Marc arrives in New Zealand’s North Island to experience a truly unique form of angling, heli-fishing off the remote rocks of Great Barrier Island for Snapper.
In Auckland, New Zealand’s international gateway Marc makes his way to the city’s heliport to meet his guide, Bill Hohepa. Bill is a strapping, part Maori “mountain of a man” with a grin as wide as his shoulders.
The idea of heli-fishing is to reach inaccessible places that can only be reached by helicopter. Great Barrier Island and its wave-swept rocky ledges are a prime heli-fishing destination.
Bill soon has Marc perched on the edge of spectacular rocks and is passing on his “Snapper Secrets”. Within no time at all Marc has reeled in a mini version of the target species and Bill looks happy as the fishing is starting to heat up.
Unfortunately the weather starts to turn sour as the waves start to pound closer and closer to the rain soaked fishermen. After Bill recounts a couple of near misses while rock fishing (reckoned to be the most dangerous recreation in the world) the decision is made to lift off and call it a day.
Great Barrier Island is a spectacular place, which earned its name from the fact that it literally is a barrier between New Zealand’s North Island and the wild Southern Pacific Ocean. Marc takes a dawn walk around the island while Bill explains the unique independence of the locals and Island’s geography.
Later that morning Bill and Marc join the game-fishing boat, the Angie. With skipper Rob at the helm things are looking promising. The weather begins to deteriorate just as the Snapper begin to feed. Marc and Bill manage to bring in a few medium sized fish. Finally they catch one decent sized Snapper, which has everyone smiling. Just as well, as the conditions turn really nasty and they have to make a “bone-jarring” run for the safety of the harbour.
Wild weather prevents any further fishing on Great Barrier Island, but Bill did pass on an “old Maori” saying; “Don’t stand up if you can sit down and don’t sit down if you can lie down”.
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