Every trip out on the water is an education.  Sometimes you learn a little, sometimes you learn a lot.  Fishing is a process of trial and error.  Often you figure out little snippets of knowledge and these are tiny little pieces of the puzzle that all combine to make you a better fisherman and maybe, . . .  eventually, . . .  an expert.   There’s a heap of advice online and in magazines, but you can’t beat time spent out there on the water.  However, learning where the fish will be, when they will be there and how to catch them, is a long journey.  It’s therefore a revelation when someone reveals a short cut.  One that arrives outa the blue and takes you from zero to hero in a matter of minutes!  This is exactly what happened to me recently.  I learnt more from one short conversation, than from 5 years on the rod – and it was with an almost guilty sense of excitement, that I put the knowledge into practice on our last trip.  Let me explain . . . .

A couple of weeks ago, after another fruitless hunt for the elusive Manukau kingfish, I stopped to chat with another fisherman and lamented upon my poor luck and lowly catch-rate.  Whether it was pity –  or just good ol’ kiwi camaraderie – this guy turned out to be The Expert on catching kingfish and delivered the 10 commandments of West coast king fishing.  Something of a religious experience let me tell you!  He told me exactly what bait to use, where to catch it, where to find the kings and what tide to fish.  Some of it I already new, some of it I thought I knew,  but there were a couple of nuggets of wisdom that were ’trade secrets’ and quite why he divulged them to me . . .  I really don’t know.  Either way it helped me pull all the pieces of the puzzle together and on the very next trip, we executed a perfect plan of attack, which went something like this:

1.  Launch boat.

2.  Travel to point A.

3.  Catch live bait.

4.  Travel to point B.

5.  Catch kingfish.

Easy as!  The bones of it were simple but the time money and effort spent getting there are almost impossible to calculate. A combination of my many hours spent trying and his many years of experience, distilled into a few gems of enlightenment.  We returned that day with a smorgasbord of seafood crowned by a kingfish.  It could have all have been a fluke.   It could quite easily turn to custard on our next expedition and we return empty handed, but I’m kinda thinking we may just have made a breakthrough.  Hopefully we’ve turned a corner and can finally enjoy the thrills and spills of arm straining, line stripping, rod wrenching West coast kingfish on a regular basis. . . . . Hopefully.