Report 062 Some people are just real plankers... 9th of June 2011 (Day 1 of 3)

With an open invite to a large group of my keen Jetskifisho clients and friends, we confirmed 17 anglers eager for some time together enjoying Jetskifishing. This adventure required time off work for most, not a hard decision considering the fun and experience we have on these trips. The weather forecast was not that glam, yet all were committed and went ahead with meeting at BP Papakura, 7.15am Thursday morning. The meeting point was a great opportunity to be introduced to any newcomers and have a bite to eat… As with these events, having a large group of males we had a sporting wager between the group, to add some more fun into day one’s fishing.

The weather forecasted for day two was for huge swells and high winds! As we were all prepared with the appropriate safety equipment and there was safety in numbers on reliable skis, we all decided to brave it!

Cheers, Andrew

Some of the group were over eager and were waiting at McD’s well before 7, so it wasn’t long and we were off on our mini convoy to Tairua. Was a good feeling hitting the road early knowing we were about to be fishing within 2 hours! The drive down to Tairua is a comfortable distance and always has some interesting sights along the way.

Around 9am and our convoy rolled in to Tairua, I had arranged a group booking rate at the Pacific Harbor Lodge which had all the local conveniences that we required.

We already decided before heading to Tairua who was sharing units with who and once we were checked in, it was time to get the skis prepared. The common fishing tackle including soft baiting, live baiting and mechanical jigging gear, for some out-wide Jetskifishing around the Alderman Island’s. As we are now fishing winter months in New Zealand, we are clothed appropriately with thermal apparel, most choosing the quality Sharkskin brand. If you are not warm on the water, you simply won’t enjoy the experience, so call me if you want to learn more to do it once and do it right.

All of us had plenty of fuel, and were well prepared for a chance to land a big fish! We launched by the local dive shop which is a simple beach launch in a tide effected area the leads to the Tairua bar. Note for the newbies, stick to the markers when heading out at low tide (sorry reader what goes on tour stays on tour on this incident!).

We had a tentative plan of heading to common areas together, but once the adrenalin kicked they were all off like the start of the King of Jetskifishing Tournaments!

Some of the group went towards the Alderman Island’s and fished around the scenic areas targeting Kingfish and Snapper…

Some caught more than they asked for, Neil hooked a small shark to his disgust!

The group that I led out, went thirty five kilometers off shore, targeting some Kingfish spots and wasn’t long till we had some action… Peter landing his personal best off a ski on this adventure.

Our group had plenty of fish on, no record breakers and plenty of the menacing Barracuda. I also had some unwanted predators who decided to take advantage of the rat Kingfish that were plaguing our jigs!

We caught and released plenty of fish, not to forget losing a few solid fish to damaged fluorocarbon after the constant hook ups of the cuda!

With everyone having some fish it was time to head back after another fun day with Jetskifishing. All of us arrived back safe and sound to compare their fishing stories after a challenging day on the water…

Then unexpectedly, a real planker! In fact the first Jetskifishing plank, many had laughs from that one!

After putting our fish on ice, we all got cleaned up to head out for dinner at the Tairua Landing. We split up the winnings, with the heaviest fish of the day going to Peter, catching a personal best with our journey out wide. The evening flowed with plenty of refreshments and a generous three course meal made for a great night catching up with our fishing stories.