A tale of a lost rod, a recovered fish, getting very lucky and then not so lucky. Fortune favours the bold but can equally take the prize away.

Live piper is not commonly associated with catching snapper. But as Geoff Thomas recently found out, they are dynamite and worked a treat when taking a familiar Kiwi face out for a bit of fun.

When it comes to fishing for kingfish there has been much talk about mechanical jigging and stick baits, but most are still caught by the tried and true live baits.

When the winter weather arrives many people put their boat in mothballs and store the tackle under the house, waiting for spring to stir their fishing buds. But they are missing out on some great snapper fishing, with everything from pannies among the rocks to big moochers around the outer islands. Geoff Thomas looks at some of the options for putting fish in the bin.

Whether to use a long trace, a sinker on the bottom, a floating bait or a soft bait; these are the questions facing the snapper fisherman every time he heads out on to the water. Geoff Thomas looks at the different methods and the tackle and when we use them.

From marlin to tuna, kahawai, kingfish and snapper; the white specks in the distance are our eyes in the sky. But the fish underneath are not always a cinch to catch, and Editor-at-Large Geoff Thomas looks at how to turn the work-ups to our advantage.Birds – over there!” shouted Graham. We raced over and soon we were circling among shining yellow-headed gannets as they wheeled and dived like Stuka bombers, searing into the water then popping up with a shiny, silver anchovy firmly grasped between their sharp beaks.

Although the world seems to have turned to fishing with lures, there are still those among us that just prefer using good old bait! Going into winter is a time where I believe that the good old stink of a bit of fish, the natural food of...well, fish, will do the job as good or better than anything else. Here's a few tips to putting more fish in the bin.