Shore fishing in New Zealand

**flipper** · 01-04-2006, 20:43

I am on the look out for new and exciting places to shore fish on this marvellous earth and would be interested in any info people can offer on shore fishing in New Zealand.

I have done the bronzie fishing in Namibia and enjoyed it so much am looking at going back, however, I am intrigued by the prospect of any hard fighting fish trying to pull me into the sea. I read an advert in TSF recently that talked about a fishing comp on South Island (I think) for some really big fish.

Any hints or tips would be greatly appreciated.

**Lionel Korach** · 01-04-2006, 21:20

Hi flipper, there are plenty of opportunities, to landbase fish around the New Zealand coastline, I guess the major target for landbased gamefishers would be Kingfish which are certainly a real challenge to land off the rocks. These fish are best livebaited for which involves fishing live baits under a ballon. The best locations would be in the North Island, places like Cape Reinga which is right up at the top of the North Island next would be Cape KariKari, Cape Brett and then Lottin Point in the Bay of Plenty. Some truly massive Kingfish have been landed from these locations. Pete Lamb is one of the icons of Landbased fishing in New Zealand and he is based in Wellington, he would be worth getting a hold of if you are super serious. The type of tackle you would need: generally a 50 W reel with a suitable stand up rod and gimbal/harness loaded with 24kg line (min)
Hope this helps.
Lionel

**flipper** · 02-04-2006, 08:57

Many thanks Lionel, I have heard some interesting stories about NZ rock fishing and it appears that I have not been misinformed.

I now have to decide between bronzies or kingfish!

Cheers

Simon.

**PanamaJack** · 02-04-2006, 12:28

Hi Flipper
The (Yellowtail) Kingfish may not compare with Bronze Whalers in absolute size terms. They seem to grow to a maximum size of around 150lbs, with the current All Tackle World record being just ounces shy of 115lbs. But in terms of fighting characteristics they're going to be in a totally different league, even though an average sized specimen is probably only 3 or 4' long.

Certainly the costs of airflights to New Zealand now are quite reasonable, if you're prepared to look around. And, leaving aside the rock fishing, the variety of fishing - both inshore and offshore - is something else. Don't know whether you've had a chance to look at Lionel's web site - http://www.memorymakers.co.nz/- they get some fascinating, hard fighting species.
Dave

**PanamaJack** · 02-04-2006, 12:36

PS Flipper. There's an image of a Kingfish in one of Lionel's earlier postings - http://www.worldseafishing.com/forum...ad.php?t=23222. It's the second one in. Unfortunately you can't see the jack-type tail where all the power's generated from.

**flipper** · 02-04-2006, 20:26

Many thanks for the info Dave. I can't do boats unfortunately, however, you appear to have sold me on the idea of the kingfish!

By a quirk of fate I have been speaking to some divers who went to NZ in Feb and they recounted a story of a close encounter with a Mako within 500 yards of the beach. I do like the sound of the place, I thin ksome more research will be needed!

**PanamaJack** · 03-04-2006, 12:29

Now that's one of the species of shark, as a challenge on rod and line, I have a great deal of respect for. Don't get me wrong sharks are great fun and some are extremely powerful. But Makos are a true gamefish and one of the very few species that will jump clear of the water. I've literally seen them, off places like the Azores, come 15 to 20' clear of the water. A lot higher than any Marlin!

And the biggest one I've seen, a real MONSTER - the crewman in Venezuela measured out 5 paces, so somewhere between 12 and 15' long and estimated at over 1200lbs - chased after and 'nailed' a 400lb Blue Marlin I was playing. In one pass it literally shredded one side of the Marlin. The bite radius was awesome.

However as in the title - And not just Makos. This is a short reply I had from one of our Club members about shore fishing in New Zealand and Australia.

The place that is famous for it in Oz is Jervis Bay, which is just south of Sydney. There's a great video called 'Marlin off the Rocks' about it. However, many of the ledges have been closed off and now it gets very crowded when the billfish are around. Apparently a good strike rate is a billfish for every 10 years of trying for them! Port Stephens is very good for the longtail tuna. On the West coast, Steep Point has had a couple of Sails from the rocks I think.

In NZ, there have been several hook-ups from the shore, but no successful landings. Mainly because they've been stripies and have been too big to manage. There are several spots where it's possible, principally up in the far north. A very good place to get info on the situation in NZ is the 'walkabout' (land-based fishing) forum on http://www.fishing.net.nz. There are a lot of very knowledgable guys on the forum.

**Kingfish81** · 09-04-2006, 16:57

Hi Flipper,

I'm the club member that Dave is referring to and there is indeed some mind-boggling fishing available in NZ off the shore, including some ridiculously large bronzies from the shore (plus the very occasional mako if you're interested!). Although Kingies are a very worthwhile target, I spent three months in NZ and a good three weeks of that trying for them around the Coromandel and Far North in NZ and hooked up twice and got smoked twice! Guess the average size is probably 15-20lb.

When are you going to be going out there? Best time is their winter. I've got heaps of info I brought back with me on where and when to go, how to fish etc. If you want any more info, let me know! But www.fishing.net.nz is a very good place to start!

**flipper** · 10-04-2006, 16:54

Thanks kingfish, I was actually looking at going in our Winter, but as yet no decisions have been made

**Kingfish81** · 10-04-2006, 19:54

Fllipper, I am very, very jealous! If you go in out winter you should be able to get some absolutely awesome fishing in! Head to the far north and set up camp! Go for those kingies, bronze whalers and snapper off the rocks! Once you get out there, there's an awesome magazine thing detailing all the best fishing spots throughout NZ called the Fishing Map Guide. It was my bible when I was out there! If you get onto the fishing.net.nz website and are interested, there are a couple of very knowledgable guys who were more than happy to take me out fishing if I were to return to NZ and who know doubt would extend the same courtesy to you. Good luck with the planning!