MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Crew hook on to marlin runLate summer and autumn, when the warm currents bring the mackerel into our waters, so the marlin come to feed, and from the Hokianga on the west coast to out beyond the Chicks, local fishermen are out, often in numbers, trying to land a trophy.
Unfortunately if the fish aren’t where the fishermen are there is no chance of landing one, and in such a wide expanse of water there are no guarantees. Local man Simon Bennett has recently been one of the lucky ones. Aboard Simon Carter’s boat ‘2 Seas’ he has already landed two for the season though doesn’t take all the credit himself. “We’ve been doing this for a while,” says Simon “and Simon (Carter) always has his gear in top order, traces checked, leaves nothing to chance and pretty much knows the areas the fish will be.” His first one was early March off the Hokianga and tipped the scales at 134 kg. Last weeks catch came from beyond the Chicks and weighed just over 100 kg. Both were striped marlin. “There were around sixty boats in the area at the time so it’s just hit and miss who gets the strike. I just happened to be on the rod when this fellow struck.” Simon explained that this latest one was tail-wrapped which meant it may not have survived were it released so it was quickly put on ice then, once on land, quickly delivered to local guru ‘Bonfire Bob’ to attend to the cutting down and smoking process. “It was a beautiful fish. A lot of steaks and a lot of pate,” says Simon. Shortly after this landing the crew hooked another one, somewhat smaller, which was tagged and released. There have been almost twenty hook-ups recently so expect to see some more trophies landed in coming weeks. Pictured, skipper Simon Carter (left) and Simon Bennett after weighing in. - Rob Pooley |
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