Fishing: Why everyone wants to be like Mike

A Canadian bloke by the name of Mike Moore is way out in front in the New Zealand Big Game Fishing Association national championships after landing two blue marlin and tagging and releasing five striped marlin on the boat Salt Shaker.

A check with the Bay of Islands Swordfish club at Paihia with barman Jimmy - the bar staff know all after the truth serum sets in - reveals that he wears glasses and a baseball hat.

But further investigation reveals it's not that Mike Moore, it's a charter skipper who has never before caught a marlin, with halibut and turbot being his catch.

The Paihia charter boat had headed for the Three Kings and was out of cellphone range and so credentials couldn't be checked. Other top skippers, including Bruce Smith on Striker, had also gone to the Kings despite reports of slow fishing up there.

The bulk of the billfish caught so far in the nationals have been out from the Bay of Islands in 120m off the Ninepin and in 130m off Stephensons Island near Whangaroa. But the talk of the tournament is bad luck stories.

Lots of fish have hit but not stuck. The southeasterly wind in the early days of the contest was a depressant in terms of the fishing. So was the full moon. Now both have gone, and today and the last day on Saturday may be bumpers.

One boat brought a big blue up after a long fight, the tag was struck at the fish but didn't stick and then the fish rolled and swam away. No points.

I'm entered in the contest with mate Lee Wynyard aboard My Mistress. We've had three marlin runs and dropped every one. On day one we fished off the Bay and all the strikes were off Whangaroa. So we moved north, saw nothing, while two fish were caught off Whangaroa that day and 11 off the Bay.

We've had trouble getting petrol for his thirsty twin Mercurys as they don't sell it on the Bay of Islands, Whangaroa or Mangonui waterfronts any more.

The night-time snapper fish resulted in me catching two under-size snapper, two freshwater eels migrating and one blind eel off Tapeka Point. Lee and the other guy on the boat caught nothing. So we moved to deeper water where I also held the record with another under-size snapper and a granddaddy hapuku that was too small to eat.

The live baits caught in Whangaroa Harbour that night died when the bait tank pump was switched off accidentally. Next day we were next to mates on Diomedea when they pulled a marlin out of a bait-ball, the billfish studiously ignoring our lures.

We can't compete with John and Linda Pattinson from the Hokianga Club who have dropped eight during the spell of easterly winds that has allowed boats to get over the West Coast bars, club secretary Linda admitting she knocked the drag loose and caused birds' nests in the line two days in a row.

The blue water, 19.5C and above, continues to move around on the east coast.

The temperature has topped 23C in places, and that's where the fish are being caught. The onshore winds have pushed the blue water close to the east coast, to 100m, and boats that have been going out to 200m have been wasting fuel.

Our only fun so far has been in the radio chatter where boats seek information from each other, along the lines of "Where are you, John?" and the replies such as "we're in 120m and 22 degrees off Steveys." Whenever anyone radios Lee and asks where he is the standard reply is "I'm on My Mistress," or "I'm still on My Mistress." He has a distress call ready, "I'm going down ... "

The marlin satellite tagging programme has been progressing through the nationals, with two fish tagged off Waihau Bay from the Ultimate Lady.

But generally the fishing in the Bay of Plenty and off East Cape has been slow. Sky TV presenter Melodie Robinson had boated a striped marlin in 18 minutes off Whangaroa for the sat-tag programme, the event filmed above and below water for the ITM fishing show. Other fish had been tagged at the Whanganella Banks.

A $1000 prize has been offered for anyone returning one of the sat tags, with photographs requested of the fish and the tag to be left in the tail, on ice.