Fishing: Kayak capers

On a pristine morning this week I put the kayak in the water off Cornwallis Beach on the Manukau Harbour.

For three hours before and after high tide I fished with light tackle on the shallow mudflats near the channel that sweeps along the beach about 800m out.

I figured that the snapper would come in along the channels on the incoming tide and fan out over the mudflats to forage for shellfish, and so it proved.

I caught three small kahawai, one good-sized trevally and one small, and 40 snapper.

Of the snapper, 18 were over the legal takeable size of 27cm, 12 of these were between 27cm and 32cm, five about 35cm and one was 44cm. I kept the five biggest.

To big-time snapper fishers, this is small change indeed, but I mention the total catch range to show what a beginner can do from a kayak in a depth of only 4m to 6m.

I'm a raw novice at kayak fishing. I bought myself a big old Ocean River sit-on craft for my 60th birthday and I've been fishing in it only a few times, but I'm firmly hooked.

It is enjoyable, exhilarating, exhausting and fulfilling. It is also one of the fastest-growing fishing sports in New Zealand. Our coastlines, reefs, islands, harbours, lakes and rivers offer a kayak fisher's paradise, and the opportunities are limitless.

There are coastal specialists who go after big snapper and get towed around by kingfish. In the Gulf Stream off Mexico, kayak fishers have taken marlin up to 64kg. It's probably only a matter of time before that happens here.

Most fishers can't afford to buy expensive boats and outboards, or to pay fishing guides for individual trips. But a kayak is within reach of all. A new one will cost you about $1000, or you can pick up a quality second-hand craft for between $250 and $400, usually with paddle and old lifejacket thrown in.

The kayak shops will put in a rod-holder at little cost. Back-rests can be bought for between $50 and $130, or you can fashion your own out of foam rubber. Beach trolleys range from $90 (plastic) to $350 (stainless steel), but you can make your own with a lump of wood and a couple of old pram wheels attached to their axle. Or just lug the boat around by hand - kayaks are not all that heavy. A light anchor, chain and warp will cost about $50, but you can use an old codline and a hunk of lead.

Here's a few hints I've learned as a beginner:

* You don't have to go far and you don't have to go deep to get snapper. "Pickers" dominate the harbours, but you'll get your pan-sized feed if you stick at it.

* In the hot summer, don't go barefoot. Wear socks or wetsuit boots, otherwise your feet will turn into boiled lobsters.

* Travel light. Put a few spare hooks, sinkers, jigs, knife etc in a small plastic box; and cut up your bait before you go.

* Take sandwiches in a waterproof canvas bag, not a plastic bag, otherwise they'll end up as part of the general soup of sweltering bait and body sweat, sun cream, blood and fish guts at your feet.

* A short-handled gaff is better than a landing net in the kayak's confined space.

* If you're using an anchor, tie a slack 3m-4m line to the anchor rope 2m from the stern, the other end fastened near your hand, so you can retrieve it.

* Keep your catch in a long-necked bag in the hatch. Don't tie bleeding, dying fish to the side of the boat. Sharks have been known to shadow kayaks, and you might just make their day.

* Tie your paddle to the kayak at all times, and if you want to practice drowning, don't wear a lifejacket.

* Before you set out, go to the loo - thoroughly!

* Strong wind is the kayak fisher's enemy. You're better off staying home, drinking beer and boring the family with colossal fishing yarns.