Fishing with Venturer Charters off Kawhia / Raglan

Since the introduction of jigging for trout, this fun and very fruitful method of fishing has made catching trout in lakes a lot more fun than dragging them in on heavy lead lines.

The Mokohinau Islands are a stunning fishery within fairly easy reach of Auckland for trailer boats. The fishing is (sometimes) amazing, and the scenery is always spectacular. Take a look at a bit of action fishing the Mokes for a day with the team from Roger's Boatshop in Albany.

Game season fever is well and truly on us, and the sensational, and very much welcome, yellowfin tuna run this year, has got trailer boat fishermen across the country dusting off the big gear to get into the action. When it comes to game fishing, you can either go the whole nine yards, with a mega launch equipped with riggers dripping with bling, or you can tow one lure behind your tinnie. As long as you can reach the fishing zone, and do around 7 knots all day, you are well in with a chance at anything this year. We’ve seen massive blue and even black marlin, bigeye tuna, tons of albacore, stripeys, mahi mahi, and in good numbers up both northern NZ coastlines. Incredibly, we spotted no less than nine marlin in two days north east of Barrier early January. Just amazing that these fish are out there in good numbers.

To hell with the diet, there are times when fresh fish just screams for a light, crunchy beer batter. If you are looking for a fool-proof, instant, mouth-watering golden batter that cracks like a potato chip, makes you look like a master chef and pleases any crowd, then get yourself down to your nearest supermarket and pick up a packet of Fogdog.

Daiwa are arguably the world’s biggest banger in the fishing tackle market, so when they release a new top end product we expect it to be great. The Daiwa Certate spinning reel is well up the chain of ‘bling’ and will set you back in the neighbourhood of $800 give or take. Not their very top end, Branzino and Exist are there for the Rolex fans, but certainly as good a reel as you should ever need, and capable of handling some mega sized fish, and doing it smoothly with a dash of ‘mmmmm I love using this reel’.

From the print archives: After a great trip soft baiting on a perfect day at the Graveyard on the Kaipara Harbour, we decided to come back and give it an even better crack.

Trevally are one of the hardest fighting sport fish New Zealand has to offer yet they are surprisingly under-rated by many fishos. It may sound mad to many, but a lot of fishermen still see trevally as nothing more than fresh bait.

Fishery officers will be inspecting catch bags and bins all weekend as the blue cod season opens throughout the Marlborough region.

Fishery officers were called in by Hawkes Bay police yesterday after they stopped a car with a big haul of pāua inside.

Dickey Boats launches the Pacific 62, an equation-changing vessel designed for sportfishers and passage-makers, offering exceptional blue-water capability, versatility, and performance for extended offshore adventures.