• Fishing diary
Since I was a kid, I started to take comprehensive notes on every fishing and hunting trip recording wind strength and direction, tidal times and range, lunar phase, places fished, bait and burley used, type of rigs, when fish came on the bite and even down to the stomach contents of the fish caught. These certainly help me immensely when I am unsure where to fish at a certain time of the year.
• Rock fishing
In the 1960s I was fishing off the rocks at Whatipu. After losing all my sinkers I started casting out unweighted baits, but I just could not cast far enough. I was in my workshop when a tennis ball rolled off and dropped into a bucket of water and when I retrieved it I was surprised at just how heavy it was.
Bingo! I drilled a 3mm hole through each side of the ball, then pushed a piece of wire through, which I used as a drawstring to pull a length of 40kg mono through. I attached a swivel to each end of the mono.
The next day I raced back to the same spot, tied the main line to one swivel on the ball, and then attached a 1.5 metre trace to the other side. I baited up with a whole herring and cast well upstream of the strong current, and suddenly I was hooked up to a big kahawai. Cast after cast landed fish after fish without the slightest chance of losing gear.
• Burley
I start with a basic mush of old bonito, pillies or any other bait, to which I add garden blood and bone. I then add mum's old kitchen cooking oil. Then comes the magic ingredients, smoked fish and silver glitter.
The smoked fish is usually kahawai but I find that any smoked fish works. The odour of smoked fish just drives fish nuts and the glitter must resemble the scales of baitfish.
• Pre-tied traces
I simply can't understand why a lot of people waste valuable time tying up traces and terminal rigs when at their fishing spot. I enjoy tying up flasher rigs and making up traces at home.
You have the time to pay extra attention to each knot. I put every individual rig in a small plastic bag, after coating the hooks in spray and mark on the outside in vivid pen what each bag contains. All have a swivel on the end, so I simply snap on a new rig with a clip.
• Mobile baits
When you think about it probably 80 per cent of natural fish tucker is on the move so why be content with a lump of bait just sitting on the sea floor. How unnatural. I often find that even the slightest movement of my bait will induce a strike.
Even when fishing for the humble gurnard on a ledger rig, I use the lightest of sinkers to just hold the bottom and no more, causing the baits to lift and drop with the boat movement or change in current strength.
Any bait movement at all is good. When the fishing is quiet I often just twitch the rod tip then retrieve a small amount of line before repeating the process. If you are fishing over a muddy or sandy bottom use a reasonable heavy sinker on a ledger rig and cast out as far as you can.
When the sinker has settled retrieve your line using the rod tip, in a series of small jerks, and keep this action up. What this does is to create a puff of silt or sand which an inquisitive fish just has to investigate.
• Fresh is best
Most of us use bonito, pillies and squid as our first choice of baits. I never go snapper fishing without my bait fishing rig comprising of 1/0 flasher rigs for yellowtail, or my tiny long shanked trout hooks for piper. I catch far more big snapper and the occasional kingfish on live baits or dead fresh baits than I ever do on the frozen baits.
As soon as I deploy the burley the bait rig is over the side and the first bait fish on board is sent back with a 6/0 hook in its shoulder. While a livey is the preferred bait, a dead freshly caught bait fish still works really well. Another definite plus with live bait fishing is the number of john dory you will catch.
• My greatest fishing asset
Ask any ardent fisho what their greatest fishing asset is and you will get a variety of answers.
To me the greatest asset for any angler is simply a good reliable fishing mate, someone special to share in the magical and heartbreaking moments. I met a mountain of a bloke called Norman Coe (who I nicknamed Tiny) who was every bit as crazy on fishing as I was. John's good fishing mate passed away several years ago.
