Johnstones green jacket winning 7.59kg snapperThe white Pointer Cricket teams annual fishing trip.
Well where do I start............At the beginning I guess.
Tuesday .. had to do the shopping for the trip (food etc) and load the car as well as sort out my gear for land based rock fishing, and pick up Evans small boat. Did I mention there was a gale and it was raining, not ordinary rain but torrential rain, rain that caused severe flooding, washouts and slips 100km's away in Wairoa.
While I was loading the car I said to my self, "self watch those steps they are slippery", and on the "hundredth" time coming down I ended in a tangled mess at the bottom, no real damage except to pride and a couple off bruises - good start.
Wednesday day morning the rain had stopped in the night and I was just getting out of bed and the phone went. Work - There has been an armed robbery last night, "Oh shit", A quick phone call to one of the boys "I will be late". Luckily no one was hurt and it looks like no weapon was used and they didn't get away with much. Two hours later I make it to our meeting spot. The boys had used the time well and had found out the road we were going to use was closed due to slips so we were able to use the only other route in.
We arrived at the farm house to see the front paddocks under water,and a quick check of the sea showed it was fishable, so it looked good for the next day.
Thursday... We load the small boats and head to Cricket Island, the wind had picked up again, but the island was sheltered and calm. We managed to catch a slow but steady stream of snapper and rat Kingfish (all returned to the sea), I managed to weigh the heaviest snapper for the day at 2.5kg.
Friday ... We head to Lottin point to launch the boats and go to a favorite rock island I love (Hams rock). Cod starts the day off with 7 baits and 7 snapper, the rest of the day is steady with all fish returned except 4 for tea, far cry from the old days when all fish were kept or wasted. Johnstone caught only one snapper all day but it was a good one 7.59kg. Back to the farm house and to a power cut that went to 9.30 that night, candle light tea cooked on the gas top.
Saturday .. was a great day weather wise hot and sunny and no wind, we went back to Hams rock and with the clear skies the fishing was hard but we all manged a couple of snapper or two but nothing to beat Johnstones 7.59kg fish that won him the "green jacket" for the third time. Again we had power cuts and the hot water still hadn't come on.
Sunday .... as we were leaving the clouds were gathering and the heavy rain returned and 3 days later it is still raining up there, so all in all we were very lucky to get 3 good days fishing in. Next year is our 20th year up there, so it will be a big one.
Well where do I start............At the beginning I guess.
Tuesday .. had to do the shopping for the trip (food etc) and load the car as well as sort out my gear for land based rock fishing, and pick up Evans small boat. Did I mention there was a gale and it was raining, not ordinary rain but torrential rain, rain that caused severe flooding, washouts and slips 100km's away in Wairoa.
While I was loading the car I said to my self, "self watch those steps they are slippery", and on the "hundredth" time coming down I ended in a tangled mess at the bottom, no real damage except to pride and a couple off bruises - good start.
Wednesday day morning the rain had stopped in the night and I was just getting out of bed and the phone went. Work - There has been an armed robbery last night, "Oh shit", A quick phone call to one of the boys "I will be late". Luckily no one was hurt and it looks like no weapon was used and they didn't get away with much. Two hours later I make it to our meeting spot. The boys had used the time well and had found out the road we were going to use was closed due to slips so we were able to use the only other route in.
We arrived at the farm house to see the front paddocks under water,and a quick check of the sea showed it was fishable, so it looked good for the next day.
Thursday... We load the small boats and head to Cricket Island, the wind had picked up again, but the island was sheltered and calm. We managed to catch a slow but steady stream of snapper and rat Kingfish (all returned to the sea), I managed to weigh the heaviest snapper for the day at 2.5kg.
Friday ... We head to Lottin point to launch the boats and go to a favorite rock island I love (Hams rock). Cod starts the day off with 7 baits and 7 snapper, the rest of the day is steady with all fish returned except 4 for tea, far cry from the old days when all fish were kept or wasted. Johnstone caught only one snapper all day but it was a good one 7.59kg. Back to the farm house and to a power cut that went to 9.30 that night, candle light tea cooked on the gas top.
Saturday .. was a great day weather wise hot and sunny and no wind, we went back to Hams rock and with the clear skies the fishing was hard but we all manged a couple of snapper or two but nothing to beat Johnstones 7.59kg fish that won him the "green jacket" for the third time. Again we had power cuts and the hot water still hadn't come on.
Sunday .... as we were leaving the clouds were gathering and the heavy rain returned and 3 days later it is still raining up there, so all in all we were very lucky to get 3 good days fishing in. Next year is our 20th year up there, so it will be a big one.
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