Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com

A-Z Challenge: Pulling up poissons in the Hauraki Gulf

Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.comTwo weekends ago James and his buddies took me fishing in the Hauraki Gulf.

We woke up before the sun to head down to the boat dock at 6 in the morning.

Being that I’m Southern California born and raised I still struggle to dress appropriately for the chilly weather.

Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com

For our ocean excursion I wore a pair of Lululemon leggings, a pair of sweatpants from my university days, a tank top, a long-sleeve shirt, a running jumper, my New Zealand sweatshirt and my beloved Marmot puffer jacket. Oh, and a beanie and my runners.

Overkill? Probably. The guys asked me if I thought we were going skiing.

Oh well, I was warm. And I caught the most fish out of everyone.

So I was doing something right. 😉

Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com

Upon pulling out of the Half Moon Bay harbor, we headed north, straight towards Rakino Island.

The sun joined us over the horizon just as I caught the first fish of the day, a too-small snapper.

With some help from the guys we got the hook out of his lip, and I gave him a quick little kiss before sending him back to grown in to a 20 pounder.

Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com

Grabbing the knife, I cut up some bait – mostly squid and pilchard – and dressed my line for the next fateful reel-in.

But first, I had to learn what a “boil up” is, which is when the fish are chased up to the surface of the water by a larger predator and the birds are used as a signal by fishermen to determine a good spot to cast a lure.

Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com

Before I knew it I was pulling up a decent-sized snapper pretty much every 15 minutes. A bit in part to the tools I was using.

After awhile I offered to switch poles with James so he could have a shot at catching some and he had better luck. So I can’t take ALL the credit.

Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.comFishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com

We eventually decided to begin heading south, passing by Waiheke Island and shedding layers as the day warmed up.

Once we were back we met up to clean the boat (or in my case, watch) and count/divvy up the fish we had kept. I can’t quite remember how many there were, at least 15 and at least 75% of the lot was caught by yours truly.

Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com

When we got home James filleted the fish and prepped them for dinner.

Then, we cooked it beer-battered style and served it up with kumara fries! YUM!!!

Fishing on the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand via ZaagiTravel.com Fresh snapper from the Hauraki Gulf via ZaagiTravel.com

In the meantime, a photo I shared to Facebook of my first wee little fish was shared to an account called Girls Who Fish NZ.

It truly was a great morning and now I’m itching to head out on the sea again.

One thought on “A-Z Challenge: Pulling up poissons in the Hauraki Gulf”

  1. I think we needed someone like James to teach us how to fish, as we never quite figured out why people think it’s fun. Glad you had a good day, and great catch there. As for the clothes, I went for an evening walk, my outer layer being gore-tex hood on, scarf tied around my neck and gloves. I walked by a Kiwi girl in a tank top. Even being from Northern CA, the cold is different here. BTW – I can see Rakino from my deck.
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