Lament for a lost net

Farewell, dear net.

We had some good times together. Alas, due to my absentmindedness, you were left at the edge of the river.

I came back to look for you! You were gone.

I hope you were picked up by some avid young fisher, and have many more good times in the years to come – perhaps even more exciting than the kahawai (plural) and trout (singular) you helped me land.

While I do have two replacements coming, to see which best fills your empty spot in my pack, neither will ever truly take your place, but merely offer a new alternative to what is lost.

Farewell, dear net.

Monday Fish #12, Whites Bay

Monday morning was very calm – there was almost no discernable wind, and the small waves lazily dumped onto Rarangi Beach. A seal swam north, close to shore.

It was seldom as calm as this, so I decided I should launch the dinghy for a row to Whites Bay and see what I might catch on the rod.

Before setting off, I attached the small unused anchor to the line, and stowed them in the newly-designated anchor bag. Chapman’s book, Piloting – Seaman & Small Boat Handling provided me with the diagram for the Fisherman’s Bend (or Anchor Bend). My version of the book is the 55th edition from 1981, the latest appears to be the 66th edition from 2009.

I also had my fishing bag and my two piece rod setup that I had been catching kahawai with lately. The rod was in two pieces to be safe in case the boat overturned while launching, but set up ready to fish once unfolded.

Launching went ok, although one of the waves splashed in before I was able to get out past them – there is quite an undertow and I don’t think I’ll bother trying to launch on any day where there is anything more than a slight swell coming in. In fact, I plan on launching from Whites Bay next time.

One of my oars came out of the rowlock while frantically trying to get the boat moving, and I had to do a bit of side-to-side rowing with that one oar until I got myself under control, so launching didn’t really go that ‘ok’, I guess. Quite lucky really…

I rowed around the rocks near Monkey Bay and continued up the coast towards Whites Bay, stopping for a fish before too long, catching a medium-small kahawai on my second cast, and feeling optimistic about the day’s fishing.

I fished some spots on my way towards the Whites Bay beach, with no luck, and started rowing to the eastern side of the bay for a fish near the point.

A seal was sunning himself on the rocks near the point. Fishing with bait yielded nothing after changing from the softbait. I towed a lure back across the bay towards Rarangi Beach with no luck.

The kahawai brought into the boat on my second cast was the only fish I hooked that day. Landing back on the beach was slightly nerve-wracking, but went well in the end.

I saw a seal again a couple of days later, further down the beach, near Blue Gum Corner. He was dozing on the sand and let me get close to him without showing concern – yawning was as active as he got while I took photos near him.

Easter Fishing Part 4 – Tuesday 10th April

The weather forecast was good, and our boat was long overdue for some time away from her mooring in Waikawa.

We motored over to Kumutoto and anchored after retrieving my cap that got blown into the water by an unexpected gust.

The aim was to let my son Henry catch his first fish, and troll a lure on the way back to see what might hit it.

Some pleasant time was spent bringing some spotties onboard, with Henry pulling his first fish aboard with some help; and flicking out softbaits with no more luck than a few tentative pulls at one point.

Towing a lure around the bay before heading back towards Allports Island yielded a barracouta near Kumutoto Point - a fun end to a good day.

All fish were released.

Area Report: Marlborough, Wairau River

Fish & Game report good results for salmon fishers in the Wairau River.

Some tips from the article linked to above:

• Over the next month until the end of the salmon fishing season (30 April) salmon anglers would be better to focus their efforts between the State Highway 6 (Renwick) Bridge and the Wash Bridge. 
• Look to fish the bottom of the deeper pools or at the junctions of two major braids at first or last light, these are places that salmon like to rest up at as they make their upstream migration to the spawning grounds. 
• Salmon fishing in the Wairau River can be particularly good after a fresh when flows are receding and there is a bit of color in the water.