Keado’s Weblog

Where to start? Went to Wayne’s house Thursday 6pm to see his new boat fishing rod – his boss was taking 3 of them fishing for the weekend, back Monday. He had a brain flash, made a call and I was in [permission from Kim first of course]. Quick purchase of supplies Fri morning and off to meet the group at 3pm.

The launch, a 44ft Bayliner was moored at Whangaroa, about 3 hours North of Orewa. Arrived around 7pm after a necessary beer stop and group decision to leave in the morning. The pre-launch party turned quite severe and I think I saw 03:40am before putting my head down. Dave [boss] had his on-suite, Wayne a cabin, me the lounge and Chris & Aubrey the upper deck.

I was first to rise 6:15am and although my head felt a little heavy, woke everyone and after final checks, some ice from the local etc, we were off around 8:30am. Dave gave us a run down on how to set the lines & lures for trolling [for tuna and the illusive marlin] and out we went. As we got out into the deeper water away from the protection of the mountains, the swells started to get up around 2-3m. Chris lasted about an hour and he was hanging overboard making noises that just were not human. He resigned himself to the bottom cabin and spend the next 2 days there. Appeared at 7pm Sat and then again 6pm Sunday.

We were on the upper deck when the swells started getting a little larger and my hangover really started to kick in. I might have drunk half the guys but for me, that was a months worth..so it was a quick decision to head downstairs and speak to the waves. When I picked up my head, on the opposite side of the boat was Wayne, talking the same language. The swells got to around 8-10m and at one stage, the kitchen cupboard opened and some plates came crashing out - a little later the lounge table tumbled over.

Wayne assumed the left side of the boat and me the right – not by choice but by the fact that neither of us could move without “that feeling”. Problem was that when you watching 7 lines / lures running behind the boat, you have to concentrate on the changing conditions and obviously the loud “zzzziiiinnnnnggggg” when that lines goes..and the first time it hit – boy did we jump. “FISH ON” was the call to let all know there was a bite and for the skipper to slow the boat down. The 2 middle rods had smaller lures on and trolled on the second wake behind the boat – which were there to attract the kingfish and tuna. The one hit and we were on – Wayne hit the rod and Dave came down to hand out some instructions..me, couldn’t move too well and kind of milled around, keeping close to the side. We landed the 3kg skip-jack tuna with very green faces and it didn’t have time to hit the food bin when Wayne was hanging over the side again. That was pretty much how the day went until around 6pm when we came to a bay where we were going to spend the night. We had a little fishing for snapper before landing the sinker closer – needed some dinner.

Sat ended with a snapper barbe on bread, maybe 1 beer and a joint decision to get some much needed sleep – think around 11pm. Wayne & I did another little fish before dinner and landed 2 very nice Khawai – our first. We left our rods hooked up with some bait in the water when we turned in~Wayne headed up the the bridge as Chris still was not moving. Around 3am I heard what I thought sounded like a “zzzziiinnggg” but after the day, thought I was dreaming…then thought I heard it again…it was faint so didn’t pay any attention..eventually I thought maybe I should check the lines, wasn’t sleeping much anyway. Waynes lines looked like it was out to the left when mine was directly down? I reeled in but not much on the line, most likely the sinker etc…as the reel came about a metre from the boat, it went …fish on! It was a nice size snapper, around 2kg’s..chaos. I called up to Wayne to come bring his fish in…there were all noises from Aubrey & Wayne wondering what the hell was on…then as I get the fish up, the hook slips and it comes down on the slip-way..I wasn’t going to lose it so threw rod down and on knees, after him. IT’S 3:20am!!!! Get hold of the tail eventually and by this time Wayne is down looking at me in disbelief – I put the fish in the bin..Wayne said thanks and off he went to sleep – and so did I with the fresh smell of fish all over me..

Up at 6, woke up the boat at 6:30 [sunrise] and we were having a morning swim to wake up and get going..Chris reluctantly joined in the swim and retired back to his cabin. After breakfast [2 crackers and water] we setup the rods & lures again and headed of for a full day out in the blue water. Fisherman talk about the “blue water” where the marlin and tuna play – we didn’t really see on the Sat [either because of the swells or we just couldn't focus] but Sunday conditions were good and when we hit the blue water, it is incredible. Just before heading off we dropped 2 crayfish pods to collect on the way back.

Nine hours in the deep blue watching lures, re-setting, watching for birds [indication of activity] – Wayne on the left feeling much better but still very sensitive and on 2 or 3 occasions, had to hang his head over – me, by midday I was at 90% and moving etc. Maybe the beer at 9am settled everything. Our motto, if we going down, we’re going down fighting. Caught another nice tune and albacore [type of tuna which we had for a mid-afternoon snack-stunning]. Aubrey and Dave had fully recovered from Fri night and were on another mission, so by the time we rounded the northern tip of NZ, they were feeling pretty good about life. We had another barbe for dinner with some more tuna & snapper-music-fun. Think we hit the beds around 1am but neither Wayne or I were too keen to get too involved in the drinks, although there was still a beer or 2 and some JWalker with coffee to end the day. While we were having dinner, Wayne & I were back on the rods fishing – only some small ones so called it a day.

Mon morning was the last day and we had a long trek back to the marina to pack up, clean up and drive 3 hours home – expected TOA around 10/11pm. After the ritual morning swim, we had to test Dave’s old musket and boy was it a kick. Then there was the 1.77 [no idea what it was] but smooth to shoot. Wayne tried a quick scuba and we decided to take the duck and to to the rocks to look for some paua [type of shell fish]. All 4 of us in and yup, Chris back to his cabin – we putted along the rocks to look for a good spot and found a little cave in the rocks - boys will be boys so we had to venture in…however there is a reason why there is a hole in the rocks – the tide hits it – and took us with it. It wasn’t a “cave” but more a whole but the duck was in the channel. Wayne, in front with me, was over and between the sharp rocks on barefoot etc tried to push us out. Dave was on the motor that was now stalling as it was hitting the rocks / bottom etc ~ great fun AFTER we got out. No danger though – we could had just all stepped off and walked around the side but this was more fun. Found the spot we were supposed to set the boat down and with snorkels and goggles, off we went looking. I was going under and after the amounts of smoking that was going on, the others couldn’t either. We did get one paua [very difficult to find] and some kina [spikey thingy] - we were tired now and getting cold so I offered to retrieve the duck and collect the rest around the corner – no problem, done this many times, yeh right. Got tot he duck around the rocks but the tide was coming in and the duck was now firmly on the rocks. After some pushing, pulling etc I managed o get in semi-clear that I could jump in. Couldn’t use the motor for 2 reasons – 1. was hitting the bottom and rocks now and again and 2. frankly didn’t know how to use the damn thing. BUT, there were oars – how hard could that be. Let’s just say oars on a duck are a little different than expected. I finally worked out that if you do the action, they automatically change angles..this while being pushed and pulled all over the place. It was rough just water coming from all directions. Then, a tide wave came from nowhere and literally picked the duck up and took me all the way out..almost directly to the others. Impressive~professionally done. Back to the boat and geared up and off by 9:30am…rods and lures back in…

Monday was a stunning day and the sea was pretty calm. Even in 250-400m of water, there were very slight swells. It was going to be a good day as we had 2 double hook up’s of tuna on the middle lines, there were more birds around than the day before and we came across a massive pod of dolphins, which is a good sign for tuna, which is a good sign for marlin. Water was 21deg, so a little cool for marlin as they prefer from 23deg.  Wayne & I 100% now, Chris in his cabin and having fun on our way back. By around 2pm we headed inland to the crayfish pods which 1 was empty and the other Aubrey somehow snapped the line – caught on the boat we think but anyway, gone. He wasn’t too impressed but after a taste of some paua, kina and more tuna, we were off on the last leg home. We had pretty much resigned ourselves that the marlin was off as it was almost 5pm and we were 5min from heading inland to Whangaroa, a quick fish and packing up.

Then there was the “ZZZZZZIIIIINNNNGGGGGGGG” – the right outer rod. Only the two inner small lures had take over the three days – this was the big lure. Wayne “FISH ON” and we thought it’s the big one..then the line went quiet. This happened to the others which meant that the fish was off the hook. Dave came down quick and we stood – then “ZZZZZIIIIIINNNNGGGGG” it went. Like a well trained team – LINES IN…BOAT STRAIGHT….CLEAR DECK….the fish went left and tangled the main line with 3 others while coming in..KNIFE….we grabbed lines, reeled, pulled…..CUT…Dave had a bunch in his hand now and I just CUT – one swipe and all lines free…Dave “Neville, unhook line”..Wayne was holding on shouting “LINE GETTING LOW”..there was 800m on the reel and it was getting low… I grabbed the main line to unhook from the outrigger when he went again with the line burning a nice strip along my fingers..I jumped back and Dave jumped in to unhook…right – Wayne into the chair, rod into holder – Dave back up tot he bridge – meantime Aubrey shouting “IT”S THE BIG ONE, IT’S A MARLIN’ - he spotted it around 500m out doing the famous “tail-walk” twice. Once he slowed, Wayne had to get the line back on the reel – REEL IN….FASTER…DON’T LET THE LINE SLACK….REEEEELLLLL…Wayne “HE’S GOING AGAIN”…..FIGHT HIM….after 5 min Wayne looks at me..HELP ME REEL PLEASE…bugger you – it’s you against him…FIGHT THE BASTARD….

After 45min of fighting, shifting the boat to how he was running, we had the ropes rigged to hold him once on board. Dave was skipper, Aubrey was the “gaffer” [massive hook to get into the fish with a rope attached-then attached by a clamp to the support ropes] and I was the “trace” operator [the trace is the part from the rods line to the lure] Once he was close, Wayne couldn’t reel anymore as the clip hits the top of the rod and that’s when I grip the trace [with a little cloth] - DON’T WRAP THE TRACE [around my hand otherwise I'm going in] GAF HIM….PULL TWO HANDS [I only had one little cloth]..HIS MOUTH’S CAUGHT…GAF HIM…Aubrey got him hard and good – we had him. PULL HIS [nose]..I grabbed that long nose and it was like sand paper – bare hands but PULL…Finally, Wayne, Aubrey and me had him on board – We stood dead still – if this thing goes wild, that thing is going to kill us…but he was more exhausted than us and after what seemed ages..we put him down.

Chris had one task – take pics which he still stuffed up. We were wild…whiskey flowed, beers went down..We called the Marlin Hotel at Whangaroa to say we coming in with a marlin, to arrange the weigh station and smoker. We stopped just outside the bay to clean up the deck, put the marlin flag up and in we steamed - all very proud. We were met by the owner of the Marlin Hotel at the weigh station and a little crowd that got a little bigger as we reversed the boat in. Lots of questions, hand shakes, more beers which went on I believe until 5am – by 1am I was finished and was upstairs on the upper level getting some rest.

Lots of apologies to the wives and kids for coming home a day late – but only the 7th marlin this season [year] and second off Whangaroa [about 30 charter boats going out almost daily looking for a marlin - one guy been operating for 8 years and nothing]

Still exhausted and don’t think there will be much fishing for a few days..    

Think I like the late nights – late morning for now…finished up around 00:15 and back at 10am strong. Nice 20min on the treadmill with a 2min slow jog at the end. Need to take it easy this week and even maybe next to ensure a strong base again. Still got Rotorua marathon in the diary for May, so planning & training to start very soon.

Weather due to clear up later after the tail end of the Fiji cyclone which hit more of the South Island yesterday with winds of around 130km/h. Here, wind speed reached around 30km/h, so nothing really just no fishing / boating. Sunny skies for the next few days so hopefully that boat trip not far away – and even a rock fishing morning maybe!   

Need to change the sleep pattern or maybe not? 1am this morning and still too much energy, but that comes at a price in that work only starts around 10am ~ maybe that’s the way it should be.

Just a short 20min walk on the treadmill this morning and good breakfast – time to start the day at the computer. Certainly a new excitement to the start of the year, think I know why but taking each day as it comes and planning for tomorrow, either way..

Over a month since the last posting on my blog and I’m back.

To recap over the past few weeks would just take too long, so lets try summarize:

• still have yet to catch anything over 1kg and boy have I been trying
• got 3 massive strikes on my first boat trip but lost all three
• boat trip just after Christmas was awesome-just mate & myself with some fishing ad island hopping
• not that much training on the road or weights
• got the chickenpox around the 9th Jan which ended the holiday outings.
• got back into training this morning with a 20min slow walk on the treadmill. Hopefully doc will give all clear to start full training again next week
• Had my folks over for 3 weeks which was awesome [and frustrating as kids also had chickenpox so lots of indoor time]
• New business ventures taking shape
• Caught an eel of some 30cm’s – handed him back to the sea although apparently a good feed smoked

Otherwise fantastic weather this summer and now that we are all 98% recovered, end of cyclone Funa hit today from Fiji – so little windy & raining. The end of the week is looking great again and a hopefully a planned fishing trip is on the cards.

Hope everyone had a peaceful New Year and I wish only the best for all.