NZ Fishing World

The wild, wild west

It had nearly been 40 years since I was last in Dargaville and I can reassure you after the fun time we had off the West Coast recently I won’t be waiting another 40 years before I make a return visit. Dargaville is the home town of my good friend Mat Hewetson and he knows just about everybody there including the best little fish and chip shop this side of the black stump for those late night munchies. But it wasn’t the fish and chips we had gone there for – well, not the chips anyway. It was for some true blue west coast fishing out from Baylys Beach.

Following on from the last issue when Mat and his old school mate Iain McCahon (Potz) spent time on the west coast in Iain’s old Mac 420 Stubby, Iain has since upgraded to a brand new Extreme 570 hard- top. Once again Mat had picked the perfect weather window and we had a day either side where the wind was a slight easterly which flattened the west coast sea conditions. I didn’t quite know what to expect other than the wild stories Mat had fed me of big fish in big water; luckily things were looking pretty positive weather-wise.

As usual I had packed several options for the trip and upsized the gear a bit given the promise “there be monsters” off that coastline. I intended to use jigging gear where possible, simply because I love jigging. Mat had brought along Josh Hyland, a friend of his who had never caught a kingfish on a jig before. We needed to break him in on a west coast monster if possible.

Now every trip I ever do with Mat has its moments: some humorous, and many filled with stumbling points. This trip was no different.  

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