Who needs a sail when you have marlin-power?

Matt Watson hooks a striped marlin. Photo / www.thefishingshow.co.nz

It's been the question on everyone's lips. What will New Zealand's answer to Steve Irwin do next?

After gaining worldwide attention by leaping from a helicopter and grabbing a marlin with his bare hands, Kerikeri fisherman Matt Watson has backed it up by catching a marlin from a surfboard.

This spectacular shot shows Watson hooking a striped marlin - from a surfboard - about 20km off the east coast of Northland.

After it was hooked, the marlin towed Watson 11km, with the surfboard sometimes moving so quickly he could stand up.

At one stage during the 90-minute battle, he was towed into the path of a container ship. It was when he was just a few hundred metres from the ship that Watson got the marlin alongside him and then released it.

When asked what he was going to do next, Watson said his reply was that he always wanted to try and catch a marlin from a surfboard.

However, not everyone has been impressed by his unconventional methods - his exploits on a fishing expedition last year have landed him in hot water with the Department of Conservation.

The Weekend Herald can reveal Watson is facing charges after he allegedly fished on a DoC reserve without a permit last March.

He and two other men allegedly landed a helicopter on Motuopau Island, a nature reserve on the tip of Cape Maria Van Diemen in the Far North.

They didn't have permission to land and are also facing a charge of undertaking a commercial activity - filming - on a nature reserve.

The charges have been laid under the Conservation Act and the Reserves Act. The maximum penalty if found guilty is a $1000 fine for a company or a $500 fine or one month's jail for an individual.

Mr Watson wasn't required to be present when the case was first called at the Kaitaia District Court on February 11. He was remanded, without plea, until next month.

He declined to comment about the charges yesterday.

A DoC spokesman said he couldn't comment while the case was before the courts.