5 March 2011,

My Dad had always wanted to go gamefishing. I (Steve) have lived in NZ for the better part of four years and Dad and Mum often come down from Canada around Christmas. But for one reason or another, an opportunity to go gamefishing had never worked out. This year was different.

Dad and Mum settled on Whangaroa and on the 51 foot Reel Awesome. But timing was still tight. They were leaving NZ on Wednesday, so it needed to be that weekend. As things turned out, we were glad to have settled on the Reel Awesome. It is a big boat and the fact that it can take a bit of Mother Nature's punishment made all the difference that weekend.

Saturday morning dawned with rain and wind. Captain Rick was professional and relaxed and we were quickly heading for the harbour mouth. Now Dad and I aren't professional anglers, but it wasn't our first time on a boat. We're from Vancouver, on Canada's West Coast and we've been around and in boats most of our lives, Dad more than me. But never in such seas. As soon as we left the harbour, we hit 1 to 2 metre waves (not swells). Both Dad and I noted that despite the derby running out of the Whangaroa Gamefishing club, very few other boats were heading to open water that day. But, like I say, Rick was relaxed, and rightly so; Reel Awesome handled the seas well. But we can't say the same for our stomachs!

Rick kept saying, big seas equals big fish. And Reel Awesome is a well equipped boat. One of the benefits is her GPS that allows Rick to plot every fish he has caught or struck. This means he knows where to go to find fish. We were fishing about seven miles north of the harbour and could see nothing but the rain and seas; no sun, no land, no landmarks. Nevertheless, with the GPS we could precisely target the fish.

Pretty much on Rick's cue, the reel started singing and we could see a Marlin breaking the surface behind the boat. We rushed to our positions, but false alarm, the fish had got off. Now remember the GPS. We were able to find that same patch of water, despite the heaving seas and severely restricted visibility.

Again the reel started to sing and Dad jumped in the chair. A couple minutes later, he had hauled in a good sized Mahi Mahi (dinner that evening). These are a beautiful fish and make great eating. It also meant the next fish was mine.

Rick had just put the lines back out when it was all on again. I jumped in the chair and this time we knew it was a serious fight. Reel Awesome has a rear console. This meant that Rick could drive the boat from the rear deck. This facilitated our work as a team, him on the controls, and me on the reel. Throughout the fight, Rick was no more than two feet away to give advice and instructions, helping me learn to work the reel. Before this, i'd fished for salmon or red snapper and i doubt i've caught anything bigger than 6kg. So with Rick's advice we slowly worked the fish to the boat, only to have it run, again and again. An hour into the fight, I was starting to tire. But then the runs tailed off and slowly I began to gain line. Using the boat and reel together, we wound up the fish.

The whole fight took 1 hour and 40 minutes. And while we favour 'catch and release', the magnificent Blue Marlin died on the way in. A 121kgs on the dock, now I've 50kgs of smoked marlin in my (new) freezer along with 12 salami. Another thing to note is the professional set up of the Gamefishing club, they organize the guy from (Taratara Smokehouse) to meet you on the dock.

So, to sum up. We had a great day. I would highly recommend Captain Rick and Reel Awesome as a professional outfit that delivers the fish. Now, I just need to talk Dad into doing it again.

Dr. Stephen Winter

University of Auckland

Auckland

New Zealand