Fishing: Fred's experience like something from 'Jaws'

By Geoff Thomas

Gone Fishing

Opotiki pig hunter Fred Papunu reckons marlin fishing is more dangerous than sticking wild boars with a knife after a huge blue marlin jumped into the boat with him and his fishing mate, John Tilly.

The drama happened while they were fishing out of Waihau Bay, in the eastern Bay of Plenty, this week in the New Zealand-wide national tournament staged by the New Zealand Big Game Fishing Council.

The marlin struck a lure and jumped towards the boat, landing half in the cockpit, jammed between the transom and the outboard motor.

"It was only on for about 30 seconds, so it was pretty lively," said the council president, Jeff Romeril.

The anglers subdued the marlin, which had wrecked the fuel lines and electrical controls, and the boat had to be towed into Waihau Bay, where the marlin was weighed at 220kg. Because it had not been caught legitimately on a rod and line, the catch was not eligible for the tournament.

Tilly is an experienced game angler, and he ran the boat when his son Jonathon caught a 380.6kg black marlin off the Motu River area several years ago. Last year, he also won the trophy for the heaviest striped marlin caught in the country.

Waihau Bay is one of the most popular fishing bases this week. Local resident Ron Dame said there were 64 trailers parked at the launching ramp yesterday. With no harbour for large boats, the area is limited to trailer-boat fishing and there were reported to be up to 42 boats in the hot-spot 12 miles off the Raukokore River each day during the week.

The yellowfin tuna have been disappointing, but large blue and black marlin are being hooked every day. Another Opotiki boat, Tim Hickey's Browneye, had landed four marlin after five days of fishing, including a blue marlin of 221.2kg on Saturday.

The next day the boat caught the largest marlin of the tournament, a black of 298.8kg. The angler was Turei Stirling, of Te Kaha.

Romeril said there were 1200 anglers from 26 clubs competing in the nationals and the Lowrance tournament being run at the same time.

"The heaviest fish is a 304.6kg bronze whaler shark from Whakatane, caught by Peter Walker, on 15kg line," he said.

"The leading champion individual angler is a young teenager, James Mason, from Whangarei, who caught a 166.2kg blue marlin on 15kg line. These are both pending national records.

"There are a lot of blue marlin around this year, and the seven heaviest fish are all blues. The lightest is 177kg."

He said the other top fishing area was north of North Cape, but the west coast had been very disappointing.

"The tuna are also disappointing. The heaviest to date is 21.6kg, while last year we were getting tuna in the 50 and 60kg range."

A Canterbury angler, Trevor Wilson, landed a 110kg mako shark on 4kg line, to take the individual lead in the shark section.

Points are awarded for both the size of the fish caught and the breaking strain of the line used.

Two Auckland contests are being held to raise funds for charities. An Easter weekend event based at Pakatoa Island is being organised by the Childflight Air Ambulance. Each entry ticket of $75 provides a chance of winning a fishing trip to the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland for four people, and there is $50,000 in prizes also to be won over the three days of fishing.

In the Bay of Islands there is a contest on March 10 and 11 open to women only. It is the 16th annual such contest organised by the Bay of Islands Swordfish Club.

"The emphasis is on having fun, and ladies throughout the country can enter, but most are from Auckland and Northland," said committee member Colleen Botrell.

"The prizes are for more 'girlie' things, like shopping sprees, rather than the traditional rods and reels, and they can stay out on the boats on the Friday night if they like because it is really a break away for the lady anglers."

* The fishing fraternity lost a valuable member this week with the death of Taupo author, fly-tier and outdoorsman Keith Draper after a long illness.

He was well known for his books, his encyclopaedic knowledge of New Zealand trout fly patterns, and his unrelenting work to protect the rights of anglers, bird shooters and deerstalkers.