DESTINATIONS: NZ’s North Island
Fisho’s DEAN BUTLER has caught amazing fish all over the world but he reckons NZ’s Northland is something really special, especially if you’ve got a hankering for big snapper, kings and striped marlin.
THE Bay of Islands, not far from the top of New Zealand’s North Island, is a truly speccy part of the planet and I feel lucky to have had the chance to really check it out earlier this year. Along with the gob-smacking scenery, the friendly locals, and the unlimited fishing opportunities, what impressed me most was just how pristine the coastal environment is. Like those NZ tourism ads claim, the place felt 100 per cent pure.
These days, making a trip to NZ is easier than travelling to the Top End or the west, and, with cheap airfares and a kind exchange rate, it’s surprisingly inexpensive. Plenty of diverse stuff to do, too, but bloody heaven on a stick for anglers across the board, from the diehards who want solid sessions with soft plastics, jigging and serious big game fishing to family friendly angling activity. In fact, NZ’s Northland is ideal if you want to get your youngsters keen on fishing without boring them to death in bite-challenged big smoke locales. Whether you’re shore-based or fishing from a boat, the kids won’t lose patience waiting for a nibble.
The big three species to chase are snapper, kingfish and striped marlin, and while the marlin are primarily a summer run species, the kings and snapper can be caught year round. Obviously, these species can be caught in Australia, too, but you’d be going to catch them bigger than the NZ denizens. A quick glance at the current IGFA records shows that New Zealand has produced the all tackle world record for snapper at 17.2kg, kingfish at 52kg and a behemoth 224kg striped marlin.
One of the great things I enjoyed about the place was that just about everyone was into fishing. It didn’t matter whether you were at the fishing club, the laundromat or the bottle shop, whether you were yacking with a mechanic, a painter, a shopkeeper or a hairdresser – when it came to fishing, they all knew what they were talking about. Another thing that stood out was that even though everyone knew fishing, you never saw too many people out doing it. There were a lot more fish than people and you never got the feeling you were fishing a flogged-out spot.
During the course of our marlin fishing, we never missed out on catching a feed of snapper, whether we were at anchor in one of the many sheltered bays up and down the coast, tied to a fuel dock, or somewhere specifically targeting them. If we jigged for kings, we nearly always caught them. One particular spot, the famous Cape Brett on the southern entrance to the Bay of Islands, always produced at least a few fish in the 12 to 14kg range. On the King Bank, if we wanted a feed of fish, we’d look for a patch of rubble on the bottom and after a few drops we’d be loaded up with fine eating specimens such as hapuka, tarakihi (blue morwong), kings and big nannygai.
Snapper
The legal length for “snaps” – as they’re known in NZ – is 27 cm, but most guys self rule to an even 30cm keeper. I was staggered at the availability of this prized inshore species, and even more so about the sizes expected by the locals. When you hear fishos say they lost count of, or are sick of catching, 20 pounders on plastics, you pay attention. A group of Bay of Island blokes we fished with had all taken snapper to 28 or 29 pounds and were always seriously fishing for a magic 30 pounder whenever they had the chance.
Me? I was happy to catch any size, and I really enjoyed fishing for them with a simple rig – small ball sinker to a 3/0 suicide hook and a strip of squid or cut bait. It was like going back to when I was a kid, except now fishing with the latest in tackle, using light braid over responsive modern rods, and with the next ratatap bite never far away. My offsider, Captain Steve Tedesco, continually shared his finesse with well-presented soft plastics worked slowly over shallow rough ground. His experience fishing for bream on the NSW South Coast really shone in many sessions we had, and his methods were a marked contrast with the techniques the locals were using in the same areas.
Depending on the places fished, most standard techniques worked around rocky washes or with unweighted baits fished through a berley trail. Known as “stray lining”, it’s a favourite way for the locals to connect to a big snapper. Also, with the seeming abundance of snaps, you don’t have to fish from a boat. Throughout Northland, there’s loads of easily accessed and productive beach and rock fishing options to be explored.
Striped Marlin
Nothing can get the heart rate hammering faster than when sleek dorsalled, black-bodied, blue-winged monsters invade your spread. And, while many fishing destinations around the world will produce more bites per day than northern NZ, nowhere on the blue planet will you see striped marlin averaging any bigger than the Kiwi mothers.
Example: In April 2010, the charter boat Primetime nailed a 205 kg monster, at the same time encountering heaps more stripies over 150kg – and I mean heaps. Around this time too, the world-renowned light tackle team aboard Hookin’ Bull, skippered by Captain John Batterton, fishing with Guy Jacobson, caught a fantastic striped marlin of 174.5 kg on 3kg line. These are simply humungous striped marlin.
Traditionally, the marlin season kicks off in early January, gets into its stride from February, and can keep firing right through till June. Like any good marlin fishing destination, it’s all about the availability of bait, and, although it’s a very different striped marlin locale than the NSW coast because they don’t get the massive schools of slimy mackerel, the warmer months bring feed such as skipjack, albacore tuna, jack mackerel (very similar to our yakkas and cowanyoung) and sauries. Bait balls – or meatballs, as the Kiwis call them – are not an uncommon sight when looking for marlin and, although it’s sometimes maddening trying to switch them to a hooked offering, it’s always exciting to witness a pod of big stripies on the surface going psycho for small schools of sauries. Standard fishing methods include lure trolling and live baiting, and when they’re hitting lures it’s a fantastic bait & switch destination. Legendary author and angling adventurer Zane Grey was switch baiting in the Bay of Islands in the 1930s, and it’s still the best way to go.
As well as big striped marlin, NZ is famous for the mighty broadbill swordfish and very few places offer a better chance to catch one. New Zealand’s charter fleet was one of the first in the world to successfully practice the art of slow trolling at night with a downrigger. There’s also been a fair few daytime captures of swords caught deep, and during my time there I heard of more than a dozen encounters and at least four or five swordie captures to 220kg.
Kingfish
Kingfish were the first big fish I regularly targeted as a young fisho, and the thing I always remember most was that they never, ever stopped pulling. After plenty of sessions with them recently, I loved reconnecting with the brutes.
In the Northland NZ, you can jig for kings that average 12kg around structure in waters 20 to 100m+. We also caught them fishing with livebaits and were monumentally wiped out a few times by large fish. Having plenty of opportunities is the key to getting big fish, and there are plenty of big ones to target.
Drifting along a rocky coastline one morning, I was close enough to get a cast in for a snapper and straight off I connected to a fat little four-pounder which was followed up to the boat by two giant kings, easy 60 or 70 pounds apiece. Although I never got a shot at them, I know where you live, bros, and next time I’ll be all set up and ready for yez!
FACT BOX
Seafood diet
AS well as the Big Three, other very decent species abound, and along the way to catching them, you can also end up with some of the best seafood imaginable. Bottom species like hapuka, bass grouper and blue nose can be targeted out wide to break up a day’s marlin fishing, and there’s always a chance for a John Dory or two while snapper fishing, or you can target them from Paihia and Russell wharf. Get below the water and it’s not hard to access crayfish and absolutely unbelievable scallops. Like anywhere, be on top of the local info and know the bag limits and size restrictions for anything you plan to take for the table.
FACT BOX
Fishing NZ
GOOGLE rules these days, and a quick cybersurf will deliver you a wealth of info on NZ’s Northland. As a Bay of Islands base, I suggest checking out the town of Paihia. It has plenty of accommodation options to suit any budget and the town does a great job of servicing tourists. It’s simple to arrange day trips to fish for snapper and kings or to do some diving, and some of the world’s best gamefishing operators are also available there for charters to chase big striped marlin and swordfish. For the heavy-duty stuff, you’re best advised to contact the fishing operators before you leave to ensure you both know what’s expected. A little further north you’ll find Whangaroa, where we spent a lot of time during the marlin fishing season. It’s a superb, fish-filled harbour that time seems to have forgotten. Check the serenity! Kingfish Lodge, accessible only by boat, is located on the southern side of the small harbour entrance. It’s pretty special and you might want to go there just for lunch, or consider spending a whole week there, taking on different fishing options each day. Half your luck.
Some web suggestions to get you started:
www.earlgreyfishing.co.nz
www.captainbucko.co.nz/home
www.striker.co.nz
www.marlinfishing.co.nz/
www.primetimecharters.co.nz/
www.kingfishlodge.co.nz/
www.fishing.net.co.nz/
