The 180 degree Hook Rig
with Bonze
The more I learn about the art of trolling skirted lures the more I realise how crucial it is to rig them correctly. Especially the angled faced versions.
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Catching Your First Marlin
with Bonze
Over the past few seasons since I moved away from running a charter boat and moved into making lures and fishing privately, I have been lucky enough to run into a number of people who have brought a boat and have wanted to give game fishing a crack. It is great to see the enthusiasm they bring to the sport. They are so keen to catch a marlin from their new boat for themselves.
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The Gamesail Experience - Vanuatu 2
by Michael Rendle
This winter I was asked to create a catch history for John and Christine Erkkila aboard their beautiful new charter yacht, ‘Te Ngakau a Kupe’. Based in NZ during our season, the boat will spend each winter in the northern Pacific. It is designed as a dedicated gamefishing vessel capable of long passages and extended periods of time at sea trolling. It has separate and individual cabins, each fitted with individual entertainment systems, shower and head. Constructed of the very best materials and with a stunning standard of finish, this is a vessel that could grace any marina in the world.
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How to reskirt a lure
with Bonze
I quite often get asked how do you reskirt a lure. It is actually a pretty simple task. With a few tips and a little practice you can reskirt your favourite lure and give it a new lease on life again.
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I Want to go Gamefishing
???
I’ve chased marlin for a quarter of a century including working a season on the deck in Cairns. Those of us who live this branch of the sport to the extreme are gear junkies, technique nuts, brand snobs, weather and water experts and hopelessly addicted to that next fix – there is nothing, but nothing, like having a marlin up behind the spread… All of which makes me one of the worst offenders because we tend to forget that all the gear we have and money we’ve spent (not to mention the collection of 547 lures…) has been built up over many years. We too started with basic gear and caught most of our marlin on 15kg line. This brief article is designed as a primer for those who really would like to catch a marlin, have no idea exactly what they need and don’t want to spend $12,000 before their first day out…
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Keeping the Cockpit Safe
Geoff Lamond
As soon as the words ‘safety’ and ‘hazard identification’ are mentioned in any occupation, many employees (including myself) roll their eyes with a feeling of ‘here we go again’. Although we can feel like it is a bit of a pain in the neck at times, keeping safe in the game fishing industry is something that both recreational and professional fisherman need to be aware of. Any mishaps that occur at sea can ruin a much-anticipated fishing trip, result in losing the fish of a lifetime, or worse still, end in serious injury.
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Looking After Tuna
Geoff Lamond
Although the most recent yellowfin tuna seasons in New Zealand waters have been nothing to write home about, many of us still look forward with anticipation to what the upcoming summer months hold. We have all been really excited about what’s going on with the winter bluefin fishery on the South Islands west coast, but it’s the traditional summer yellowfin grounds in New Zealand (such as the eastern Bay of Plenty and Whitianga) that provide most of us with our annual tuna fix.
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Rigging the Basic Swim Bait
Geoff Lamond
Rigging swim baits is a subject that is difficult to write about or to fully understand as a reader, as there are many contributing factors than can affect the way baits do or don’t swim. It’s only after a lot of trial and error or having things explained first hand that you will fully understand ‘hydro-dynamics’ of dead bait fishing. I know I’ve mentioned it previously, but it can take some of the worlds top crew 2 or 3 full seasons to have a good understanding of what makes a bait swim correctly.
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Setting Up Riggers and Halyards
Geoff Lamond
Setting your boat up with good quality outriggers, release clips and halyard configurations is an important aspect that can sometimes be either overlooked or in some cases just thrown together with out much thought. Often we see boats throughout the New Zealand game fishing scene with cheap, sloppy riggers and stretchy halyards that I can only begin to imagine what type release they have on the ‘bite’.
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Switch Baiting
with Bonze
With a new gamefishing season just around the corner I thought it was time to have a look at switch baiting. Switch baiting is nothing new and it has been used for a long time around the world and here in New Zealand by a number of leading charter skippers and in the last few seasons by a number of recreational fishermen who have started to experiment with it and who have found out just how exciting this close, in your face, style of fishing is.
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Tournament Fishing
by Geoff Lamond
With many of New Zealand’s major game fishing tournaments now occurring or just around the corner, many of you will be gearing up and getting prepared for what may be a busy few months ahead.
