kjflyfish
04-07-2008, 08:05 AM
My weekend started out with a flight back from Blenheim on the South Island. I was raring to try out all my new gear - fins, mask, and two guns. After a furious round of texting, I was able to find a friend of a friend who was headed to Kapiti Island the next morning. After a couple hours sleep, I met my new dive buddy Olivier (yep, he's french), and we headed off to Kapiti.
The sea was a tad lumpy, but nice otherwise. We had about 30 to 40 feet vis, so we were stoked. First stop was at a place with tons of big bouldery rocks with lots of guts between them. There were fish everywhere and we proceeded to put a hurt on the terakihi. Lots of other fish were around, butterfly perch, blue moki, sweep, red mullet (goatfish), and schools of jack mackerel, just to name a few.
We then headed to the south end to look for butterfish and paua. The butters weren't home, probably due to the mean swell and heavy surge coming through, but the paua were thick and we managed to get a quick few from a huge crack hidden beneath the kelp.
Next stop was a shallow weedline that had an unreal amount of fish. Swarms of blue cod would greet you at the bottom along with some not-so-bright red mullet. There, we ended up with two big blue moki, several nice red mullet and my one blue cod.
Last stop was a spot in 20 meters (66 feet) where I broke out the new 55 in hopes of a kingfish. The kingys weren't home, but I decided that I needed to test out the new gun. I dropped down to the bottom and lined up on the farthest fat butterfly perch I could see (they taste really nice). It was an honest 17-20 feet away. I squezed the trigger and the fish turned over dead - a perfect stone shot. I was ecstatic! I've never used a gun with such an intutive aim and perfect performance (I can toot my own horn, it's my birthday )
Not to be left out, the new 85 turned out to be a laser and was knocking them dead left and right. Again, it was incredibly natural to take aim and it hit dead-on. I couldn't be happier. It's such a sweet little gun and will see lots of water time from now on.
On the way back from Kapiti, I get a call saying that I needed to drive to New Plymouth (4 hrs away) so that I could meet the guys at the boat ramp before dawn to go on a marlin/tuna hunt. Kane and the boys did a good job convincing me and after a quick two hour nap, I eventually met up with them for a drive out to Mt. Taranaki.
We ended up towing teasers for most of the day, always diligently looking out for any sign of a fish on the spread. The only fish sighting was during a quick run to another area. I spotted a ripple on the surface and we stopped to check it out. Thinking it was no big deal, Kane hopped over with the video camera and amazingly, he landed right on top of a huge striped marlin! He yelled for us to get in gear, and while we were going nuts trying to get ready, the marlin slowly faded into the blue. All in all, it ended up being quite a birthday weekend.
The sea was a tad lumpy, but nice otherwise. We had about 30 to 40 feet vis, so we were stoked. First stop was at a place with tons of big bouldery rocks with lots of guts between them. There were fish everywhere and we proceeded to put a hurt on the terakihi. Lots of other fish were around, butterfly perch, blue moki, sweep, red mullet (goatfish), and schools of jack mackerel, just to name a few.
We then headed to the south end to look for butterfish and paua. The butters weren't home, probably due to the mean swell and heavy surge coming through, but the paua were thick and we managed to get a quick few from a huge crack hidden beneath the kelp.
Next stop was a shallow weedline that had an unreal amount of fish. Swarms of blue cod would greet you at the bottom along with some not-so-bright red mullet. There, we ended up with two big blue moki, several nice red mullet and my one blue cod.
Last stop was a spot in 20 meters (66 feet) where I broke out the new 55 in hopes of a kingfish. The kingys weren't home, but I decided that I needed to test out the new gun. I dropped down to the bottom and lined up on the farthest fat butterfly perch I could see (they taste really nice). It was an honest 17-20 feet away. I squezed the trigger and the fish turned over dead - a perfect stone shot. I was ecstatic! I've never used a gun with such an intutive aim and perfect performance (I can toot my own horn, it's my birthday )
Not to be left out, the new 85 turned out to be a laser and was knocking them dead left and right. Again, it was incredibly natural to take aim and it hit dead-on. I couldn't be happier. It's such a sweet little gun and will see lots of water time from now on.
On the way back from Kapiti, I get a call saying that I needed to drive to New Plymouth (4 hrs away) so that I could meet the guys at the boat ramp before dawn to go on a marlin/tuna hunt. Kane and the boys did a good job convincing me and after a quick two hour nap, I eventually met up with them for a drive out to Mt. Taranaki.
We ended up towing teasers for most of the day, always diligently looking out for any sign of a fish on the spread. The only fish sighting was during a quick run to another area. I spotted a ripple on the surface and we stopped to check it out. Thinking it was no big deal, Kane hopped over with the video camera and amazingly, he landed right on top of a huge striped marlin! He yelled for us to get in gear, and while we were going nuts trying to get ready, the marlin slowly faded into the blue. All in all, it ended up being quite a birthday weekend.