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Success stories have been pouring in during what has already been a bumper fishing summer.
Game fishing out of the Manukau on the West Coast has been prolific. Mike Shepherd of Westgate Bait and Fishing said marlin fishing this year had been as good as he'd ever seen
it.
The baitfish have been massing at the 100m mark, about 20km out, and the marlin had showed up in the first week of the new year. Last Saturday, during a Muriwai Gamefishing Club event, three marlin were weighed and at least two more were tagged.
There was also a record for a spearfisherman from the boat Ocean Hunter, who boated a 150.5kg stripie.
That catch was believed to be a New Zealand record and just 4kg off the world record.
A marlin was also apparently hooked on soft plastic bait by an angler using a new generation 4-8kg Synit rod. The angler fought the fish for half an hour before his 20kg tippet busted off.
There has also been plenty of action on the East Coast, where striped marlin have been patchy but plenty of big blues have turned up.
Fishing on Major Tom II, Swedish tourist Johan Rodin got more than he bargained for. Rodin bagged a 391.2kg blue, which skipper Geoff Stone said could well prove to be the biggest blue ever caught on a lure in New Zealand.
Rodin's fish is being mounted and sent home to Sweden. The bill for the taxidermy will be about $3000 to $4000 and the cost of transporting it to Sweden could be as much again.
"The cost of the charter was the least of his worries," said Stone. "He's also got to think about where to put it, so he'll probably have to build a new wing on his house."
The prevalence of Blues - "the freight trains of the sea" - meant anglers should ensure their gear was in tip-top shape and resist the temptation to go too light on their line strength, Stone said.
Rodin's experiences certainly put my own in perspective. Having bagged my first 9kg snapper over the holidays, I firmly intended to have it preserved and mounted. On receiving a quote from a taxidermist for $580 and being told by my wife that the only place "that thing" will ever hang is in the garage, I was forced to reconsider.
I'm still reconsidering.
A useful tip from the blokes at Hunting & Fishing in Blenheim was to spray the fish frequently with water during the freezing process - the sort of sprayer hairdressers use works perfectly.
The coat of clear ice that forms around the fish protects it from freezer burn until you can either talk the wife around or pilfer $500 out of the kids' college fund without her knowing.
For now, I've gone for the cheaper option, which is to leave my prize specimen in the father-in-law's chest freezer and just invite anyone who drops by to have a look.
Snapper fishing in the inner gulf continues to be excellent. The fish are moving about a bit so last week's hot spot might have cooled off by this week.
That was certainly the case with the Matiatia hole and the flats out from the Motuihi Channel last week, where the birds that had been gathering had dispersed, the workups had vanished and fishing that had been outstanding had cooled off.
"You should have been here last week," was the comment from several boaties in the area.
Another bay at the bottom end of Waiheke that had been consistently producing 2kg to 3kg schoolies was taken over by nursery fish when I returned this week. But I only had to travel a couple of kilometres to find the fish again.
If you're after some excellent shallow water action, check out the bottom of Ponui. There are plenty of fish holding around the sandspit. Try casting a soft plastic close to the structure marking the channel at the end of the sandspit. There should be plenty of schoolies around and, in just 3m to 4m of water, they certainly give a great account of themselves