The weather lately has been very unpredictable but with a little weather window and a small swell on the west coast the mighty 90 was beckoning. Stevo was keen for a little Reel Kiwi Fishing adventure. Our plan was to drive early to make a day of it, maybe spend the night and drive back. We wanted at least a full day on the sand. We left the early hours of the morning while the sun was still in bed. By the time we reached the stream 5hrs later the sun had already risen and the mountain-est dunes stood high like guardians of the ocean. This place is something else, a fisherman's paradise. Driving the stream I already had butterflies forming - the 5-6hr anticipation drive had me jittering and wanting a bait out already. Being a fishaholic you just can't help ya self - I was even dreaming the night before of catching a stonker on the caster. Stevo loves his tiki and it's never let us down, especially here. I was chomping at the bit but I knew even though I was going to get a line wet on the Kotare, the tide for my surfcasting was better suited in the mid arvo. I love fishing the low as you don't have to get as wet or on a wettie.
Our first few hours were going to be tiki concentrated, I will set up the caster but only really to try and catch a Kahawai for our tiki bait - I would say mid tide is the hardest to fish because you're between those holes getting shallow and not being able to make a bank to cast into a deeper channel. We did actually have some pre-caught kahawai knowing we were heading up so it didn't take us long to have the first set ready to rock and roll. All baited up Stevo walked the tiki down and dropped here in the drink. Having the GPS mod we had off set it to handle that usual northerly pull you get out on the west coast. Once Stevo had hooked up all the traces I left him to it. My excitement raised a few notches knowing now it was time to pull out the Kotare, set up and flick my first bait out. I love the west coast being brought up on it and the love is so strong that I would fish the west coast on a bad day over a good days fishing on the east. It's the elements, the freshness you feel, the wildness you know it holds, it really is a special place no matter what part of the country you are in. I had my first bait in as the tiki sat on the soak. As I thought it was pretty quiet through the mid morning on the caster which didn't matter because I knew when the time was right the fishing would heat up for me. I looked back where Stevo was, the tiki had had a good soak and Stevo had fired it up. There was still about an hour and a half before low but by the time we had got the tiki in - hopefully with fish, clean up, pack up (if we were going to move) it would be about that time. I was already seeing a few little inner banks forming and I knew we would def be doing a shift for my low tide surfcasting. It took awhile before we saw the leader. Our first hook had a doozy of a snapper - it was a good 70cm maybe even a little bigger. It was a solid fish and the good thing was it was pretty lively. We now have a big tub filled with water to put them in which calms them down, it also gives us a chance to try and release any if possible. Being the west coast it's not a good idea to stop pulling your tiki in. We've had a couple of lost tiki's where we have had to stop due to a tangle etc only to have the line snap from a shark either already hooked or a big bronzy come in and grab a fish.
There were a few other nice fish on this set and in the end we ended up with about 7-8 fish. The big guy had been sitting in the container for a few mins but we decided to see if he would go back - it was worth a try but like I said if it didn't look healthy enough to release it would be coming home and end up in the smoker head and all. I do love seeing these big fish swim away or even just have a chance. Stevo walked it down and held for a good few mins and once he could feel it kicking just pushed it forward under the waves. It would get washed back in pretty quick with the west coast surge if it wasn't well enough. I followed it as it slowly made its way out and once I was close to waste deep we called it a success. I stood at the shore line for 5-10mins to keep an eye if it got washed in but there was no sign of it. Over that time I had already had my Muriwai Spidey senses out and found our next spot a few hundred meters down the beach. It was just like Muriwai where the tide draws out to show a little bank with a deeper channel running in front of it. It was time to pack up and head for a surfcast spot while the tide was perfect.
Part 2 - I get onto a few fish on the surfcaster and we finish the day off with one more tiki set....
Tight lines