Reefton has many things going for it, including great location, a good distillery and some magic trout fishing, but it’s a bit of a slog to get amongst the sea fishing. Recently, a few of the lads from Reefton busted out of isolation and headed to the coast in the hope of catching a feed.
Spot X must remain a closely guarded secret so, suffice it to say, it’s somewhere between Waimangaroa and Gentle Annie. We baited up the Seahorse Kontiki and nudged it out for an evening dip. Then we repeated the exercise the next day around high tide and weren’t disappointed with the results. A bit of a smorgasbord, with a good catch of snapper, one fat gurnard and a couple of rig. One fish was a rumply, clearly a good breeder, so we put it back; it did take five minutes to get it up and running but that’s a small price to pay for the future of the fishery. It was a fitting end to our annual harvest—a great boys trip away and a bit of fun with the kontiki.
