Fishing: Maybe next time my luck will shine

The Manukau Sports Fishing Club held its second annual Great Barrier fishing contest last weekend and my best pieces of luck were not drowning, catching pneumonia or breaking anything other than a pohutukawa tree when we drove towards a mooring with rods in the rocket-holder.

But it was a good learning experience for the late-night discussion where opinions on everything from the pros and cons of iki-killing fish to snapper secrets, secret spots and best baits were chewed over at length.

The weather was supposed to be kind with a fat high pressure system sitting over the country and at 4am we headed to Channel Island off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula. First drop, a big hit. A small grey nurse shark. An omen for the weekend.

We caught and released some small kingfish and landed a couple of pan-size snapper. Then the rod bent seriously with a bigger kingfish. After five minutes on 15kg gear, snap! And reeling in revealed that the snap-lock swivel had been straightened out - another sign of our luck.

The contest was based at a houseboat in Port Fitzroy, and 20 boats - from 6m tinnies to 16m gin palaces - and about 70 anglers took part, one woman among them.

We'd been planning to go to the Mokohinau Islands on Saturday but on Friday night returning anglers told of nothing but barracouta. At least we hadn't seen any, we thought - we'll stick with the Barrier.

Next day we went to Arid Island. First drop, bang! A good play suggesting it was a largish snapper. But there was no double-nodding of the head. Another rat-king maybe? Then the long silver of a barracouta appeared. In the next hour we moved twice but caught nothing but members of the razor gang, along the way losing about 20 flasher rigs, four jigs and a fair few sinkers and hooks.

After hard fishing all day we returned with some trevally in the 2kg range and a 5kg snapper for skipper Lee Wynyard.

Turned out Mark Savelkouls went to the Mokohinaus and he and two mates caught fish in the 8-10kg range, including Savelkouls' contest winner at 10.4kg and the third-best, 9.5kg. They used strips of fresh baitfish floated back to rocks in five to 20m of water and lots of berley.

Only three kingies were landed and this was a group of experienced and dedicated anglers, suggesting how hard the fishing was.

The biggest was 15kg. Two mates from Little Huia landed two of them near the contest site. The skipper didn't bother to have his weighed because he thought it was too small to compete but his mate, who had the smaller of the two, weighed in and collected a prize. The weather had put hapuku grounds off-limits.

Lee and I were relieved we didn't take the "muppet award" for driving into the tree, an act thoroughly enjoyed by those who had beaten us back to base and a beer.

The All Blacks went down well on Saturday night on boat TVs. Those who listened to the radio used the houseboat as a forum.

The iki-kill method became popular when Japanese buyers began insisting on it in the late 70s, the theory being that the fish die instantly and do not spread adrenaline and other enzymes through the flesh. But some at the contest now swear against it, saying it opens a hole near the head which allows bacteria in and that it courses blood through the flesh. Better, they reckon, is to throw the fish immediately on ice or into a slurry. When time allows, they should be packed upright so any excrement runs down, with ice between each fish. Some claim the fish last this way for 10 days when away at contest.

The better kahawai season was commented on, with the absence of purse-seiners in the Hauraki Gulf noted and query as to whether that was a ploy because of the heat over the quota issue.

The general theory was that the points fish better than the bays at the Barrier. Channel Island is best over summer, up to April/May.

The difference between Hen and Chickens and the Mokohinaus is about 5kg in snapper or kingfish terms. Many of those at the contest normally fish the west coast over summer when easterly winds are kind.

They target the runs of skipjack and albacore tuna and store these in chest freezers for baits in later months. Albacore, which I eat when I catch them, is as good a snapper bait as bonito some reckoned, being oilier than it appears.

Then contest organiser Bill "Billfish" Ryan appeared from the big boat after the game and retired to bed, within minutes delivering a roaring snore. The forum decided his name should be changed to "Broadbill" after the rasping saw, the name also fitting his bulk.

Ryan, with some help from fishing.net.nz, did a good job - good food, no dramas, no injuries and everyone had a whale of a time. We came home with two bins of snapper, some trevally and kahawai, a couple of leatherjackets and red moki, a heap of new knowledge about the Barrier and desire to do better next year.