While on a trip to New Zealand, we stopped at Coromandel Bay, where we were taken fishing by the Mussel Barge Snapper Safaris. We left in a group of around 15 and travelled out into the mussel farms where we bottom fished using baits like squid and cubed pillies.
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| My first Snapper |
Within about 10 seconds of our baits hitting the bottom, we were pulling up snapper like there was no tomorrow. My first snapper, being the biggest of the trip ate the tinnies chunk of pilchard, but then again elephants do eat peanuts.
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| Dad's Snapper |
After about half an hour the fishing had settled down a little, so I threw out a whole squid which hooked up onto a beast of a fish. The skipper called it for a kingfish, but in no time the fish pulled me into the mussel farm and broke off my 15kg line. Other than snapper, we managed to catch plenty of little yellowtail, Aussie salmon, a couple rat kings and small shark.
The tackle usually associated with snapper fishing is a spin combo, like the Okuma Trio or V-System spins, but with snags 7 meters on either side of us, we had to beef up our gear in order to land the fish.
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| Dusk at the mussel farms |
All in all, the day was packed exceptional fishing. The fish weren’t necessarily huge, but they were great fun. Next time you’re in New Zealand, drop into, Mussel Barge Snapper Safaris; it is as cheap as $50 for a fishing adventure of a lifetime.
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