Jet ski fishing Blog: Report 060 Fishing the far north on the latest Yamaha WaveRunner… 21st of April 2011

It has been a busy last few weeks for me… I have just made the choice to upgrade my own ski to the latest Yamaha WaveRunner SHO Cruiser. A few reasons for making the upgrade of the latest SHO (being super charged) was the factory on board trip computer to research some much needed off shore fuel data for interested Jetskifishos. I kept with the Cruiser model after enjoying the comforts and options I experienced on my previous Cruiser ski. The colour option was a bonus, being a blue metallic, that would be forgiving with my wear and tear experienced on my extreme adventures…
Before venturing on this maiden voyage, I fully rigged the brand new ski with the best of every Jetskifishing option. The ski is now fitted with the larger Ultimate Rod Holder, a Raymarine A50D, Navigation Lights, Dual Battery system, including a CTEK indicator and the most recent addition to any keen Jetskifisho accessories, an Ultimate Catch Bag.
This adventure was to the new territory of the far north area of Rangiputa, a 4-5 hour drive to some awesome fishing grounds.

I had been looking forward to this trip for some time and had done some research on the area to find a convenient base to stay over-night. Within one minute from the proposed launch ramp, I had arranged some well priced accommodation at the local White Sands Apartments.

With not too much mucking around, I was unpacked and eager to get out for a quick afternoon’s fish. The sea conditions were perfect, and even more promising with the crystal clear waters at a beach you would see on a post card.

With a press on the starter button I fired the ski in to life, such a cool sound to hear the purr of the big Yamaha 1.8 engine! An even bigger buzz knowing I had the extra thrill of supercharged power… While enjoying the scenic surroundings and eager to have a fish, I headed out to some pins I had been studying earlier in the week. Keen to target some Kingfish I opted for some jigging and it wasn’t long before I had my first fish hooked up.

After a quick release, I was quickly back on to another, with the size not being much better than ten kilo fish. I decided to try another area in some deeper water, this had some better sized fish, including a Snapper that hit the jig.

Amongst all the action, a shark considering some of my easy pickings! Check out the video of what an exciting day it was!

Once having the company of the shark, I opted for some Snapper fishing closer to the mainland. I found an area holding some bait fish.

First soft bait choice was the Gulp 7” Pink Shine, used with Nitro 1 oz 3/0 jig head. I set up for the first drift as the sun was going down and got a hit on the soft bait to lose the fish with my lack of patience! I casted again and this time I was on, with a nice panny which was quickly released. I kept on persisting for a bigger fish, conscious of the light dictating my return trip back to the ramp.
With one final cast, I was on to a string puller, I could tell it was a Snapper with the solid nods! After a few strong runs and some tweaking of the drag, while hoping my recently tied knots were up to the task, I eventually got the momentum on the fish. After a five minute battle a nice size Snapper was confirmed at the surface, with it hooked inside its lip and some very sharp teeth and to challenge the situation I had to remove the hook as stress-free as possible so I could release the fish. I took a few quick photos and had the enjoyment of seeing the fish power off in the water with a near perfect release.

For me, I enjoy more the sport of fishing and moments like this one that I caught on video make it all worthwhile!

With the sun going down I headed back to the ramp after another action packed day with Jetskifishing. The next morning I headed out for an early morning fish in some atrocious weather conditions, which somewhat slowed my ride out! I persisted with heading to the same pin as the day before for the Kingfish and was rewarded by a solid hook up of what felt like a new personal best! After the adrenalin fueled two minute battle, the fish busted me two minutes in to the fight, was still a hell of a buzz and has me keener than ever on the Kingfish jigging.

With the approaching weather, I headed back with the big swells to call this road trip quits as the weather forecast was not going to improve over Easter.
The trip was a great adventure to fish a different region, all adding to the great lifestyle that Jetskifishing offers. I look forward to the next session up that way, but in the mean time I have some newbie guiding trips booked at my local fishing grounds for this week.