

Alan 

I think Ive now come to quite a few conclusions - 

1. Going on charters instead of my own boat. Sounds less energy sapping, but it actually isnt!! Beccause - the charters from here (Gulf Harbour) go for 8 hours. Thats far too long for me. Also theres nowhere to sit while fishing, which saps more energy. I suppose I could simply lie down in the cabin - yes might give that a go. Hard to do though as they might be having the best fishing while Im asleep. 

2. Chicken gizzards for bait, is awesome - very hard for fish to pull off, so the work in re-baiting is way down, Also - snapper like gizzards. And its much cheaper than fish bait!!!

3. I have changed from anchoring with berley, to drifting. Its good, hasnt caused fewer keepers I dont think.. No energy required to pull up berley pot twice. Fewer tiddlers gathering in a horde under the boat, eating bait flat out. And save $18 a trip in berley. 

Last time - caught 7 keepers in 3 hours, drifting, and tiddlers were mostly absent. Of course you have to find where they are.

4. Ive changed from a longish and flexible rod to a short stiff rod. Its easier to pull up, so uses less energy!!

Hows that - amazing what you can achieve when you put your mind to it. 

The gizzard is part of the gut, It's what they use to crush up the seeds that are stored in their crop and it then carries in through their digestive system.

Decided that it is smart to put several say 3 bits of bait on the hook instead of one bigger bit. Obvious really, as they now have to come back for a second time and a third time, getting so annoyed they make a mistake and get hooked.. Isnt it funny how you dont do obvious things, until you are old and doddery like me. 

I have another thread about recoating my boat floor. Turned out I needed to replace the panels over underfloor spaces., as were made of plywood and this has split. I found stuff called Multiboard, thats plastic, and waterproof so doesnt absorb water so doesnt need painting. Strong enough for the boat floor. Brilliant eh.

Close to it Rex, lol

This is the weekend so everyone's busy.

Most like to post on bosses time

Alan