The days are shorter, the nights colder and ANZAC day has just passed,
Broadbill Swordfish; are becoming the species of interest now that the Marlin are thinning out a bit. From out wide of Great Barrier Island the vessel “Tinsanity” caught two on the Barrier Bank (04/09). There was a solo Broadbill caught from a trailer boat not far from the 9 Pin Trench weighing 246.5kg with a broken rod. From Tauranga, caught out the back of Mayor Island, off the vessel “Titanuranus” Mark Tregoweth weighed a 217.5kg Swordfish caught on 60kg line.
Earlier in April from Manukau Sport Fishing club; a great day was had by the crew on “Tackle Box”, angler Paul Shirley went out with Owner Devlin Hill for a West Coast trip and came home with 234.1kg Blue Marlin. From Tauranga, local launch “Jans Decision” headed out and tagged and released three Striped Marlin before lunch. A quick trip up to the Middlesex for Captain Steve Angus proved very worthwhile with the boat going good on Blue Marlin, weighing one at 221kg and tagging four others with one estimated at 250kg. They also tagged an estimated 60kg Yellowfin Tuna.
From Ahipara Gamefish club; our annual Striped Marlin jackpot was won this year by Kerry Cutler with a 134.8kg Striped Marlin. Second was Ginty Morrogh with his 131.kg fish, and third was Chance Brown with a 127kg Striped Marlin. With only 7 kilos separating them, competition was fierce.
A new club record; Blair Thomsen fishing on the vessel “SAV” went out and caught a 176.3kg Striped Marlin on 37kg line, fishing for his Tairua – Pauanui Sports Fishing Club.
A pending new world record; Sue Tindale has weighed a 144.8kg Striped Marlin caught on 60kg line on 17th March. Whilst this is a pending world record claim, the current New Zealand record is still held by Mrs. J Collie with a 170.55kg Striped Marlin caught back on 0/05/1983 out of the Bay of Islands. Unfortunately for some reason, it was never claimed as an IGFA world record at the time.
As this season slows there are still some remarkable catches being recorded; such as a great day was had on 21/04/2016 by the crew on the Manukau Sport Fishing Club boat “Dark horse”, who true to their name went out and tagged a Striped Marlin in the morning, then with angler Shane Manelow caught and weighed a 199.5kg Blue Marlin. This now brings their season tally to 27, 1 Black Marlin, 1 Blue Marlin and 1 Striped Marlin weighed, with a further 24 tagged and released. A dark horse indeed.
From “The Billfish Foundation” Facebook page; On 1/21/2012 during the 24 Horas Pesca Luanda tournament, Captain Paulo Borges De Sousa aboard “Xilika” tagged a Sailfish Off of Luanda Angola. On 4/5/2016, Paulo was the angler on the same vessel with Captain Jorge Russo when they recaptured it 1,536 days later in roughly the same location. AMAZING! The fish was re-tagged and sent off in excellent condition.
The Economy of Recreational Fishing; The report is now online on the New Zealand Marine Research Foundation website – http://www.nzmrf.org.nz/ . We can all take pride in this work, as it is your (all NZSFC Clubs members) annual donation of $1.00 per member to the Research Foundation that makes this essential research possible. The peer review process is well underway with a published report due in several months. This research puts future work on a solid foundation and will allow for robust comparisons to be developed of the value of fish to the economy from commercial and non-commercial utilization.