Between times lives have been lost when Whakaari erupted with many people on the island volcano. Peace to the families and loved ones of the lost souls.
Many years ago I hung with a crew of salty fishy dudes. I’d joined the crew as a satellite member when flatting with one of the core crew, and we saved hard, really hard to get a couple of mid-winter days onboard one of the top boats going around. The fishing was for bottom fish and we really didn’t have the gear to go after thugs like kingfish back then. Over time we graduated to being offered a summer game fishing slot and we occupied that space for many years. My avid interest in fly fishing saw me lose my slot when one year I chose a marlin on fly trip over the boys’ trip. That was the end for me. I still had all the bottom fishing and game gear, and in between had acquired jigging and stick baiting equipment.
Pesty (Karl aka @fishingpest) had spoken to the boys about a weekend charter to the old stomping ground, White Island and needless to say we were all in within a second. That was months ago, and he kept us abreast of happenings. The week leading in gave us perfect weather. I’d be picking Tim up from Rotorua airport where he was landing on his way back from Wellington. We’d meet the other guys at the wharf, grab a meal, load and go.
And so, the day had finally arrived. The forecast was pretty good (actually, great) and I’d set off early to allow for shitty Auckland traffic. I was well on the way to Rotorua when Tim called… his flight had been cancelled. A change of plan – he rebooked to Hamilton. I changed direction. I arrived at Hamilton airport with enough time to grab a coffee and pie, watch a bit of the cricket test and when Tim arrived we set off. Whakatane via Rotorua is a trip I’d not done for over 20 years. We arrived a bit later than expected, the final stragglers. Rhys the skipper was anxious to get going. He’s moved his times forward a bit which put some pressure on.
Nui and Bob, the guys on the trip I hadn’t met, were real nice dudes. 4 hours of steaming and we arrived, the last of 7 boats to anchor in the lee of Whakaari. On with the sub surface neons, out with bait rods – our task was to catch as many live baits as possible while also scooping as many flying fish for dead baits as we could manage. After a few hours we’d fulfilled our mission, while in that time we witnessed Cova Rose’s fleet sister ship land a whopping 40kg plus kingfish. Under lights it looked simply humungous.
Post the evening’s bait session we headed to sleep and woke up early, steaming to the bluenose grounds. Bluenose are simply one of the tastiest fish in the ocean so we all looked forward to stocking up. The session began in the pre-dawn and soon there were 5 lines over the side, each carrying 2 circle hooks baited with squid to the 150m mark. As rods loaded up the guys all wound in some decent bluenose and for the next 90 minutes or so a steady procession of tasty eating fish came aboard.
Then, we were off for kingfish. In the hours that followed we fished live and dead baits, jigs and stick baits hard for not much reward. Rhys the skipper said to expect an afternoon bite, and how right he was. Once the first fish was hit, they came aboard steadily.
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And quite some beasts were landed including a 40kg plus fish (once in a lifetime fish) to Mike, the Big Rig. We each kept a fish or two for eating, but the large ones all went back.
That night we played with fly gear, targeting kingis smashing flying fish on the surface, whilst replenishing our live bait stash. Small rain droplets feel through the volcanic spume overhead, stinging the eyes when the landed. Post the tragic events of the following week we’d learn about Sulphur Dioxide very quickly indeed…
Day II provided more of the same, a few bluenose in the morning followed by a diet of kingis, if not of the same order of magnitude as the previous day. We fished hard for a large number of fish landed before the tax man turned up and began snacking on our hooked fish. On our trip back in we cleaned and bagged our bounty, packed it ice and helped the crew clean the boat down, ready for the next trip.
We all agreed we'd regather for another round of high seas adventure.
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