Tuesday 18 February 2014

Back to Whangaroa - New Zealand Kingfish and Mako's

Having the chance to again head to New Zealand there was no hesitation.  I had last visited in 2011 - that time enjoying some insane inshore light tackle sport fishing.  This trip, we were more intent on kingfish than ever but of course the weather had its say in things and what could have been four days offshore was more like one and a half.  When we could get to our intended shoals and pinnacles it did not disappoint.  There were some quality kingfish about who were obliging in smashing jigs and lures fish to 16 kilograms were encountered with some battles won, some lost. The masses of silver trevally and kahawai working the surface was also attracting numerous mako sharks - we started to suffer a few losses of kings to them so for a couple of hours we were a little distracted by some blue dynamite - raising 6 mako's without an effective berley trail would be unheard of in my home waters - that just how many were about!  This is an incredibly beautiful and fishy place.  The next time I get to visit New Zealand it will be to the Ranfurly Banks in November, already I am counting down the days.

Successful lures:
Jigging Master Fallings
Williamson Benthos
Adhek Ghost
Strategic Angler Frantic
and live bait


A big buckle on - jigging was the most productive method this time around

Alan displays a lovely fish - this one we kept, smoked and sashimi - delightful

Plenty of rats amongst the better fish

Kev loves his kingys!

On the mat

Masses of schooling silver trevally - 50 fish deep!

Mako's a plenty

The crew of "Striker" hooked up
The numbers of mako's present was amazng

On the trace prior to release

Happy boy

Thursday 13 February 2014

New Poduct - Busted 'Bee's Knees' Reel Spooler

Product intro 
by John Cahill


Its not every day you see a piece of gear built like this....

The "Bee's Knees" Reel Spooler is of the highest quality, cnc machined from solid aluminium and stainless steel. Incorporated are two ball bearings and a 40mm "Carbontex" drag washer, witch is coated with Cal's drag grease, producing upwards of 15kg of drag on a 100mm spool. The unit can either be fixed permanently or used as a portable spooler. Simply drive the car or boat trailer tyre onto the plate. It accommodates micro spools of line right up to the large bulk spools of game fishing line.  This gear oozes quality.


Here is a little review by Ed Nicholas, owner operator of No Boundaries Oman....

"I Just finished spooling a 18k/PE10 Stella and followed it up by re-spooling a couple 5k reels. This is the first time since using braid that i have felt confident enough spooling reels tight enough without incurring the wife's wrath or getting one of the No Boundaries Oman staff to don the heavy gloves etc".

"We prob see more big GT lost due to line dig in (not spooled tight enough) than anything else, packed line tension is imperative for fighting fish with heavy drags but was hard to achieve without a team effort .. till now"

"Frank Fernkorn's Busted Line Spooler is worth its weight in gold. The weight was actually the first thing that crossed my mind when i picked up the impressive contraption, it just feels/looks and is very well made".

"The spooler has zero issue applying up to 15kg of pressure as you pack on line ready for big fish. Simply GREAT value for money and for anyone equipped with a handful of different sized reels that need spooling every season look no further for an essential bit of kit".

"Hands down the best spooler I have come across".


we are proud to be associated and can ship globally - please check them here: Bee's Knees Reel Spooler