So here we were, ready to brave the elements off the coast of Whakatane, New Zealand.
The date was 1st of April 2006, the time was 5:20am, time to get up and wake the troops. After a quick breakfast and coffee it was off in the cars to the port, an hours drive away.
Once there we chucked all our stuff onto the boat and headed off into the wild blue yonder.
Another hour was spent battling the swells whipped up by the storm passing over New Zealand to the north.
There was an airy smell of fish in the air, we knew we were close to the action.
Once at White Island, we set up the lines and dropped them down 300 metres to the ocean floor below.
After a half hour of inactivity, well I don’t think a couple of small Terekihi class as activity, 🙂
It was time for me to take over a line and jig to my hearts content, and it wasn’t long until I struck a winner.
Cue ‘We are the Champions by Queen’
I fought the beast and I won!, I’m telling you this thing was huge, it was a monster!
It was a 14kg Kingfish, or kingy as it’s commonly called.
I battled with the mighty fish for around 10mins, dragging it from 300 metres below sea level.
He fought hard at every chance, which made for some great entertainment for the fellow crew.
Then a few of the other guys caught some fish and we went home….
THE END.
Only joking, nah, it was an awesome day as you can see in the photos,
Everybody had a great time and bacon & egg pie was flowing freely all day.
It was great to spend the day with my mum and dad, father in law and brother.
We are thoroughly looking forward to the next trip
Check out photos from the trip in the Photo Gallery