Report 068 Early morning fish before work... 13th of August 2011

With a busy week of work preparing other Jetskifisho’s skis, I was eager to get out on the water and have a fishing session of my own. My only opportunity was for a quick solo mission before work on Saturday. I had been listening to the VHF, keeping constantly aware of the cold front sweeping up the country. Fortunately there was a small window first thing in the morning with the forecast of variable light breezes!
I was up at first light and looked out the window to see a thick fog welcoming me for this session. There was no mucking around and with a quick snack for breakfast, I was soon on my one minute drive to the Bucklands Beach boat ramp. Plenty of other locals had the same idea, there was quite a queue building at the ramp. With a bit of patience I was soon in the water and heading out in poor visibility with my navigation lights beaming brightly in the thick fog. Without the luxury of the Raymarine A50D GPS it would have been a canned mission, I fortunately had help with the mapping to asssist with navigation. It was a slow, safety consious ride out and once arriving at Motiuhe, there was a break in the fog, yet still thick over the islands.

With the improvement in visability I could finally maintain decent speed and headed for the Noise’s.

There were plenty of boaties fishing the same area, which made it difficult to set my drift over a mark I had logged in my Raymarine. There was plenty of sign, but the fish seemed pretty picky and they were not serious on the bite. After fifteen minutes with no fish landed, I scouted the area, soon coming across another keen Jetskifisho also struggling over by the Haystack. I was still not content and was starting to think it was going to be one of those hard days fishing and went back to basics, deciding to fish the familar area of the Ahaaha’s. My first choice bait of the day was the Gulp - Curried Chicken/Crazy Leg and it didn’t seem to be firing today! All I was after was a couple of fish for a feed, something for breakfast over the weekend and a Snapper for the smoker after my kids continual requests... This was all looking a tall order, knowing I was also meant to be at the Jetskifishing Store that morning. I had decided one more spot would be the call with a change of soft bait colour and headed to some structure just off Maria Island. Within one hundred metres from the proposed spot, I could see another Jetskifisho also soft baiting the area.

After some quick introductions, I soon found out it was Johnny who had headed out from Maraetai Beach. I thought it would be rude not to join him for a fish and carried on fishing with the change of bait to the Gulp Lizard – Green Pumpkin. Johnny had mentioned he had been doing well and had a few already in the chilly bin, including a nice John Dory.

I could see from the sign, on the sounder it was looking pretty likely for some fish soon to be added to the bin. As I was watching Johnny get a few more hits on the drop, I also casted my line out. The trick was to cast about twenty metres ahead of the ski and as it was sinking to the depth of twenty eight metres, the Lizard bait was thumped! The fish was pulling plenty of string and this was the stage I knew it could be a worthy fish for the smoker. There was plenty of weight on the rod and the Daiwa Sol had the perfect arch with rod tip bent in to the water, with the familiar nods from a Snapper doing the head shakes! I had a good ten minute battle, with me starting to show confidence towards the end of it, starting to talk it up with excitement as the fish was getting reeled to the surface... I finally spotted some colour and we both confirmed it was a nice fish. The fish was swiftly netted and secured at the ski! I was amazed that a slow fishing session could quickly change with a bit of good fortune...

Knowing I was after a fish for the smoker, I reluctantly added it in the chilly bin, as I normally release all my larger Snapper caught. I continued fishing for another ten minutes and with another Snapper quickly caught on the Lizard, I then called it enough fish for me.

Heading back the conditions were making for a nice ride to keep my prized catch Snapper in top condition.

I was accompanied by the Dolphins to top the day, which is always a welcoming sight to see swimming beside the ski.

As heading back through Motuihe, I could see the fog was still thick over Auckland city. It was in fact thicker than when I had left earlier in the morning, so I needed to drop back my speed once reaching the poor visability.

As approaching the Tamaki River the fog created an eerie feeling and it was necessary to retrace my GPS track, as the visability was down to about fifty metres, as I tried to spot the ramp I had launched the ski at.

That was another great day on the water, showing the importance of changing soft bait colours when finding it hard on the bite. Do the miles and get the smiles, thanks again
to Johnny for putting me on the fish.

Cheers, Andrew

Report 067 Out wide chasing the work-ups... 1st of August 2011

Here was another one of those dream winter days Jetskifishing... I decided to head out with Brent, one of the recent converts from a boat to a jet-ski, who is now enjoying Jetskifishing. We could not resist the forecast of light winds for a trip from Bucklands Beach to the top of the Coromandel. We launched at first light at the local public boat ramp and I started the timer as we left Musick Point. The trip across is always a spectacular ride, even more exciting with the beautiful sunrise.

We reached the destination of the first fishing spot within one kilometre from Channel Island, at the top of the Coromandel. With the fast ride out we made the ride over, in under fifty minutes.

After a short session of mechanical jigging for Kingfish with no success, we decided to do some soft bait fishing in the deep water trenches.

The was no shortage of fish, including some cod on the soft plastic baits. We opted for the Berkley 4 ounce Nitro elevator head, to fish the deeper water and it wasn’t long till the first Snapper was on board.

With a few fish in the chilly bin we decided to scout the area for some work-up action and after a fifteen minute ride we were in the heart of it!

This still is the coolest experience for me with Jetskifishing, seeing nature at work with dolphins hearding the fish while Gannets are snatching the fish from above! With this being a first for Brent, he could not believe his eyes, fully appreciating the lifestyle and opportunities we have with Jetskifishing.

There was plenty of Snapper beneath the Kahawai and it didn’t matter what colour soft bait we threw at them! We were both using the large Gulp Grubs and landed some nice eating fish to take home.

I lost a beauty while being more concerned taking photos than fully concentrating on the fishing... Brent just kept catching, including his personal best Snapper on his new Yamaha WaveRunner going eight pound.

We eventually had enough of the work-up fishing and decided to head to Anchorite Rock, to see if any Kingfish were there. The conditions got better as the morning went on, but no Kingfish to be found on this ocassion... With both of us having plenty of Snapper for dinner, we cruised back towards home with a quick stop the Ahaahas Rocks.

With Brent and I reflecting on another amazing experience and talking about living the jetski fishing dream it was time to call it a day, so we enjoyed the horsepower fix with a fast ride back to Bucklands Beach.

If you are considering getting started with Jetskifishing, check out Brent’s and other testimonials about their experiences, after buying a ski or accessories through the Jetskifishing Store.
http://www.jetskifishing .co.nz/news/testimonials
Cheers, Andrew