April at The Wanganellas
Once again the weather gods were good to us, allowing a safe but a little scruffy trip to the banks. We had always planned that, to make the most out of the weather window, we would steam to the banks in rough weather, on the basis that there was a big high following, providing good stuff. This certainly was the case this time, with 20knts from the SW and 3 meter seas.
10th April
Conditions were good, 10knts from the SE and just a small lift. The last couple of hours steam is always the hardest; steaming solidly for the 25 hours can be draining. We all just want to hurry up and get there. We arrived at 1500hrs and trolled up on to the bank. This being our fourth visit here and the only time we haven't raised a fish instantly. However the afternoon was good with 7 releases. Our first bite was a treble, from which we tagged all 3. This was slightly unusual as our last visit, out of the 62 marlin didn't tag any trebles and very few doubles.
We again experimented with teasers versus baits. The next day, we trolled all lures with live baits at the ready. We TRIED to catch the marlin on our lures and pitched the baits at the last moment. There was a little confusion as "how long" to leave the lure in the water for the marlin to have a fair go at it. This is the dodgy part, as it is up to interpretation, So generally, I spotted the marlin behind the gear and we prepared to fish our lures, I gave the fish 2 goes at the lure, then instructed the bait to be pitched and lure to be removed. I did not slow the boat until the bait was in position; therefore allowing the marlin to hook itself up while the lure is being wound in.
11th
We fished all lures today, and our first bite was 0700hrs. The fish were all 1s and 2s and we released 5 by lunch. A good bite in the arvo lead to 10 fish by 1500hrs and everyone was excited about the evening bite. But it never happened.
10 fish from 26 bites. 6 on lures and 4 on baits. We missed 3 on our baits, that is 3 fish ate the bait and we failed to hook them.
12th
After a disappointing evening and catching ONLY 10 marlin for the day, we decided to venture north to a part of the bank we hadn't been before. Long day with only 2 fish.
13th
Today was the all teaser day, well except for the first 3 fish that bit just before our guests were up and therefore we only had 2 lures in the water. I also couldn't get my other teaser reel working for the left rigger, so we ended up with 1 lure in the water.
16 fish from 26 bites. This was perhaps the most memorable and fun day striped marlin fishing. We all had a blast. We went through a bad run with our baits, and it was when we had multiples. I think angler excitement and bait presentation have a lot to do with this. I also think, perhaps the marlin are more excited and bite more aggressively and generally muck it up. I am sorry for not counting the number we caught on lures, there were the 3 in the morning and I think another 4 on our left rigger lure.
14th
We were back to our normal program today.
A bit scruffy this morning, 20knts of E. Thousands of birds this morning, with dolphins and marlin all mixed together.
13 fish from 33 bites.
What would have happened if we had our teasers in today???
15th
Slow day today, with a very lazy bite. We caught a fish on a hapuka strip, fresh is best!
7 fish from 25 bites.
Steamed home.
So another successful trip with 55 fish, there just doesn't seem to be an end to it?
Here are the stats;
Lures 10 for 26* = 38% catch rate
Teasers 16 for 26 = 61% catch rate(with 1 lure)**
*26 fish were raised, not how many times a fish 'bit' the lure
**Didn't count how many fish raised, hooked or lost on the lure
So statically on the 14th if we had our teasers out, perhaps we could have caught 20 fish?? (As 60% of 33 shots = 20 fish) Who knows?? On any particular day, there are many variables to take into account on whether you fish well or not.
Good Fishing. Tom |
