Report 030 Man verses Wild - Overnighter... 12 to 13th of February 2010

With the Jetskifishing community growing so quickly, some of our forum members were eager for an overnight
adventure. We planned the event well in advance, with contingency plans in place, for any sudden changes in the weather. The destination was a beautiful bay at the bottom end of Waiheke Island. There had been plenty of anticipation for this trip and the weather forecast was not playing ball, as the wind was heading straight our way… For us die hard Jetskifishos, the conditions would need to be extreme to postpone this trip… With our schedule of 7.00 pm arrival at the beach, the freedom of each having our own fully kitted skis, meant finishing work at different times, was no problem. With all of us leaving at various ramp facilities, made for an interesting challenge of catching fish on your way to the overnighter spot. This man verses wild challenge was easy pickings for our eager team of Jetskifishos. All of us were armed with Gulp soft baits, with all the riders who had time to fish, catching plenty for our nights dinner... You can see on the map below, I launched at Bucklands Beach, heading via Motuihe Channel with a stop at Durville Rocks on the way.

I landed this healthy pannie at Durville, using a 1 oz Berkley jig head, with a Gulp New Penny /Swimming Shad.

Once this fish was in the chilly bin, I met the early crew at the beach, with some already settled in, unpacked, with their land claimed and tents pitched. The photo below does not do justice of how wet and challenging the conditions on the way out were. I fortunately had the comforts and warmth of wearing my Sharkskin wind proof clothing, it felt great turning up to the beach without the usual, cold and wet feeling that you get when under prepared…

After a few introductions, we were soon comparing notes and finding out how well we had all done with our fishing abilities. The skis were then beached for the night as the high tide peaked, making for a safe night leaving the skis on the sand till the morning.

So much for being man verses wild, Mark and Neil were desperate to be reunited with technology!

The fish was filleted, with the easy use of having a removable chilly bin from the “Ultimate Rod Holder” fishing kit. Next, to be cooked by the possible next NZ Master Chef…

Mark had his full array of ingredients, including his much talked up, cajun spices. I can confirm the talk was well justified, was great eating as everyone chipped in doing their part. Nothing like fish between two slices of fresh bread! With a few drinks, good food and many laughs, everyone was enjoying our much anticipated overnighter.

By this stage the texts had come through of the apologies of those unable to join, some more credible excuses than others… These events are not to missed, always great meeting new people with common interests with the passion and understanding of how much fun our sport is.

After dinner we moved down to the safety of the sand, with a controlled camp fire. A few stories were being passed and next Mark brings out the marshmallows! Once we got over our macho pride and the Brokeback mountain jokes, we were all toasting marshmallows. I was quite shattered after a long day, headed in to my not so luxury camp suite. Was amazing enjoying the tranquility of peace, with only the moon light with bright stars, away from the bright lights of the city.

In the morning we were all up bright and early, about 5.30am, even knowing some were up gas bagging till 1am... It didn’t take long and we were all packed up and leaving. The area, was left as it was on our arrival, hoping to venture back later in the year. We then we ventured off to catch some fish before heading home. Most of our group headed back via Motuihe, to stop in that area for a quick fish. I went to the bottom end way round, with a quick stop for a jig. The result was great, hooked up on this Kingfish, adding to an awesome trip, taking home a feed of fish after fun night away.