Last Saturday I had the chance to shoot out on a chartered fishing trip with Abalone Cruise/Red Boats. This trip was going to be 4 hours between 5pm-9pm and catch the change of light. In case your wondering what the significance of "change of light" means in New Zealand. It's been a well known fact in NZ, fishing is considered one of the most popular past times and if your fishing from land, change of light is magic hour when fishing can be at it's most active and exciting. On a boat it's no different if fishing in shallow waters and 20 meters of water can and is considered shallow water. This trip promised to provide all the excitement needed to get the adrenaline running.....and boy, did it send the adrenaline into overdrive.

I got down to Z Pier about 4:30 pm and was greeted by the skipper Dan and his Wife Jen. I was promptly seated in my spot for the night and sat and started chatting to some of the other people on board who funny enough were regulars and go out every weekend with Dan and Jen. By the time we started to make waves and on our journey there were 14 of us on board. The chartered fishing boat itself is big enough and can hold up to 20 people comfortably and has enough room for everyone to fish at once. It took about 30-40 minutes to get to our destination and with a quick circle of the area, Dan had dropped anchor and we all had our lines in the water trying to catch our first fish.

The action was thick and fast with peoples lines racing off their reels in all directions. There were 4 of us on the back of the boat and it wasn't unusual for 2-3 of us hooking up at once. The fish were in a frenzy and we were definitely getting a work out. In fact the fish were so veracious that at one point, 2 people pulled up the same fish who had taken both their baits at the same time....in all the years of fishing I have done on both boats and land I have never seen one fish take two hooks from two different rods....we were shocked and amused to say the least.

Now the fish that was pulled on board were of an excellent size. In fact the best quote of the night came from one of the regulars who pulled in a fish which was about 35cms and remarked "thats tiny throw it back". The size limit for legal snapper in New Zealand is 27cms so it was definitely big enough to keep if she so chose. But the size of the fish being pulled on board was of such exceptional quality that a fish of that size was considered a throw back. During the 4 hours of non stop fishing alot of us took a break from fishing as it started to feel a little like work. As it turned out everyone started to take breaks and sit down and chat away and have something to eat. Jen was kind enough to run around and take our tea and coffee orders and bring them to us. Dan was running round the boat non stop taking fish off peoples hooks, killing them and putting them in their chili bins to be taken home. All in all the boat was a hive of YAHOO, WOHOOO and "thats a nice fish".

Saturday evenings fishing is definitely one I will never forget. What was the final telly for the evening? Fourteen people fishing pulled in 129 snappers. Enough for each person to take home their limit of 9 snappers each. Below are some photos from Saturday evenings fishing trip. The quality isn't that great so forgive me as I only had my camera phone on me at the time.....next time I'm definitely taking the digital camera.

Thanks to Dan, Jen and Abalone Cruises/Red Boats for a most excellent evening of fishing.

For more information on Red Boats fishing charters go to Abalone Charters. We highly recommend them not only for quality but also on price and location, only being a short 5-10 minute taxi trip from Queen Street Backpackers.

Last Saturday I had the chance to shoot out on a chartered fishing trip with Abalone Cruise/Red Boats. This trip was going to be 4 hours between 5pm-9pm and catch the change of light. In case your wondering what the significance of "change of light" means in New Zealand. It's been a well known fact in NZ, fishing is considered one of the most popular past times and if your fishing from land, change of light is magic hour when fishing can be at it's most active and exciting. On a boat it's no different if fishing in shallow waters and 20 meters of water can and is considered shallow water. This trip promised to provide all the excitement needed to get the adrenaline running.....and boy, did it send the adrenaline into overdrive.

I got down to Z Pier about 4:30 pm and was greeted by the skipper Dan and his Wife Jen. I was promptly seated in my spot for the night and sat and started chatting to some of the other people on board who funny enough were regulars and go out every weekend with Dan and Jen. By the time we started to make waves and on our journey there were 14 of us on board. The chartered fishing boat itself is big enough and can hold up to 20 people comfortably and has enough room for everyone to fish at once. It took about 30-40 minutes to get to our destination and with a quick circle of the area, Dan had dropped anchor and we all had our lines in the water trying to catch our first fish.

The action was thick and fast with peoples lines racing off their reels in all directions. There were 4 of us on the back of the boat and it wasn't unusual for 2-3 of us hooking up at once. The fish were in a frenzy and we were definitely getting a work out. In fact the fish were so veracious that at one point, 2 people pulled up the same fish who had taken both their baits at the same time....in all the years of fishing I have done on both boats and land I have never seen one fish take two hooks from two different rods....we were shocked and amused to say the least.

Now the fish that was pulled on board were of an excellent size. In fact the best quote of the night came from one of the regulars who pulled in a fish which was about 35cms and remarked "thats tiny throw it back". The size limit for legal snapper in New Zealand is 27cms so it was definitely big enough to keep if she so chose. But the size of the fish being pulled on board was of such exceptional quality that a fish of that size was considered a throw back. During the 4 hours of non stop fishing alot of us took a break from fishing as it started to feel a little like work. As it turned out everyone started to take breaks and sit down and chat away and have something to eat. Jen was kind enough to run around and take our tea and coffee orders and bring them to us. Dan was running round the boat non stop taking fish off peoples hooks, killing them and putting them in their chili bins to be taken home. All in all the boat was a hive of YAHOO, WOHOOO and "thats a nice fish".

Saturday evenings fishing is definitely one I will never forget. What was the final telly for the evening? Fourteen people fishing pulled in 129 snappers. Enough for each person to take home their limit of 9 snappers each. Below are some photos from Saturday evenings fishing trip. The quality isn't that great so forgive me as I only had my camera phone on me at the time.....next time I'm definitely taking the digital camera.

Thanks to Dan, Jen and Abalone Cruises/Red Boats for a most excellent evening of fishing.

For more information on Red Boats fishing charters go to Abalone Charters. We highly recommend them not only for quality but also on price and location, only being a short 5-10 minute taxi trip from Queen Street Backpackers.