Karen and I have had a new Yamaha F350 motor and Helm master installed on our boat so we were keen as to try it out. So, on Tuesday we both checked the next day’s weather on the Windy and the YR apps, both of which indicated that Wednesday would be ok for a trial trip down the bay. Fortunately, whatever the tide was doing was not a concern for us to launch at Port Motueka as we are familiar with the channel depth and can come and go on any tide.
After our lunch and thermos was sorted, Karen made sure it actually made it on to the boat along with some secret bait and one of our home made 5kg burley bombs. We eagerly headed off.
At the leisurely time of twenty to eight, we launched at Port Motueka and did a quick check over to make sure all was in order before we steamed out to the Tasman. As the sea conditions were very favourable with a slight southerly helping us along, just twenty minutes later we were passing Torrent Bay. Within the next 30 or so minutes we had arrived at our intended fishing spot only to find that someone else was already there.
After a few circuits of tracking down some of the indicators that there was a possibility of fish down below, the anchor was dropped, the berley bomb put into its cage, made secure and also dispensed with. Keeping a close eye on the sounder you could see it heading for the bottom. Once there, 10 winds up on the drum handle lifted the bomb about 2 x meters off the bottom and you could see the berley trail running from it. Within 10 – 15 minutes, fish were present in the trail vicinity.
The first fish caught was a spikey dog, no surprises there. Both of us were thinking this is not going to be a good day for us. Then I caught a nice gurnard, then another and then a Kahawai. The sun was shining and the tide was changing so the sea calmed down. On a bit of a roll, figuratively speaking, we added several gurnard to the cache.
Finally one of the rods took off with something much larger on it. A few minutes later we lifted on board a 75 cm Snapper. Happy with our catch so far, it was well time for a tea break of sandwiches and cake. Then we went back to fishing once more.
Although very early in the season, we still managed two more nice snaps and a double hook up of gurnard. With more than enough in the bin, we decided the time had come to head back to port.
With the spring winds being somewhat unpredicatable, better to leave a little early than a bit late if we want to travel in comfort. On our way back, we just thought how lucky we are to live here in Tasman.
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