Report 019 Father and son bonding by Neil Inns... 7th of November 2009

This report is contributed by Neil Inns who is a recent Jetskifishing convert.

Another early start. managed to shock not only my eldest son, Anthony (14yrs old – have you tried getting a teenage boy out of bed?) but also keen jetskifishos Alex, Penpony & Richard – meeting point at Bucklands Beach, 6am!!! After arriving at VERY low tide I put my baby in the water.

I proceeded to almost roll on the ground in laughter as Penpony tried the trailer reversing tango. After witnessing last week’s effort and keen to hit the water, I assisted with some driving. Then along comes Alex... ditto (Andrew there's an opportunity for you to sell Jetskifishing trailer reversing lessons)

We cruised out on an exceptionally flat Tamaki Channel and start motoring to Sergeants. There was nothing on the western side but small sign and no nibblers. Alex and Penpony kept trying while I searched with the fish finder. Eventually we moved to the eastern side of Curusoe. Mo finally joins us after his extended nana sleep. Alex then lands a rat kingi and sends it back home. He next had a good nodder pulling his line and landed that. Richard did the same with a 55cm Snapper. Drifting at a slowish pace was the answer. Sign was good but they weren't proving to be overly hungry. Maybe that Maori fishing calendar was right. Feeling slightly inadequate at this point, out came my secret 14 year old weapon of choice! Anthony may be a teenager with the ability to focus resembling that of an old water damaged camera, but I guess Dad's too much into the detail for him! Here I am, trying to demonstrate how to keep the braid tight, how to feel the jighead, how to feel the bottom, the difference between a fish and snagging, etc... and he secures a strong line puller. Wondering what had hit him, he yells a loud "yahoo" and decides maybe I should listen to dad! Tightens the drag, wind, pull the rod, wind, peel.... go fish go, tighten again, pull, wind.... and eventually sees a white blur surfacing. Have a look at the image from the Tachyon video to see his facial expressions.

Awesome stuff and far better than any PS3 game win! I take over holding the rod once it's on the surface before he drops the rod in as the weight tired him out more than he thought. Ant grabs the net and then tries to point-load the rod, but I lower it down into the water and we remove the jig. Iki’d the fish, on to salt ice (it really does make a difference in maintaining your catch and I won’t use anything else now!) and we're smiling all round. This is what it's really all about.

I then land a Snapper, around 48cm in length. Alex lands another but Penpony is still waiting for his first fish. We head out to the northern end of Waiheke. I land another snapper (48cm) while Alex pulls up a baby gurnard and returns it. Not much else was happening. Alex stays around northern Waiheke as his fuel level is dropping so he eventually heads back home. Not a worry for him though as it had become all quiet for the rest of us. We are off to Durville rocks. Heaps of bait fish but few biters below. I eventually land another good pannie (40cm) and a small 32cm but keep it anyway. Lots of gannets diving but no real workups! After an hour or so catching nothing we head back. Now in to some wind against tide making for a pretty bumpy ride. Gulp Nuclear Chicken 5" is the star of the day. 3/4 and 1oz no.5 hooks due to strong current. Mo suggests we gut our catches before returning. I drop one over the side in the process - thank goodness it was the smallest! We head back home, pack up, and Anthony is able to start proving to the rest of our family that he is a better fisherman than Dad. You know what, I don't really care. When your son catches a fish bigger than you... that's progress!