Fishing spots: When in doubt, ask Mavis

By PETER JESSUP

When fishing with Mavis it's wise to take his advice, especially when he says "don't look up".

Dave Bryant, who acquired the nickname Mavis during his Army years and hasn't been able to get rid of it, is one of the best anglers from the Coromandel area and the best rock fisherman.

He fishes more days than not, imparting knowledge as a guide through his fishing safari company.

Ignoring his call not to look up means a nervous day's fishing.

The ledges of the Coromandel Peninsula and its islands are constructed of volcanic spray and the harder bits hang out of the soft sedimentary rock like lollies on a melting ice cream.

The Coromandel sits astride an area that during the formation of New Zealand was a centre of extreme volcanic action, with molten magma bursting through tears in the Earth's crust caused by tectonic movement.

Just off the Coromandel, the Indian-Australian plate rides over the Pacific plate and the action is marked by rhyolite pinnacles formed as acidic lava hit the sea and quickly cooled.

It's perfect fish habitat. The coastline and sea floor is as rugged as it gets. Bryant knows it well. He's dived below ledges where mates were fishing to watch the behaviour of the snapper and other species.

Best fishing methods for the Coromandel are straylining and live-baiting, he says. For the former, he has a single large hook (8/0) with a quarter-ounce ball sinker running free above it, on a trace of 22.5kg to 36kg line between half and one metre long. Use a swivel or tie direct to the main-line.

Live-baiting, he has a needle-sharp 9/0 or 10/0 hook on 2.5 to 3m of trace of 68kg to 90kg line, with minimum 24kg main-line. Use a good, heavy-duty black swivel (silver flashes in the water) with a balloon tied to the swivel on the mainline loop.

Kingfish and other gamefish take baits head-first so the scales don't stick in their throats; therefore, the hook should be presented with barb out, facing the head. Push down through the flesh behind the dorsal fin.

Kahawai and jack or slimy mackerel are best. Don't be afraid of using big baits, says Bryant. And do make sure you get plenty when they are on because once the kings come you won't catch more.

A decent berley trail is a must for either method, he advises. He minces his old frames and fillet trimmings (excluding snapper offal, which seems to scare the fish away), along with pig pellets and pilchards.

Scattering pellets or chunked pilchards across the water to imitate the spray of baitfish can bring on the bites. The bait doesn't have to be far out off the rocks. Most big fish take the bait right at your feet.

Mavis has hooked and lost three marlin this way, two of them big blacks, twice spooled, once tip-wrapped and busted off.

Water temperatures off the peninsula have been rising steadily and albacore and skipjack tuna are out in force off Mercury Bay.

The snapper fishing sometimes hits a lull for a few weeks at this stage of the spawning season - the first breeders are spent and headed for deeper water and the second wave is waiting for the first signs of cooling and is too skittery in the calm, clear waters of high summer.

But holiday campers have been doing all right off the rocks with the pan-size fish and there are some monsters still around in the deeper waters. A camper at Kuaotunu landed a 14kg fish and a snapper of 10.4kg won the Matarangi tournament.

Plenty of kingfish have been seen off the deep water points. Tarakihi are still being taken around the deeper pinnacles.