We had a great trip motoring our new vessel up from Bluff, and sure enough she got tested a few times, but was a great sea trail for her and came out with flying colours.

Happily cruising at 15-20 knots we have had her up to 28 knots in calm sea.

She carries 10 passengers plus crew will be plenty of fishing room at that number.  Perhaps she made our old boat that we still run jealous, but for whatever reason the old girl was hit by lightening this morning which fried a few electronics!

The new boat is a bit more no-frills than the regular big boat, but has all the essentials to make it a true fishing machine, flushing toilet and all.

Spring fishing is well and truly in full swing with snapper in plentiful supply hitting the deck easily.

Most days we are just fishing straight off the bar leads in 45 to 55 metres and you can't go far wrong.

There are still good-sized gurnard about some days, otherwise not a lot of bycatch outside of the dominant snapper.

Mako sharks are starting to show up some days, and although they are beautiful, they do keep the tackle stores happy.

Fishing like this should stay good until around late December, then it will be time to start heading down the coast further to our summer haunts.

Speaking of summer, the weather is not showing much sign of that at present, but I’d like to believe the settled weather will be upon us soon after this last flick of the moody spring blows.

Looking ahead to the summer months, the normal summer pelagic species will likely turn up soon enough, as marlin and tuna were about in great numbers last year, and right in close too.

We are looking at chasing albacore on the charters this summer, more detail on this later, but possibly there’s a February start for the chicken-of-the-sea charter trips.

We get them in very good numbers from February to March, and are pretty confident of delivering some great results for those looking to target these smaller, more common tuna.

Of course, we will run a few bigger lures out back, so there’s every chance of a bigger show as an added bonus.

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Cheers

Rob

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Rob Fitzgerald is owner and skipper of Venturer Fishing Charters, operating out of Kawhia.

Venturer fishing charters

Check Venturer Fishing Charters Kawhia out on Facebook or online - www.venturerfishingcharterskawhia.co.nz

For tackle, tips and charter options contact Rob Fitzgerald.

Ph 07 8711717 or 0272544589 or email robjac@xtra.co.nz

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