Fish in the sea?
Nothing- not a bloody thing – not a baby, not a sprat, not even seaweed. The only thing was a shark bit off a hook..
We had a really quiet drink Fri night in prep for Sat morning – everyone ready and on board www.mvveronacharters.co.nz and off 8am. Skipper said hour to destination where they caught heaps the day before – hearts pumping. The cruise speed was 8knots in perfect conditions – slow but ok. We cruised passed Shakespear and around Tiri and…hey..almost an hour…here’s the spot. We left Gulf Harbour and would take maybe 20min in standard 90hp 5m boat – but hey – this is a charter and the skipper knows where the fish are, right?
Motor off, anchor in – BAIT IN- wait…wait…maybe…no…wait..anything.. no.. fish finder shows fish below… Lee’s got a bit .. baby snapper … Wayne gets a bite .. legal but small so back it goes … that was it from 9am to back into port 4pm… we tried another 2 places where skipper said the sounder showed fish but nothing, absolutely nothing. I made a joke earlier that there would be more fish in the sea after our trip because I was taking so much bait – there was. Of the 12 people fishing, one caught a 35cm snapper and father/son caught a few babies and maybe 2 legal + one kahwai [the same size I caught with K off the river wharf]
The boys drank – what else was there to do. I tried everything, diff bait, diff rigs, softbait, another rig, bait presented in a diff way – nothing. After sleepless nights dreaming of the day – nothing. Suppose in a way you pay for what you get – he charges $70 for the day and Damo is I think $120-$150. Damo is another Gulf Harbour operator.
So, after a dismal day and being thrown into the water at the end to celebrate the b/day boy – thrown in with two feeding stingrays I may add & losing my sunnies – we came back to our place for some more drinks [& coffee].
I was treated to a full b/fast this morning after a run and decided on a mellow non-fishing day. Couldn’t help notice the birds and boil-up just off where we fish on the Army Bay rocks during my run! Tomorrow the boys back on the rocks to prove there are fish in the sea! Bugger!
