Fishing Off Great Barrier Island In New Zealand

Can you tell that we are psyched up to get out there get fishing. William (far right) has been telling me about how great the fishing is in New Zealand for years and I know I was ready to wet a line. No, that's not a beer in Williams hand, it's a TUI! Uncle Ed (far left) did not embark on this trip with our motley crew, he was our driver. I just hoped he'd be there to pick us up the next day. The plan was to take about a two hour boat trip and fish just off shore of New Zealand's Great Barrier Island. Spend the night on the island, and then fish our way back home.


I'm not familiar with a single fish on this list. Heck, I've only heard of Snapper, Mullet, and of course Scallops. I used to wear a Mullet, and fried Scallops are better than Shrimp (at least the ones at Hagens Fish Market on Montrose Avenue in Chicago). lol



This is the boat. It ain't really big, and we're going on the ocean, really! Heck I used to have a boat on Lake Michigan bigger than this. I'm getting a little worried!



We booked through Ultimate Charters out of New Zealand: http://ultimatecharters.co.nz
I have to admit though. This boat is built like a tank. The aluminum work looks like it's 1/2 inch thick.



The Auckland city scape. Really looks like a great place.



This boat does move. It has a diesel engine in it, but that's all I know.



Beautiful islands everywhere. I'm thinking every island we approach is the Great Barrier Island,but it's not. We have to keep going and keep going. Luckily the waters are pretty calm.



The boats layout is pretty nice. Bait table in middle, three guys per side fishing pretty much straight down. Throw a squid on a two hooks with a heavy sliding weight on it (the weight weighed about a pound if not more). Drop it down to the bottom, anywhere from 100 to 200 feet down, and wait for the bite.



And you never knew what you were going to catch. This little beauty had poisonous spines. Had to use a towel to handle it. The captain said we caught roughly 12 different species on this trip over the two days.



Here's William with one of the first keeper Snapper. We caught a lot of these, over and under the minimum length. It was fun catching these. I compared it to Crappie fishing. Not super huge in size (at least in this days catch), but plentiful and fun. Supposed to be good eat'in too. The real trick catching fish in these waters was to feel the bite (sound familiar). When you felt the bite, you had to let out a little slack, then set the hook hard. For the most part, if you just set the hook simply when you felt a tap, you would pull up an empty hook. You had to give them a change to get the hook into their mouth.



Some real pretty fish for sure. This is one we threw back.



And strange fish. Look at this thing. It's so cool, colors, wings, wow.



This was the first days catch, although we did eat a few on the boat which are not included here. Our captain (Andrew) made Ceviche using vinegar and lemon juice with small pieces of onion and tomatoes. It really was good. I want to try it with Crappie. Although it's made with raw fish, the fish is kinda cooked (cured) in the acid of the vinegar and citrus, as it does begin to appear white especially around the edges.

Also missing from the above picture are a couple Blue Cod we caught which were being kept in the live well. We planned to use them as bait the next day to catch some "big boys".



We really roughed it on the island. We stated at a house fit for a king, and his entourage. It was gorgeous with a multi bedroom guesthouse and all. I just regret not being able to see it during the day. We were off fishing again at 4 AM to catch some of the big boys. Kingfish, or Yellow Tail Amberjack (as Shuorc tells me they are called down in Florida) is what we will be after tomorrow.



While at the residence, we showered up and fried us some fresh fish. Tasted great, on buttered bread it was only slightly better then the Ceviche in my opinion. It was all good.



The owner of the home's two daughters received some Crappie.com goodies they seemed to really enjoy before I hit the sack. We were getting up early, and I was beat tired. My back especially need a rest to make it through the next day. Little did I know how true this statement was.

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