Geoff Thomas: The X factor

The crayfish was well tangled in the line, but not hooked. Photo / Geoff Thomas

Those fishing in salt water often denigrate trout fishing for its lack of surprise when a fish is hooked.

"You always know it is going to be a trout," is the common observation. True. But those versed in the art of flycasting will argue that, compared to trout, sea fish have no delicacy. They have no style, no grace, no poetry in the water; just brutal energy. Also true.

But the unknown factor that applies when dangling a line in the sea certainly adds an extra tingle of anticipation. And we never ceased to be surprised.

All kinds of strange creatures emerge from the depths, seen first as a blur which morphs into a firm shape. At night, the effect is magnified and the catch may be a silver flash on the edge of the torch light or a sudden revelation right by the boat.

One such recent night adventure started with the target species _ snapper - coming to the boat. The only unknown aspect was the size of the individual specimens.

Then a hooked fish pulled with startling vigour and power, but it seemed too dull for a snapper and various calls were made, of which "Shark!" was the favourite.

But none of the three people on the boat, anchored over a 30m reef off Great Mercury Island in the Bay of Plenty, were even close. What emerged out of the inky water was a long, writhing, black shape. It was an eel, about 1.5m long.

But this was no conger eel, which is a regular saltwater inhabitant. It was a long-finned eel, which lives in rivers, streams and lakes.

The big ones are always females, which migrate up rivers as babies to live and grow for up to 60 years before they mature sexually and start a one-way journey to their breeding grounds in the Pacific Ocean, somewhere near the equator. They join small males, which have spent their lives in estuaries and they head to sea on their hazardous journey to the breeding grounds where they spawn and then die.

The eel we caught would have been a female, so it was released to continue its journey to the tropics.


The next fish to come aboard was a 7kg snapper - the biggest catch of the night.

Later, what started as a gentle tugging on the line turned into a steady weight with no surges or pulls.

"Probably an octopus, was the call. When fishing over a rocky bottom it is common to hook an octopus which has become hooked while investigating the bait. Unless wanted for bait, they are also released, although some strip the skin from the tentacles and pan fry them like squid.

But as we directed the beam of the torch at where the line disappeared into the black water, a shape materialised and quickly turned red.

Splashing on the end of the line was a good-sized crayfish. It is important not to panic and try to lift the prize into the boat, for chances are very good that it will fall off the line. It may just be hanging on to the bait and can be easily lost.

So the net was slipped under the cray and it was soon being examined closely in the light from the roof of the cabin.

This one wasn't going to get away easily. It had the trace well tangled around its legs and body. So it was going home to the pot.

Crayfish will often be attracted to bait, particularly large, juicy bait aimed at big snapper, and they become tangled in the line.

It is more common at night when crays are moving around, but also happens occasionally during the day. A charter skipper in Auckland says his clients often catch crayfish when fishing the patches of foul bottom around the eastern end of Waiheke Island.

"But it doesn't happen so often these days.

"I guess there aren't as many crays there now," he says.

We had heard about it but this was the first on our boat.

There is a slight complication in terms of the law regarding catching crayfish on a line. When diving for crays, technically called rock lobster, a diver may not use a hook on a pole to snag their quarry.
The actual regulation says, "It is an offence to use a spear or any device which could puncture the shell when taking rock lobster or possess any rock lobster which has been speared".

So if the crayfish caught accidentally on a rod has just been tangled in the line there is no problem, providing it meets other regulations covering size, soft shell and carrying eggs.

But if the hook has actually punctured the shell and the crayfish has become hooked, then technically it should be returned to the water unharmed.

This does pose an interesting dilemma for the angler who pulls up such an unexpected prize.