A group of five of us fish around d’Urville for a week, two or three times a year. We fish from a Senator Stealth 770 skippered by the legend himself, Dan Fisher. Awesome boat. Dan is the best captain I have ever fished with, because he never fails to put us onto the big dogs—“Big seas, big fish,” says Dan.
Another secret is to kit up with good gear; we use Black Magic. Highly recommend that.
We always catch fish, but some of the biggest have been on mediocre days with a bit of a swell running. Big seas and all that. But it works.
One terrible day, in a three to five metre swell, we nudged towards Stephens Island and caught an 18lb snapper. Then a 22lb one followed and finally a 25lb horse—in only a couple of hours. The Sounds are packed with snapper, gurnard, blue cod and heaps of crays—we always hook up.
And kingies. Whenever I catch one jigging, Dan says I’m stuck on the bottom and I say, “F#@k off!” Then pull in a kingi.
Thanks happy Dan. Legend.
