Trip sorted—ten of us travelled to Manapouri, where we boarded the boat taking us to the Manopouri Hydro Station at other end of the lake. We transferred all our gear to a bus then traveling the famous Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove in Doubtful Sound. Here we boarded our live-aboard 21m boat Legacy, owned and operated by Steve Fishburn.
Heading off toward the coast, we made our way through the beautiful Doubtful Sound to the very wild and rough West Coast. We travelled south to Dagg Sound, arriving with a few very green-looking faces on board.
A quick and successful fish freshened everyone up and, after setting the cray pots, we settled in for a good feed of fresh blue cod.
Over the next few days we hunted and fished our way through the Dagg, Breaksea and Dusky Sounds. Some of the boys managed to score a few deer and divers were successful in getting crayfish. The daily ritual of dropping the cray pots proved successful too.
On the fishing side of things, my first drop on our second day off Dagg Sound produced my PB blue cod of 63cm! It was a pretty crazy fish, fighting all the way to top and was full and fat. Certainly put a big smile on my face to match its size.
Also knocking off my first groper was pretty special, but the highlight of my trip would have to be trolling for the bluefin tuna, which were busting up all around Dusky Sound. These fish were amazing to watch and even better to hook up on; one took a good 15 minute to land. At 15kg, one the most incredible fish to see come on board and, for me, a dream come true.
The trip was well worth it—beautiful scenery, fishing and hunting to match. Well planned, great food and loads of laughs. It was an epic trip and I’ll definitely be planning to do it again with my son Liam in a few years time, so if you ever get the opportunity to explore Fiordland—even better, get out for a fish—you won’t regret it!
