My brother-in-law and his wife had been catching large snapper in Golden Bay during early spring and summer, and had been sending us photos urging us to make the trip ‘over the hill’ to fish Golden Bay.
We made the journey from Christchurch to Collingwood at the end of February when the weather was more settled, with nice cool mornings and sunny days, so that we could enjoy the fishing and other activities found around Collingwood.
First to arrive at the Collingwood boat ramp, we paid the small ramp fee of $5.00 and parked the vehicles and trailers, cleared the ramp of logs and waited for enough water on the incoming tide so that we could safely navigate the channel and bar—two hours either side of the high tide.
Excitement was building as we launched the boats and carefully followed my brother-in-law out to Spot X, planning to anchor for a fishing session. However, given the unusually large swell, we moved to calmer waters of a nearby mussel farm. After catching a few fish, we had to return due to the tide.
Next morning dawned with calm weather, and we headed back out to the mussel farm to enjoy a great day of fishing and filling up the chilly bin.
Over the next few days, we were joined by further family members and continued to enjoy our days fishing, but the elusive ‘Big’ snapper was still to be caught.
Finally, on the fourth day at the mussel farm, after helping other family members bring in their fish, my father-in-law said to me, “Time to have one quick cast before we have to head back.’
The line went in and then after a short time, I felt a very small nibble through the rod and then it was fish on. The rod bent, the infamous snapper head shakes nodded and the reel screamed. A huge smile lit up my face with excitement and and then the feeling of nervousness crept in as the battle begun. After few more head-shakes and runs and watching the rod bending at an alarming rate, the fish neared the surface and I gasped… I had hooked large snapper on each of the hooks—now known as the magic rig.
I yelled out, “Get the net—I have got the big one!”
The other half looked at me with the ‘oh yeah—heard that before’ look. She got a surprise when she looked over the side and saw the two large snapper on the line.
Then came the sudden determination to get then both landed safely in the boat. The ‘Big’ one was hefted aboard first, and it turned out to be personal best of 52cm. The smaller snapper measured 38cm. Both were quicky iki spiked and then dropped into the ice slurry, as we wanted top quality fillets for eating.
Ultimately, we headed back ‘over the hill’ with plenty of fillets to feed family and friends and reflected on the golden week’s fishing—I couldn’t help wondering where the next adventure would take us.
