Hi, my name is Chris Morris, and I’ve been surfcasting for 35years. That in itself doesnt mean much really, there are young blokes out there who catch way more fish than I do. . I started beach (reef) fishing in the early 1970′s with braided cotton handlines as commercially made surfcasting rods were not available around here in those days.
These days our gear is way more expensive, our methods tricky and well thought out, and our catches are way less.. Whats up with that?
Bottom line is the fact that there are a lot less fish out there these days and to catch them the tried and true methods your grandfather used just wont work anymore.
Catches vary greatly depending on what area you’re fishing in too. As a general rule, the further north up the coast you go the more fish you will find.
Here in Hawke’s Bay, you must put in many hours between fish. Summer is the best time to fish here and targeting a specific species is sometimes your best chance of catching a fish. The most commonly caught fish here in HB would undoubtedly be the Kahawai. We have several good river mouths where you will have a shot at Kahawai most of the year. In the summertime, given favorable weather, sea conditions, and techniques, you can target other species such as gurnard, lemonfish, and moki. You may even catch the occasional snapper.
The purpose of this website is to provide a reference point for people who seek information about surfcasting. There is a huge amount of surfcasting info on the internet, unfortunately its all over the place, and obviously not all of it is NZ-specific. So to that end, we will attempt to do the searching for you and provide direct links to online info that we think may be useful.
There are a huge number of very knowledgeable surfcasters in New Zealand and most are very willing to share thier experience and techniques. Many have already done so via print publications, or online in other websites, forums and message boards. Here we are going to try and categorise some of that great info and point you to it. If we can persuade them, some of these fishing guru’s may post a word or two here directly as well.
Questions, comments or contributors welcome.
please contact Chris Morris admin@surfcaster.co.nz
