Fishing: Tuna that couldn't be canned

The big tuna are back off Greymouth and the town's dentist Gary Rae is now among those who can vouch for their size and power after playing one for 15 hours before the line broke.

Fishing on the charter boat Cerveza II, Rae and mates left harbour at 11.30pm and were hooked up just two hours later.

After a six-hour grind the fish was coming close to the boat. The anglers and the tuna had a brief look at one another, then the fish peeled out 600m of line in a frantic run across the surface.

"It was incredible to watch," said charter operator Larry Johnston, a Greymouth long-line bottom-fisher who had parked up his commercial boat to chase the excitement.

He estimated the northern bluefin at close to 4m in length and around 400kg.

They never had a second chance at the leader and after playing it for another nine hours the line broke when the fish was still 100m below the boat.

"It was good to cause him some pain in my chair for a change," Johnston said of the dentist's hard work.

"It was a good test for us and the gear."

Earlier in the week the boat landed a 135kg fish after 90 minutes. Johnston said the fish appeared to be around in numbers, with packs of Pacific tuna in the 250kg range and bigger bluefins among them.

In the day he trolls squid lures or game lures. At night the fish come up for chunked baits and a baited hook is thrown among them while they are feeding aggressively.

The big tuna follow the hoki boats working the deep trenches off the South Island.

It is a new fishery as far as amateurs are concerned, not least because of the dodgy weather that often prevails in winter. Cerveza II is a West Australian-designed cray boat refitted to cope with the conditions.

Johnston said he'd had a lot of fun with the big tuna over the years, they'd busted him off on handlines and rod-and-reel lines.

"There's a lot of tuna out there, they seem to be getting bigger and increasing in numbers and I think this fishing is something that's really going to take off for serious anglers," he said.

"The fish are like bulls."

For the rest of us the fishing has been very patchy. On the Manukau Harbour in the perfect weather last Friday with gurnard expert John Moran we landed a good feed but had to try hard and the fish were smaller than we'd hoped for.

At least we scored in the Waiuku Channel - the reports from further out towards the mouth were dismal.

From the Bay of Plenty to the Far North the snapper fishing is much the same, with fish easy to find but hard to bring on the bite. Feed-time seems to be restricted to a short period each day and if you're not there you'll miss out. All the same, some anglers have taken limit bags of good fish in short time when they do feed.

Bay of Island charter operator Geoff Stone said strayling in the shallows at dusk had produced the biggest snapper lately. Schools of rat-kings have been in the Bay but fish over 10kg are rarer. Hapuku are roe-fat and schooling to spawn. It can be hard to find them but once on the fish they are feeding aggressively.

Around Auckland, the Matiatia hole off Waiheke is producing school snapper around 35cm. Use ledger rigs and chunked bonito or pilchard. The shallows around Rangitoto are fishing better than the channels and berley is a must. Drift floating or lightly weighted baits back with it. The biggest fish will take time to come on and will sit well back from the boat. Further out in the Hauraki Gulf try the Ahas, Anchorite Rock and Channel Island off the Coromandel, recommends Lance Paniora on charter boat Smokin' Reels. You will, at least, get snapper in the 35cm range and at times there are numbers of fish around 4/5kg.

From Kuaotunu, Coromandel Safaris' land-based guide Dave "Mavis" Bryant reported excellent catches from offshore islands as the weather allowed. Again the fish are in close, as measured by the annual surfcasting contest that supports the local volunteer fire brigade. Anglers must walk or drive to their spot, no boats, including kayaks, and the fishing is limited to the area from Zane Grey Point at Matarangi to Opito Bay. Winning snapper was 9.5kg.

At Taupo, anglers are awaiting a big fresh to trigger spawning runs. Rainfall had been limited to short bursts and catches were patchy, said DoC fisheries management officer Glenn Maclean.