saltwater fly fishing in New Zealand

END OF SEASON 2009/2010
It’s been a year since my last newsletter, but I feel like I have some really good excuses: I have never had that many days on the water before and i'm proud to say that we have been fully booked since late September.

This season has seen the best weather and the best fishing in Saltflyer’s history. Obviously there were a few days here and there with a big blow, but those days gave me a chance to see Anne-Marie and give the boat a good and needed clean-out.

In September we had the most insane run of big kingfish. At that time of year I mostly have jiggers and popper fishermen out, but if I had fly fishermen onboard I would almost guaranty that we would have cracked the world record kingfish on 10kg tippet.
I have chased it for the last 13 years, so it’s about damn time someone gets it for me.

Our best days fishing in September gave us 3 kings over 30kg and lots between 20 and 30kg. That run of pre spawners lasted around 3 weeks.
A sudden rise in water temperature and the kingfish were all gone, but big albacore turned up.
Best day albacore fishing gave our clients 20 albies between 15kg and 20kg. The knolls around Mayor Island were just one huge workup with gulls, terns, shearwaters and albatross feasting on the squid that the albacore pushed to the surface. This was an amazing time for us on the water and I just pray that it will happen again this year. It all depends on ocean currents and weather patterns, so let’s see.

In October the kingfish woke up again and slowly started schooling up on the reefs and pins. It was a bit hit and miss though, with 2 or 3 bite times during the day. For the patient angler there were some amazing sessions though. Suddenly we would see a massive surface eruption and with a switched on skipper and angler we would find ourselves in the middle of kingfish versus squid mayhem. A quick cast into this and it was instant hook-up.

November was the month of the surface feeders. Hundreds of schools of trevally, mackerel and kahawai were feeding on krill from morning till night.
It was great to do some floating line fishing and especially in those calm conditions we had. A few fish were stolen by baby hammerheads, makos and blue sharks, so I had a good feeling for the upcoming blue water season.

When December arrived, my old friend Bob Seddon from Idaho turned up. Bob loves his big 15wt rod combined with his big Pacific reels. The year before Bob had the most amazing fishing for big kingfish, so this year we decided to try something a bit different. First, a blue water session on Makos and blue sharks like I’ve never seen it before. At one stage we counted 20 sharks in the berley trail and Bob got his arms stretched.

When a bit of bad weather turned up we went up the harbour to try our luck on some massive bronze whalers. I know the photos and stories have already travelled the world, but it’s too good a story for anyone to miss out on it. Bob beached a 200kg and a 175kg bronzie in one afternoon. Probably the biggest fish ever landed on a fly rod, well done Bob.

After the horrible Xmas holiday where all kiwis are on the water, the fish resurfaced again and by mid January it was all on. My best memory is of 2 young Danish Vikings. Very brave and confidant they turned up with 2 nice 12 weights and some shiny looking reels. It didn’t take long before there was only one fly rod left, but I believe that with the fishing they had, it doesn’t really matter how much gear they lost. 4 kingfish over 20kg with the biggest a new Saltflyer record of 26kg. All the highlights of the trip were filmed and you can all look forward to some amazing footage. There are tears, blood, handshakes and cuddles in there.

February continued on with kingfish as our main target but as this is the month were everything happen, you never know. The tuna has turned up and the kahawai and trevally now have to fight the tuna for the krill. Sharks and marlin cruise the schools of fish to find an easy meal, and some clients have been lucky to see some of these nature’s little wonders out there.

From Mid February and into March we headed off to Coromandel for a while. Rumours of big schools of kingfish were too hard to resist and it was well worth it. I was joined by long term client and friend Christoffer from mighty Denmark.
His friend Stefan was supposed to join us, but came up sick just before they left home. Good for Christoffer who had the boat for himself for 22 days in a row. We caught an insane amount of big kingfish out of Coromandel, lots of big snapper in the Far North and ended up with a nice striped marlin out of Tauranga.

After Christoffers visit, it was time to head north and finish off the season. Again nothing but good weather awaited us up there. Snapper was inside the harbours in numbers I haven’t seen before.
Inside Rangaunu harbour we had 2-5kg snapper swimming right behind the boat in crystal clear water. Kahawai and the odd kingfish turned up as well. Just great to sit anchored up in a meter of water with lots of fish turning up.

In Late March it was Jane and Glenn’s turn to try the Far North (again). The year before we got blown out and never really got on the water. This time we had 8 days of great weather and just a pleasure to be on the water.
Lots of 1-4kg snapper inside the harbours plus a few trevally and kingfish. I was expecting a lot more trevally and kingfish action in the harbours, but it didn’t really happen for us.
On the open coast though we found some really nice kingfish that were all keen to take surface poppers. Especially Glenn’s wonderful little “Flipper fly” was doing a great job. The water being flat calm and crystal clear made snapper fishing very tough on the coast, but that’s when you know who is a good fisherman and who is not.

Jane fishing the Fantarella half’n half hooked, fought and landed an estimated 10.5kg snapper in 5 meters of water, an amazing fish by an amazing angler.
Unfortunately our trip was cut a bit short as my father suddenly came up ill and Anne Marie and I had to drop everything and jump on the first plane back to Denmark. We didn’t make it back in time to see him, but at least he died knowing that we were on our way home.

We spend 3 weeks helping out my mother with all the stuff that comes along when a person passes away, plus we got an extra 10 days sitting in a hotel in Copenhagen waiting for the volcanic ashes to disappear so it was safe to fly back to NZ again.

Thanks to Lee and Phil and other clients that got affected by our delay and many thanks to Craig Worthington for entertaining our clients that turned up with no Nik Mathiesen in sight. At least Anne Marie and I could go to the queen of Denmark’s 70th birthday.

May and June has provided some amazing snapper and Trevally fishing in the Northern harbours. Schools of hard fighting trevally has left anglers with fly lines cut in half and boxes of flies getting lighter and lighter.
It’s sad, but I really do get a kick out of watching anglers with shaking hands trying to tie on another Clouser while 4-6kg trevally are swimming behind the boat. Some great fish landed and some even better fish lost.

After the first big winter storms the big snapper really came on the bite. With half a meter swell hammering the rocks washing down snails, crabs and other snacks those big red fellas really wake up. The power of really big snapper still amazes me. We are now consequently fishing 10 weight and a full length of fluorocarbon leader to try and stop these fish. But when fishing in that rough terrain there will be casualties. Again fly boxes are emptying out fast, but the reward is there for the talented angler. Any 5kg + snapper caught in those areas are a triumph.

Dear friends, clients, sponsors and the rest of you, this is the official closing down of the 2009-2010 season for Saltflyer. I’m taking lots of bookings for next season already and my calendar is ¾ full already. I hope next season will bring weather and fishing as good as we have had this time… till then….

Nik and Anne-Marie Mathiesen