Fishing: Far North torpedoes bring in some choice fish

Torch light shows snapper coming up the beach as the kontiki is pulled in. Photo / Supplied

Fishing is hot in the Far North, with surfcasting on 90 Mile Beach going well and kontiki-launched long-lines pulling in large snapper from Tokerau Beach in the evenings.

A group from Auckland and points south did well when they arrived in Kaitaia recently. Local fishermen Craig Harrison and Lionel Korach picked up the six-strong team from their motel in a four-wheel-drive bus, one of many vehicles the Harrisons run along the beaches taking tourists sightseeing and occasionally fishermen up the beach to find snapper.

Tokerau is a popular spot with local kontiki anglers at this time of year, and boaties can usually find good fish, drifting and casting soft baits behind the breakers. Harrison drove down the beach, passing other locals standing by their vehicles as they waited to pull in their lines.

With two torpedoes to send out 25 traces each, the hooks are baited and the cubes of mullet covered with sand to deter the seagulls which hop around waiting for an opportunity to dart in and grab a piece of fish.

The torpedoes are launched with the self-steering mode set to cruise out so they angle away from each other to avoid tangles. It takes teamwork so the traces are clipped on behind every second stop on the heavy backbone line. This keeps the traces and the hooked fish well separated.

With the timers on the torpedoes set to stop after 25 minutes, the baits will be over a kilometre out to sea. Then it's a question of waiting for about 40 minutes.

It is always a point of discussion how long the lines should be set for - too short a time and fish may not find all the baits; too long and sharks might be attracted to the hooked fish.

As darkness falls, it is the prime time as the snapper are feeding actively, so 30 or 40 minutes of fishing time is ample.

And what do you do while waiting? Well, these locals know how to enjoy themselves. Harrison unloads a barbecue from the back of the bus and somebody finds a chilly bin with drinks and the yarns start flowing as the sausages and steaks are cooking.

Then it is time to connect the battery and put the heavy duty winch on the GT kontiki into gear. Pulling in the heavy line with the torpedo on the end is as easy as flicking a switch. As the line trundles up the beach and around the spool, it is always a combination of anxiety and excitement as the team waits for the first splashing in the shallows which indicate a fish.

And sure enough, the splashes soon start and one visitor mans the winch, stopping it while somebody unclips each trace with a fat snapper on the end. Smaller fish are returned to the water and the keepers dispatched and put on ice, but on this beach at this time of year some of the snapper which come flapping up the beach will pull the scales down to 3kg or 4kg, or more.

Another of the local boys who had set his line about 500m up the beach arrived and couldn't resist showing off the bin in his truck. There were only six snapper there, but they were all a good 5kg or heavier. And all from one set of the torpedo.

That is what beach fishing is all about. It is always a gamble as to whether you turn left or right when you arrive but canny locals know that if they hit the beach as the tide is receding and drive along the edge of the water, they might spot a patch of small undulations in the wet sand which reflects sparkling sunlight.

This indicates a bed of worms which retreat under the sand as the tide drops, and their home is exposed to the daylight.

When the tide returns the creatures which live in the holes stick their noses out to filter plankton from the water rushing past as waves surge in and fish like snapper and flounder know that they will find their dinner there also. It is all part of the surging cycles of nature, and fishermen who understand these natural currents will take home their dinner also.

Freshwater

Fly fishers enjoyed good fishing when upper reaches of the Lake Rotorua tributaries opened last Tuesday. They always stay closed longer than the lakes to protect spawning trout, and some anglers reported landing their limit of eight fish on the Ngongotaha Stream. The majority of trout are rainbows, but more browns run up the stream as the water in the lake warms.

Fish and Game operates a fish trap on the stream, and over 10 days, 103 brown and 14 rainbows were recorded and released.

The average rainbow weighed just over 2kg, with the largest 3.5kg. Brown trout are always larger and the biggest brown recorded was 5kg with the average 3.25kg.

Tip of the week

Small baits work well on kontiki lines, like cubes of fresh mullet. If the bait is hooked with the skin side down the flesh will not be torn off as the baits are dragged across the sand as the line is deployed. Large baits are more likely to attract less desirable fish like kahawai and sharks.

Bite times

Bite times are 8.20am and 8.45pm today and tomorrow at 9.04am and 9.25pm. More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 6.30am Saturdays, TV3, and at www.GTtackle.co.nz.