It wasn't a great weekend for kitefishing weatherwise.
Saturday started off okay but by the afternoon we had 25 knots of southerly wind which thankfully passed through on Saturday night.
On Sunday we had a southwestly wind but plenty of weed in the water after the southerly blow.
A few people fished on Sunday including Tony Eyles, his partner, Jim Edwards and his family.
The Porangahau Beach Marine Gurnard Contest is underway with the first fish being weighed in by Tony Eyles.
It was a respectable size at 1.02kg. This is a great start for Tony to be in to win the Okuma surf set for the biggest gurnard.
I have had no reports of any snapper yet but I am expecting them to start coming in any day.
Attached is a monk fish picture showing Jim Edward's daughter holding up a small monk fish (stargazer) caught on the weekend. It was the first fish caught on their new Dropper Rig.
Photo Right : Monk fish picture
Photo Below : Like I said last week, "the crays are in very shallow." I wandered down to the rocks last night and found these three crayfish queueing up waiting to come home to dinner with me. YUM!
Keep our Snapper Contest in mind, you could win a Flexiwing Conversion Kit for the biggest snapper caught off our beach.
Fish must be weighed in at our shop.
The moki have arrived, two were caught yesterday off the rocks at the southern end of our bay.
These fish can be caught off a set line but don't use a bottom longline rig as you will be fishing around rocks.
The best rig is a Dropper Rig and use crayfish or crab with mussel in it tied onto the hooks.
It appears we have a NZ gurnard record pending. Philip Pearpoint from Sportsworld in Fielding was surfcasting off the Country Club area on the beach and landed a 1.58kg gurnard on a 6kg line a week ago. It has been submitted for a NZ record. Will keep
you all posted on progress.
Look forward to seeing you all on our beach chasing the great fishing contest prizes. For more details about the contests or if you need anything, we have all Paul's Fishing Kites rigs, kites and spare parts in stock.
Regards John Pothan
Texas Monk fish
Ed : Monk fish have a world wide distribution.
The monkfish pic on the left was sent in for identifaction by L. Matthews.
It was caught at South Padre, Island Texas.
It looks to be exactly the same species as the spotted stargazer we get in New Zealand although it may be bigger.
On Sunday October 27th I was at Uretiti Beach with Alan Place. There was a good southwesterly wind and we were on the beach an hour and a half before high water.
We put out two sets of the Bottom Longline and produced no edible fish. We did manage to catch an unusual creature on the last hook, it was foul hooked on the underside
of it's wing.
At first I thought it was a shark, it had a tail like a platypus, was very round and weighed around 35lb. It measured 750mm across the widest part.
At home we looked for the creature in some fishing books, a book by AWB Powell refers to this fish as an Electric Ray (Narcobatus Fairchild).
It has a shark like tail but the front of the body is a large flat disc.
An example caught at Maraetai years ago administered a distinct shock which was transmitted up the line to the fisherman's hands. The circuit being completed from the fact that the man's feet were immersed in the bilge water of a small boat.
More excellent information is available in the Collins Guide to Sea Fishes of NZ.
The electric ray normally uses the electric discharges as a self-defence mechanism but can stun prey as many swimmers and divers have discovered. Divers sometimes see them swimming slowly within a metre of the bottom, over sand, mud or rocky reefs.
When approached they arch their bodies into a strange twist, possibly a warning of their hidden power. Fishermen must treat these rays with respect and care as they are very capable of delivering a shock through the hull of a boat, particularly if there
is water in the bilge.
Alan was very lucky as he only lifted the creature by the tail and put it in the fish bin to take home. The accompanying picture is taken from a book and is a perfect match to what we landed. I thought everyone would find this information interesting.
Regards
Robbie Cullen
Tokerau by Steve & Barbara Johnstone
As predicted in newsletter 36 the weather was great for kitefishing over Labour Weekend so we headed to Tokerau Beach on the east coast of Northland.
On Saturday 26th October we put the Kite Longline Rig out just by the ramp road access. Seven snapper were caught on the first two sets. These fish averaged between
2 and 3 pound. Each set was around 1000 metres out and left to fish for 45 minutes.
We caught four snapper weighing between 3 and 6 pound and two very large gurnard on our last set. This was left for an hour at around 1500 metres out.
There was an incoming tide and a moderate northwesterly wind blowing. We were using salted bonito for bait. Can't wait to get out fishing again.
Cheers Steve & Barbara
Ureti by Matt Rowland
Finally got a steady westerly wind for some sets at Ureti Beach on the Wairarapa Coast. I put out four sets with the Big Dropper Rig and baited up with squid.
Managed to catch one gurnard, two kahawai and one shark during the day. We enjoyed fresh lemonfish and gurnard cooked on the beach.
I met another kite fisher from Wellington trying this spot and some locals who were really keen to try kitefishing the next day.
Regards Matt Rowland
Pukehina Beach by Noel Watson
We had another kitefishing weekend to remember at Pukehina Beach in the Bay of Plenty. We caught 17 fish over two days. Four of the fish we caught were snapper. The remainder were 12 gurnard and one monk fish or spotted stargazer (according to local
public libary books on NZ fish). The gurnard were quite large.
Friday before Labour Weekend there was an onshore breeze and rain. Saturday arrived with a northwesterly breeze straight down the beach with a reasonable rip going the same way.
Managed a fairly marginal offshore angle with the Super Kite and large Skyhook. Used a combination of my father-in-law's homemade salted mackerel, baby squid, and kahawai
for bait.
On the Sunday wind conditions were the same, but the rip and swell had eased a lot. Had to come home on Monday, happy with 17 fish in total over the two days. The Large Skyhook really helped in the prevailing conditions.
Interestingly most of the fish we caught were on the last placed traces which supprised me, especially considering the shallow angle to the beach the line was set.
Regards Noel.
Waipu Cove by Lee Johnson
As predicted in the newsletter before Labour Weekend, Bream Bay in Northland was excellent for keen kitefishers. I never imagined it would be as good as what it turned out to be.
Saturday afternoon I did two sets with my Flexiwing Kite. I used salted bonito but to no avail. Sunday was an excellent morning so my mates and I went for a dive (four
of us). After a fairly cold 50 minute dive we had 16 crayfish between us only to throw all but four back, including one monster which was slightly soft.
Set the Flexiwing Kite and Skyhook out on Sunday afternoon using squid bait this time. The first set produced nothing, but all of the baits were gone. Did a second set, in the rain might I add and 40 minutes later went to pull it in. Anyone who owns
a dropper rig knows that the first few metres of line are easy to pull in until the dropper line angles out behind the kite which increases the drag.
I grabbed the nylon and it was already a struggle. Thinking the worst and hoping for the best we slowly pulled the kite in, it took about twice the normal time to pull it in!! Finally arrived at the dropper line and the kite shot skyward. The dead weight
was still on the line. Thinking SEAWEED we started walking up the beach with the float.
We hauled the hook section out of the surf to find a monster snapper on its way up the beach. I would estimate the weight at around 10 pound, possibly more. Continued pulling the line in and attached to it was the hook section and float of a bottom
longline, with another good pan sized snapper on it. Now that explained the extra weight. Don't know how the line got cut so far down the hook section but some people had a very expensive weekend fishing!
Right enough from me, enjoy yourselves out there! Lee Johnson
Editor
A couple of kites were lost at Waipu and we are wondering if anyone knows exactly where and if there is a snag in the area. We suggest only dropper rig fishers fish here until we find the cause of the losses. Did anyone notice crab pot bouys? Uretiti
and Ruakaka are good alternatives which are close by for kite longline and kontiki fishers.
Bay of Plenty by Andrew Grant
Arrived at Harrisons Cut, Papamoa beach on Sunday. There was almost no swell and a southwesterly breeze, what more could I want? I baited up 25 hooks with squid and off sailed my homemade kontiki.
As I had eaten all of last year's barley sugars and could not find any in the local shop I had to settle for using a butterscotch lolly instead. It took an age for the sail to release so next time I will half suck the lolly while baiting up. It only
took 15 minutes for the gear to go out 1000 metres and one hour for the lolly to melt.
Left the gear out for an hour before pulling it in. I caught two small snapper (both undersize), which hopefully means their big mates will be around anytime soon.
Regards
Andrew Grant
Waihi Beach by Kerry Brear
Fishing out of Waihi over the long weekend I caught ten gurnard and four kahawai.
I put out six sets of my Kontiki rig and used salted mullet for bait. The conditions were excellent, the sea was moderate and the tide was coming in.
Regards
Kerry Brear
Beach Reports
We are getting some great Beach Reports coming in. Thank you to all those who have contributed so far.
Without these reports we have very little information to put into this newsletter. Please take a couple of minutes to fill out the form and let everyone know what fish are out there.
The reports do not have to be recent; if you have information from past fishing trips these can be input as well. Even if you caught nothing on your last fishing trip the information is important as it helps to build a real picture of what is happening
at that particular beach. Any information about your kitefishing, surfcasting, boat, kayak or kontiki experience is welcome. Thank you to all those who have contributed to the database so far.
Once we have enough reports in the database we will post the average catch by month on the appropriate maps. If enough people send reports in you should almost be able to work out what you will catch before you leave home.
